A call between President Cyril Ramaphosa and United States President Joe Biden's respective national security advisors eased tensions that could save the multibillion-dollar trade agreement between both countries, a US foreign policy expert said.

Professor John Stremlau said it was the "correct decision" by the US government to put aside diplomatic angst that has dominated relations over the past year due to South Africa's "non-aligned" position on the Russia-Ukraine war ahead of November's African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) summit in South Africa.

Stremlau was reacting to Monday's call between Ramaphosa's national security advisor, Sydney Mufamadi, and his US counterpart, Jake Sullivan, where the senior officials "reaffirmed the strong partnership between South Africa and the United States, and recommitted to advance shared priorities including trade and investment, infrastructure, health, and climate".

Agoa is a law enacted in 2000 by the US Congress - that country's legislature equivalent to South Africa's Parliament - granting duty-free access to its market for African exports. South Africa exported about $16.2-billion of its goods to the US in 2022.

South Africa's participation in Agoa, which expires in 2025, came under fire in May when US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, accused South Africa of providing arms to Russia for its continued invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022. The weapons, Brigety asserted, were loaded on Lady R - a sanctioned Russian ship that docked in the Western Cape in December last year.

The diplomatic row - which saw the rand crash after Washington said Pretoria had broken its non-aligned stance - tapered off last month when Ramaphosa announced that an investigative panel chaired by Judge Phineas Mojapelo found no evidence that South Africa had sold arms to Russia.

Stremlau said it was important for Sullivan to be honest with South Africa about the "pressure" the Biden administration faced from the US Congress about the Lady R debacle, which could have jeopardised economic and political relations between the countries.

On Monday, the US government said that Sullivan "appreciated the seriousness with which President Ramaphosa had addressed the concerns about the Lady R's activities last year". The White House thanked South Africa for hosting this year's Agoa summit, saying it underscored "the importance of this landmark legislation for US relations with the region".

Stremlau said Agoa was essential to South Africa and the US, saying it was "a good move" for the countries to mend the uneasiness of the past year.

"What is important is that Jake Sullivan speaks frankly about the pressure the administration is under from Congress, which has been signalling [its] displeasure about South Africa's foreign policy," Stremlau contended.

He added: "It seems to be the [Biden] administration's . correct decision to consider the Ukrainian issue as a side one and not central to the Agoa co-operation that exists between the two economies, which is good for both economies. I think that is all for the good, and I don't expect that there will be any changes [to Agoa]."

The professor warned, however, that Agoa's renewal was "a Congressional decision", not a trade agreement, which had to be borne in mind by all involved.

"Therefore, I feel very strongly about the importance of having Mufamadi - who is held in high regard [in the US] - and Sullivan talking. So, that's good," Stremlau added.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape stated on Tuesday that it will argue for further hearings on the controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill so that people in the province have further opportunity to make public their feelings on the legislation.

The NHI Bill envisions a radical overhaul to the South African healthcare system.

The NHI Bill is currently under consideration by the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, which is charged with providing a Negotiating Mandate for consideration in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

The NCOP has the power to reject or modify the Bill, meaning that the Western Cape's input has a critical role to play in shaping the legislation.

"Whether one does or does not support the NHI Bill, it is clear that further hearings are necessary if we are to ensure that proper attention and care is given to this legislative process. Our residents deserve the opportunity to make their voices heard, and I will engage with parliamentary staff to plan more public hearings in areas of the Western Cape which have yet to be covered," said DA Western Cape spokesperson on Health Gerrit Pretorius.

He argues that under the proposed system, private healthcare would be all but eliminated, and South Africans would be obligated to seek healthcare at a facility of the State's choice.

The Bill also envisions the creation of a single, government-administered fund to pay for South Africa's healthcare needs - a proposition which Pretorius says engenders the possibility of massive, unprecedented corruption.

Last week, the Western Cape Provincial Parliament completed the final of seven well-attended public hearings throughout the Western Cape.

Pretorius noted that while some members of the public stood in support of the Bill, several raised questions regarding the workability and funding of the proposed legislation.

"In addition to this, several attendees stated that they had had to travel vast distances at great personal expense and inconvenience to attend the hearings, and expressed their concern that others may not have had the time or resources to do so," he said.

He argued that every effort should be made to ensure that every resident of the province is afforded their constitutionally protected right to have their voice heard.

"This is especially true in the case of legislation such as the NHI Bill, which has triggered much public debate, and has the potential to massively impact the future of South Africa's healthcare system and financial stability," Pretorius added.

