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Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has been elected, unopposed, Ekurhuleni mayor, after an almost two-week absence of leadership, following the removal of Sivuyile Ngodwana.

Ngodwana was removed from office on March 28, following a motion of no confidence, brought by ActionSA.

Xhakaza, the African National Congress's candidate, is a former MMC for finance and economic development.

Non-profit Freedom Under Law (FUL) wants the Electoral Court to release the reasons for its decision to uphold former President Jacob Zuma's appeal again the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

On Tuesday, Zuma won his appeal in the Electoral Court against the IEC's decision to exclude him from being able to stand as an uMkhonto weSizwe Party parliamentary candidate ahead of the May 29 elections.

The IEC argued against Zuma's eligibility to stand as a candidate owing to his 15-month prison sentence for being in contempt of court, in 2021.

The Electoral Court issued the order without reasons, which FUL argues is critical for the credibility of the electoral process.

"The need for an urgent decision on this matter is understandable, considering that elections are imminent. However, the reasons for the decision are of importance, both for the eligibility of the candidate in question, and as a general precedent. The rule of law requires that courts give fully motivated reasons for their decisions. FUL therefore calls on the Electoral Court to issue its reasons for judgment urgently," FUL said.

Meanwhile, African National Congress (ANC) alliance partner the South African Communist Party (SACP) also wants the Electoral Court to release the full judgment of the order it handed down, which it says has "plunged the entire country into speculation".

It wants the court to release to full judgment to allow public scrutiny of its rationale and allow the public and the IEC to determine whether there are any grounds for an appeal.

The party went on to say that the Zuma brand has passed its "sell-by date".

"The fact is that millions of South Africans remain unhappy about the state capture and industrial scale looting that took place with the fugitives from justice, his friends the Guptas, at the helm. No reasonable South African wants to see a return to that rot, including through the ballot," the party said.

Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga noted on Wednesday that while Gauteng roads are no longer going to be tolled, the e-toll gantry lights and cameras will remain for road safety purposes, adding that the obligation to pay e-toll accounts remains until midnight on April 11.

E-toll invoices will be rolled out until the last day and issued up until this period.

"Due to potential delays in the postal system, invoices will still be received sometime after 12 April 2024. However, no transactions post-midnight on 11 April 2024 will appear on the invoice or statement," Chikunga said.

Last month, she published in the Government Gazette a notice concerning the withdrawal of the toll declaration of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, popularly known as e-tolls.

Addressing the media on the end of e-tolling in Gauteng, Chikunga admitted that the system had caused public aggravation and was of great concern to Cabinet.

She said this led to the formation of a three-member committee - made up of the Minister of Transport, Minister of Finance and Gauteng Premier - charged by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2019 to find a solution to the impasse.

Chikunga explained that the long process involving government upgrading parts of important national roads in Gauteng began in December 2013, to ensure that the economic hub of South Africa was not jeopardised by poor roads.

She noted that before the upgrades, the roads were extremely congested and had a negative effect on the country's economy.

She highlighted that the system of e-tolling was implemented after some consultation had taken place.

Chikunga said once the system stopped at midnight on April 11, users would not be required to do anything.

The e-toll website will be updated with respect to the cancellation, including Mobility/Tag account functionality for services, i.e. interoperability and parking, et cetera.

"Importantly, current valid accounts can still be used for payments at toll plazas and other value-added services (i.e parking). This is critical for the ongoing, long-term benefit of interoperability. The tag beeps will stop after midnight on 11 April 2024," she said.

She explained that the e-toll stores would remain open as the tag could still be used for interoperability, account queries and other potential transport-related services that would be determined in due course.

She added that the e-toll branding would be removed in phases.

REPAYING OF DEBTS

Chikunga highlighted that one of the issues the three-member committee had to grapple with was how the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) was going to repay the debt it incurred to build the infrastructure and how government would ensure that the roads remained up to the standards to which road users had now become accustomed.

"It has not been an easy process and decision because we essentially were being asked to deviate from a principle that is universally accepted: you have to pay for whatever you use," she said.

She explained that together with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwna and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi they finally reached agreement towards the end of March on how to conclusively deal with the debt resulting from e-tolls.

"…and as a result, we were able to sign a memorandum of agreement to formalise alternative funding solutions for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project debt repayment and deal with the backlog of maintenance and rehabilitation costs," she said.

