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The Portfolio Committee on Police says it is steadfast that the executive will be held accountable for security lapses during the looting, violence and destruction of property that affected KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Concluding its oversight visit to Gauteng on Wednesday, the committee said it would make a follow-up and ensure that members of the executive are held to account, as per Section 92 (2) of the Constitution.

Committee Chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson said Members of the Executive are accountable collectively and individually to Parliament, and it would be a “dereliction of duty on our part as Members of Parliament if we do not ensure thorough accountability”.

“It is on this basis that we will be suggesting to sister committees within the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster to hold joint meetings to get to the bottom of security lapses during the violence and looting.

“The committee believes that a thorough accountability process is essential in preventing the recurrence of the violence in future. The proposal that the committee will make will include a discussion on the functionality of the intelligence apparatus, budgetary shortfalls, as well as collaboration within the cluster,” Joemat-Pettersson said.

Budget cut puts additional pressure on police

The chairperson added that the committee believes that the R11.8 billion cut to the police budget is the root cause of the slow response to looting and destruction of property.

“The acknowledgement that the police were overwhelmed as a result of the lack of human resources and equipment can only be addressed through consideration of the police’s budget,” she said.

Due to budget cuts for two successive years, the police were unable to undertake their annual intake of 7 000 new trainees into the South African Police Service (SAPS).

This, according to the committee, places additional pressure on the police “given the huge size of the population they serve”.

Investigating the police involved in looting

The committee called for the prosecution of the police officers who were arrested after being involved in looting.

Joemat-Pettersson urged the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to complete the investigations urgently.

“Also, internal disciplinary proceedings must be instituted to rid the service of rotten apples. We can only regain the credibility of the police through a strong and clear action against rotten apples,” she said.

CPFs commended for saving businesses

Meanwhile, the committee commended the community policing forums (CPFs) for their efforts in trying to save businesses in the face of threats of physical harm.

“We appreciate the work done by the CPFs, despite the many challenges within which they operate. We will engage with the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service and the SAPS to strengthen coordination, as CPFs are a critical pillar in fighting criminality,” Joemat-Pettersson said.

The committee also welcomed the restoration of calm and stability in Gauteng, and urged the communities to protect the public and private infrastructure to ensure, among other things, the continuation of economic activity in their areas.

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane, has refuted widespread reports concerning the number of bodies that are being kept at the Phoenix Medico-Legal Mortuary (MLM).

Contrary to reports that between 300 and 500 bodies are being processed, Simelane said the mortuary, which serves the wider eThekwini area, and not just Phoenix, is currently processing the mortal remains of 128 people.

“These bodies may not necessarily be linked to the civil unrest from last week,” Simelane said.

Speaking at the mortuary on Wednesday afternoon, the MEC revealed that the facility currently has 35 bodies that have not been identified.

She said her department decided to visit the facility to witness first-hand what is happening, following the outcry about the backlog in relation to families, who want the remains of their loved ones who perished during last week’s unrest.

“We were able to get a briefing on what has happened. I do want to indicate that as of this morning, we have a backlog of 128 bodies, but this backlog includes people who were killed or passed away elsewhere in incidents that are not necessarily related to the unrest.

“It also includes people who passed on in the different hospitals within the catchment area of Phoenix.

“Normally, this facility receives about 70 bodies a week, so when you compare the normal figures with what we currently have, you can clearly see that there is a steep increase. However, we are not in a position to indicate that all of those bodies are as a result of unrest,” Simelane said.

The MEC disputed reports that there are more than 300 bodies as a result of the unrest.

“So far, that is not true. It’s 128 bodies that we have received. But also, we cannot necessarily say all of them are as a result of the unrest (sic).”

Families with missing members called to identify bodies

Simelane called on families who have loved ones that are missing, and have not been able to detect their whereabouts, to come to Phoenix MLM, where they will be assisted with identification of bodies.

“We have 35 bodies in the facility that have not been identified by the families [and] for as long as families do not identify them, we are unable to process them, and can therefore not get post-mortems out.

“We are calling on all the families with people who are missing to come to our facility and identify them.