The City of Cape will not back down from its fight with the national government to devolve railways to capable metros.

So says Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who spoke to journalists shortly after addressing stakeholders at the Urban Mobility Summit, which kicked off on Tuesday at DHL Stadium.

The summit, which is set down for two days, is expected to cover challenges that are of local and national public concern and interest, including the devolution of the passenger rail function to the City, the formalisation of the minibus taxi industry, and the impact of extortion, intimidation and crime on the City's efforts to deliver construction projects in hotspot areas in particular.

The mayor said the City was still in the process of lodging an intergovernmental dispute over the rail issue.

"The process is still ongoing. We expect to lodge the dispute imminently. The fact of the matter is that we have not received any response about devolution from the national government. We have, however, received feedback regarding a service-level agreement with Prasa but no further input about devolution," he said.

The City has been pushing to take over the management of rail services and wants the president to confirm whether the Cabinet-approved White Paper on National Rail Policy, aimed at devolving rail to capable metros, still stands.

"We cannot take any government department to court without following the intergovernmental dispute processes. The law makes that clear. We have to start now with the dispute mechanism, and if that does not work and there is no cooperation, then we will have to take the legal route," he said.

"We have written countless letters to the president, to various ministers of transport, and there is just zero engagement."

During a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a scathing attack on the City, saying that talk of devolving powers from the national government were "secessionist".

Ramaphosa said the White Paper on National Rail Policy, approved in March last year, specified certain implementations, priorities and time frames in the devolution of passenger rail.

"There are certain short-term objectives to be achieved by 2024. The development of a devolution strategy is one of the short-term interventions which is to be completed by 2024," he said.

Ramaphosa added that those who called for devolution essentially wanted to be "secessionist".

"Those who call for this devolution are essentially saying, we want to be separate, we want to be secessionist, we want to be completely different."

Although Parliament's ethics committee made damning findings against Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) deputy president Floyd Shivambu in connection with the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, party president Julius Malema was spared the legislature's wrath.

On 18 October 2019, Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen referred a complaint to the committee about Malema's alleged involvement in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.

The complainant referred to a 2019 Daily Maverick report that claimed Malema benefitted from VBS funds through Mahuna Investments.

It also claimed Malema did not disclose the benefit in his 2017 and 2018 declarations of interests.

Other claims included that Malema:

used the life savings of vulnerable VBS depositors and municipalities to fund his extravagant lifestyle, business interests and political aspirations;

used about R4.13-million which was paid to the EFF from an allegedly illegal sum of R16.1-million that was part of the illegitimate Sgameka Projects Company;

was involved in a scheme to mask the origin and ultimate beneficiaries of the funds; and

failed to disclose alleged connections with Mahuna Investments and misled Parliament to believe that he was not connected to it.

In October 2019, the acting Registrar of Members' Interests, advocate Anthea Gordon, wrote to Malema to request a response to the allegations.

He said: "This correspondence serves as both my acknowledgement of your letter and my official response. I think the letter is misdirected because I've nothing to do with the company in question. Next time come with something solid and not this newspaper junk. I've nothing to do with all this nonsense."

The committee resolved to summon the liquidator in the VBS matter to furnish it with a report on the movement of money in the VBS scandal.

In August 2021, the liquidator's report was presented to the committee and it was reported that Sgameka Projects Pty Ltd paid R4 803 180.00 into an ABSA bank account of Mahuna Investments.

The Sgameka account was identified by the liquidator as the account into which VBS money was paid before it was transferred to other bank accounts held by both natural and juristic persons.

The report also stated that Malema did not have a bank account with VBS.

"The liquidator did not have jurisdiction over the bank account of Mahuna held at ABSA Bank and therefore could not provide any evidence on whether the member received money through the ABSA held bank account of Mahuna," the committee's report read.

The committee could not make a breach finding because it was not in possession of sufficient information to make a finding and therefore decided to close the file in the matter.

Shivambu failed to disclose three payments from the now-defunct VBS bank.

Gordon made this revelation in response to a complaint by the DA.

According to Gordan, the committee obtained an affidavit by the liquidator in the VBS liquidation matter which identified that three payments were made to Floyd Shivambu by Sgameka Projects Pty Ltd during 2017.

The company belongs to Shivambu's brother, Brian.

