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State power utility Eskom says it is concerned with violent attacks on its technicians carrying out critical inspections and repairs in public spaces.

At least three separate incidents of violence and robbery against Eskom technicians have been reported over the past week, with one resulting in a stabbing.

“Two technicians were attacked by three armed perpetrators while they were inspecting meter boxes in Mabopane Block E. The perpetrators demanded their wallets and cell phones, and took off in a vehicle without a registration number. In a separate incident in Mabopane, a technician was also robbed of a cell phone and money at a substation.

“On [Wednesday], another technician was stabbed while he and his colleagues were installing meters in Nomzamo, Soweto. The technician, who was stabbed in the face and chest, was treated at a medical facility and is recovering at home,” Eskom said.

Eskom Gauteng Safety, Health, Environment, Risk and Quality Manager, Kith Maitisa, said the attacks on the power supplier’s technicians cause both physical and mental damage.

“We condemn such acts of violence against our employees in Gauteng, where they are often assaulted, intimidated and placed in extreme situations such as being held hostage by some community members.

“This display of aggression and violence by communities often leads to employees suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. It also results in delays in repair work and project completion, further extending the period that residents spend without electricity.

“We have reported all these incidents to the [police] and we will co-operate with the police to assist with the investigations,” Maitisa said.

Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, is today expected to visit the Mthatha police station in the Eastern Cape,  following service delivery concerns raised by the public this week.

The management of the South African Police Service (SAPS), led by National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, will accompany the Minister.

The visit also comes at a time when Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene, ordered a manhunt for the murderer of  Namhla Mtwa who was shot and killed inside her car by an unknown suspect while she was arriving in her Sidwadwa based home in Mthatha.

The 35-year-old sustained gunshot wounds to her upper body and was declared dead at the scene.

“The brutal killing of Mtwa has again shone the spotlight on gender-based violence and femicide, a crime that remains a priority for the SAPS,” said Lirandzu Themba, Police Ministry spokesperson.

Mtwa was killed in April.

This week gruesome images and text messages between her and an alleged lover circulated on social media portraying physical and emotional abuse she allegedly endured at the hands of the man.

The details have sparked calls for the murder to be solved. On Wednesday, hundreds of people marched to the Mthatha police station, alleging that the station was lax in dealing with cases of gender-based violence.

South Africa has recorded 5 284 new COVID-19 cases which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 941 045.

This increase represents an 17.3% positivity rate.

The National Department of Health has recorded 41 deaths, and of these, six occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours and this brings the total fatalities to 101 043 to date.

According to the department, there has been an increase of 113 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

To date, 25 138 638 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (32%) followed by Western Cape (28%).

KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 13%, Eastern Cape accounted for 9%, Free State accounted for 6%, North West accounted for 4%, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape each accounted for 3% and Limpopo accounted for 2%.

The cumulative number of cases by province are as follows:

Gauteng 1672, Western Cape 1498, Northern Cape 179, North West 215, Free State 298, KwaZulu-Natal 661, Mpumalanga 167, Limpopo  94 and Eastern Cape 500.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged taxpayers to avoid coming to its offices amid industrial action by staff over wage demands.

On the first day of the strike on Wednesday, SARS said customs operations at ports of entry, especially borders, were without major interruptions.

In a statement, the revenue collector said all customs border posts are operational with contingencies in place mitigating the impact of the industrial action.

Due to the wide range of online services, disruption to the operations was minimal, it said.

The revenue service will continue to monitor developments over the next few days.

“Our website will continually be updated to advise the public on how to engage with SARS to fulfil their required obligations.

“SARS Customs will continue to rely on the support of other government agencies across all border posts, especially from the South African Police to ensure that there is continued operation,” reads the statement.

On the strike, SARS said organised labour had opted to embark on industrial action despite concerted efforts by SARS to avert the strike.

SARS believes that its offer, to which it has received no response, is the best under the prevailing socio-economic challenges facing the country. “SARS is also limited by the resources available to it from the funding grant,” the revenue collector said.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said he understood and empathised with the financial challenges faced by SARS employees and the general public.

