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President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the Presidential PhD Initiative, which received R1-billion in initial funding from the National Skills Fund, to create opportunities for South Africa's "brightest young minds" at world-leading universities and research institutions.

Ramaphosa made the announcement on Tuesday at the inaugural presidential plenary on science, technology and innovation, which brought together role-players from the public and private sectors to discuss how to drive innovation forward in South Africa.

The president said high levels of research and development were crucial to growing the South African economy at a faster rate.

He said South Africa dedicated around 0.6% of its gross domestic product to R&D, which was much less than in many other regions, such as the United States, China and South Korea.

Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande had previously affirmed the government's commitment to increasing spending on R&D to 1.5% of GDP.

Ramaphosa echoed the need for greater investment in this sector.

"It is clear that we are certainly progressing, but we are not doing so at [the] pace that is required. We need to add more speed.

"For science, technology and innovation to serve our economy and to serve our people effectively, we need to aggressively and strategically invest more in education and skills development," he said.

He announced the launch of the initiative at the conference, which was kicked off with the R1-billion investment from the National Skills Fund.

"The aim of the first phase is to expose our country's brightest young minds to cutting-edge thinking and research by negotiating opportunities at world-leading universities and research centres," he said.

He said studies would be linked to well-established research programmes in public bodies and in industry.

Some of the skills targeted by the programme are artificial intelligence research, advanced biotechnology, fuel cell development, batteries and other storage, and next-generation mining.

Ramaphosa said the goal was to work with private actors and international authorities to grow the investment for the fund to R5-billion by 2030.

Grant recipients will no longer be able to withdraw cash from Post Offices, Postbank and South African Social Security Agency announced.

Postbank and Sassa said in a statement on Monday that they would phase out all physical cash payment points, including the cash withdrawal of grants within Post Offices. The process will start in January next year and end on 31 March 2024.

The announcement was initially made in 2018 and forms part of a strategy to decrease cash-in-transit heists, unfavourable conditions at CPP sites, as well as capacity challenges faced at the Post Office.

"Post Office branches will continue to assist Sassa beneficiaries with non-cash payments such as card reinsurances, PIN resets, printing of statements, and other such non-cash services. What will be discontinued is only the payment of cash to beneficiaries. So, the Post Office branch services will continue but only for non-cash transactions," said PostBank spokesperson Bongani Diako.

The Post Office, currently in business rescue, has lost R6 billion in the past three years, including a R2.2 billion loss for the 2022/2023 financial year.

Last week, it was announced that it would be closing 420 loss-making branches and retrenching 6 000 of its 11 000 employees after most of its shareholders approved business rescue plans. The plan also includes a potential R3.8-billion bailout from the government.

With the closure of CPPs, grant recipients will be expected to use alternative National Payment System channels by using their cards at retailers to pay for goods or withdraw using cash-back facilities. Alternatively, they will be able to withdraw cash from ATMs and retailers, Boxer, Pick n Pay, Spar, Shoprite, Usave, or Checkers.

According to Postbank and Sassa, 98% of grant recipients use various NPS channels and will not be affected by the shift.

"The transition will be implemented sensibly to ensure that no one is left out. The aim is to ensure continuity in the payments for everyone, and that every person is paid their grant in the most efficient, safe, secure, reliable and convenient manner," they said.

However, the plan to close CPPs has been criticised by the civil society organisation Black Sash.

"[The] decision was made without proper research and thorough investigation of how it will impact social grant recipients, especially pensioners and disabled people in rural areas," said Black Sash regional manager Evashnee Naidoo.

Naidoo said interviews with grant recipients showed a general dissatisfaction with the closure of CPPs, with some recipients arguing that the move would drive them deeper into poverty.

Recipients said the move to alternative NPS sites would mean increased transport costs, with some visiting payment sites more than once due to significant delays.

Earlier this year, News24 reported that thousands of South Africans were forced to wait in queues due to system glitches at ATMs and retailers.

Recipients also raised concerns about the withdrawal fees implemented at ATM facilities or retailers, ranging between R10 to R50.

According to Naidoo, more than 60% of recipients said they would need assistance at pay points, including ATMs, with some even asking security guards to assist them in withdrawing their grants.

The Deputy Minister of Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has called for greater investments to support the Brics TB Research Network and expressed his support for innovations in therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines driven towards the eradication of tuberculosis.

Dhlomo made his remarks at the opening plenary of the Brics TB Research Network Innovation Summit in Durban, on Monday.