“I also want to indicate that we have put in place a programme together with the SAPS, whereby the families that are missing people don’t necessarily have to go to their nearest police station. They can just come here to Phoenix mortuary [where] there will be police on site from 7am to 3.30pm.

“For those who have safety concerns, we have an agreement with the SAPS, whereby they can contact General Chirwa on 079 5000 288, who will then facilitate their safe escorting to the facility and back,” Simelane said.

The MEC said due to the backlog caused by the number of additional bodies received, the department has identified and requested a number of pathologists from different facilities to come and assist at Phoenix Medico-Legal Mortuary.

“We are going to be utilising this facility and a few others so that we fast-track the process. We believe that by Friday, we would have concluded the backlog, and will then start with the bodies that have been coming in from Friday moving forward,” Simelane said.

There were 257 492 COVID-19 vaccine doses that were administered on Wednesday, the highest number of shots administered since the start of the inoculation rollout programme.

This means there is now a total of 5 831 389 administered jabs in South Africa, while 2 028 397 adults have been fully vaccinated.

According to the Department of Health, 73 225 people have signed up on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) in the past 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number to 6 440 450.

Meanwhile, 16 240 new COVID-19 infections have been detected in South Africa, bringing the number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 327 472.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the latest peak increase represents a 27.5% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (32%), followed by the Western Cape (21%) and KwaZulu-Natal (11%).

“The total number of cases today is higher than yesterday and higher than the average number of new cases per day over the seven preceding days,” the NICD said on Wednesday, adding that the seven-day moving average daily number of cases is still dropping.

In addition, 516 more people lost their lives due to COVID-19 complications, pushing the death toll to 68 192.

“There has been an increase of 831 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours,” the public health institute said.

This means there are 17 286 patients who are currently receiving treatment in hospitals across the country out of the 160 462 active cases.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of 21 July, there have been 191 148 056 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 4 109 303 deaths.

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, and the MEC for Transport and Public Works, Daylin Mitchell, have met with the management of Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) to ensure more public transport capacity is brought into the system.

According to the Premier, Golden Arrow CEO, Francois Meyer, advised him that the bus service is continuing to bring more of its fleet online.

This follows the disruption of major public transport routes in Cape Town due to taxi violence that has been ongoing for months.

“This evening, 60% of their fleet or approximately 600 buses will be brought online, which is an increase from 40% of their fleet yesterday,” Winde said on Wednesday.

According to News24, GABS is running at 40% route capacity, since their drivers fear for their safety after a colleague was shot in the mouth on Monday.

“I made it clear that ensuring the safety of public transport operations is my top priority, and that SAPS has significantly increased their presence to ensure that violence is prevented,” the Premier said.

Meyer said the recent spate of taxi violence across the metro has had a devastating impact on the company’s ability to offer its scheduled services to its 250 000 daily passengers.

“Historically, Golden Arrow has been known as the most stable public transport operator that has always been there for Capetonians when other services were not operational. Unfortunately, the brazen criminality that we have seen over the last week has made this impossible.”

Meanwhile, he expressed his gratitude to Winde, Mitchell, the Provincial Department of Transport, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the security directorate for their support during this very difficult time.

“We believe that this holistic approach advocated by the Premier and MEC is already creating a vastly safer operating environment,” Meyer said.

Interventions

Winde and Mitchell visited the Provincial Operations Command Centre on Wednesday, where they received a briefing on the now significant deployment of SAPS in the metro.

According to the province, this is a coordinated operation led by SAPS, with the support of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Metro Police, local law enforcement and traffic officers.

This follows Winde’s request for additional SANDF boots on the ground to be deployed.

According to the provincial government, the MEC has continued with engagements with the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA), Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (CODETA) and South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO).

This is part of the renewed efforts to find a lasting resolution to this conflict.

“This is in addition to a number of steps being taken by the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works to ensure an end to taxi violence in the greater Cape Town area,” the provincial government said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) said it was exploring approaching the Western Cape High Court to empower the MEC to place SANTACO associations under administration.

“The DTPW has suspended its financial support agreement with SANTACO until such a stage when the violence ends,” the province said, adding that it has suspended Blue Dot incentive payments to CATA and CODETA as a direct result of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Winde said small groups of criminals are denying the overwhelming majority of law-abiding taxi drivers from earning a living.