She stressed that the three-member committee was unambiguous on the fact that the user-pay principle remained a government policy and committed to continually engage and work together to explore adequate and sustainable funding solutions for road construction, maintenance and upgrades to support economic development.

Following the announcement by national government that e-tolls in Gauteng had been officially cancelled, Sanral resolved its long-outstanding application for increased borrowing limits from National Treasury.

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Parliament's Powers and Privileges Committee said on Wednesday that as former Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has resigned as a Member of Parliament, the committee has no jurisdiction to investigate the complaint of corruption brought by Democratic Alliance (DA) Chief Whip Siviwe Gwarube.

Last month, the DA approached Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests to ask for an investigation into Mapisa-Nqakula, following allegations that she accepted bribes during her tenure as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans.

News reports claimed Mapisa-Nqakula took bribes totalling R2.3-million from a South African National Defence Force contractor, and that she approved a 70% salary hike for the Secretary to Parliament Xolile George, raising his annual package from R2.6-million to R4.4-million.

The committee said it received a legal opinion from the Parliamentary Legal Services that states that the mandate of the committee extends only to Members of Parliament.

"Therefore, when a person ceases to be a Member of Parliament, the committee has no jurisdiction to consider a matter related to that person," the committee said.

Meanwhile, DA Deputy Chief Whip Dr Annelie Lotriet said members of the African National Congress chose to "sustain their culture of impunity" and fought to protect the former Speaker and the appointment of George based on a misleading remuneration package.

She said the DA was in the process of considering options in terms of Sections 7 and 8 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, the Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, and the Assembly Rules to take the investigation involving the former Speaker and George forward.

Lotriet pointed out that advocate Karrisha Pillay SC found on March 25, a week before the former Speaker's resignation, that there was a prima facie case that warranted the committee's investigation and a subsequent hearing.

"Adv Pillay's finding of a prima facie case to be answered, confirms what the DA has long held - that the former Speaker misled Members of the Assembly when she induced them to endorse Mr George for appointment to the position of Secretary to Parliament at a much lower salary package, and possibly excluding more qualified candidates," she said.

She noted that the fact that Mapisa-Nqakula resigned before she could be held accountable neither absolves her - and by extension the Executive Authority of Parliament - nor does it get to the bottom of the alleged irregular hiking of George's salary.

She said George was still serving as the Secretary to Parliament, and the Executive Authority must be held accountable.

Former President Jacob Zuma won a court bid to overturn his disqualification from running for parliament in next month's election on the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party's (MKP's) ticket.

The decision is another setback to the ruling African National Congress's (ANC's) efforts to stifle support for the so-called MKP, which opinion polls show is gaining popularity ahead of the May 29 vote. Last month, the ANC lost a court bid to have the MKP deregistered.

An objection to Zuma running as a candidate in the election "is hereby dismissed," the court said in a ruling handed down on Tuesday.

South Africa's constitution bars anyone sentenced to more than 12 months in jail from being a member of parliament. Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2021 after being found guilty of contempt of court.

The MKP's lawyers had argued that the Independent Electoral Commission failed to consider that Zuma only served a few weeks of his sentence, and was released on medical parole before benefiting from a remission of sentence and should therefore be allowed to run.

Zuma was forced to resign as president in February 2018 after the ANC elected Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed him as party leader in December 2017. Zuma, 81, ruled South Africa for nine years that were marred by scandal, including allegations of large-scale corruption and the looting of billions of dollars of State funds. He has denied wrongdoing and hasn't been indicted on the accusations.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba notes there is an urgent need to address tertiary education funding, alongside reforms to the country's institutions of learning, to "fix the country".

Mashaba was speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, held at Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg, where he committed that an ActionSA government would significantly expand and improve access to a variety of post-matric opportunities, whether through traditional academic routes in universities, or via colleges dedicated to technical skills and vocational training.

He said institutions such as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) have been plagued with corruption allegations as thousands of students go homeless or without food.

"Tertiary institutions across the country suffer from maladministration and our very own Ministers face allegations of buying their degrees, thereby reducing the credibility of South African qualifications. And, our centres of higher learning fail to address the critical skills shortage currently facing South Africa, from software developers to engineers and scientists," he said.

