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The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has reiterated its commitment to resolving the ongoing industrial action with organised labour.

SARS staff have been on strike since May over a wage negotiation impasse.

In May, SARS said it did not have the resources to meet the labour demand of CPI plus 7%.

After engaging with organised labour, SARS made a proposal to reach a final settlement.

This included an across-the-board increase of 1.5% for permanent employees in the bargaining unit, backdated to 1 April 2022.

In a statement on Wednesday, SARS said this was on condition that should the broader public sector negotiations be resolved at an increase of higher than the 1.5%, National Treasury will accordingly make additional funding available towards the settlement agreement.

“SARS will be guided by this, and adjust its offer to its employees to be on equal terms,” it said.

Beyond this was a commitment to engage and conclude the broader Employee Value Proposition, which will include financial and non-financial elements; and other items tabled by the unions during the negotiations at the SARS National Bargaining Forum (NBF).

SARS said: “The slight adjustment to the across-the-board proposal is possible due to projected savings from a delay in recruitment against an initial plan. In the spirit of transparency and a commitment to resolving the dispute, SARS management has decided to allocate the savings towards the increased salary proposal.

“Parties agreed that the unions embark on a mandate-seeking process on this offer. Strike action was suspended by the Public Servants Association (PSA) during this mandate-seeking process, while NEHAWU [National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union] has not formally communicated its intentions to SARS.”

The revenue collector said it had noted with concern various isolated incidents of intimidation and violence committed by some strikers.

In this regard, SARS said it would will take necessary action against the strikers that are violating its Code of Conduct, and/or those who have broken the law.

“SARS reaffirms its commitment to respect the right of employees to strike. The strikers are enjoined by labour law provisions to exercise this right peacefully, and respect the rights of employees who choose to work, as well as taxpayers who seek to fulfil their obligations in law.

“SARS has put contingency measures in place to mitigate the negative impact on services as far as possible. We thank taxpayers for their patience during this challenging period, and apologise unreservedly for any delayed response to service requests. We request taxpayers and traders, as far as possible, to avoid coming to SARS branches, but to instead continue to interact with SARS through our self-help digital channels.

The movement of cargo from the land and sea ports of entry have continued without any hindrance.”

The revenue collector said it remains empathetic to the plight of many South Africans, including its own employees, who face economic hardships and rising prices of food and fuel.

“We remain sincerely appreciative to those SARS employees who, through this period, contribute to our success, and for their continued commitment to deliver the essential service in support of our mandate,” read the statement.

South Africa has logged 381 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Wednesday.

Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province after 135 were confirmed to have contracted the virus, followed by 106 in the Western Cape, 48 in KwaZulu-Natal and 24 each in Mpumalanga and the North West. This is while the rest of the provinces reported less than 20 cases.

According to the latest data, this means South Africa has 4 003 883 laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak.

Meanwhile, data shows that the death toll now stands at 101 976 after five more people lost their lives to COVID-19, of which three occurred in the past 48 hours.

“There has been an increase of eight hospital admissions in the past 24 hours,” the NICD said, adding that 1 024 patients are currently receiving hospital treatment for Coronavirus.

In addition, the Department of Health has now administered 37 162 754 COVID-19 jabs, of which 2 628 428 were given to children aged between 12 and 17.

According to the department, South Africa has 20 247 318 vaccinated adults and 18 461 433 who are fully jabbed.

Globally, as of 27 July 2022, there have been 570 005 017 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6 384 128 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Global view

Globally, the number of weekly cases reported during the week of 18 to 24 July 2022 was similar to the number reported last week, with over 6.6 million new cases.

Likewise, according to the WHO, the number of new weekly deaths was similar to the number reported during the previous week, with over 12 600 fatalities.

At the regional level, the number of new weekly cases increased in the Western Pacific region, the Eastern Mediterranean region and the South-East Asia region, while it decreased in Africa, Europe and America.

The number of new weekly deaths peaked in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Western Pacific region and the South East Asia region, while it dropped in Africa and Europe. Meanwhile, the region of the Americas was similar to the figure reported during the previous week.

“Current trends in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths should be interpreted with caution as several countries have been progressively changing COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected. Additionally, data are continuously updated to incorporate regular changes made by countries retrospectively,” the WHO said.