TB has been deemed a substantial public health threat by Dhlomo. He has stressed the need to incentivise the recruitment of programme managers and scientists from Brics countries to develop collaborative research programmes aimed at developing new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for the infectious disease.

"TB remains a pressing concern for South Africa, as it does for all Brics countries and many nations. Approximately 300 000 people are estimated to get TB every year in South Africa. Last year alone, we managed to notify and put 224 000 people on TB treatment regime. Although our infection incidence is declining, we are concerned about the unacceptable death rate among our TB patients," said Dhlomo.

Although efforts have been made to curtail the incidence of TB through the National Strategic Plan and the antiretroviral programme, Dhlomo noted that HIV continued to serve as a major driver of TB infection with 48% of TB patients living with the virus in 2022.

Conscious of the debilitating impact of Covid-19 on public health programmes, Dhlomo also called for the involvement of all stakeholders, particularly civil society, to advocate for TB testing, prevention and the improvement of data systems.

Dhlomo highlighted the need for impactful deliberations and the deepening of collaborations in a commitment to ending TB in Brics countries.

The fourth day of the summit will include site visits to the Center for AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa and the Africa Health Research Institute to highlight the research being undertaken on TB, and the King Dinuzulu Hospital to underline the service delivery efforts undertaken for patients with TB.

"The sixth South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence and Behaviour survey showed that among people aged 15 years and older living with HIV in South Africa in 2022, 90% were aware of their status, 91% of those were on antiretroviral treatment, and 94% of those on antiretroviral treatment were virally suppressed. Thus, South Africa has made significant progress toward the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets - namely, that by 2025, 95% of all people living with HIV be aware of their HIV status, 95% of those aware of their status be on antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of those on antiretroviral treatment who are living with HIV achieve viral load suppression," said Dhlomo.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has told Polity that a prosperous South Africa and the African National Congress cannot coexist, labelling the ruling party as a "curse" and blaming it for "destroying our way of life" in an exclusive interview.

Mashaba, whose party is preparing to contest the upcoming elections for the first time, warned that if the black youth, in particular, don't remove the ANC from government, it must accept the consequence that "South Africa is going to die" and become a failed State.

ActionSA recently launched its election campaign at Mashaba's place of birth, in Hammanskraal, where he said it was disturbing to see that a place which was once a hive of business activity was now in poverty.

When asked about ActionSA's election preparations, as the party has already launched Chairpersons in all nine provinces, Mashaba said going back home was a great decision as the people of Hammanskraal were "proud" that his launch had put his village on the map.

Mashaba told Polity that he was pleased with the party's progress, with two of the nine provinces having their wards nearly reach the Electoral Commission of South Africa's requirements to be able to contest the upcoming elections.

"We are not going to stop. Even next year we will continue to fill in the forms as it gives us personal contact with the voters. It is exciting as we have already announced four Premier candidates," he said.

The party's remaining Premier candidates will be announced before the end of February.

ActionSA is confident that before the elections it will have reached a minimum of 60% of wards with branches.

Mashaba said although he was privileged, he was not prepared to leave the country for "greener pastures" and added that he would not keep quiet as he had an obligation to save the country from the ANC.

ECONOMY AND ENERGY

The ActionSA leader accused the ANC of deliberately closing factories in Hammanskaal, which he said was one of the biggest industrial areas in the country.

He said businesses were now run by the ANC councillors who were allowing undocumented immigrants to "do as they please".

Mashaba further claimed that ANC councillors had opened a floodgate of social disruptions and drug use in communities as people were unemployed.

SOCIAL GRANTS

Mashaba is promising South Africans a universal basic income stimulus package which will be more than the current R350, as he argues that no one can survive on such an amount.

He said his party would introduce short-term interventions as the country deals with 54% of people living below the bread line, "but at the same time we will deal with draconian laws, opening factories where no union will ever have a veto right on our economic policies".

Mashaba is adamant that once the number of social grant recipients is reduced owing to increased job opportunities, those who qualify for social grants will only be the elderly, disabled and the previously disadvantaged.

He is mindful that the "mess created by the ANC" requires an intervention but his plan is to ensure that industrial spaces flourish and resuscitate the economy.

ESKOM

On the appointment of new Eskom CEO Dan Marokane, Mashaba told Polity that his success would depend on the political support he received.

He said if the ANC leadership continued looting Eskom, Marokane was not going to do anything and would also not get the support of the criminal justice system.