He said: “In fact, all South Africans, especially millions who are unemployed, suffer the impact of the current economic climate. SARS is a microcosm of the broader society and the sentiment of discontent is understandable, especially when they have a sense that the current situation is unlikely to change in the short term.

“Employees do not willingly withhold their labour because that in itself has a financial impact on them under already tough times. One has to understand though, that when workers feel frustrated they feel that by going on strike is the last resort for them to be heard.”

He said SARS recognised the constitutional right of workers to strike and express themselves within the provisions of the law.

“The important work of SARS has to continue and we will take whatever steps necessary to balance the impact of the strike with our responsibility to discharge the important responsibility of providing important services to taxpayers and collecting all tax revenues due.

“This very revenue pays the salaries of government employees and provides the necessary resources to provide public goods and services. The work of SARS is transformative and enables government to build a capable that fosters sustainable economic growth and social development in the interest and well-being of all South Africans.”

No work, no pay

SARS said it had explained to employees that the principle of “no work, no pay” would apply, and urged union leadership to give a formal response to its latest offer in order to settle the stalemate.

Kieswetter said accepting the SARS proposal was “the best we can do under the current funding constraints”.

“SARS simply do not have the resources to meet the labour demand of CPI plus 7%.  I understand that our offer is not what our employees want, but it holds the real possibility of resolving the current industrial action at a time where employees in the entire public service are affected,” he said.

He said the revenue service realised that remuneration and benefits has not kept up with inflation in recent years.

“In a country that is faced with high unemployment and other socio-economic challenges, SARS employees already have security of tenure, as well as market related salaries and benefits.

“This offer, whilst not addressing the demands of employees, will provide additional relief to minimise the impact of the current economic conditions. The doors of negotiations remain open and we are ready to work with our colleagues in labour to look at ways to improve the overall value proposition to our employees.”

SARS appealed to labour to remain peaceful in their protest and to respect picketing rules as specified in the CCMA Picketing Rules issued.

Police Minister, Bheki Cele, says anti-gang units and police stations that fall within provinces that rank the highest in terms of reported crimes have been allocated additional resources for the year ahead.

The Minister said this when he tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini-plenary of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“Provinces with the highest incidence of reported crime have been prioritised in terms of the allocation of baseline budgets.

“The top 30 High Contact Crime Weight Stations have been prioritised in terms of resources, which includes an additional budget allocation of R62 million, while R25 million additional allocation will be directed to safety and security at police stations.

“KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Limpopo provinces received the biggest allocation of funds in this regard,” he said.

Cele said a further R26 million additional funding will continue to capacitate the anti- gang units.

“The Western Cape has the lion share of this budget, with R10 million allocated towards preventing, combating and investigating gang violence in that province.”

Cele said the budget will support continued efforts and operational plans to deal with stations with high murder and attempted murder statistics, including other violent crimes.

“The additional budget allocations, over and above the baseline budget, must make a difference in Umlazi, Inanda, Plessislaer, Harare, Kraaifontein, Delft, Mfuleni, Khayelitsha, Kagiso, Thohoyandou and Lusikisiki and others.”

He said station commanders and their members, including Provincial Commissioners and their management teams will have to occupy the streets more often than before, and saturate these places with continuous crime prevention and multidisciplinary operations.

R100 million to support GBVF programmes

Cele said, meanwhile, that an additional budget of R100 million will be allocated to provinces to support all programmes related to gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) action plans, and family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) units, including the Top 30 stations.

“Continuous breakthrough in GBVF related crimes boosts public confidence in policing.

“True to our Gender-based Violence and Sexual Offences Action Plan, R1.3 billion is allocated to baseline activities related to the GBV and resourcing of FCS units.”

Cele said R30 million will be geared towards the servicing of youth, children and vulnerable groups including awareness campaigns.

eThekwini Municipality Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, has vowed that the municipality will do everything in its power to assist the families in searching for missing municipal employees.

The two municipal employees went missing and presumed drowned following the heavy rains and flood over the weekend.

The two men are believed to have been on duty over the weekend when they went missing, and their vehicle has been spotted in a river near Osindisweni.