At the country level, the highest numbers of new weekly cases were reported from Japan (969 068), the United States (860 097), Germany (565 518), Italy (531 327), and France (508 620).

The highest numbers of new weekly deaths were reported from the United States (2 637), Brazil (1 396), Italy (952), Spain (810), and France (737).

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says it is committed to investigating credible allegations of corruption “without fear or favour”.

This after media reports that the unit is allegedly being used for nefarious political acts following proclamations authorising the SIU to investigate at least 14 state departments and entities.

SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, said reports that the SIU is being used for political gain is “misleading…and not based on facts”.

“[The] SIU refutes, with the contempt that it deserves, the inference that that it is being used as a political tool by anyone. The SIU work independently without any fear, favour or prejudice. All our investigations are allegation based as we get the allegation from whistle blowers,” he said.

Kganyago explained that proclamations signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa go through a rigorous process before even reaching the President’s desk.

“When the SIU receives the allegations from the whistleblowers, it goes through a vigorous process of assessment done in accordance with the legislation. Once the SIU is convinced that there is merit in the allegation, we then draft a proclamation that is taken through the process leading to the signing of the Proclamation by the President as required by law.

“It is incorrect to link the need and duty to investigate allegations of corruption and administration to politics. As the SIU, we have committed to the public that we will assess and investigate every allegation that is reported to the SIU without fear, favour or prejudice,” Kganyago said.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has urged employers to pay contributions and declare their workers every month, as required by law, to avoid delays with benefit applications and payments.

Speaking at an employer advocacy session held in Durban, UIF Provincial Support Director, Allan Ragavaloo, said the majority of normal benefit payments, including the special COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (COVID-19 TERS), were delayed due to the lack of up-to-date declarations by employers.

“If employers are 100% compliant with the fund’s legislation, as well as paying contributions and declaring their workers monthly, we would not experience significant delays with paying claims.

“The majority of the COVID-19 TERS payments were delayed due to the abundant lack of declarations by employers. If all employers had declared their workers to the UIF prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns, we would not have experienced delays with COVID-19 TERS payments,” Ragavaloo said.

Ragavaloo highlighted the error codes that impede COVID-19 TERS payments, which include incorrect identity and passport numbers, failed bank verifications, no declarations and salary discrepancies.

“I am encouraging employers to log into the COVID-19 TERS portal on uifecc.labour.gov.za/covid19, and if you have any errors, please look at the solutions on the system and rectify the errors so we can process and pay the claim,” Ragavaloo said.

He also stressed that employers who are aggrieved about their claims being rejected are entitled to follow the fund’s appeal process.

UIF’s Acting ICT Director, Viwe Gqoli, said the fund had a responsibility to pay all valid COVID-19 TERS claims that are currently on the system.

However, Gqoli said the onus is on the employers to correct the errors because the fund is not permitted to implement corrections on their behalf.

Employers urged to finalise claims

Gqoli said the UIF is trying to close the COVID-19 TERS system and advised employers to finalise their claims.

“Currently, we do not have a backlog on new COVID-19 TERS applications in the system. Instead, we regularly re-run claims that are already in the system hoping that errors have been corrected, but we receive the same outcome of errors. Therefore, we suggest that you correct them before we close the system,” Gqoli said.

He also revealed that the UIF had disbursed R9.2 billion through COVID-19 TERS and R15 million for Workers Affected By Unrest (WABU) in KwaZulu-Natal respectively, bringing relief to thousands of workers affected by COVID– 19 lockdowns and the July 2021 unrest.

Protect uFiling login details

Meanwhile, Deputy Director: Fraud, Sibongiseni Mpanza stressed that employers must always safeguard their uFiling login details.

“Giving your uFiling credentials to third parties or other people is similar to people having your bank card and pin because they may commit fraud which could lead to your company being blacklisted by National Treasury,” Mpanza warned.

The next employer session will be held on 28 July 2022 at the Ascot Wedding and Conference Venue in Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, from 9am.

Government continues to solicit input from many organisations and professionals to assist in identifying individuals who can come back to Eskom and help to get the old power stations back in order and mentor younger managers.