“They are also threatening the livelihoods of our most vulnerable communities at a time when the economy is already under pressure and jobs are being lost. We simply cannot allow it to continue, and that is why we will continue to do whatever we can to protect our commuters, and ensure that they can get to work, and home safely.”

An East London-based chartered accountant has been released on R10 000 bail after he was arrested for allegedly swindling the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) of R884 000 in fraudulent COVID Ters payments.

In a statement, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI/Hawks) said the suspect, Mark Jonathan Vorster, 43, was facing allegations of fraud, theft and money laundering.

“Vorster allegedly made fraudulent UIF claims for his company and five other companies to receive the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) funds whereas the companies were fully operational.

“He received more than R884 000 cash from the scheme and the owners of other companies were not aware of the claim. Such discrepancies were discovered by a bank official who also managed to recover half of the money from the accused’s bank account,” reads the statement.

“The Hawks team in Pretoria was informed and an investigation was conducted. A warrant for his arrest was issued and well executed by the team.

“A laptop and a cellphone were seized from the accused as part of an ongoing investigation,” said the Hawks.

The case was postponed to 29 July 2021 in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

A Mpumalanga man is today expected to appear before the Kanyamazane Magistrates’ Court after he was arrested for being in possession of an undisclosed quantity of building material, which is suspected to be stolen.

The 36-year-old was on Wednesday nabbed in an intelligence-driven operation after members of the Nelspruit Flying Squad acted on information gathered by Crime Intelligence.

It is alleged that the man was in possession of stolen goods in his house.

“The information led the members to Tinkomeni area in Pienaar at the house of the suspect, where he was found in possession of different sorts of building material believed to have been stolen from Hardware PNL in the Pienaar Lehawu area. The value of the stolen items is yet to be calculated by the owner,” SAPS provincial spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said in a statement.

“All the stolen items were found hidden in the suspect’s garage and he could not produce proof of payment, thereof hence he was arrested.

“The suspect was charged for being in possession of suspected stolen property and he is expected to appear today [22 July 2021] at the Kanyamazane Magistrates’ Court.”

Hlathi said police had uncovered that the case was linked to two other cases, where three people were also caught red-handed inside the same hardware store and were arrested.

“They are currently standing accused of cases related to business burglary and have already appeared before the same court, where their matters were remanded to a later date,” he said.

Mpumalanga Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela, has welcomed the arrest.

The Department of Correctional Services has granted former President Jacob Zuma permission to attend the funeral of his late younger brother.

In a statement, the department said a sentenced offender who was granted permission to leave a correctional centre remained a sentenced offender even while temporarily outside.

“The permission granted to Mr Zuma is for 22 July 2021,” the department said.

When outside a correctional facility, inmates need not wear offender uniform.

“As a short-term, low risk classified inmate, Mr Zuma’s application for compassionate leave was processed and approved following the Correctional Services prescripts.”

The former president is currently serving a 15-month sentence at the Escourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal. The former statesman, 79, was sentenced on 29 June for defying an instruction to give evidence at an inquiry into corruption during his nine years in power.

He will today attend the burial of his younger brother Michael, who died earlier this month after a reportedly long illness.

Police Minister Bheki Cele has expressed his satisfaction at the security measures established at retail centres as they reopen for business following last week’s incidences of violence.

Cele on Monday visited businesses and shopping complexes in Durban and Pietermaritzburg affected by the business lootings and public violence that claimed over 200 lives in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Management teams of Liberty Mall in Pietermaritzburg as well as the Pavilion and Gateway Malls in Durban provided the Minister with the security plans they had put in place in conjunction with the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The three centres were among over the 150 malls that came under attack from looters. However, they were among the least affected owing to the members of the SAPS speedily containing the volatile situation.

“Together with private security, SAPS continues to guard the shopping complexes to prevent further violence and looting,” the Ministry said in a statement.

While all three malls are currently open only for essential shopping, the retail centres will be fully operational within the coming days as per their respective security plans.

While in Durban, Cele joined security forces in the city’s business district as they responded to tip-offs from community members on the whereabouts of suspected stolen property looted during last week’s unrest.

