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In the closing remarks of his party's three-day policy conference, ActionSA President Herman Mashaba declared to delegates that the 2024 elections will be a game changer for South Africa.

He said when he launched the party during the height of the Covid-19, many people dismissed him and said that he lacked depth of leadership, but "in 2021 we proved them wrong".

"We emerged as the sixth biggest party and in every municipality we contested we dramatically reduced the support of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). We embraced practical solutions that will help us achieve our South African dream of a more prosperous future," said Mashaba.

He told delegates that the party's focus was not on the problems facing the country, but rather on the opportunities ahead.

Mashaba believes that the South African dream - a vision for a better, more abundant prosperous South Africa - is possible.

He thanked the 614 delegates who attended the policy conference, noting that "not a single chair was thrown" as says has become the norm in other political parties.

"Today, the outcome of this policy conference represents a comprehensive agenda to fix South Africa. These policies will undo the harmful legacy of the ruling party. Our policy conference delegates approved that when ActionSA takes the government in 2024, on day one we will reduce the size of the cabinet to approximately 20 people," he revealed.

Under an ActionSA government, Mashaba promised no space for "freeloaders who enjoy cabinet perks" and said there will be no deputy ministers, the money for whom will instead go towards service delivery.

The businessman-turned-politician promised South Africans that every senior government manager in every level of government will undergo a skills audits to ensure that they are fit for the job.

"Those people in positions to steal from the State will be removed. Senior officer bearers, senior officials and those engaged in the supply chain will face regular

lifestyle audits which will happen soon after we take office - unlike what we have seen with the current administration," he promised.

He said the launch of a massive opportunity fund will fundamentally reduce inequality in South Africa.

His company Black Like Me will help fund tertiary education and ignite massive public construction to improve the lives of the most marginalised.

He stressed that ActionSA will introduce a competitive and decentralised energy market, allowing the private sector to fill the current gap in electricity generation.

"We will eradicate corruption at Eskom, allowing us to bring rolling blackouts in South Africa to an end. When we take government, our policy conference approved that we will restore the rule of law in South Africa so we can grow the economy and create jobs. Life sentence will mean life sentence," he said.

Cabinet has been given the assurance that the current higher stages of loadshedding are temporary.

This is according to Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who said Cabinet had extensive meetings focusing on the country's energy crisis.

On Thursday, she presented the Cabinet's decisions following a meeting held on Wednesday.

"Cabinet is assured that the increases in loadshedding are indeed temporary. There are clear plans for when additional capacity will come through. There is the return to service of Kusile units 1 to 4. There is also additional work being done. But, Cabinet is assured that, in terms of the measures being taken, the increase in loadshedding stages is indeed a temporary measure," she said.

Ntshavheni also said that government was confident in its ability to resolve loadshedding, adding that it remains on top of the matter.

More than 45% of Eskom's power generation capacity is offline, with unplanned breakdowns at power plants alone taking 16 200MW from the grid. At the start of winter, Eskom saw a record outage of more than 50%, which pushed South Africa the closest ever to stage 8 loadshedding.

Last week, the brand-new Medupi Power station was hit by a chain break underneath one of its boilers. The chain forms part of a system called a "submerged scraper conveyor", which removes coal ash from the bottom of the boilers.

Units at the Arnot, Duvha and Grootvlei power stations also broke down, while continued problems at the Kendal, Matla and Matimba stations prevented their out-of-order units from returning.

Regarding the government's cash crunch, Ntshavheni said Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana would issue guidelines on cost containment measures.

"We do not want to create the impression that there is a crisis in South Africa and that the country is going to collapse. South Africa is not going to collapse," she said.

The budget cuts, which affect all government departments, are being led by Godongwana, who is driving efforts to get a grip on runaway spending in a way that sustains the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant beyond 2024.

Furthermore, Ntshavheni said there were no government programmes the Cabinet was looking at cutting.

"We are also clear on that the priorities [which] have been agreed to between the president, deputy president and ministers won't be affected. Individual ministers will engage with both the president and the deputy president as part of the in-year performance review," she said.

Ntshavheni added: "We have acknowledged that there are inefficiencies within the system that, if improved, can - in the short, medium and long term - bring serious improvements to the budget. The current fiscal constraints are not domestic, they are global and therefore we cannot just plan for the short term. We don't have control over the external factors causing the fiscal constraints. This is not unique to South Africa."

She added that Cabinet had resolved that the economic infrastructure and development cluster must come up with a plan on how to mitigate the impact of the high cost of living on poor South Africans.

Wits School of Governance Director of Executive Education and Adjunct Professor Themba Maseko said on Thursday that there is great need to fix government and ensure that citizens come first by addressing the scourge of corruption.

Maseko, who addressed delegates on day three of ActionSA's maiden policy conference, was one of the first to take action to expose State capture during former president Jacob Zuma's administration.

He ultimately gave crucial evidence at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry.

Maseko told ActionSA delegates that there was an urgent need to build an efficient and ethical State that was also accountable to citizens.

"We need to change power relations between the haves and the have-nots because the majority of our citizens feel completely excluded from the economy and from the government. As a result of that, we are the most unequal society in the world, and unless we address this, we are not likely to run a successful country," he warned.

He said there needed to be better ways of insulating and professionalising the public service and making sure that those who were given the responsibility to manage and run government structures, including State-owned enterprises, were skilled and committed to achieving justice in society.

COALITIONS

Maseko noted that South Africa was entering a phase of coalitions and he urged ActionSA leadership to dismiss "transaction coalitions" that are based on patronage and an "it's our time to eat" mentality.

He said it was the duty of all political parties to ensure that citizens, and not the leaders of the political parties, were top priorities.

