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Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday argued that provincial governments would have "too much" power under the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, as he joined protestors at the Voortrekker Monument to march against sections 4 and 5 of the Act.

The DA joined Solidarity and AfriForum in the march against what has been described as "attacking the soul of the Afrikaans community", and sought to hand over memorandums to government representatives.

Sections 4 and 5 of the Act deal with language and admissions policy at schools, which the organisations argue give the State "too much" control over where children attend schools and in what language.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the BELA Bill into law, despite a significant degree of public rejection and concern over its constitutionality.

He placed on hold two clauses of the Bill for three months to find solutions to the concerns around them.

Should no solutions be found, it would be implemented fully, he said.

"Imagine trying to learn maths or science in a language which is not your home language, or which you don't understand. We will never allow that. Clause 4 and 5 of the BELA Act give too much authority to provincial governments, and take away too much of our democratic rights as parents. They pose a massive risk to the beautiful diversity of culture and language in South Africa," said Steenhuisen.

He asserted that the South African Constitution allowed for the right to education in the language of the learner's choice.

Further, he argued that with the clauses under scrutiny, school governing bodies would lose the ability to make decisions that reflected the needs of local communities and parents.

"We cannot allow this authority to be handed over to an official in a provincial office, far from the needs and wants of community members. Protection of mother-tongue education is critical," he asserted.

Also joining the march were organisations that included the Cape Forum, the Suid-Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie, Solidarity Helping Hand, the Solidarity Support Centre for Schools, the MOS initiative, the Afrikaans Onderwysnetwerk, die Afrikaanse Taalraad, the Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Associations, the Voortrekkers, the Afrikanerleiersnetwerk (Afrikaner leadership network), Akademia, Aros, the AP Akademie, Bo-Karoo Opleiding, Sol-Tech, SAAI, TLUSA, the Afrikanerbond, the Rapportryers, the Pretoria Sakekamer and National Employers' Association of South Africa.

As it celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary, Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) president Thulani Ngwenya called for a review of the operations of South Africa's justice system to ensure better efficiency and accountability.

Ngwenya was speaking during Popcru's central executive committee meeting, where he pointed out that when crime statistics are released, only the police are held accountable, and not the judiciary.

"We need to ensure greater synergy between the operations of the police, judiciary, and correctional services. The law is clear: the police are responsible for securing the attendance of suspects in court, while the judiciary must punish those who break the law, and correctional services must house and rehabilitate offenders," he explained.

However, he pointed to a disconnect in the process, noting that judges worked limited hours and months, while police and correctional services worked around the clock.

Ngwenya also highlighted the union's concerns about petty criminals being housed with hardened criminals.

He called for proposed amendments to the Criminal Procedures Act to be considered to ensure it was relevant to modern crimes, such as cyber crimes, cross-border crimes, and gender-based violence.

He pointed out that despite Popcru's many engagements with various Ministers over the years, the union's concerns had consistently fallen on "deaf ears".

"The issues we have raised… such as the need for greater resources, fair and transparent promotion policies, and improved working conditions and infrastructure, have largely been ignored," he said.

However, Ngwenya noted that the new Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald had acknowledged the severe lack of resources and that he had also pledged to implement a shift system, and had agreed on the necessity of the self-sustainability programme, which he said Popcru first tabled in 2015.

FOREIGN POLICY

Meanwhile, he said foreign policy proclamations should remain strictly under President Cyril Ramaphosa's control, calling for the reprimanding of Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen and Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber for making statements about Ukraine and Israel that contradict the South African government's official position.

Ngwenya advised the Government of National Unity (GNU) to focus on maintaining power and managing internal conflicts, which, if left unchecked, would lead to policy paralysis.

"Major decisions affecting workers' rights risk being endlessly debated but never implemented due to the incessant arguing among politicians," he explained.

He also warned of a risk of political instability and a lack of a coherent political agenda that could arise from multiple parties sharing governance responsibilities.

He explained that the GNU had significant implications for the historic tripartite alliance consisting of the African National Congress, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), and the South African Communist Party.

He warned Cosatu against amending labour laws.

