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The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) says it is seeking legal advice and will respond soon to a lawyer’s letter sent to it pertaining to load shedding and the imminent electricity tariff increase.

This after a group of lawyers sent a letter to the department demanding, among other things, that the increase granted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) not be implemented and that load shedding be immediately stopped or an explanation be provided as to why not.

“The department received a letter from Mabuza Attorneys demanding that the department and Eskom make certain undertakings regarding load shedding and the 18.65 % tariff increase granted by NERSA.

“The department is still considering the letter and seeking legal advice on the matter and will respond in due course,” the DPE said.

Eskom has been battling to keep the lights on for several weeks – culminating in the implementation of the more stringent Stage 6 load shedding last week which was downgraded to Stage 4 and 5 on Tuesday.

“We want to assure the public that everything possible is being done to end or minimise load shedding,” the department said.

The DPE added that it is also focused on ridding the power utility of corruption and stabilising power stations where generating unit breakdowns have hampered energy availability.

“However, those who are a part of corruption, intimidation and abuse of procurement practices or obstruct government’s efforts to clean up each power station of such corruption, will face the full might of the law.

“All South Africans must unite to eliminate this corruption. At the same time, Eskom is in the process of finalising its plans to take further urgent steps to stabilize the power station’s performance and reliability,” the department said.

Government has acknowledged the frustration of South Africans, due to a combination of factors, which have led to sporadic protests that occurred on Monday.

Government has urged for calm amid a series of sporadic protests reported in parts of the country on Monday.

In a statement, Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said government acknowledges the frustration of South Africans, due to a combination of factors.

“Government is alive to the issues related to the delivery of basic services, and calls for concerns to be raised in a peaceful and legitimate platform. During this difficult period, citizens, business, organised labour, wider social formations and government need to pull together to overcome the current challenges. We are a resilient nation and will overcome these difficulties that afflict us.”

Government said the Constitution guarantees the rights of citizens to embark on protests.

“However, it must be done responsibly and within the confines of the law. The destruction of property and the infringement of the rights of others cannot be tolerated. Such acts of destruction similarly add to our woes as at times they destroy the very infrastructure which is needed to allow the economy to grow,” the Minister said.

“The South African Police Services and law enforcement agencies will act against those who violate the law. Communities must allow the police to do their job, without any interference,” said Gungubele.

Government noted videos and commentary on social media that presents South Africa out of context and paints an erroneous image of the country. These videos are deceptive and have the potential to adversely harm the country.

“We all have a role to play to improve our country, and these harmful social media posts serve individual interests and not that of improving our beautiful country. Let us play our part in building our country by exercising our democratic rights responsibly,” said the Minister.

National Treasury has promulgated a raft of tax laws following proposals outlined by Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, during the 2022 Budget Speech.

This includes the Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Act, 2022, (Act No. 19 of 2022) (2022 Rates Act); Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2022 (Act No 20 of 2022) (2022 TLAA) and Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act, 2022 (Act No. 16 of 2022) (2022 TALAA).

These were promulgated on 5 January 2023.

In a statement, Treasury said the Acts give legislative effect to the tax proposals, as outlined by the Minister of Finance in his annual National Budget Speech delivered on 23 February 2022.

“The 2022 Rates Act gives effect to changes in rates and monetary thresholds and increases of the excise duties on alcohol and tobacco. It also contains changes tabled by the Minister in Parliament on 31 March 2022 and 31 May 2022 regarding temporary relief on the fuel levy, as well as the postponement of the effective date of an increase in the health promotion levy.

“The 2022 TLAA contains more complex, technical and anti-avoidance legislative changes. It also contains changes to the carbon tax rate trajectory, extension of the first phase of the carbon tax as well as an excise duty rate for both nicotine and non-nicotine vaping solutions,” said Treasury said.

It said the 2022 TALAA deals with tax proposals that are technical and administrative in nature.

A Final Response Document on the 2022 legislative pieces, as well as the Explanatory Memorandum to the 2022 TLAB (Explanatory Memorandum) and the Memorandum of Objects to the 2022 TALAB (Memorandum of Objects), were also published.

Treasury said the Final Response Document updates the Draft Response Document to consider submissions and decisions made following further inputs by stakeholders, the Standing Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on Finance during public hearings regarding the 2022 Draft Rates Bill, 2022 Draft TLAB and 2022 Draft TALAB.