The Minister said the recovery of stolen property would be the order of the day in the two provinces.

All suspected looted goods will be placed at various police evidence storage facilities.

“We are thankful for communities who keep on providing information that can assist police and we also commend people that are voluntary surrendering the stolen goods and must continue to do so, but those who choose to keep these stolen ware in their homes are being warned that the law will not have mercy on you,” Cele said.

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has received and processed 839 130 online and manual applications for funding.

According to the 2021 funding status report, of the 839 130 applications received, 722 252 were found to be funding eligible, while 55 945 applications were unsuccessful, as they did not meet the funding eligibility criteria.

A total of 5 335 applications could not be finalised due to the supporting documents needed to complete the evaluation process, and were closed.

“The balance of applications are mainly constituted of the trimester two applications for colleges. These applications were received during May and June 2021 to allow new students, who enrolled at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, to also apply for NSFAS funding,” the report said.

The report, released by NSFAS on Tuesday, aims to provide stakeholders with an update on the 2021 NSFAS Funding Programme to support approved students studying at public universities and TVET colleges.

It covers areas including the 2021 application status update, allowances paid to institutions to date, appeals, and some of the challenges the entity has had to confront in ensuring that every confirmed funded student is paid the right amount and on time.

The report also provides a breakdown of the funding allocation to each institution.

The report said since its inception in 1999, funds allocated to NSFAS have increased substantially from R441 million in 1999 to almost R42 billion in 2021/21 financial year.

“These funds are allocated for students at public universities and TVET colleges in accordance with the funding conditions for each sector published in the Department of Higher Education and Training Bursary Rules and Guidelines,” the report said.

Improvement in applications evaluation process

The report also showed that NSFAS has significantly improved its applications evaluation process and this is evident in the number of students whose funding decisions have been confirmed, compared to previous years, as well as students who were able to submit an immediate appeal when their applications were unsuccessful.

There were 19 820 appeals received and processed for the First Time Entering Students (FTENs) or new NSFAS students, with a total of 6 752 appeals reviewed and approved, as a result of changes in the household income, which occurred after the application was submitted to NSFAS.

“The balance of appeals remains unsuccessful, while others do not have enough supporting documents to substantiate the need for a review of the funding decision. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the imposed restriction levels, many students were faced with data connectivity problems, and were unable to submit documents as required.

“NSFAS then had to extend the appeals window from 30 May 2021 to 30 June 2021 to test the newly developed Appeals System Based Tools, and to accommodate students and institutions who may still want to submit an appeal,” the report said.

Over one million eligible for funding

The report further showed that the number of students assessed as eligible for the 2021 programme cycle is 1 286 867, with a total of 939 934 students allocated for the university sector and 346 933 students for the TVET Colleges.

These include new and continuing students.

Despite the progress being made, there are still challenges around the NSFAS wallet blockages.

Fraudulent activities have been noted and NSFAS will continue to make students aware of the importance of profile management to manage this risk and report any abnormal activities on their accounts.

“NSFAS intends to resolve any exceptions within the 2021 programme cycle, as it will soon start to prepare for the 2022 application cycle,” NSFAS Chief Corporate Services Officer, Sibongile Mncwabe, said.

The NSFAS contact centre operational hours are Monday to Friday, between 08:30am and 17:00pm.

Eskom has urged the public to reduce their usage of electricity, as cold weather conditions persist.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has forecasted a week of very cold temperatures across the majority of South Africa from Tuesday, lasting well into the weekend.

The icy and rainy conditions are due to a succession of cold fronts expected to sweep across the country.

“Following this warning, Eskom would like to appeal to members of the public to reduce the usage of electricity, as the cold conditions will put severe pressure on the power system.”

Eskom said its system is currently performing relatively well and the implementation of load shedding is not expected at this point.

According to the utility, there have been no power cuts since 13 June 2021 due to some improvement in the performance of the generation fleet.

“However, the cold front will increase the demand for electricity, thereby putting pressure on the power system. Therefore, Eskom urges the people of South Africa to help reduce electricity usage in order to ease the pressure on the system.”

Eskom said it would communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the performance of the system.