"If these materialise, we can no longer afford to be complacent or to sit quietly as workers' rights are undermined. We must act decisively to defend the gains made in our country's labour laws," Ngwenya said.

Goldman Sachs believes South Africa is unlikely to suffer the large revenue shortfall projected by its finance minister and that the nation's path for fiscal consolidation remains credible.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana painted a bleaker-than-expected picture when he delivered a medium-term budget update last week with a slightly wider deficit. Despite this caution, South Africa remains on track to stabilise debt and bring if below 70% of gross domestic product by the end of the decade, Goldman economist Andrew Matheny said.

"We would be surprised if you get the magnitude of revenue shortfall that they're pointing to," Matheny said. "We are more optimistic. If anything, we think they're probably being overly conservative here."

Economists had expected a revenue shortfall of around R12-billion. Instead, Godongwana announced a R22-billion gap, widening the deficit to 5% of GDP from 4.5% projected in February.

Goldman had seen scope for a possible improvement on South Africa's sub-investment-grade credit ratings within six months. While it may not happen that soon, a positive outlook remains on the cards, Matheny said.

Fitch Ratings and Moody's Ratings may review South Africa's assessment following the release of the budget update, while S&P Global Ratings' assessment is due from November 15. All three companies have a sub-investment grade rating on South Africa with a stable outlook.

"You don't narrow that deficit as quickly but this is still a stabilising debt path versus market consensus and also ratings agency expectations for a more adverse path," he said, adding that Fitch and S&P, which both rate South Africa BB-minus, are "a little bit behind the curve in terms of calling a bit of a turn in the credit cycle."

In his latest letter to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa urged the strengthening of collective resolve to ensure that every child has a safe, caring and nurturing childhood, noting government's progress in realising the right to education.

National Children's Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of November, which is the month in which the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations in 1989.

Ramaphosa said government had made the most progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in respect of the right to education.

"As the UN Children's Fund has noted: Since 1994 South Africa has made great strides in realising the right to education, rapidly building an efficient, accessible and quality education system for children and adolescents," he said.

He pointed out that at the advent of democracy, only half of all six-year-olds went to school.

"…now there is almost universal school enrolment for learners from 6 to 15 years. The number of no-fee schools has grown significantly. Three out of four learners are exempted from paying fees," he said.

Ramaphosa highlighted that more than 1.5-million children across the country were enrolled in Early Childhood Development programmes as a critical preparation for their entry into formal schooling.

He pointed out that to ensure children's right to survival, government had implemented free primary health care for children under six, free basic services to poor families and child support grants.

He noted the school nutrition programme, which he said had made a "significant difference" in improving the educational and health outcomes for millions of children from indigent families.

"To advance the right of children to protection from abuse, neglect and exploitation, we have passed laws outlawing child labour, corporal punishment and child marriages," he added.

Ramaphosa highlighted that government had a prescribed minimum sentencing regime for cases involving the sexual abuse of children.

"During the sixth democratic administration, we strengthened the legal regime to expand the definition of sexual offences against children, improve our capacity to combat child trafficking, and introduced more stringent conditions for the registration of sex offenders," he explained.

Recently, there have been a number of criminal cases involving children being trafficked into the sex trade, raped, murdered and subjected to abuse - often by those closest to them.

Ramaphosa pointed out that the number of recent criminal cases of this type was a stark reminder that progressive legislation must be matched by social and other forms of support.

"…these efforts must capacitate caregivers and offer greater protection to vulnerable children in particular," he said.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has proposed to Parliament the Anti-Corruption Bill, which seeks to introduce an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) as an independent, Chapter 9 institution, focused solely on investigating and prosecuting serious corruption cases.

DA justice and constitutional development spokesperson Glynnis Breytenbach said the Anti-Corruption Bill sought to create a fully independent Chapter 9 institution, with its sole mandate being the investigation and prosecution of high-level perpetrators.

Breytenbach pointed out that currently, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was the only institution with the power to prosecute those accused of serious corruption and high-level organised crime.

"…in practice, however, the NPA lacks the institutional independence or the resources to effectively prosecute these complex crimes," she noted.