The 2022 Rates Act, 2022 TLAA, 2022 TALAA, Final Response Document, Explanatory Memorandum and Memorandum of Objects can be found on the National Treasury (www.treasury.gov.za) and SARS (www.sars.gov.za) websites.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has paid out R14.5 million to 3 259 former teaching and general assistants after resuming with its campaign in KwaZulu-Natal last week.

The payments were disbursed between 9 and 13 January 2023 when the UIF continued the major campaign in the Zululand District Municipality.

The campaign started in November last year under Amajuba District Municipality, where the Fund disbursed R7.7 million to 1 746 former educator assistants and general assistants.

It proceeded to eThekwini and Pinetown in December 2022, where R28.8 million was paid out to 6 204 beneficiaries.

“To date, a cumulative R51.5 million has been paid out to 11 209 beneficiaries, who were employed in the aforementioned districts.

“From 16 – 20 January 2023, the Fund will continue with processing and paying out claims in areas around the Zululand District Municipality as follows: 16 – 17 January 2023: Bhekuzulu High School in Nongoma; 18 – 19 January 2023: Pongola Akademie, and 20 January 2023: Paulpietersburg Primary School,” the Department of Employment and Labour said on Monday.

The department has urged clients to bring along a valid Identity or Passport Document, a fully charged smartphone with data, and proof of banking details.

“To enhance the employment prospects of former teaching and general assistants, the Department of Employment and Labour’s Public Employment Services (PES) branch has been contributing to the campaign by registering the CVs of the unemployed clients on the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) system for possible jobs.

“ESSA is a system where work seekers can register their CVs for possible jobs and also search and apply for new job opportunities. Employers are urged to register and advertise vacancies of their organisations on the system for free,” the department said.

The system can be accessed on https://essa.labour.gov.za/EssaOnline/WebBeans/.

The former teaching and general assistants were employed as part of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI), which was implemented as part of the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI) – across all nine provinces – to reduce youth unemployment in the country.

When their contracts ended, the former employees qualified to claim unemployment insurance benefits from the UIF.

Due to the large volume of claims anticipated and to prevent long queues at Labour Centres, the UIF team in KwaZulu-Natal met with the Provincial Department of Education and agreed on a consolidated approach.

This includes the department availing venues, while the Fund confirms the compliance of the former workers in terms of their employment history, declarations and contributions.

The UIF in KwaZulu-Natal will be rolling out the project to other parts of the province and will announce dates and details in due course via its social media platforms and the media.

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has dismissed an incorrect allegation that a claim of £158 billion against the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) would liquidate the organisation.

In a statement, the PIC said it had become aware of a highly contentious disinformation campaign on the purported insolvency of the GEPF.

Reports are making rounds on social media platforms regarding alleged multibillion rand legal claims against the portfolio of assets of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) that is managed by the PIC.

The PIC in the statement said: “At the heart of the allegations is the assertion that an affiliate or subsidiary of Nedbank Limited – which itself was previously associated with Old Mutual – operating in the United Kingdom (UK), (Nedbank Private Wealth), has been engaged in bad business practices in the UK and the United States of America (USA), which will give rise to the claimed financial liability. Nedbank Limited and Old Mutual refute these allegations”.

The PIC, on behalf the GEPF, is an investor in the listed shares of Old Mutual Limited and Nedbank Limited.

It said it was solely upon this fact that the PIC and the GEPF are connected to the allegations and the conclusions reached. Old Mutual and Nedbank are limited liability companies.

“Therefore, the PIC’s exposure, acting on behalf of the GEPF, to any claims against Old Mutual and Nedbank, assuming they are legitimate, is limited to their shareholding only. This is the case with all investments in companies with limited liability, globally.

“Amongst the various incomprehensible allegations, is a claim in the amount of £158 billion against the GEPF and the assertion that all South African state pensions will cease to exist as a result of such a claim. There is simply no factual or legal basis for these assertions,” the PIC said.

The PIC in response to these allegations said it had committed to engage any legitimate authority that has been enjoined to consider the matter.

Complaints detailing these allegations have been submitted to several regulatory and investigative bodies in South Africa, the UK and USA. As far as the PIC is aware, none of the regulatory and investigative bodies have confirmed the veracity of these allegations. The FSCA, after soliciting and obtaining information regarding the complaint, decided to close the matter. This indicates that there is no merit to these allegations.

“The PIC does not know the motive behind these allegations. The PIC can only assure its clients and their beneficiaries, the public and other stakeholders that the allegations are false and that all its client assets are secure,” reads the statement.

Umalusi, the Quality Council in General and Further Education and Training, has approved the release of the 2022 national examination results, citing that irregularities did not compromise the credibility and integrity of the examinations.

