Attempts by the ANC's top leadership to persuade former President Jacob Zuma to appear before the State Capture Commission TODAY may prove fruitless. High on the party's NEC meeting agenda this weekend has been the implications of Zuma's decision not to appear before the Commission this week. The decision is in breach of a summons issued by the Commission for Zuma to appear, a Constitutional Court ruling instructing him to do so and the ANC's own resolution that members must co-operate with the Zondo Commission.

The ANC Interim Provincial Committee- (IPC) in the North West has condemned the removal of the Mayor of Maqwassi Hills local municipality in Wolmaranstad. She was removed through a motion of no confidence led by the Forum 4 Service Delivery. Thirteen ANC councillors are reported to have joined forces with five opposition party members, and voted in support of the motion.

The Basic Education Department says it's all systems go for TODAY'S schools re-opening. Basic Education minister, Angie Motshekga made the announcement in Pretoria YESTERDAY. Schools were initially supposed to re-open for learners on the 27th of last month, but was delayed by two weeks due to an increase in infections due to a second COVID-19 wave. The Department's Task Team has also concluded that the 2020 Matric Examinations were not compromised despite the leak of the Maths and Science papers.

Various political parties in Parliament say it is regrettable that President Cyril Ramaphosa did not say anything new in his State of the Nation Address. The event was significantly scaled down to adhere to Covid-19 regulations. Only 50 people were allowed inside the National Assembly, in an effort to comply with Covid-19 regulations. All other MPs and guests followed proceedings via virtual platforms

In his State of the Nation Address President Cyril Ramaphosa, put emphasis on four areas that he says government will focus on. That is defeating the Covid-19 virus, accelerate economic recovery, implement economic reforms and fight corruption as well as strengthening state institutions. This year's SONA took place amid quite subdued and solemn affair. Only 50 people were allowed inside the National Assembly Chamber in line with lockdown regulations when people are gathering.

Fights over money and routes, competition for executive positions within taxi associations, and the unlawful take-over of businesses are some of the contributors to taxi violence. That's according to the findings contained in a report by the Commission of Inquiry into minibus taxi violence in Gauteng. The Commission was set up by Gauteng Premier David Makhura in September 2019 to probe the spate of taxi violence-related killings in the province.

Today's State of the Nation Address will be quite subdued and even a solemn affair. And it will be held at a fraction of the cost of previous years. This, Parliament's presiding officers say, is due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Divisions within the ruling ANC will widen if former president, Jacob Zuma is arrested for failing to appear before the State Capture Commission. This is the view of KwaZulu-Natal ANC secretary, Mdumiseni Ntuli. Ntuli met Zuma last week following his widely-publicised and open defiance of the Zondo Commission. The party in the province seeks intervention of Cyril Ramaphosa and the organisation's top six on the matter.

The Sol Plaatje Municipality in Kimberley in the Northern Cape has revealed that it is owed at least two billion-rand in unpaid electricity fees from ratepayers. This as Eskom asked the provincial government to urgently intervene as the municipality failed to pay its bill to the power utility in December.

Scientists from the World Health Organisation and China's National Health Commission are yet to identify the origins for the novel coronavirus: SARS-COV2. This after four weeks of investigation and research in the city of Wuhan. The joint-team held a press briefing YESTERDAY (Tuesday) to give an update on their work. The studies have concluded that indeed the COVID-19 virus stems from an animal but cannot conclusively say which one.