"I can assure you [in that case] he is going to fail. There is no way that you can run a business or Eskom where you have the hyenas waiting to steal and there are no consequences, therefore, he is going to fail. That is a fact of life. His success is going to depend on getting the political will and stopping criminals and the tenderpreneurs who are milking Eskom," Mashaba stated.

If it comes into power, ActionSA is promising to run Eskom on a commercial basis while putting professional people in key positions and offering political support, "but we will ensure that we deal with t...

The African National Congress has changed its tack in the more than R100-million debt fiasco, with party veterans sent as emissaries to negotiate with Ezulweni Investments to hold off on its threats to liquidate the party.

This as ANC leaders believe secretary-general Fikile Mbalula mishandled the matter and President Cyril Ramaphosa intervenes to resolve it.

Ezulweni has revealed that a group of party elders had reached out to it with an "urgent desire and intention to intervene" and resolve the impasse.

The events company's attorney, Shafique Sarlie, claimed the group, which had begged for Ezulweni to pause the liquidation proceedings, believed Mbalula had mishandled the matter.

The company wants to liquidate the ANC to recover money owed to it for work done during the 2019 elections.

Sarlie said the party elders wanted to save the ANC from further embarrassment and asked for a few more days to engage with the party's leadership.

"They have requested and beseeched Ezulweni not to commence liquidation proceedings against the ANC, fearing further reputational damage it will do to the ANC and the dire implications such proceedings will have for the ruling party."

He added the elders said this would enable them to engage with the party's leadership to resolve the matter, and should the intervention fail, they would take cession of the claim and debt owed to Ezulweni.

"It is hoped that meaningful engagements will be concluded [by 12 December] between all the interested parties, and whereafter Ezulweni will announce its further intentions and plans to recover the long outstanding debt. Meanwhile, Ezulweni will forge ahead in its vehement opposition to the application brought by the ANC at the Constitutional Court," Sarlie said.

Meanwhile, the Mail and Guardian reported that Ramaphosa had entered the fray and would try to resolve the impasse by himself.

Two party insiders told News24 they believed Mbalula's handling of the legal process caused more harm to the ANC.

The Supreme Court of Appeal rejected the ANC's assertions that the contract with Ezulweni was fraudulent.

The SCA upheld a decision of the High Court for the party to repay the company.

Mbalula insisted Ezulweni was guilty of bribing Luthuli House staff members, and it was trying to liquidate the ANC for nefarious reasons.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has called on both the public and private sectors to unite against the scourge of corruption.

Mashatile also signed the anti-corruption pledge, vowing never to take or pay bribes and to treat public resources respectfully.

He also signed the pledge to commemorate International Anti-corruption Day on Saturday 9 December as another promise to act with integrity in all his dealings.

This is despite reports that he had the regular use of a property owned by businessman Edwin Sodi.

Sodi currently faces charges of benefitting from state capture. The Zondo Commission found that the National Prosecuting Authority should consider charging him for his role in the asbestos scandal in the Free State.

Mashatile told dignitaries, including heads of Chapter 9 institutions, at the 2023 International Anti-corruption Commemoration on Friday that corruption was a scourge that continues to affect every corner of the world.

"It's imperative for the public sector and private sector to unite in their dedication to good governance which is founded on transparency and accountability," Mashatile told the audience at Unisa's ZK Matthews Hall in Pretoria.

He said corruption was based on selfishness and a lack of concern for the majority.

Mashatile said:

It is on this basis that we should be vigilant in how we address corruption, especially in the public sector. It is a persistent problem that inhibits development, fairness, and equality in our society.

He also lit a candle alongside Whistleblower House executive director Cynthia Stimpel, remembering slain whistleblowers as well as those still in hiding.

Stimpel said the war on corruption was far from over, adding that whistleblowers, most of whom were in hiding, were tired of excuses.

"I hope this light shines bright enough for the National Prosecuting Authority to see. We are getting tired of excuses in court," she said.

Stimpel read out the names of whistleblowers who are in hiding, including Athol Williams and Thabiso Zulu. She also cautioned political parties from using public funds for campaigning.

"I hope this candle can burn bright enough for our government to have the courage to prevent the looting," she said.

resident Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed regret over Mavuso Msimang's decision to resign as a member of the African National Congress.

Msimang was the Deputy President of the ANC Veterans League and served as a member of the political party for six decades.

Msimang said that the ANC was "wracked with endemic corruption, with devastating consequences on the governance of the country and the lives of poor people, of whom there continue to be so many."

