The Auditor General, Kimi Makwetu's report for 2018-19 has found that municipalities lost 32-billion-rand in irregular expenditure. This is an increase of 7-billion-Rand from the previous financial year. Makwetu says there continues to be a lack of financial management, accountability and wasteful spending among a number of municipalities in most the country's provinces. Makwetu was presenting the local government audit outcomes for 2018-19 in a virtual media briefing.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans not to panic and be alarmed by the rising number of Coronavirus infections in the country. He was speaking during the virtual Presidential Imbizo on the Covid-19 pandemic last night. The president interacted with communities across the country through over 80 community radio stations and some SABC platforms.

The ACDP Leader Kenneth Meshoe says government should carefully examine and consider studies that have been conducted to investigate whether there is a link between Gender Based Violence , rape and pornography. Meshoe was participating in the Debate of National Importance on GBV during a hybrid sitting of the National Assembly.

The Federation of Trade Unions says negotiations are underway between government, organised business and labour to extend the UIF Covid- 19 'temporary employer-employee relief scheme' which ended YESTERDAY. The Labour Department and the UIF had earlier pronounced that the scheme, which has been running three months, will not be extended beyond the June 30th deadline. The fund has so far paid out roughly 30 billion rand of the 40 billion budgeted to help workers affected by the Covid-19 crisis from April.

The Passenger Rail Agency, PRASA is expected to resume its train services today with strict capacity limitation and high hygiene standards. Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula says the train lines to resume operations include those in the Eastern Cape between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage, together with East London and Berlin. Four lines will open in Gauteng, including from Pienaarspoort down to Pretoria while in the Western Cape, the Southern line from Cape Town to Retreat shall take in passengers

Board chairperson of Prasa Popo Molefe has told the commission of inquiry into state capture that the former administration under president Jacob Zuma failed PRASA. Molefe says irregularities and corruption at Prasa continued to thrive despite the board doing everything in its power to report malaise at the organisation. Molefe has accused the parliament portfolio committee on transport for failing on its oversight duties and the security cluster for failing to act on corruption at PRASA while there was extensive evidence. Molefe also explained to Justice Raymond Zondo how the board under his leadership was forcefully removed and board directors lobbied to resign from their respective board positions in an attempt to render the board dysfunctional.

In Mpumalanga, traffic was affected in the Mbombela CBD and surrounding areas yesterday following a standoff between the police and taxi operators. The taxi operators wanted to operate at 100 percent capacity in violation of the COVID-19 regulations which only permit taxis to carry 70 percent of their licensed capacity.

Taxi operators in various townships around Durban say they will continue loading 70 percent of their capacity in order to allow senior structures in the industry to negotiate with government. Yesterday some taxi ranks were defying the lockdown regulations and carrying 100 percent of their passenger capacity. But as the day progressed, they went back to 70 percent.

Battle lines have been drawn!...The South African National Taxi Council has warned that if any taxi is impounded for loading at 100 per cent capacity during alert level 3 Covid-19 lockdown, all taxis will stop operating nationwide. SANTACO and the National Taxi Alliance announced that they will be loading at 100 percent capacity starting THIS MORNING ( Monday), despite lockdown regulations restricting them to only load at 70 percent. The associations say they will also allow long distance commuters to travel without permits.

The judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture - the Zondo Commission - will resume its hearings TODAY. The commission had suspended hearings in March due to the nationwide lockdown