Category: News

The Hawks have welcomed the additional apprehension of a 49-year-old man charged with fraud and contravening of the Tax Administration Act, by the Johannesburg based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team on Tuesday.

In a statement, Hawks in Gauteng spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said Meshack Mpapadima Makofane handed himself in at the Hawks’ office accompanied by his legal representative and was initially charged.

“It is reported that between November 2017 and January 2018, Makofane and his co-accused, Elias Oman Magheje (51), through their Cape Town based construction company, Machembe Construction and Projects CC, submitted fraudulent value added tax claim invoices to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) via e-filing,” she said.

Following SARS’ internal analysis before approximately R9.9 million was transferred to the company’s bank account, authorities noticed that the submitted documents were fraudulent, said Mulamu.

The matter was reported to the Hawks for investigation, which resulted in a warrant of arrest issued against the alleged perpetrators.

Magheje was arrested in February this year and later released on a R30 000 bail by the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.

Mokofane appeared in the same court yesterday where he was granted a R15 000-00 bail.

Both accused are expected back in court on 29 June 2022 for docket disclosure.

A total of 56 769 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the last 24 hours in South Africa, including 14 409 Johnson & Johnson vaccines and 42 360 Pfizer vaccines.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) report on Tuesday, the vaccines administered in the last 24 hours included 20 063 first doses, consisting of 5 674 Johnson & Johnson and 14 389 Pfizer vaccines.

A total of 8 735 Johnson & Johnson booster doses were also administered, with 13 441 Pfizer booster doses.

The total number of individuals who were fully vaccinated in the last 24 hours is 20 204.  This includes 5 674 Johnson & Johnson shots. A total of 5 699 adults and 6 831 children aged 12 – 17 years were jabbed with the Pfizer vaccine in this reporting period.

According to the Department of Health, the cumulative number of recoveries now stands at 3 720 427, with a recovery rate of 95.4%.

Over 5 000 new COVID-19 cases confirmed

Meanwhile, South Africa has confirmed 5 096 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 899 841.

This increase represents a 20.9% positivity rate.

The NICD reported that the majority of new cases are from Gauteng with 36%, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 19%.

The Western Cape accounted for 18%; Eastern Cape 11%; Free State 7%; Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Cape 3% each, and Limpopo accounted for 1% of the new cases.

A total of 24 927 476 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors, with 13 600 730 in the private sector and 11 326 746 in the public sector.

The Department of Health reported 41 deaths, with 12 of these occurring in the past 24 – 48 hours, bringing the total fatalities to 100 812 to date.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) will terminate services of three lines in Gauteng for the rehabilitation and restoration of electrical cables (OHTE) and traction substations that were vandalised or stolen during the level 5 hard lockdown.

“This will also allow for PRASA to run more efficient train services and to introduce the electrical motor units (electrical trains) which form part of PRASA’s modernisation programme,” the agency said on Tuesday.

PRASA has acknowledged that the disruption of these services will come at a huge cost to rail commuters, but the benefits will be worth the pain felt in the interim.

The three lines will become construction sites, as the appointed contractors will take over the lines to start the rehabilitation and restoration work.

Closure of the three lines in the Gauteng region have been scheduled as follows:

• Pienaarspoort to Pretoria – 23 May until August 2022
• Naledi to Johannesburg – 23 May until September 2022
• Leralla to Elandsfontein – 30 May until October 2022

PRASA said sustained theft and vandalism of PRASA’s rail assets has disrupted train services across all provinces in which it operates.

“Notwithstanding the cancelation of security contracts, the situation was further exacerbated by the travel bans imposed during the [COVID-19] level 5 hard lockdown which left our infrastructure vulnerable.

“In April 2021, PRASA devised an Accelerated Corridor approach in recovering services focusing on the top ten high volume passenger rail corridors for initial resumption of services.

“This essentially means that corridors will be brought back into service in phases. The ten corridors were selected based on the demand for services, the extent of damage and the time required to recover and rehabilitate the infrastructure,” the agency said.

This phased-in approach in recovering the lines is based on the extent of damage and time it would take to rehabilitate the damaged infrastructure.

“Where we had the most vandalism and theft, we were able to run limited services using diesel locomotives. In Gauteng, PRASA is currently working on four priority corridors which will be ready to run train services by end of October,” the agency said.

Central line update

Meanwhile, work has begun to recover the services on the central line between Cape Town and Langa while the process to relocate illegal settlements on the rail tracks is underway.

This process is led by the Human Development Agency as the implementing agency of the relocation project.

Services in the Cape Town to Langa via Mutual are currently operational, while Cape Town to Langa via Pinelands is 90% ready for recovery.

Work is underway to recover the services between Langa and Nyanga as well as Cape Town to Bellville via Sarepta, as part of the Phase 1 of the recovery programme.