According to Kaunda, the city learnt of the incident on Monday, and the search and rescue operation commenced.

“The vehicle they were travelling in was spotted. Search and rescue teams then went into the water to investigate. Unfortunately, there were no occupants inside.

“The team then resolved to search around the vehicle. However, due to strong currents that were posing a serious threat to the lives of the divers, the search operation had to be aborted,” Kaunda said.

The Mayor has assured the families of the employees that the city’s search and rescue teams have been looking for them and the team will not stop until they are found.

“[On Tuesday], the teams embarked on an aerial search with no success. The search is continuing, and the city will keep the families abreast of developments,” Kaunda said.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says the arrest of four people linked to alleged tender fraud in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is a continuation of the corruption busting unit’s efforts to recover money stolen from the public purse.

This after four people – Jan Mathebula, Solomon Mojela, Romeo Malope and Prudence Mohale – were arrested and appeared in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court for allegedly colluding to defraud the department of at least R2.8 million through corrupt tenders.

SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, said the arrests follow an investigation which found that employees in the department’s supply chain management office “colluded with businesses, friends and family members to defraud the department through cover quoting”.

“The SIU’s investigation revealed a trend of certain contractors being awarded more contracts than others. This disparate award of contracts was underpinned by a practice that indicated that entities linked to certain individuals or entities appeared to quote in collusion with each other.

“The invitation of suppliers onto the database of suppliers appears to have created an environment where the database is populated with various entities all linked to a single individual, who is the ultimate beneficiary of the contract award,” Kganyago said.

He added at least six other people are expected to be arrested – including the mastermind behind the scheme.

“The analysis of the data from the department revealed that 11 entities linked to one individual submitted quotations to the department, thus misrepresenting to the department that they were obtaining independent quotations. These actions led the department to believe that the markets were dictating the prices being charged, when in fact the prices were being determined by the collusive actions of the 11 entities.

“The effect of this practice was to ensure that the competitiveness and fairness element relating to public procurement was circumvented, allowing the suppliers, rather than a competitive and cost effective process, to dictate the charged prices,” Kganyago said.

Mathebula, Mojela, Malope and Mohale have each been granted R2 000 bail, with the case postponed to 17 June for further investigation.

Police Minister, Bheki Cele, says the fight against crime requires a healthy relationship between the police and the communities they serve.

The Minister dedicated his Budget Vote speech on Tuesday to rebuilding and strengthening community relations in the fight against crime when he appeared before a mini-plenary of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“We are advocating for progressive change. Communities must be able to say these are our police and the police must equally embrace communities and continue to serve and protect,” he said.

Cele said Community Policing Forums (CPFs), business and the police must establish and maintain a partnership with the community, and promote communication between the police and the community.

“[They] furthermore [must] promote cooperation and ensure that the police fulfil the needs of the community in respect of policing, improve the service of the police to the community, improve transparency and accountability of the SAPS, and promote joint problem identification and problem solving.

“The philosophy of community policing is not new. In fact, it has been proven that the more involved law enforcement is with the residents they are sworn to protect, the more residents can help police achieve their goals of reducing crime.”

To date, there are currently 772 functional CPFs countrywide.

Cele said the death of over 300 people during the week-long lawlessness in July last year will remain one of the darkest times in the country’s democratic history.

He said the unrest called for clear reforms of security services and at the same time, exposed the divide between the police and the communities they serve.

“The police needed the community and the community needed the police. But it was clear community policing was at its weakest and there was little to no trust between the police and the communities.

“The July 2021 unrests that engulfed South Africa posed a serious security threat to the country’s economy and highlighted some security gaps in intelligence-driven collaboration between the private security industry and other government law enforcement agencies.”

The Minister said in responding decisively to the July unrests, a total of 19 instigators of violence were arrested including those who meted out untold brutality to another race group, under the disguise of defending their community and property during the unrest.

“To date, 36 suspects have been arrested for their alleged respective roles in the murder of 35 people and 31 people have been arrested for attempted murder in Phoenix.