This as the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on Thursday moved to clarify its call for skilled engineers to aid Eskom.

Delivering the department’s Budget Vote in May this year, DPE Minister, Pravin Gordhan, referred to the lack of engineering and technical skills at state-owned enterprises, including Eskom.

“The experienced engineers and technical skills were mainly hollowed out as a result of State Capture and corruption over the years,” the department explained.

“Solidary wrote to the Minister to offer its assistance in identifying skilled personnel.”

According to the department, before and after the Budget Vote speech, there have been similar offers of assistance, one example being the establishment of the Ministerial Review Task Team.

“To repeat, the Minister did not approach Solidarity. He simply made a call to all organisations, including the social partners, for skilled personnel, regardless of race to avail themselves to be placed at Eskom.”

According to News24, the union has a list of more than 1 000 skilled people who are willing to assist, which will be narrowed to 100 of the best. The department said that various professional and business organisations have responded and offered to assist.

“It is a pity that Solidarity and some in the media are politicising this issue amid a crisis that government is working very hard to address.”

Now is the time to work together, without any partisan interests, and assist and support an earnest group of power station managers to improve the performance of the power stations, said the department.

Meanwhile, the department said Eskom would follow its internal human resources policies and processes to ensure that the appropriate engineers with the best skills and experience are hired.

Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, has directed the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) board to deal decisively with corruption and malfeasance through effective consequence management.

“This includes contracts previously identified as irregular, which include Swifambo and Siyangena contracts. Where corruption has been identified such as the insurance scam reported by management, these must be investigated and decisive action taken without delay,” Mbalula said on Thursday in a statement.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation into irregular contracts at PRASA identified 44 employees in wrong-doing and consequences management was recommended in this regard.

PRASA has since taken the following actions against implicated employees, considering that 11 have since resigned and are no longer in the employ of PRASA.

Thirteen cases are in various stages of the disciplinary process; one employee was dismissed; one resigned; four were given 12 months final written warning; one was given a six month written warning; one employee is on suspension; eleven employees were found not guilty; and one employee was not disciplined, because there was no basis for discipline.

“In relation to the irregular Siyangena contract, three senior executives were implicated by the Zondo Commission. One such employee has since left the employ of PRASA and another resigned before disciplinary process could be initiated, while one has since been dismissed,” the Minister said.

With regards to the Swifambo contract, six senior executives are going through a disciplinary process. The Werkmans investigation, premised on the Public Protector’s “Derailed” report further identified irregularities, which were referred to the SIU for further investigation.

Consequent to the SIU report, five employees were implicated. Four of these employees were dismissed and there was insufficient evidence against one of these. One of the dismissed employees was reinstated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), but PRASA is taking the matter on review at the labour court.

From the Public Protector’s “Derailed” report, four employees were dismissed, but two were reinstated by the CCMA.

Ghost workers

The Minister said Operation Ziveze head count must be completed and identified ghost workers terminated from the payroll and culpable officials disciplined.

Project Ziveze was initiated by PRASA to physically verify all PRASA employees.

“With the identification of 3 000 employees who could not be verified their salaries were frozen. Since the freezing of salaries, more employees from those previously not verified came forward.

“A forensic investigation is currently underway on the possible ghost employees and how these found their way into the payroll system. Once the forensic investigation is concluded, action will be taken against those implicated,” the Minister said.

He said Requisite Supply Chain Management capacity must be built as a matter of urgency to ensure that procurement processes are not hindered by capacity challenges and adjudication of tenders is in line with the prescripts.

The Minister encouraged the board to expedite the filling of vacancies including the vacancy of the Group CEO.

“The approved security plan must be fully implemented with reinforcements of technological interventions such as drones and armoured vehicles deployed in the identified corridors,” Mbalula said.

Reconstruction and recovery underway in various corridors

On Wednesday, the Minister undertook an oversight inspection on the PRASA reconstruction and recovery work in various corridors in Gauteng.

The Minister noted the significant progress made by PRASA in relation to a number of areas identified as priority for the recovery of commuter rail corridors.

“The corridor recovery programme is making steady progress. This work must move at a brisker pace to alleviate the plight of those who rely on commuter rail for their livelihood.

Five of the 10 priority corridors have since been recovered and services are running.