Having studied all the evidence presented, the quality assurance body said the Executive Committee (EXCO) of Umalusi Council concluded that the examinations were administered largely in accordance with the Regulations Pertaining to the Conduct, Administration and Management of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination.

Speaking during a media briefing on Monday, Chairperson of Umalusi Council, Professor Yunus Ballim, said that the irregularities identified during the writing and marking of the examinations were not systemic.

“The irregularities identified during the writing and marking of the examinations were not systemic and therefore did not compromise the overall credibility and integrity of the November 2022 National Senior Certificate Examinations administered by the Department of Basic Education (DBE).

“The Executive Committee of Council therefore approves the release of the DBE November 2022 National Senior Certificate Examinations results,” Ballim said.

In respect of identified irregularities, Umalusi has required the DBE to block the results of all candidates implicated in irregularities, including the candidates who are implicated in the alleged acts of dishonesty, pending the outcome of the DBE investigations and verification by Umalusi.

“Particular attention should be paid to recurring matters of non-compliance. The Executive Committee of Council commends the DBE for conducting a successful examination on such a large scale,” Ballim said.

The DBE’s examinations were administered to 921 879 candidates. Of this number, 167 119 (or 18%) of the candidates were part-time candidates.

The examinations were administered at 6 907 centres throughout the country and the marking of examination scripts happened at 191 centres across the country.

The NSC is offered by three assessment bodies, namely the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI), Independent Examinations Board (IEB) and Department of Basic Education (DBE), which is the public assessment body.

The IEB had 13 536 candidates who wrote examinations at 262 examination centres, while the SACAI administered the NSC examinations to 4 951 candidates in 2022.

Irregularities

Umalusi CEO, Dr Mafu Rakometsi, said the Quality Assurer remains seriously concerned about the reported cases of irregularities during the writing of the examinations.

According to reports received from different assessment bodies, the CEO said different forms of cheating were uncovered in some centres during the examinations.

“These include candidates found in possession of crib notes and/or cell phones, sharing of answers via WhatsApp groups, imposters were found in the examination rooms and some answer scripts had different handwritings, etc,” he said.

Based on the magnitude of the offences, Rakometsi said different sanctions have been meted against the candidates involved, such as the nullification of the results and barring the candidates from writing the examination for either one or two examination cycles.

“Umalusi gives commendation to all the assessment bodies for having uncovered the malpractices and dealing with the culprits. This is one important way of safeguarding the integrity and credibility of all the qualifications on the Umalusi sub-framework of qualifications,” Rakometsi said.

Dealing with problematic examination questions

Meanwhile, Umalusi has apologised for the errors found in question papers, saying such errors cannot be justified and are therefore regrettable.

Rakometsi stressed that Umalusi remains concerned about some of the questions that were found problematic in some subjects during this examination cycle.

“Umalusi wishes to apologise profusely for these errors in question papers. The South African public must find comfort in the fact that Umalusi, as a Quality Council, has tried and tested methods to remedy the situation, where such unfortunate errors are detected late in the question paper.

“Our tried and tested approaches ensure that no learner is disadvantaged by the error in the question paper.  Mitigating measures are implemented either during marking or during the standardisation meetings,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the decision handed down by the South Gauteng High Court Division to interdict the private prosecution brought against him by former President Jacob Zuma.

The former President has instituted a private prosecution against President Ramaphosa and alleges that the president is an “accessory after the fact” in the case against prosecutor Advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.

The interdict means that the President will not have to appear in court on Thursday in the Downer and Maughan matter.

However, the court is yet to decide whether former President Zuma’s private prosecution is lawful.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the interdict is an affirmation of President Ramaphosa’s contentions with the private prosecution.

“The court affirmed all of the President’s key contentions, namely on jurisdiction of the court to hear the interdict application, the urgency of the matter against a court appearance date based on a prima facie unlawful nolle prosequi. The court further found in the President’s favour on the violation of rights to personal freedom based on a prima facie defective summons.

“The judgement confirms the positon of the President that the private prosecution is motivated by the ulterior purpose based on spurious and unfounded charges, constitutes an abuse of private prosecution provisions and demonstrates flagrant disregard for the law,” Magwenya said.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) in Mpumalanga has assured grant beneficiaries that the gold payment card is still valid and remains active, even though there is an expiring date.

“Beneficiaries must not panic or succumb to the hijacking by scammers and circulating fake news that the card will expire in April 2023,” Mpumalanga’s SASSA branch said on Monday.