“We have put in place an integrated security plan to safeguard and protect our infrastructure. Plans have also been put in place to prevent further encroachment on our rail reserve. PRASA is rebuilding the damaged rail network corridor-by-corridor, track-by-track,” the agency said.

Parliament says it is in the process of “establishing appropriate systems” which will help it to “process and oversee” the implementation of the State Capture Report.

The full report is due to be handed over to the legislative body following the submission of the last tranche of the report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

According to Parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, the President has already submitted the third tranche of the report to Parliament which has flagged some past and present members of Parliament.

“Part three of the report identifies several past and present Members of Parliament who are implicated in conduct that may constitute illegal, unlawful, or unethical behaviour. As the aspects of the report have a direct bearing on parliamentary business, the institution has swiftly initiated a processes to implement its recommendations.

“Accordingly, the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests has been requested to investigate possible contraventions of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interest for Assembly and Parliament Council Members. This applies only to current members who were serving in Parliament when any alleged transgressions took place,” Mothapo said.

He added that although the President is expected to hand over the full report on or before August 31st this year, Parliament has already moved to make sure that it is ready to implement recommendations.

“Parliament’s research department is currently processing the reports, summarising them into, amongst others, action plans to improve Parliament’s execution of its constitutional mandate consistent with the corrective measures contained in the reports.

“Parliament’s Legal Services department has conducted an analysis of the reports and has generated a legal opinion proposing a process Parliament should follow in dealing with the reports once officially submitted,” he said.

Mothapo acknowledged that Parliament is obligated to “implement corrective measures” stemming from the report where it has a “role to play”.

“Similarly, Parliament has a responsibility to oversee the Executive’s and state agencies’ actions in their process of carrying out the implementation of commission reports.

“The Rules Committee will, at an opportune time, consider how best to process the reports and implementation plan in their entirety,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on global agencies to assist in boosting the local manufacturing and production of COVID-19 vaccines by procuring vaccines and boosters from African manufacturers.

The President was speaking in his capacity as the AU Champion for COVID-19 Response on Thursday at the second Global Summit on COVID-19.

The continent’s largest COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing plant opened in South Africa last year, and mRNA hubs for tech transfer have been opened in South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, Kenya and Nigeria.

In February the AU Summit endorsed a common agenda for manufacturing vaccines, medicines, diagnostics, therapeutics and health products on the continent.

However, the President said that this progress may be reversed because international agencies are not buying vaccines from Africa, even those destined for African countries.

“This must change. Multilateral agencies and philanthropists need to be procuring vaccines and boosters from African manufacturers to ensure the developing capabilities on the continent are retained,” he said.

President Ramaphosa further called on the international community to ensure that solidarity and equity underpin the next phase in the world’s management of the pandemic.

“This means that vaccines produced in Africa must be procured for Africa’s people. This is vital for the continent’s health security now and into the future,” he said.

Low vaccination rates

To avoid a return to the catastrophic early days of the pandemic, President Ramaphosa said that there is a need to get many more people across the world vaccinated.

“We need to expand access to testing and treatment. The global health recovery will not be inclusive so long as millions of people in developing economies remain unvaccinated.

“Africa has one of the world’s lowest vaccination rates at 16%, and coverage in low income countries is still under 13%,” the President said.

President Ramaphosa emphasised that African leaders are committed to achieving 70% vaccine coverage through mass campaigns across the continent.

He further said they continue to advocate for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to improve global access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

“To get more life-saving vaccines to those in need, South Africa is donating five million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 10 million doses of the J&J vaccine to other African countries.

“South Africa has contributed $10 million to the Global Fund and plans to contribute financial support to the ACT-Accelerator,” he said.

Speaking on the low COVID-19 testing rates, President Ramaphosa said that African Union (AU) member states have committed to a target of 200 million SARS-COV-2 tests by the end of 2022.

This commitment will be coupled with the implementation of the Africa CDC’s Enhanced Surveillance Strategy for community-based testing, wastewater testing and sentinel surveillance.

The President said countries need to be better prepared for future health crises and generate the financing to do so.

The international community is working towards a swift social and economic recovery, but the threat of new waves and the emergence of new variants is ever-present.

“South Africa therefore supports the formation of the Financial Intermediary Fund as a mechanism to finance global health security,” he said.

Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, says the department has made progress in restoring water supply to areas that were severely impacted by the recent devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mchunu said this when he tabled his maiden budget vote to a mini-plenary of the National Assembly on Friday.

“Good progress has been made with regards to the restoration of water supply but there has been immense damage to water and sanitation infrastructure.

“Together with the municipalities, we completed the costing of this damage and submitted an application to the Department of Cooperative Governance for national disaster funding.

Once funding is allocated, we will continue to be involved in the planning and monitoring of implementation of the reconstruction projects, with a stern focus of building back better,” he said.