Breytenbach explained that the ACC would be "institutionally and operationally" independent.

"…meaning that it will have its own staff and its budget will be determined by the National Treasury and not according to the whims of the Minister or the President," she stated.

She noted that the members of the ACC would have protected tenure and be subject and responsible only to the Constitution and the rule of law; and would be able to investigate and prosecute serious cases.

"After the madness of the State Capture years, the effects of which we are still feeling, it is high time that we take our country's battle against corruption to a higher gear," explained Breytenbach.

She stated that by creating a new unit, expertly staffed and fully independent, with the same status as the Auditor-General or the Public Protector, these high-level crimes could be tackled head-on and further strengthen the country's democracy free of corruption.

The National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) announced on Friday that it will review Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Johannesburg, Advocate Andrew Chauke's decision to withdraw corruption charges against former Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa and businessman Jehan Mackay.

The NDPP said it will review the decision in line with Section 179 (5) (d) of the Constitution and communicate the decision.

Kodwa, also a former Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for State Security, was implicated in the State Capture Commission of Inquiry for allegedly receiving a R1.7-million bribe from an executive of a local technology company, which received government tenders.

Kodwa was arrested, along with Mackay in July.

Chauke said the decision to abandon the prosecution was made following successful representations made by Kodwa and Mackay, as well as evidential material in the case docket, and reports from the prosecutor and Regional Head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, as well as consultation with the Investigating Officer.

He noted Part 6 of the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA's) Prosecution Policy Directives, which he said makes provision for the process of representations where an accused person may request the reviewal of a decision to institute a prosecution as an available remedy of recourse, wherein the accused is granted an opportunity to tender their version of events.

"The DPP was duty bound to consider that the prospects of a successful prosecution have diminished, owing to the change in circumstances, brought about by new developments that came to light, despite an initial decision to institute a prosecution," Chauke said.

Meanwhile, ActionSA formally wrote to National Director of Public Prosecution Advocate Shamila Batohi, asking her to review the NPA's decision, adding that party would also request a record of the decision that led to what it termed "the NPA's sudden reversal".

ActionSA said on Friday it will formally write to National Director of Public Prosecution Advocate Shamila Batohi, to review the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA's) decision to withdraw corruption charges against former Minister and African National Congress (ANC) MP Zizi Kodwa.

Kodwa was implicated in the State Capture Commission of Inquiry for allegedly receiving a R1.7-million bribe from an executive of a local technology company, which received government tenders.

Kodwa was arrested, along with his co-accused, businessman Jehan Mackay, in July.

The NPA announced that its decision to abandon the prosecution was made following successful representations made by Kodwa and Mackay, evidential material in the case docket and reports from the prosecutor and regional head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, as well as consultation with the Investigating Officer.

ActionSA Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said his party would also request a record of the decision that led to what it termed "the NPA's sudden reversal".

"….especially given the NPA's earlier utterances in late July expressing confidence in a guilty verdict for the charges. This sudden about-turn raises obvious questions about what could have driven the NPA to withdraw the charges, which ActionSA believes reflects growing concerns about either a lack of prosecutorial diligence or, more troublingly, the possibility of deliberate mishandling in cases involving high-profile individuals," explained Trollip.

He said he would have expected more thorough preparation from the NPA before even contemplating criminal charges.

"This then begs the question of what exactly informed this outrageous decision, which they are vaguely excusing as 'due to new developments'," he said.

Trollip stated that ActionSA was prepared to pursue all available legal avenues to challenge this matter and would ensure that the NPA accounted for its decision, which he said represented "yet another failure" by the NPA to prosecute State capture-related cases.

"ActionSA would argue that, given the cloud of corruption surrounding the Minister responsible for overseeing the NPA, namely Justice Minister Thembi Simelane, there are doubts about the NPA's commitment to ensuring that justice is inescapable even for the political elite," he said.

Meanwhile, the ANC welcomed the NPA's decision saying this outcome reaffirmed the authority's commitment to justice and the rule of law.