These payments are:

18 August 2017: R100 000

24 August 2017: R30 000

26 August 2017: R50 000

Committee co-chairperson Bekizwe Nkosi told News24 that MPs, in their deliberations, only considered a sanction provided for in the code.

"Based on the deliberations it was decided to reduce the penalty to nine days because matters before it were confined only to non-disclosure and not any other matter under investigations by other law enforcement agencies and bodies," Nkosi said.

"In the circumstances nine days was found to be appropriate. The sanction is in our view adequate for such non-disclosure."

In a statement, EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo said the conclusion that Shivambu received a donation that was not declared was utterly false and not a reflection of reality.

"The deputy president will take Parliament to court to overturn the Joint Committee's irrational and opportunistic conclusion and sanctio...

City of Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda has hit back at Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu for accusing him of not being hands-on, as the City grapples with water-related issues.

Between August and September, Rand Water experienced numerous challenges in its bulk water supply infrastructure, affecting residents in multiple municipalities.

On September 19 Rand Water's Zuikerbosch Water Purification Plant powerlines were affected by a severe thunderstorm.

The Eikenhof system which supplies Soweto, Randburg and Roodepoort also experienced low water pressure to no water supply for days.

Last week, Mchunu met with residents and leaders in the affected municipalities. When he held a meeting with City of Johannesburg residents, he made a point of stating that the mayor was nowhere to be found.

Gwamanda was in attendance at the renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive at the time of the meeting.

In a statement, Gwamanda said attending the meetings may hold primacy for Mchunu but the City has been focusing on corrective actions to make sure that residents and affected hospitals have constant supply of water tankers.

"Those solutions were are implementing are on the ground and not in meetings and boardrooms," Gwamanda responded.

He went on to say that it was the Minister's responsibility to supply bulk water and that the recent disruptions to supply show a "monumental incapacity" on the part of Mchunu to carry out his responsibilities.

"He should be best advised to urgently attend to matters within his areas of responsibility and to avoid creating dramatic smokescreens to shield the incompetence of his officials and entities," the mayor stated.

He said as the President appointed Ministers to deal with various sectors, he had appointed the Water and Sanitation MMC to oversee water issues.

He explained that the City of Johannesburg was also investing in infrastructure and water management systems to improve supply, storage and efficiency following the bulk water supply issues.

Rand Water says it will implement 'water shifting' as a management tool to balance its strained systems in Gauteng, following Mchunu's directive.

Gwamanda has said that while the system remains constrained across the City, "our systems are monitoring the recovery closely and are noting considerable improvements in the recovery of reservoir storage capacity. Reservoir levels are improving slightly in the majority of areas, however, the City urges residents to comply with the water restrictions and to minimise water use".

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) deputy president Floyd Shivambu failed to disclose three payments from the now-defunct VBS bank, according to Parliament's acting Registrar of Members' Interests, advocate Anthea Gordon.

Gordon made this revelation in response to a complaint by the Democratic Alliance (DA).

In a letter Gordon wrote to the DA on Monday, which News24 has seen, she said: "I write on behalf of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests ('the committee') who at its meeting of 28 September 2023 finalised its deliberations on your complaint dated 18 October 2019 against Hon. Shivambu, MP."

According to Gordon, the complaint "related to the Venda Mutual Bank Society (VBS) scandal".

"The committee obtained an affidavit by the liquidator in the VBS liquidation matter which identified that three payments were made to Floyd Shivambu ... by Sgameka Projects Pty Ltd [the company of Shivambu's brother, Brian] during 2017."

These payments are:

18 August 2017: R100 000

24 August 2017: R30 000

26 August 2017: R50 000

According to Gordon, the committee noted that Shivambu had not disclosed the payments and had breached the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members' Interests.

Gordon added that the committee resolved to recommend that the House reduce Shivambu's salary by nine days.

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is demanding an apology from the Democratic Alliance (DA) for accusing Minister Sihle Zikalala of "lying about the over 200 construction mafia-related arrests".

In June, Zikalala made the statement that there had been over 200 arrests, countrywide, relating to syndicates of what has been widely termed the "construction mafia".

Following that, DA Shadow Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sello Seitlholo stated that if Zikalala refused to acknowledge his "false crime statistics", the party would refer the case to Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interest and request that it investigate the potential violation of the Executive Members Ethics Act and Code of Conduct by the Minister.

Seitlholo had said industry players were "justifiably sceptical" of the figure given by Zikalala, owing to what the DA said was no improvement on the ground and the suspension of some projects.