Mchunu also used his budget vote speech to convey his sincere condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in the floods.

“We would also like to express empathy for all those who are still without water and sanitation services due to the floods, and to assure them that we are working as fast as possible to restore these services.

Mchunu said immediately after the floods, the department established a water and sanitation war room, together with the worst affected municipalities.

“Our department quickly hired water tankers to supplement those available in the municipalities and we seconded a team of engineers and other specialists to the war room to assist with the implementation of emergency repair work and to assess and quantify the damage,” he said.

Phase 2 Lesotho Highlands Water Project to start delivering water by 2027

Mchunu said, meanwhile, that the R36 billion Phase 2 Lesotho Highlands Water Project is aimed at ensuring an adequate long-term water supply for Gauteng and the Vaal River System.

The project is funded through finance raised by the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority and is being implemented jointly by the governments of Lesotho and South Africa, through the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission and the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority. “To date, 14% of the budget has been spent and the project is due to start delivering water to Gauteng in November 2027,” he said.

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu says eight days after the department opened applications for the COVID-19 social relief grant, in excess of 8.1 million people applied for the grant.

Zulu said this when she tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini plenary of the National Assembly on Friday morning.

“The application channels for the grant for the period from April 2022 to March 2023, as announced by the President, opened on 23 April 2022.

“By 30 April 2022, in excess of 8.1 million applications had already been received.

“I assure all qualifying applicants that they will be in receipt of their payments for this iteration of the grant by June,” she said.

Zulu said the allocation for the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant for the 2022/23 financial year is R44 billion.

“This means that each month 10.5 million approved applicants will receive this important social safety net intervention that cushions them and their families against the constraints of unemployment and poverty.

“This grant type is increasingly taking advantage of commonplace data and digital infrastructures to process applications and conduct verifications. Therefore, the need for physical contact is greatly reduced.

Zulu said SASSA was extending its negotiations to include local fast moving consumer goods traders as part of their payment outlets for the COVID-19 SRD grant.

“I wish to reiterate our government’s commitment and readiness to fight crime syndicates and criminals who are defrauding the State.

“To this end, we are continuing to work together with the relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that these and their actions are detected, isolated, arrested and successfully prosecuted,” she said.

Long-awaited extended child support grant to go online

The long-awaited extended child support grant will be rolled out in the current financial year – a move that will bring affected children in the foster care system the support they need to unlock their full potential.

“In support of the department’s commitment to find a comprehensive legal solution to the foster care challenges which have been plaguing the sector for many years, an amount of R687.0 million in 2023/24 and R871.0 million in 2024/25 has been allocated for the implementation of the long-awaited extended child support grant (otherwise known as the top-up child support grant) for orphans who are in the care of relatives,” she said.

Zulu said as soon as the amended regulations for the Social Assistance Act of 2004 have been published in the next few days, SASSA will be in a position to provide the extended child support grant of R720 per child per month to relatives who are caring for orphaned children.

“While we expect the extended child support grant to be implemented in June of this year, we estimate that it will be received by over 191 000 relatives during the 2022/23 financial year.

“Let me remind you that in order to access this grant, qualifying applicants need not go through the lengthy Children’s Court process. As a result, the affected children will quickly receive the support they need for them to unlock their full potential.”

Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Ronald Lamola, has called for the arms of state to ensure that the independence of the judiciary is protected in order to safeguard democracy.

Tabling the Budget Vote for the Office of the Chief Justice on Thursday, Lamola said the Judiciary has an important role in safeguarding and protecting the Constitution and its values and in ensuring the consolidation of democracy and the realisation of a better life for all.

“As the executive we will be analysing the judicial administration model with a view to give expression a practical and functional expression to the notion of judicial independence in its administrative form.

“We call on this House to continue working with us to affirm the role of the Judiciary in the protection of human rights and advancement of democracy in our country.

“We must all understand that the judiciary are not in a popularity contest. Their decisions must be respected or challenged within the available framework,” he said.

Lamola said over the years, the Judiciary has shown a profound understanding of the constitutional imperatives and set out to defend the basic law of the land.

This includes many judgments, particularly by the Constitutional Court, that have reflected a progressive interpretation of the Constitution and social rights in particular.

“In terms of section 165 (4) of the Constitution, it is incumbent on organs of State to assist and protect the Courts to ensure the independence, impartiality, dignity, accessibility and effectiveness of the courts.

“It is vitally important in a democracy that individual Judges and the Judiciary as a whole are impartial and independent of all external pressures and of each other so that those who appear before them and the wider public can have confidence that their cases will be decided fairly and in accordance with the law.

“When carrying out their judicial function they must be free of any improper influence,” he said.