Ramaphosa commended Msimang by stating that the party continued to hold him in the highest regard as one of the party's outstanding veterans.

Ramaphosa acknowledged that the party faces resource mobilisation challenges but remains confident in its ability to overcome them.

"The ANC continues to grow. There are many other members who join the ANC on a continuous basis, so we do regret the decision he has taken and I am rather pleased that he says he will want to continue being involved in one shape, form or other in the matters that have to do with our country," Ramaphosa said.

He added that the ANC will be well resourced and campaign rigorously ahead of next years' national and provincial elections.

The State Security Agency has distanced itself from a so-called "intelligence report" on alleged judicial corruption.

This as a well-known Aids denialist confirmed he was the document's author and said he had engaged with Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe over certain of its claims.

"The State Security Agency has noted with concern a document that is doing the rounds on social media purporting to be some intelligence report on judicial corruption, which is allegedly written by the director-general, Ambassador Thembisile Majola," the SSA said in a media statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"The State Security Agency would like to distance itself and the director-general from such a report."

Hours earlier, the Office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence confirmed the same report was not the product of any state intelligence investigations.

OIGI legal advisor advocate Jay Govender told News24 on Tuesday:

Our preliminary investigation indicates that the report is not an official product of the State Security Agency or any of the intelligence services overseen by the Inspector-General of Intelligence.

Instead, the 54-page report - which United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa had incorrectly claimed was "purportedly drafted by Ms Thembisile Majola, the recently resigned director-general of the State Security Agency" - was written by Anthony Brink, an advocate who has waged a litigious war against Legal Aid South Africa over its decision not to employ him.

This is made apparent by a footnote on the last page of the report, which stated it was "an updated, slightly abridged, and trivially edited version [November 2023] of the original document couriered earlier in the year to State Security Agency director-general Thembisile Majola and then to Minister in the Presidency for State Security Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, both of whom ignored it".

"The author's contact particulars are provided at corrupt-judges.co.za," the footnote stated - in reference to one of the websites run by Brink.

In response to queries from News24 about his authorship of the report, Brink said Holomisa had "missed that the report is a 'specimen draft', as indicated in the footers on the first and last pages".

In other words, it is not a finalised document from an established intelligence source, which makes the ease with which it was widely shared on social media particularly jarring.

While anonymous fake intelligence reports have previously been used by then-president Jacob Zuma to fuel his antipathy towards the National Treasury, as well to justify his axing of then-finance minister Pravin Gordhan, Brink has not sought to conceal his authorship of this draft document - or the personal ire that has fuelled it.

On his "corrupt judges" website, Brink accuses Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, the former chairperson of Legal Aid, of criminality linked to his non-hiring in 2009 and the litigation that followed it - all of which he lost.

He told News24 that Hlophe, who is currently facing a removal vote in Parliament after being found guilty of gross misconduct, had phoned him and "directly confirmed" claims from two unnamed sources about Mlambo, which he repeated in his draft "intelligence report".

According to Brink, Hlophe told him he had objected to the appointment of a female lawyer as part of the tribunal that would try him for gross misconduct on the basis of her alleged inappropriate relationship with Mlambo.

News24's attempts to verify this with Hlophe have proved unsuccessful.

In an affidavit filed in his litigation to overturn the Judicial Service Commission's finding of gross misconduct against him, Hlophe had admitted having been in contact with Brink.

He stated through Brink, it had come to his attention a "serious complaint" was lodged against Mlambo about "his alleged involvement in lobbying" to have the aforementioned female lawyer assigned to the Judicial Conduct Tribunal which investigated the complaint against him.

Brink's report further ...

President Cyril Ramaphosa won't simply sign the controversial National Health Insurance Bill into law.

"I don't think there should be any panic," Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said at a briefing on Wednesday, just hours before the National Council of Provinces vote on whether or not to accept the Bill in its current form.

"Concerns have been expressed directly to the president [about] certain parts of the Bill. Once the Bill has been passed, the president still has a constitutional imperative in processing that Bill before he signs it. He will look at the process. One of the things he will look at is, has there been sufficient consultation and if so, have those consultations sufficiently addressed the issues of concern," Magwenya explained.

He said it was within Ramaphosa's remit to send back a bill if he has any concerns.

"The passing of the Bill doesn't necessarily mark the conclusion of the process. The president does not, each time he receives a Bill, just sign it as a given. If he so desires, he can open another round of consultation to satisfy himself that what he will sign will not be subjected to endless litigation," the spokesperson added.

He was briefing the media about Ramaphosa's diary.