The gold card can be used at the Postbank, ATMs and merchants.

“Beneficiaries are encouraged also to provide their private bank accounts to SASSA as another option of safe easy payment. SASSA will in due course communicate changes if there are any.

“Fraudsters who pretend to be SASSA officials and target old age people and people living with disability in their residents must be immediately reported to the local South African Police Service (SAPS),” SASSA said.

For more information, beneficiaries can contact the SASSA toll free number at 0800 60 10 11 or customer care helpdesk at (013) 754 – 9428/9363 from 8am – 4pm Monday to Friday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his travel plans to Davos, Switzerland, in order to deal with the current load shedding crisis in the country.

This was announced by the President’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, on Sunday evening.

The President was due to lead a South African delegation to Davos on Tuesday and participate in several events linked to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, including the Dialogue on Economics of Women’s Health and the Annual Welcome Dinner hosted by Professor Klaus and Hilde Schwab.

“Due to the ongoing energy crisis, President Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his working visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Currently, the President is convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in Parliament, NECCOM [National Energy Crisis Committee] and the Eskom board,” Magwenya said.

The spokesperson said President Ramaphosa is expected to hold several briefing sessions regarding the power crisis.

“President Cyril Ramaphosa has already engaged with the leadership of Eskom and National Energy Crisis Committee (NECCOM) and those meetings will continue. More briefing sessions to key stakeholders will take place during this coming week,” Magwenya said.

The electricity supply crisis at the power utility reached crisis levels last week when the power utility announced that it would implement Stage 6 load shedding until further notice after 11 generating units broke down in one morning.

Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has implored the KwaZulu-Natal provincial and local government, Umgeni Water Board and the private sector to work together to ensure water security in the province.

Minister Mchunu was speaking during an event on recommissioning of aqueduct 1 and reservoir 3 at the Durban Heights’ Umgeni Water Treatment Works in the eThekwini Municipality.

Mchunu was joined by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government delegation led by Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and the Umgeni Water delegation.

The engagement follows the meeting that took place in December last year, where a multi-disciplinary team were set up to deal with water services issues in the eThekwini Metro and the rest of the province.

“This will provide us with an opportunity to get an update on the progress made in activating some of the decisions taken during those meetings. A technical team was also set to conduct assessments on the needs of the city and will enable us to come up with a way forward on what needs an urgent priority,” said Mchunu.

On the recommissioned repaired infrastructure, the Minister expressed satisfaction towards Umgeni Water for completing the refurbishment of aqueduct 1 on time, which will now bring back up to 350 ml/d of potable water to the residents of Durban North and surroundings who have been experiencing intermittent water cuts since last year’s floods and the subsequent refurbishment.

“I would like to express my gratitude to Umgeni for a job well done, aqueduct 1 is fully repaired, and we are excited to be commissioning it.”

This means that 90 ml/d of raw water will now flow from the dam through to the reservoir.

“This is good news as it means the water supply will be restored. Now we are looking forward to the completion of Aqueduct 2 at the end of June as per your schedule so that it also increases the volume of the much-needed water to the communities,” Mchunu said.

The Minister has also urged the leaders to caution residents to refrain from building infrastructure on servitudes and riverbanks to prevent future tragedies experienced during the floods.

“What we witnessed in April last year was sheer horror, it is something that we do not want to see ever again in our lifetime. Therefore, we would like to urge you as leaders of these communities to engage with the residents to move away from building on top of pipes and near floodplains, as this will endanger their lives and also prevent us from carrying out our work of repairs effectively in cases like now,” Mchunu added.

Dube-Ncube expressed her appreciation to the teams that worked on the repairs led by Umgeni Water under the guidance of the Department of Water and Sanitation for working tirelessly to make this day a reality.

“We appeal to residents, industries, and businesses to play their part by paying for water provision so that we can maintain and expand our water infrastructure. Let us repair leaks in our homes and report those that need to be attended by the municipality, conserve and use water sparingly, understanding that water is a critical but scarce resource,” said Dube-Ncube.

The infrastructure was recently refurbished by Umgeni Water, as the implementing agent.

The aqueduct 1 and 2 were severely damaged by rock falls on six sites due to torrential rains that caused flooding and massive landslides.

In his closing remarks, Mchunu spoke about the Hazelmere Dam wall expansion project that is nearing its completion, the construction of Smithfield and Ngwadini dams in the upper uMkhomazi, as part of the bigger Umkhomazi Bulk Water Supply Scheme to further augment the current supply of water.