Mashaba said while his party worked towards growing the economy through its plan for economic prosperity, it would achieve its goal of ensuring that no academically qualified student was excluded from further education through aggressive reprioritisation of the national Budget away from wasteful expenditure such as State-owned enterprise (SOE) bailouts and VIP security.

He said his party would ensure that student funding was a top priority, ahead of any government expense.

"Combined with reforms to NSFAS alongside the introduction of our Opportunity Fund, we can remove barriers to funding access for all South Africans. And with the establishment of ActionSA's one-of-a-kind Opportunity Fund, we will ensure that public funds that currently go to enriching entrepreneurs are used to empower the young people of South Africa," he promised.

The Opportunity Fund will radically expand access to tertiary education by not only funding students, but also building new higher education facilities.

Mashaba believes South Africa's higher education centres are in crisis, while too many students are prohibited from accessing tertiary education owing to financial exclusion.

Mashaba said despite repeated promises and investigations into higher education funding, government had made little progress in expanding access to higher education.

"It is simply unacceptable that 30 years after democracy students are excluded from obtaining a tertiary education because they lack the funds. Not while our government wastes billions on propping up failing SOEs and allows limited public funds to be stolen by self-interested cadres," he said.

ActionSA believes that quality education is one of the best tools for empowerment and it will improve lives.

"That is why we have committed that under an ActionSA government, no academically qualifying student will be excluded from further education because they lack the funds to study," he emphasised.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO FURTHER EDUCATION

Mashaba explained that his party will expand access to further education not only by removing financial barriers, but through a comprehensive plan to address the institutional failures of the higher education system.

He admitted that this would not happen overnight, saying ActionSA believed that government had a responsibility to be transparent about what was possible.

"I say this because while it is our dream that one day we can introduce fee-free education for all students, we must accept the reality we face as a country that suffers from low economic growth, a declining tax base and sustained unemployment of over 40%," he said.

He said ActionSA planned to increase financial support to academically qualifying students, including tuition, accommodation and living expenses, and also expand its network of quality institutions of higher education to alleviate capacity constra...

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Tuesday denied that his department cancelled the Critical Skills Work Visa, emphasising its importance in the department.

He said the department is "worried" about rumours around this, also noting confusion between the General Work Visa and the Critical Skills Work Visa.

Motsoaledi was briefing the media on the amended immigration regulations where he explained that the Home Affairs department has changed the manner in which the Critical Skills Work Visa was operating.

He said that in the past, a Critical Skills Work Visa was issued every four years and the Minister of Home Affairs is supposed to gazette skills that are critical to the economy of the country.

"…but Home Affairs does not have the capacity nor the knowledge nor the skills to know what is required. What Home Affairs does is to go to the department of higher education. The department usually asks the Human Science Research Council and the council works with other institutions, including labour markets surveys, to put a list of skills which they think are critical for the economy of the country," he said.

He noted that some people believe that critical skills is something that is prestigious, giving an example that if an individual has a PHD in a particular area then it ought to be considered a critical skill. He explained that this is actually not the case.

He highlighted that a critical skill is defined as something that is vital for the functioning of the economy, and with few South Africans who can do the required work.

"…and so we are forced to go beyond the borders of the country to look for those people with such skills," he said.

The critical skills list will then be gazetted by the Minister of Home Affairs and eligible people can apply, after which a letter of employment is issued to those who qualify, and Home Affairs then issues said person with a critical skills visa, Motsoaledi explained.

He noted that this is one of the easiest visas that department issues and added that a letter of appointment from an employer is also needed for this visa to be issued.

" … so there is no way that we can cancel it…. All we have done is that we said we cannot wait for four years to recognise a skill as critical, the Minister does it as is required. If any institution comes to prove to us that the particular skill is critical then we gazette it," said Motsoaledi.

In February 2023 the department has to gazette certain professions in the healthcare system, and later in September it gazetted the issue of veterinary surgeons.

Former President and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party member Jacob Zuma has won his appeal in the Electoral Court against the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC's) decision to exclude him from being able to stand as an MK Party parliamentary candidate.

The IEC will reveal the final candidate list on Wednesday, as preparations are underway for the crucial May 29 elections.

The IEC argued against Zuma's eligibility to stand as a candidate owing to his 15-month prison sentence for being in contempt of court, in 2021.

South Africa has asked companies to help it set up an office to facilitate the entry of private operators onto the continent's biggest rail network for the first time.