“Meanwhile, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority [PSiRA] has conducted an analysis to determine what went wrong and what needs to be improved in terms of the private security industry’s involvement as a force-multiplier in the fight against crime and the protection of the country’s economy.

“PSiRA believes that a concerted effort in building relations between the industry and other law enforcement agencies in terms of information gathering and sharing will go a long way in preventing similar incidents in the future.”

Cele said in line with the many improvements to follow, the collaboration of PSiRA, SAPS and the State Security Agency will see the authority launching a mandatory counter-terrorism awareness campaign in the form of 40 hours of training for the private security industry in the next two quarters of this financial year.

“PSiRA and SAPS will collaborate to ensure a practical working relationship between the private security industry and State Security agencies, in line with the established and existing partnership frameworks.”

Employment and Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi, says the Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme has paid out R14 million to employees impacted by the civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last year.

He said this when he tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini plenary of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“In response to the July riots, TERS funded another programme: Workers Affected by Unrest (WABU). To date, over 4 000 employees were paid the relief at an expenditure of about R14 million,” he said.

Nxesi said more WABU payments will be made upon completion of the due diligence process.

The Minister said, meanwhile, that in response to the jobs crisis, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has created and saved jobs through investment with the Industrial Development Corporation to the tune of R5 billion over five years.

This as Stats SA announced in March this year that unemployment had risen by 0.4 percentage points to 35.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

“The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) through the UIF Fund has currently approved 41 qualifying transactions totalling R2.3 billion, of which R130 million was for companies in distress and relating to job preservation.

“These transactions support SMEs, black industrialists, women-owned companies and start-ups.”

Nxesi said through the UIF Labour Activation Programme (LAP), the department contributes to training of the unemployed as part of government initiatives to stimulate the creation of jobs in the labour market.

“For the 2022/2023 financial year, the UIF’s LAP has set aside a budget of R3.1 billion to fund the Training of the Unemployed, normal TERS, and Business Turnaround and Reengineering.

“LAP programmes facilitate the training of recruits, and the creation and sustaining of jobs.

“Through the Training of the Unemployed programme, the fund implements projects with implementing partners, with employment guarantees at the end of the term of the project.”

Nxesi said to this end, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has already absorbed over 14 000 participants from one of the projects funded through the Labour Activation Programme.

“The Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme provides support to distressed companies that seek to retain their employees.

“Under the scheme, the UIF funds 75% of an employee’s basic salary up to a maximum amount of R17 119 per month, for a maximum period of twelve months.”

Nxesi said the Business Turnaround and Recovery Programme is funded by the Unemployment Insurance Fund to provide support to enterprises facing economic distress and initiatives aimed at preventing job losses.

“Of importance is that the Labour Activation Programme has taken a strategic direction that training of the unemployed should be demand-led and lead to employment at the end of the training period. So, the employers and partners who participate in the programme commit to ensuring that the learners will be absorbed.

“In the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period, the LAP has planned for 75 000 participants in programmes that enhance their employability.”

Five suspects will on Wednesday appear before the Orkney Magistrate’s Court on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.

The sixth suspect is under police guard at a hospital where he was arrested.

Aged between 37 and 45, the six were arrested simultaneously in Johannesburg, Vryburg, Orkney and Klerksdorp on Tuesday for alleged fraud, corruption and money laundering worth approximately R2.5 million.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the probe emanated from the VBS investigation wherein investigators noticed suspicious transactions on the account of Dr Kenneth Kaunda Municipality.

“Further probing allegedly revealed that between 2017 and 2019, money was allegedly continuously deposited from the Dr Kenneth Kaunda Municipal accounts into the accounts of three municipality officials,” she said.

Mogale said one of the three officials, who had since left the municipality, would allegedly routinely make payments into the bank accounts of his wife and brother.

“He reportedly also routed more funds into an account belonging a woman in Johannesburg allegedly under the guise of a tender that was awarded. The woman would subsequently send the money back to him,” she said.

National Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya expressed gratitude on a job well done to both the investigation and prosecution in ensuring that these suspects are brought before court.

“No efforts will be spared in ridding the country of corruption and related activities,” General Lebeya said.