"The ANC acknowledges the importance of these resolutions on renewal, which seek to reinforce the integrity of our leaders and build public trust in our movement. We are encouraged by the diligent efforts of the NPA and remain committed to supporting fair and transparent judicial processes that uphold justice for all South Africans," stated ANC National spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri.

In July, Kodwa, resigned as an ANC MP, in accordance with the party's fifty fifth National Conference resolutions on renewal and integrity.

Bhengu-Motsiri pointed out that Kodwa's decision reflected a commitment to the Constitution of the ANC and South Africa, "prioritising the organisation's values of transparency and accountability".

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Judge Margaret Victor as Special Tribunal president with effect from Friday, for a period of three years.

The Special Tribunal has a statutory mandate to recover public funds syphoned from the fiscus through corruption, fraud and illicit money flows.

Special tribunals differ from ordinary civil proceedings, which Ramaphosa described as adversarial in nature.

Special tribunals adopt a more flexible and expeditious approach to legal actions and its proceedings are inquisitorial in nature and characterised by extensive pre-trial investigations.

Ramaphosa also appointed members of the Special Tribunal, which include Eastern Cape Division of the High Court Judge Thandi Victoria Norman; Gauteng Division of the High Court Judge David Makhoba; Mpumalanga Division of the High Court Judge Brian A Mashile; North West Division of the High Court Judge Andre Henry Petersen and Western Cape Division of the High Court Judge Chantel Moira Jennifer Fortuin.

Ramaphosa has made these appointments in terms of the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunal Act of 1996 and following consultation with Chief Justice Mandisa Maya.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Johannesburg, Advocate Andrew Chauke, announced on Friday the decision to withdraw corruption charges against the former Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa and businessman Jehan Mackay.

Kodwa, also a former Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for State Security, was implicated in the State Capture Commission of Inquiry for allegedly receiving a R1.7-million bribe from an executive of a local technology company, which received government tenders.

Kodwa was arrested, along with Mackay in July.

Chauke said the decision to abandon the prosecution was made following successful representations made by Kodwa and Mackay, evidential material in the case docket and reports from the prosecutor and regional head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, as well as consultation with the Investigating Officer.

He noted Part 6 of the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA's) Prosecution Policy Directives, which he said makes provision for the process of representations where an accused person may request the reviewal of a decision to institute a prosecution as an available remedy of recourse, wherein the accused is granted an opportunity to tender their version of events.

"The DPP was duty bound to consider that the prospects of a successful prosecution have diminished, owing to the change in circumstances, brought about by new developments that came to light, despite an initial decision to institute a prosecution," Chauke said.

South Africa pledged to slash emissions across its fleet of coal-fired power plants in a bid to secure $2.6-billion in climate finance. That's despite seeking to alter the terms of a 2022 agreement by delaying the outright closure of three of the facilities.

The plan, which involves the reduction of emissions at a number of units at the 14 plants operated by the state utility Eskom, was submitted to the World Bank affiliated Climate Investment Funds on Wednesday, South Africa's presidency said in a response to queries. The country has now said it will close the Grootvlei, Hendrina and Camden plants at a later stage after initially agreeing to begin shutting them down from as early as next year.

The new proposal comes after years of crippling power cuts caused by Eskom struggling to meet demand. While the utility hasn't rationed power since March, the government is wary of returning to the outages that hindered economic growth. The submission is a key plank of the $9.3-billion Just Energy Transition Partnership climate finance pact South Africa signed with some of the world's richest countries in 2021.

"Due to energy security considerations, decommissioning of the identified power stations will only take place in 2030," said Joanne Yawitch, head of the JETP project management unit in the South African presidency, in the response. "Measures to reduce emissions will be instituted across Eskom's fleet in addition to the eventual decommissioning."

The new proposal, if accepted, would win $500-million in concessional finance from the US-based CIF. Together with co-financing it would trigger from development finance institutions and private investors, as much as $2.6-billion in energy transition funds could be secured by the country.

The proposal is being considered under the CIF's Accelerating Coal Transition Investment Program. A decision will likely take between two and four weeks unless the committee assessing it has further questions, the CIF said in an earlier response to questions.