Progress being made to modernise the courts

Lamola said, meanwhile, that the modernisation and digitisation of the court system remain a key priority for the Office of the Chief Justice to improve access to quality justice for all.

He said the use of technology to conduct online hearings has proved to be an effective alternative to traditional court sittings, especially during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Office of the Chief Justice will continue to implement the court modernisation strategy as a tool to enhance speedy access to justice. The Office of the Chief Justice’s priority of modernisation and the use of technology will ensure an efficient court system that guarantees access to justice for all.

“During the 2022/23 financial year, the OCJ will continue to embrace and leverage on the new technology through digitisation of the court system.

“The focus will be to prioritise Court Online and digitization of court records to enable the Judiciary and the courts to continue adjudicating court cases through online platforms even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Political Task Team on Eskom has told the management at the power utility to expedite the fixing of the design defects at Medupi and Kusile power plants, says Deputy President David Mabuza.

The Deputy President said this when he responded to oral questions during a sitting of the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.

“From the onset, we must admit that Kusile and Medupi power stations have not achieved the desired levels of performance and reliability. This is due to a combination of operational, plant designs and maintenance inefficiencies.

“In order to establish for ourselves the progress being made in correcting the identified challenges, which in the main, involve design defects of the power plant, as the Political Task Team on Eskom, we undertook an oversight visit to Kusile power station in May 2021.

“We have stressed to the management of Eskom our stance that the defects identified at Medupi and Kusile power stations, must be corrected expeditiously to avoid further project delays and cost escalations,” he said.

He added that Eskom is making progress in developing and implementing effective technical solutions to the major plant defects at both the plants, in line with the plant defect correction plan.

Design defects at Medupi to be fixed by 2027

Mabuza said as part of implementing the plan, the major design modifications at all units at Medupi have resulted in a substantial improvement in the availability and reliability of the commissioned units at the power station.

He said the units now consistently achieve design output, with the exception of unit 4 – which suffered a generator failure resulting in a prolonged outage.

“There are however, long-term modifications to the milling plant that will still need to be carried out when maintenance outages are scheduled. Similar modifications have been carried out at Kusile units 1 and 2, with unit 3 currently on a planned outage for design defect correction.

“The timeframe for the completion of boiler plant defects solutions is October 2023 and corrections to the milling plant will be completed after December 2027, depending on the outage availability of units,” he said.

Several approaches are being implemented as part of correcting the design defects at Kusile and Medupi to ensure sustainability of these efforts:

• All defects are dealt with in accordance with the contractual conditions;
• The liable contractors are being held to account, within the provisions of the contract to correct the new plant design deficiencies at the contractors’ cost, while commercial and contractual issues are resolved through negotiation;
•  Eskom has also reached an agreement with the boiler contractor in terms of which the total boiler defect correction costs will initially be split on a 50 percent-share basis between Eskom and the boiler contractor at both Medupi and Kusile. Once this is completed, the liable parties will be responsible for the defect correction costs;
•  In order to ensure good governance, and compliance with Eskom’s commercial and procurement processes, Eskom is utilising its legal team to re-draft contracts, and to recover costs from liable contractors.

With red tape around the approval of business licenses also linked to corrupt officials soliciting kickbacks, government is committed to rooting out corruption and holding public servants to higher ethical standards, the Deputy President said on Thursday.

He said this when responding to a supplementary question during a hybrid sitting of the National Council of Provinces.

“We must on the outset say as government we are committed to only not only root out corruption, but to strengthen the environment in which public representatives and officials alike perform their duties and their responsibilities to the highest standard of ethics and integrity.

“The code of conduct requires government departments to establish ethics committees and to appoint ethics officers as a means of strengthening good governance and ethical conduct in the public service,” he said.

ANC NCOP delegate from the Eastern Cape, Mandla Rayi, had asked the Deputy President if there were programmes aimed at reskilling and retraining public servants about this new approach. This as he said red tape in government around the approval of licenses and other business-related applications is both a systemic and a deliberate act by some government officials who are soliciting bribes and kickbacks.

“Furthermore, as part of government’s efforts to ensure public service employees are at all levels displaying the highest level of integrity and accountability, the National School of Government provides various training programmes to officials in the public service which are targeted at improving the delivery of services and bringing back the integrity of the state,” Mabuza said.

Red Tape Team siezed with unlocking blockages

Deputy President Mabuza said government understood the negative impact of inefficient business processes and regulatory barriers on business investment and activity.

To overcome these challenges, the Presidency has prioritised the coordination of government measures regarding the ease of doing of business in South Africa.

“As communicated by the President earlier this week at the Africa Mining Indaba, these regulatory and administrative efforts anchor our economic recovery and reconstruction efforts.”

He said the Red Tape Office will deal with policy and regulatory matters that are coordinated at national government level, and also focus on the resolution of provincial and local functions, in partnership with the Presidential Coordinating Council.