“In Gauteng, the Mabopane and Saulsville lines to Pretoria as well as the Vereeniging to Union lines are now operational. In the Western Cape, the Northern Corridor between Cape Town and Bellville, the Southern Line to Simonstown as well as the Cape Flats line are operational.

“Plans to reopen sections of Central Line illegally occupied are at advanced stages and this we plan to do next week. In KwaZulu-Natal services have resumed on the Merebank to Durban and KwaMashu to Durban lines.

“In the Eastern Cape services have resumed in Gqeberha and East London using the diesel locomotives. In expediting the infrastructure rehabilitation work in some of the priority corridors, three lines have been temporarily closed for major repairs on the Naledi -Johannesburg, Johannesburg – Leralla and Pretoria – Pienaarspoort lines,” the Minister said.

Progress on these lines remain on course to meeting the planned deadlines for service resumption. PRASA has committed to returning the 10 priority corridors to service by the end of the calendar year.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has welcomed the arrests of a businessman and his daughter in the Eastern Cape on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering to the value of R4.3 million related to a personal protective equipment (PPE) tender.

Makhonzandile Lukhope and his daughter Naledi Lukhope were on Wednesday arrested by the Hawks on the charges for the tender awarded by the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE).

The tender was awarded to Amabongwe Building and Civil Contractors CC (“Amabongwe”) and Tsunami Civils.

SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, said: “The pair appeared before the Zwelitsha Magistrates Court (on Wednesday). They were both subsequently released on bail of R 4000 and R 2000 each. The matter has been postponed to 19 August 2022, Regional Court 5 in East London.”

The arrests followed an SIU investigation authorized by the Proclamation R23 of 2020 by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of corruption, maladministration, malpractice and payments made by State institutions relating to PPE procurement, together with the conduct of State employees.

Kganyago said the SIU investigation revealed that Lukhope snr, through his company Amabongwe, allegedly committed fraud through a misrepresentation and with an intention to defraud the ECDoE.

“He unlawfully submitted a Contract of Lease, which had the effect of misrepresenting to the ECDoE that Amabongwe was operational in the Eastern Cape Province and had a business in the Province. This led to the ECDoE into awarding a contract to Amabongwe in the amount of R1.9 million.

“Mr Lukhope also failed to disclose interest in Tsunami Civils, which belongs to his daughter, Miss Lukhope.

“Furthermore, the SIU investigation revealed that Ms Lukhope, through her company Tsunami Civils, allegedly misrepresented and defrauded the ECDoE by unlawfully submitting a Contract of Lease, which had the effect of misrepresenting to the ECDoE that Tsunami Civils was operational in the Eastern Cape Province and had a business in the Province.”

Through the “deceit”, the daughter’s company received a total payment in the amount of R2.4 million, causing actual prejudice to the ECDoE.

“All tenders awarded to the Lukhopes were restricted for businesses operating in the Eastern Cape,” he said.

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy, has announced initiatives for further streamlining the environmental assessment process for renewable energy projects in South Africa.

The initiatives, announced during a virtual stakeholder engagement held on Thursday, will improve the efficiency of the environmental assessment processes to facilitate the development of Solar PV (photovoltaic) and associated infrastructure in areas of low to medium environmental sensitivity.

Creecy said the initiatives to be implemented will exempt developers from obtaining environmental authorisation for certain listed or specified activities for the development of solar facilities.

“These initiatives are in addition to the interventions introduced since 2014 to streamline EAs related to renewable energy projects like gazetting of 11 Renewable Development Zones (REDZ), five electricity transmission corridors and gas corridors, as well as the implementation of a Generic Environmental Management Programmes for grid and substation development and expansion,” Creecy said.

In addition, she said, gazetted Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs) are processed in terms of the legislated 57 days as per the Infrastructure Development Act.

Creecy said the Standard for the Development and Expansion of Power lines and Substations in identified geographical areas will be gazetted for implementation by the end of July 2022.

“Based on compliance with this Standard the development and expansion of power lines and substations will be excluded from the need to obtain an EA prior to commencement when developed in areas of “low” and “medium” environmental sensitivity as identified by the national environmental screening tool, and within the five strategic electricity corridors,” Creecy said.

