First Take SA

The City of Cape Town has started the process of identifying suitable venues for the verification of the status of foreign nationals living outside the Central Methodist Church in Green Market Square. On Monday, the High Court granted the City an interim order to remove the group that has been living on pavements in the area. The court also ruled that the Department of Home Affairs should do the verification process.

The debate of the State of the Nation Address in a joint sitting of parliament descended into chaos when accusations of women abuse were flung around. It led to the EFF leader Julius Malema being asked to leave the house. As is convention, all parties in the House convened to debate the SONA delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. But when Ramaphosa was accused by Malema of having beaten his late wife, order in the House collapsed. The accusation by Malema was brought on by a ANC MP accusing him of the very same thing.

After being booed in KwaZulu-Natal in 2006 following political tensions with his then fired deputy, Jacob Zuma, the province is warming up to former president, Thabo Mbeki. In less than six months, he has been invited twice by the ANC in the province. Last year, he was invited to address the memorial lecture of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. This past weekend, he addressed the ANC Political School.

The Cape Town High Court has granted the City of Cape Town an interim interdict to remove a group of foreign nationals living on the street outside the Central Methodist church in Green Market Square. Acting judge Daniel Thulare has ruled that the City has the right to uphold its by-laws. The City applied for an interdict last year after more than 600 foreign nationals moved into the church. Many are however sleeping, cooking and defecating outside the church. Acting Judge Daniel Thulare ruled that the City has seven days to execute the order and that it must be read in languages understandable to the group

The FW de Klerk Foundation has withdrawn its statement that apartheid was not a crime against humanity. Various political parties, NGOs and members of the public called on the foundation and the last apartheid president, FW de Klerk to withdraw the statement. Some have suggested that De Klerk be stripped of the Nobel Peace prize.

Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko says the time to talk is over and decisive action is needed to combat crime in the province. Mazibuko was speaking at a Safety Summit in Bramfisherville, Soweto, south of Johannesburg. This is the first of the 33 summits that the MEC will hold across the province aimed at promoting community participation in crime prevention and to promote safety. MEC Mazibuko says the objective of the summits are to mobilise communities to help tackle crime in their respective areas.

Police Minister Bheki Cele says the continuous killing of members of the South African Police is an attack on the state. Cele was speaking at a funeral of the late Galeshewe Lloyd Poonyane in Viljoenskroon, in the Free State. Poonyane died in the line of duty near Orkney, in North West. He was shot dead by suspects and declared dead on the scene. Cele says it's concerning that many SAPS members who died were killed by foreign nationals.

As expected, President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address put emphasis on measures to stimulate economic growth. He addressed the challenges of electricity supply shortages, government spending which he described as misdirected towards consumption and debt-servicing rather than infrastructure and productive activity, and the state owned companies which continue to drain the national fiscus

President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address was delayed by more than and hour and a half last night. This is as the EFF objected to the presence of former President FW De Klerk in the house and demanded that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan be fired. After about an hour of points of order, the Presiding officers temporarily adjourned the house. When the house resumed the EFF walked out

Adam Catzavelos says he is deeply ashamed of his racist rant and has asked South Africans for forgiveness. He was testifying YESTERDAY (13 February) during sentencing proceedings in his crimen injuria case in the Randburg Magistrate's Court. The case follows a self-recorded video of Catzavelos in which he utters the K-word multiple times, while on holiday in Greece in August 2018. In the video, he is seen celebrating the absence of black people at the beach. Catzavelos pleaded guilty to crimen injuria in December last year, following two unsuccessful bids to have the charges withdrawn.