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Sizwe Ummah Nation (SUN) Party parliamentary candidate Rasheed Ebrahim Gutta is urging politicians to stop party politics and concentrate on putting the country first.

Gutta told Polity that one of the challenges South Africa was facing was that 'party' was placed above 'country'.

"When the ruling party in government has held the advantage of having over 50% majority, they have been able to protect themselves when they are guilty, by choosing the party over the country," he said.

He explained that with so many parties contesting the elections this year, there could be too many parties going to Parliament. He said when it came to coalition talks, his party would be looking at it on an issue-by-issue basis.

"…I believe in South Africa seven out of ten issues we all will be common in. If we want to reduce unemployment, reduce poverty, there is nobody who is going to argue against that, it is only in selective items like regarding foreign policies and how we react or black economic empowerment, those type of issues might have differences," he said.

He reiterated that in the broader context all parties were working towards a common goal in the country.

"The coalition should be of one party, which is one country, saying South Africa is the main concern," he said.

Gutta encouraged voters to vote for change, promising a better life for all citizens.

He said over the last 30 years enough opportunity had been given to the current government.

"…but unfortunately the lives of everyday citizens are deteriorating and the reason why SUN Party is a great opportunity is because I am a business person and we have studied and experienced growth models of other counties such as China and we do not want to reinvent the wheel," he said.

SUN Party wants to champion the promotion of a "Godly government", equality, and ensuring that poverty is rooted out.

He said the objective of the party was to transform society to become more equitable, noting that there was too much inequality in the country.

He is confident that his party has a guaranteed, tried and tested economic recovery plan.

He noted that if given the mandate to govern, the SUN Party promised a better life after five years of governance.

"…and if not, we are prepared to even step aside and allow someone else to take over, but we are very sure that we can do this task," he said.

Meanwhile, the SUN Party is in partnership with Afrika United Congress (AUC) which is part of the Nazareth Baptist Church.

He said shortly after the party qualified for the elections, the AUC approached the SUN party.

Gutta highlighted that the AUC looked at the SUN's value systems of "God consciousness" and the party felt that they could align with SUN's values.

"…they approached us and requested to join us in our mission to go and contest the current elections. We have the alliance with them, a possible merger if we see that we can go forward with that in the future," he said.

An inquiry into a fire that killed 77 people in Johannesburg last year blamed neglect by authorities for allowing a building to become a den for guns, murder, drugs and combustible trash, and failing to evacuate it once it was clear it was a hazard.

South Africa opened the inquiry last October to determine responsibility for the blaze on August 31 last year in the rundown centre of its commercial hub.

The fire cast light on the gangs that seize abandoned public buildings to illegally rent them out. Many victims were so badly burned they had to be identified with DNA testing.

"No case amply demonstrates the consequences of failure to comply with the obligations the law placed on a municipality (than) ... the calamity (of the fire)," the report said.

A spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in the full report, which Reuters reviewed, the justices said the city "acknowledges that it failed to comply with the applicable laws".

It had said, however, that it should not be held accountable since the building's decline was facilitated by "the illegal conduct of the residents, threats issued ... to its officials and the hijacking of the building".

Johannesburg is one of the world's most unequal cities. Well-to-do leafy suburbs containing houses with private swimming pools lie next to informal settlements where poverty and joblessness are rife.

Panyaza Lesufi, premier for Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg, promised to swiftly implement the report's recommendations.

"If one thing makes me have sleepless nights, it's the state of ... (central) Johannesburg," he told a news conference.

"It's an indictment on all of us."

The report said the building was regularly the scene of gunshot fire, murders, sex trafficking of teenagers and drug deals. A suspect had confessed to starting the fire to dispose of a murder victim he had killed while high on crystal meth.

It also said firefighters were too slow to respond to emergency calls, while authorities had failed to evacuate and demolish the building, collect the trash accumulating there, or to prevent firefighting equipment being removed for scrap.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday assured that government is working to get rid of red tape that impedes and slows down investment.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that it was only through attracting higher levels of foreign and domestic investment that a swift, sustainable economic recovery could be assured.

He said government had significantly reduced waiting times for water use licences and other important authorisations for getting major investment projects off the ground.