She noted that the exclusions will be subject to a registration process, which will allow for compliance monitoring.

The Minister will in August 2022, gazette two notices calling for public comment that are aimed at simplifying the deployment of Solar PV facilities.

“The registration process will reduce timeframes from 300 days and 147 days respectively to approximately 60 days from inception of the project,” Creecy said.

The exclusion of Solar PV facilities from an EA based on compliance with an adopted environmental instrument will be subject to:

• The appointment of an independent environmental assessment practitioner and of specialists (agricultural, terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity; cultural heritage and paleontology);
• Confirmation of the environmental sensitivity rating through inspection by the various specialists and the preparation of a site sensitivity verification report by the environmental assessment practitioner which confirms the sensitivity rating and compliance with the allowable development limits; and
• The preparation of an environmental management programme by the specialists and the environmental assessment practitioner.

It will also include the signing of a declaration that the site sensitivity verification report is a true representation of the findings and is of medium or low environmental sensitivity for all themes; and that there is an environmental management programme in place and that the developer will implement the mitigation measures identified in the environmental management programme.

Creecy said additional planned interventions to simplify the environmental authorisation process for renewable energy application will ensure that environmental sensitivities on a potential site are identified alongside the introduction of a rating of site sensitivities in line with the screening tool requirements.

“These areas will be mapped and located on the environmental screening tool and a generic environmental management programme (EMPr) will be developed for each site,” Creecy said.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has welcomed a North Gauteng High Court judgment dismissing the Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation’s (CRRC) application to have SARS return money taken from its bank accounts.

This, SARS said in a statement, was in terms of third party appointments under section 179(6) of the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011 as part of SARS efforts to collect outstanding taxes.

“Section 179 of the Tax Administration Act empowers SARS to collect a taxpayer’s outstanding tax debt from a third party who holds or owes, or will hold or owe, money for or to the taxpayer.

“Section 179(6) empowers SARS to do so without first issuing a letter of demand for the tax debt to the taxpayer if issuing the demand would prejudice the collection of the debt,” said the revenue service.

It said the positive judgment protects SARS’ legal authority to use section 179(6) to collect outstanding taxes and represents a significant victory for SARS in its ongoing tax collection and compliance efforts, especially considering the country’s current constrained economic circumstances.

The conduct of non-compliant taxpayers deprives government of legitimate resources to the detriment of both the State and the South African public who rely on basic services from government. SARS will continue to pursue its mandate of collecting all revenue due, without fear, favour or prejudice.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter commended SARS for acting swiftly to recover taxes that were due to the fiscus.

He said, “any delay in acting with such speed would have seen the funds repatriated abroad, with little prospects of recovering the debt owed to SARS”.

“Furthermore, this proves that SARS is on the right path to enhancing its ability and capability to deter non-compliant behaviour and the accompanying sense of impunity on the part of certain taxpayers. This is a major victory for the organisation and citizens of the country.”

The Commissioner added that SARS is determined to work with other law enforcement agencies to follow up on the Zondo Commission’s recommendations in areas that fall within the legal framework that governs tax administration in the country.

“This determination to work co-operatively with all relevant agencies reflects SARS’ commitment to spare no effort to hold those accountable for State Capture where tax crimes were committed,” he said.

Police have mobilised the 72-hour activation plan following the killing of Moses Maluleke, the Mayor of the Collins Chabane Local Municipality, in Limpopo.

National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, on Friday directed Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, to mobilise maximum resources to apprehend those responsible for the murder.

South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said the 56-year-old mayor was shot dead on Thursday evening at his home. His 18-year-old son was wounded during the attack.

She said: “According to reports, three unknown suspects entered the Mayor’s home in Saselamani village at 7pm where they demanded money from the deceased mayor and his son. When the pair could not comply with the suspects’ instructions, they were allegedly shot at by the trio.

“The mayor succumbed to his injuries on scene and his son survived. The son was transported to a nearby hospital where he is receiving further medical care.”

A case of murder and attempted murder has been registered.

“Police have since launched a manhunt for the group of suspects,” said Mathe.

She said members of the public who know or may have witnessed what transpired are encouraged to report to the Saselamani Police station or call the Crime Stop Hotline number on 0860010111 to assist police investigations.