In an unprecedented move, business organisations have written to the presiding officers of the NCOP as well as Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who is the leader of government business, urgently appealing to put a stop to the bill.

Last week, the NCOP Select Committee on Health and Social Services adopted the bill without any amendments to the version passed by the National Assembly, despite intense lobbying from Business Unity SA, Business for SA, and healthcare professionals.

Healthcare professionals also voiced their concerns over the NCOP's refusal to amend the bill, which has moved almost entirely unchanged through the parliamentary process since 2019.

Business organisations are particularly concerned about Section 33 of the Bill, which deals with the phasing-in of the NHI and the phasing out of private medical aid insurance. It states that "once the NHI is fully implemented as determined by the Minister of Health, medical schemes may only offer complementary cover to services not reimbursable by the fund".

Section 33 is certain to be challenged on constitutional grounds, due to the limitation it would impose on the right to health. Trade union Solidarity has already indicated that it will challenge this.

The Bill aims to establish universal healthcare for all South Africans by abolishing the "two-tier" system, in which the bulk of healthcare spending is made in the private sector for the benefit of a few, while the mass of the population is relegated to the "under-funded" public sector.

The Bill will establish a single NHI Fund, managed by the state, to buy healthcare services from the public and private sectors.

Services will be free to the public at the point of delivery. Once a service becomes available under the NHI, medical schemes will no longer be allowed to cover it, implying the ultimate phasing out of private medical insurance.

Proceedings in the NCOP started at 14:00, but the vote on the Bill is expected later in the afternoon.

More than a week after Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni accused the private sector of engineering the state's collapse, President Cyril Ramaphosa said business' current partnership with government illustrates how committed they are to the country.

Ramaphosa and business issued a joint statement on Wednesday after Cabinet met with business leaders as part of their initiative to deal with the country's energy, transport, and logistics, as well as crime and corruption problems.

"Since we began, we have made significant progress in establishing structures and ways of working, mobilising resources and driving implementation of key actions. We see this partnership as evidence of the business community's commitment to building our country and overcoming the challenges that we face," Ramaphosa said in a statement.

At a post-Cabinet briefing last week, Ntshavheni was asked about a long-standing probe into rand manipulation that involves 28 banks. She said that "the performance of the economy has been manipulated by [the] private sector, [which] has no interest in the development of this country", adding that the private sector continued to "engineer and do machinations to ensure the government collapses".

Business Unity SA said it hoped Ntshavheni would reconsider her comments and it would "raise it with government through the partnership".

BUSA president and Discovery CEO Adrian Gore said in Wednesday's joint statement that there had been some movement on collaboration structures with government. Some of the highlighted successes include over 1 000MW of power generation capacity, establishing the Rail Infrastructure Manager for Transnet - which opens the doors to third-party train operators, and establishing a digital and financial Forensic Analysis Centre.

"Despite these initial successes… the pace of delivery across the initiative seems to be plateauing, mainly as a result of delays in regulatory and other approvals, as well as slippage on the implementation of strategic plans, and the alignment of these to workable funding solutions," Gore said.

"We need to act with a greater sense of urgency and determination to confront these challenges, given their severe impact on the economy as a whole. We have made strides in implementing reforms that will set our economy on a higher growth trajectory going forward."

On energy, the meeting agreed that:

Bid Window 7 of the renewable energy programme be released

That there are more requests for proposals for battery storage and gas

Grid access rules and the wheeling framework need to be clarified urgently to ensure private producers have more certainty.

With transport on logistics, they discussed that:

The network needed to be addressed as a matter of "extreme urgency".

The freight logistics roadmap has been finalised, and its alignment with the Transnet Recovery Plan would unlock public and private sector funding.

It was important to have permanent appointments of executives at Transnet soon

Early progress includes faster processing times at the Lebombo border post with Mozambique.

The appointment of the National Ports Authority board has been finalised.

Within the crime and corruption focal area, the establishment of the joint initiative had been slow, but there is a focus now on specific interventions, especially investigative and prosecutorial capabilities. The promulgation of the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill will make the Investigating Directorate permanent. "Once the bill is passed, work will begin in earnest to set up a Digital Forensics Unit that will support the work of the ID."

"The meeting agreed that whilst progress has been made, urgent action is needed to ensure we sustain the momentum over the next 12 months. This is critical to bolster investor and public confidence in the reforms being implemented," the joint statement said.

"Success achieved within the focal areas could contribute around 3% gross domestic product growth in the medium term and...