He added that the South African Police Service (Saps) had failed to provide records on proof of arrests to substantiate the 200 arrests claim.

Meanwhile, Zikalala's office has accused the DA of being untruthful and spreading misleading propaganda.

"It is yet another act of desperation to defame the government, fuelled by its own delusion and obsession to be purveyors of fake news. Under normal circumstances we would not respond to any Democratic Alliance drivel as our comments will dignify their garbage. We are responding because the media and the public at large have now become victims of being infected with falsehoods and propaganda and we respond to protect the vulnerable members of the public," said the department.

It further stressed that its information that there were over 200 arrests made by the police was correct and authenticated by official documents in its possession.

It also added that law enforcement agencies were hard at work and were thwarting the efforts of the construction mafia.

The department had also promised to reveal further evidence of this in upcoming briefings.

Responding to Zikalala's demand for a public apology, Seitlholo said, "we stand by our statement and we will not be apologising".

He said the Minister first claimed that 200 arrests had been made in relation to construction mafia crimes and later upped the figure to 600 on the JJ Tabane show.

"The onus is on him to prove that this is true, using proof of arrests obtained from Saps. Until he does, the DA stands by its statement that he is misleading the public," Seitlholo said.

He added that not only did Saps fail to provide records on proof of arrests to substantiate Zikalala's claim, it also wrote to the DA to ask for an extra 30 days to look for the information.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that former politician and anti-apartheid activist Aziz Pahad will be granted a Special Official Funeral Category 2 on Saturday.

Pahad, who served as the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 82.

Ramaphosa has expressed his condolences to the extended Pahad family, who also lost Essop Pahad, brother to Aziz, in short succession. Essop Pahad, who was a former Minister in the Presidency, passed away in July.

Aziz Pahad's funeral will take place on Saturday at 10h00 at the Westpark Cemetery, in Johannesburg. Ramaphosa ordered that flags be flown at half-mast until Saturday evening.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has condemned the African National Congress' (ANC's) "latest attempt to defy a court order" compelling it to make public its cadre deployment records, as a consequence, the DA will approach the courts for an order of contempt of court and the imprisonment of ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.

On September 4, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) rejected an appeal made by the ANC and Mbalula against the handing over its cadre deployment records. The ruling reinstated the deadline established by the High Court, which gave the ruling party five working days to hand over its cadre deployment records dating back to January 1, 2023.

"Since the ANC's doomed appeal at the SCA was filed under Mbalula's name, he has made himself guilty of the same contempt of court offence that led to the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma," said DA MP Leon Schreiber.

The DA said that on September 7 it was informed by lawyers representing the ANC that it would be appealing the SCA decision at the Constitutional Court.

The DA furnished ANC lawyers with a letter, giving them until 12:00 on September 20 to file papers to proceed with an appeal.

On Thursday, the DA informed ANC lawyers that the 15-day court deadline of September 26 to file an appeal had lapsed.

Further, the DA has condemned the ruling party for its failure to meet the 15-day court deadline to file an appeal and labelled it as a "reckless disregard of a court order".

"It is clear that the ANC has realised that any appeal to the Constitutional Court is doomed to fail. But the DA will not allow the ANC to get away with this latest attempt at using Stalingrad tactics to undermine the cause of justice. The people of South Africa have an inalienable right of access to the information contained in the ANC's cadre deployment records, because these documents demonstrate how the party illegally interfered in public appointment processes to deploy the cadres who captured and corrupted the State under the chairmanship of Ramaphosa," said Schreiber.

Former South African Airways (SAA) board chairperson Dudu Myeni was arrested on Friday on charges of corruption and fraud exceeding R300 000 for gratifications offered and received from Bosasa and its subsidiary Sondolo IT.

Former Sondolo IT director Trevor Mathenjwa was also arrested and subjected to the same charges.

They each received bail of R10 000.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has asserted that Myeni failed in her legal duty to disclose her interests in terms of the SAA Conflict of Interest Policy.

"Myeni thus stands accused of corruption for receiving gratification from Bosasa subsidiary Sondolo IT, offered by Trevor Mathenjwa, the company's former director. Myeni is accused of having received security upgrades for her Richards Bay premises during May 2014 and March 2015, to the value of R200 000. She is further accused of benefitting from hotel accommodation and travel expenses for her and persons close to her, from Bosasa, facilitated by Blake Travels, between May 2014 and March 2015 for over R107 000," said NPA spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka.

The matter returns to court on November 17.