Ramaphosa said since this administration took office, government had held five Investment Conferences that had attracted R1.5-trillion in investment commitments across a broad range of economic sectors.

"Over one-third of these pledges have translated into job-creating businesses and business expansions in renewable energy, mining, packaging, automotive, retail, manufacturing, transportation and other sectors," he said.

He highlighted that while there was a broadly positive attitude towards South Africa among investors, the country's net foreign direct investment as a percentage of gross domestic production was slightly lower than the global average.

"That is why we continue to work to implement our policies and align regulatory and other obstacles, so that we can attract higher levels of investment. Through the auction of broadband spectrum and progress in digital migration, for example, we have greatly expanded opportunities in telecommunications," Ramaphosa said.

He acknowledged that electricity supply had been a major challenge to citizens and the economy, but assured that through government's Energy Action Plan, much progress in dealing with the country's electricity crisis had been made.

"We have seen an improvement in the performance of Eskom's power stations and substantial investment in new generation capacity. This has contributed to a sustained decrease in the severity of loadshedding," he said.

He highlighted that the work government was doing with business, labour and other social partners in improving the efficiency of the country's ports and rail infrastructure was also starting to bear fruit.

Further progress in these areas would increase the country's competitiveness and attractiveness as an investment destination, he said.

He announced that much effort had been invested in improving capacity to plan, package and finance major infrastructure projects, creating new investment opportunities in energy, housing, logistics, manufacturing and other areas.

"We will continue to build on the gains that we have made towards creating an enabling business and investment climate that promotes economic growth and creates jobs," he said.

State power utility Eskom has said it has "no choice" but to approach the Johannesburg High Court to force City Power to pay just over R1-billion in unpaid debt.

Eskom noted that City Power began to default on payments in October 2023 and that it did not receive any payment for March, this year.

Eskom said City Power's debt reached "unprecedented" levels, "exacerbating" Eskom's strained financials.

"This dire situation not only undermines Eskom's financial sustainability, but also threatens its ability to maintain essential infrastructure, invest in new technologies and meet the growing energy demands of the province. Over and above, City Power declared a dispute regarding potential overbilling on bulk purchase invoiced dating back to 2021. Eskom denies the claims made by City Power and will prove its position through the arbitration process," the power utility said.

It stressed that the municipality was still obligated to pay for Eskom's services, even during a dispute.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomed acting National Assembly Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli's commitment to investigate the salary increase of the Secretary to Parliament.

The matter relates to the salary hike that was approved by the then Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for the Secretary to Parliament Xolile George, raising his salary from the advertised and approved maximum of R2.6-million to R4.4-million.

DA Chief Whip Siviwe Gwarube argued on Friday morning during the National Assembly's Programming Committee, that the salary hike of over 70% for the Secretary to Parliament must be investigated.

Gwarube said she took the matter to the Joint Standing Committee of Financial Management of Parliament (JSCFMP) to probe but claimed that the African National Congress (ANC) blocked those efforts.

"I took the matter to the Powers and Privileges Committee for investigation; the ANC elected to sweep the matter under the carpet," she explained.

"It is a victory that the Acting Speaker will table the matter with the JSCFMP which is tasked with oversight of the Parliamentary budget," said Gwarube.

She noted that the matter needed a resolution before this term ended, saying gone were the days where the ANC got "to play fast and loose with the people's Parliament and not be held accountable for it".

South Africa may struggle to make much more progress on resolving the country's longstanding challenges if a coalition government emerges after elections this month, Moody's Investors Service cautioned.

"These include stimulating years of sluggish economic growth, curbing chronic power shortages and reducing very high unemployment," said Aurelien Mali, vice president - senior credit officer at Moody's. "The current government has made incremental progress on these issues."

Opinion polls suggest the ruling African National Congress could lose its national majority in the May 29 elections for the first time since taking power in 1994. While it's expected to remain the largest party, dropping under 50% of the vote will force it to form a coalition government.

"The strength or otherwise of the new administration's mandate - and any concessions to minor parties needed to secure support - could make the already complicated management of fiscal, economic and social policy objectives even more difficult," Mali said.

Gross domestic product growth in Africa's most industrialized economy has averaged 0.8% in the past decade, a rate insufficient to address rampant unemployment and poverty. Growth has been hampered by fraying port and rail networks, crime and state-owned utility Eskom Holdings's inability to meet electricity demand due to poor maintenance and aging power plants.