In a letter sent last month to Business Unity South Africa (Busa), the Department of Transport asked the country's biggest corporate lobby group to help set up a private-sector participation office. It also asked Busa to "support concessioning and investment in freight and passenger networks."

The department asked whether companies would "be in a position to help them set up a unit," said Khulekani Mathe, chief executive officer-designate at Busa. "We will produce the capacity to populate it and then have nothing to do it."

The transport department didn't respond to a request for comment.

The overture to the private sector over reviving the moribund rail industry is the latest attempt by the South African government to rope in corporate skills in a bid to kick-start collapsing government services ranging from electricity provision to water supply.

South Africa's freight-rail services, run as a monopoly by state-owned Transnet, have deteriorated to the point where iron ore is piling up in stockpiles at mines and coal railings to ports are at a 30-year low. That's slashed earnings for companies including units of Anglo American and Glencore. It's also resulted in a lower tax take for the cash-strapped government.

The government has produced a strategy - the Freight Logistics Roadmap - to reform rail and port services and Transnet last month published a document detailing how it envisages private companies operating its network.

That document, which is open for public comment, has attracted criticism from miners and other companies reliant on rail as it aims to allow private operators to book slots for a period of one year, which then need renewing, rather than having access for longer periods. Longer access would encourage infrastructure investment.

Late last month, Busa wrote to its members asking them to submit proposals to it on how the rail network - or segments of it - could be run, in addition to seeking help to start the PSP office. The deadline for the proposals is April 19.

A number of unsolicited bids "have been submitted to Transnet," the Department of Transport said in its earlier letter. "These PSP initiatives need screening and prioritizing but can be made market-ready within a year through the establishment of a sector-specific PSP unit."

Bankable Opportunities

The transport department said the unit will need transaction advisers as well as legal and technical experts to set up "bankable PSP opportunities."

Mathe said government envisages the unit running along the same lines as an office that's run bids for private power provision, and secured well over R200-billion in investment.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has announced that it will, during its April graduation ceremonies, taking place on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa campuses, confer honorary degrees on Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and Professor Salim Abdool Karim.

The University said the conferral was for their significant contribution to society in their respective fields.

UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Francis Petersen said the acknowledgement was a testament to their outstanding contributions to society, academia and the betterment of humanity.

"Both are highly reckoned and respected, and their exemplary leadership, scholarship and unwavering commitment serve as guiding beacons for future generations," said Petersen.

The University said that the degree PhD in Theology (h.c.) would be awarded to Makgoba on the grounds of exceptional achievements of public service in accordance with the ideals and principles of the UFS, at the Qwaqwa Campus on 12 April 2024.

Makgoba, the esteemed Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, has dedicated his life to fostering social justice, education and spiritual guidance, the university highlighted.

His academic achievements reflect his dedication to intellectual pursuits alongside his pastoral duties, with the university stating that Makgoba's impactful leadership as president of the South African Council of Churches and Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape has inspired countless individuals across the world.

He has also received honorary doctorates from the General Theological Seminary, New York; Huron University College, Ontario; the University of the South, Tennessee; the University of the Witwatersrand; and Stellenbosch University. His memoir, Faith and Courage: Praying with Mandela, exemplifies his profound influence on reconciliatory efforts and spiritual guidance in challenging times.

Karim will be awarded the degree PhD in Medical Virology (h.c.) during the graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Health Sciences, which will take place on the Bloemfontein Campus on 18 April 2024.

The degree is awarded for Karim's scholarship in the field of medical virology and his distinguished contributions in this field.

Karim, a distinguished clinical infectious disease epidemiologist, has garnered international acclaim for his ground-breaking research in HIV/Aids and Covid-19.

As director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa and Professor of Global Health at Columbia University, Karim has been at the forefront of scientific innovation and public health advocacy.

"His extensive publication record, including more than 500 journal articles and three epidemiology textbooks, underscores his dedication to advancing medical knowledge and combating infectious diseases. Prof Abdool Karim's pivotal research on HIV prevention and treatment of HIV-TB co-infection have revolutionised healthcare practices globally, saving countless lives and shaping public health policies," said UFS.

Karim has served as special adviser on pandemics to the director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO). He is an Adjunct Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard University, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Cornell University, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Karim serves as a member of the WHO Science Council, is Vice-President of the International Science Council, a member of the US National Academy of Medicine, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.