"The election raises the possibility that policies from comparatively radical parties, including policies not friendly to investors, will emerge," Mali said. "Yet we believe the ANC will remain the dominant political force in South Africa, even within a ruling political coalition, which limits the risks of an abrupt shift from the current mix of economic and financial policies."

An Ipsos poll released on April 26 showed ANC support at 40.2% compared with the 57.5% it won in the 2019 election.

It also suggested the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party backed by former President Jacob Zuma is sucking voters away from the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters. It saw the EFF polling around 11.5%, down from 19.6% in its February survey, while MKP has the support of 8.4% of voters.

Moody's sovereign credit rating for South Africa is stable at Ba2.

Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane told Polity that his party is aiming to be amongst the top four political parties in the country in this year's crucial May 29 elections.

BOSA will contest South Africa's national elections with 400 candidate representatives of communities and constituencies across the country.

"We are feeling strong, you know. When we set out we wanted to get above 5%. We think it's still possible, we want to grow. We want to be in the top four parties in the country, and we are working towards saying 'put us in the room' [of a coalition] because what we know is there will be no party that has an absolute majority," said Maimane.

Polls predict that the African National Congress (ANC) will not win an outright majority, with Maimane predicting that parties will have to form a "grand" opposition coalition.

He told Polity that in choosing coalition partners he was selective about what the party had to offer, stressing that the ANC was definitely excluded from coalition discussions.

He said he could speak to any other parties, in general, and work with how the plan to govern could be achieved.

"I am careful not to be selective about 'who', I can rather be selective about 'what'. This is where I am very central because we have a ten-point plan. The plan touches on areas such as making sure Eskom actually works, we talk about logistics, we talk about educating our kids, we talk about building infrastructure," he said.

He called on South Africans to put BOSA in a room for a "grand coalition".

"…the ask is that at a basic minimum, put us in a room so that we can decide to work with those who share the same vision of South Africa for all, who actually want for us to be able to deliver a job in every home, so that we can build a capable government that sets up South Africa's future," he said.

He said other parties would not be able to match BOSA's ten-point plan.

"…if a party brings the corrupt to Parliament, you cannot work with them. And I am afraid that includes the ANC, they are bringing corrupt people to Parliament. On the other score when you say you want to Build One South Africa you cannot work with parties that want to hold on to racism, because parties want to say we only want to represent this race, this tribe," he said.

He noted that the worst thing that parties could do was to create the grand coalition of the opposition and govern worse than the ANC.

"South Africans will never forgive us for that. We have to govern better and deliver better," he said.

Maimane said he was sad about what was happening to the ANC, however, he said it would be good for the ANC to renew itself from the opposition benches.

ELECTION MANIFESTO

Maimane said BOSA's manifesto talked about keeping communities safe, by devolving policing so that intelligence was on the ground. He said with this, the party would be able to identify criminals and work with the criminal justice system to lock perpetrators away.

He added that BOSA would also look at building the capability of the State by appointing ethical leaders.

He noted the election polls, saying if they were to be believed, BOSA, from a favourability point of view, sat in the top four or five leaders in the country, and as a party, it was starting to show growth in provinces such as the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday called on Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka to set up a steering committee to investigate what it alleges are "growing incidences of State fund abuse" by the African National Congress (ANC) for electioneering.

DA national spokesperson Solly Malatsi said the investigation was urgently needed as it alleged that the ANC's election campaign was in violation of the electoral code of conduct.

In August 2020, the Office of the Public Protector set up a steering committee for an 'own initiative investigation' into allegations of maladministration, improper conduct and the misappropriation of public funds by the Eastern Cape Department of Health in relation to a medical scooters project.

"In just a week after DA Leader John Steenhuisen filed a complaint with the Public Protector following an unlawful instruction from Cyril Ramaphosa to senior public office bearers, reports show the public works budget has been targeted for ANC election purposes," explained Malatsi.

He said in another case, the Department of Public Works was said to have spent R5-million to apparently launch Phase 5 of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

He added that for a similar 'launch' in the North West scheduled for May 2, the provinces' Department of Public Works budgeted R38.1-million, an amount which he said was now under review after it was deemed excessive by some of the officials in the province.

"These excessive launch fees are only being used for bussing people to venues, printing T-shirts and providing pre-packaged food. For a programme that has been in existence for decades, why does the ANC government see the need to spend millions 'launching' it," Malatsi noted.

He said the ANC knew that it could continue with "this brazen abuse of taxpayer money" because the Public Protector investigation model was retrospective in nature.

"They have made the calculation that the Public Protector will only conclude her investigations long after the elections have ended, with no direct consequences for their illegal actions," he said.

Malatsi said the Public Protector could not afford to ignore this "glaring abuse of State resources" for election campaigning, which he said was a direct assault on the country's democracy.

The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has urged registered voters who need to apply for a special vote to do so before the Friday deadline.

It warned that no late applications would be accommodated after 17:00 at IEC offices and after midnight on the online platforms.

The IEC pointed out that there were two categories of special votes: home visits and early voting.

Home visits will be granted to registered voters who are infirm or have impaired mobility and they may apply to be visited by IEC officials at home or a place of confinement to cast their votes.

The second category of special votes is available to any registered voter who wishes to vote early at their voting station.

The IEC has reported that over a million special votes applications have already been approved for the May 29 elections.

The Commission reiterated that there was no automatic age-based qualification for a special vote.

"Special votes are available to all voters, but only upon application by the deadline date of 3 May," it said.

Both categories of special votes will be conducted on May 27 and 28, from 9:00 to 17:00.

City of Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda announced on Thursday that the City intends to add an additional 50 MW of power to its grid by bringing online the Durban Street Substation, in the next financial year.

Gwamanda was presenting the State of the City Address in Johannesburg, where he said the City had also planned for an additional 100 MW of energy by the financial year's end.

"Our dedication towards avoiding loadshedding reflects in these actions aimed at protecting our citizens from discomfort and distress," he said.

He said that for "too long" the city had been struggling with the "endemic loadshedding" that has plagued South Africans.

"…however, I am pleased to declare that we are taking firm measures to confront this obstacle directly. We recognise that we cannot tackle this crisis alone. It is for this reason that we have established partnerships with the Gauteng provincial government and Eskom to address it collectively," he said.

He noted and said he appreciated the increased focus on planned maintenance at Eskom, which he said had allowed the City to enjoy a temporary reprieve from loadshedding over the last month, with predicted record low stages of loadshedding for the coming winter months.

Gwamanda noted that through the City's partnership with the Gauteng government and Premier Panyaza Lesufi in particular, the John Ware substation's open gas turbine has been brought back into operation, enabling the infusion of a noteworthy 50 MW into the City's network.

"This progression marks only the initial phase in our determination towards implementing innovative energy solutions and decreasing dependence on Eskom for uninterrupted electricity supply," he said.

Gwamanda said the City was working on innovative measures to reduce power outages such as the implementation of load limiters and commissioning open cycle gas turbines.

He stated that the City's "consistent dedication" towards progress combined with these interventions would guarantee a dependable energy supply for Johannesburg citizens.

"Over the last year, and in line with our commitment to make our communities safer, we have extended new high mast lighting systems in our townships and informal settlements to improve the safety and security of residents during the evenings and at times of loadshedding," he said.

He said the high mast lights were powered by solar, giving them the ability to function outside of direct power supply from Eskom and City Power.

CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

Meanwhile, the City is facing a rise in illegal mining activities, which Gwamanda said posed an immediate threat to the city's infrastructure and public safety.

The City is taking steps to reduce risks associated with illegal mining by continuously monitoring areas where significant damage has occurred to bridge embankments and road reserves owing to this activity.

He highlighted that the City's financial situation was also deeply affected by illegal mining, in a "complex and significant manner".

"Though an exact total for the expenses associated with this issue has yet to be calculated on a municipal level, it encompasses various costs such as the repairs necessitated by damage to water or sewage systems, replacing entire pipes that have been damaged beyond repair and restoring terrain ravaged through quarrying activities," he said.

He said to tackle this problem, effective collaboration among diverse stakeholders was needed, explaining that the City was leading discourse in this regard, drawing in the provincial and national spheres of government.