He said parties in coalition arrangements must not be there to "put their people in positions" especially those who may not have the necessary skills and capacity to govern.

He told delegates that coalitions must be about "it is our time to serve the people" and not about it being "our time for lining our pockets".

"Political parties like yourselves, in my view, have a responsibility to defend constitutionalism. Our Constitution, the supreme law, must come first and everything that we do must be done to fulfil the goals and objectives as stated in our Constitution. There are many who are beginning to argue that our Constitution is not serving our people. I think it is our failure to implement what the Constitution says that is a problem," stressed Maseko.

He warned delegates to guard against the view that Parliament must be supreme, as opposed to the Constitution.

He said this temptation must be resisted at all costs.

Maseko said political parties must support electoral reform, the primary objective of which was to give power back to citizens and ensure that every elected leader was accountable to citizens.

JUDICIARY

Maseko urged delegates to defend the judiciary, and warned that all attempts to undermine it would have the effect of giving too much power to political leaders, as has been evident in Zimbabwe.

"Political parties, like yourselves, have a responsibility to design impactful and appropriate policies. It is my hope that your conference has come up with policies that will take our country forward," he told ActionSA delegates.

He criticised the fact that all political parties, including ActionSA, did not spend enough money on policy, research analysis and design, compared with money spent producing t-shirts and posters.

He said it was important for political parties to begin to realise that if they wanted to transform society, they must spend enough time designing policies and implementation plans that would transform and achieve objectives as a nation.

"Policies can feed the nation because if you design good policies, you will be able to solve many of the socio-economic problems facing our country and it is my view that posters do not feed citizens but sometimes do feed political gains," explained Maseko.

Maseko advised ActionSA to ensure that it professionalised by making politics attractive to young people, as many were often d...

While advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane was removed as Public Protector on Monday, the appointment of her successor is still in limbo.

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka has been nominated by an ad hoc committee for this position, but her appointment needs to be approved by 60% of the National Assembly.

With all the opposition parties on the ad hoc committee, bar the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), indicating that they will not support her nomination, the African National Congress (ANC) will need all of its members to be present to achieve the threshold.

Initially, it was decided that Gcaleka's nomination would be considered at Monday's physical sitting at the Cape Town City Hall, where the National Assembly voted to remove Mkhwebane. However, it was decided at last week's National Assembly Programme Committee to defer Gcaleka's nomination to a later date, as the 11 September sitting would take very long due to the roll call voting process, where each member was called upon to declare their vote.

The date of 21 September was mooted for Gcaleka's matter, but Secretary to the National Assembly Masibulele Xaso informed the programming committee on Thursday that the Cape Town City Hall would not be available on that date.

Furthermore, several committees have received prior approval to travel, and those members will not be available for a physical sitting.

ANC MP and Deputy President Paul Mashatile's parliamentary counsellor Hope Papo suggested they find another date saying: "I don't think there will be a train smash if we do it on another day."

Democratic Alliance chief whip Siviwe Gwarube agreed that the sitting should be physical, given the requirement of a special majority, for which a hybrid sitting would not be sufficient.

She did caution that the vote should not take place later than what would have been the expiry of Mkhwebane's term on 14 October, as it would "look tardy" if Parliament does not appoint a successor by then.

Economic Freedom Fighters MP Natasha Ntlangwini said when this sitting takes place, they shouldn't only deal with the appointment of the "president's protector", but also consider other matters.

ANC MP and house chairperson Grace Boroto took exception to the term "president's protector" and grumbled:

There is no president's protector here.

"Sorry, the Public Protector," snarked Ntlangwini.

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina agreed with Gwarube that it should be a physical meeting that takes place before 14 October and supported Ntlangwini's proposal that the House also deal with other matters on the day.

The committee will decide on a date and venue at a future meeting.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has formally fired advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane - a month before her term as Public Protector was due to end.

On Monday, 79.5% of the National Assembly voted in support of the section 194 committee that found Mkhwebane incompetent and guilty of misconduct, and unfit to hold office as head of South Africa's watchdog.

In a letter to Mkhwebane, Ramaphosa said the Constitution states that following the conclusion of the section 194 process, he "must" remove the Public Protector from office.

"I therefore hereby inform you that you are hereby removed from the Office of the Public Protector in terms of section 194(3)(b) of the Constitution on the grounds of misconduct and incompetence," the president said.

Mkhwebane on Wednesday morning posted Ramaphosa's letter online, stating: "This injustice, sadly perpetrated on Steve Biko Day, will be legally challenged in review proceedings.

"If I perish, I perish. Ngiyathokoza Mzansi and Africa."

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said on Wednesday that his party is certain that the African National Congress (ANC) will lose Gauteng in the 2024 national elections.

He announced the party's Gauteng provincial leader Solly Msimanga as its Premier candidate for the province.

Msimanga has been a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since 2019, having previously served between 2014 and 2016. He was the Executive Mayor of Tshwane from 2016 to 2019 and the DA provincial chairperson from 2014 to 2017. He was the DA's Gauteng Premier candidate for the 2019 elections.

Steenhuisen was speaking in Johannesburg, where he pointed out that Gauteng is the economic and political heartland of South Africa and home to one-third of the country's total economy.

"While the DA made enormous strides in this province over the years, the outcome of provincial elections were previously always a fait accompli. In all previous elections, we knew that the ANC would get more than 50% and that the Premier would come from the ANC. But those days are long gone," he said.

He went on to state that it was not enough that the DA knew that the ANC would lose Gauteng next year.

"Our job is to make sure that the DA wins power in Gauteng next year. Our job is to make sure that the candidate we are announcing today is inaugurated as Gauteng Premier two weeks after next year's election," he said.

He highlighted that the DA's latest research showed that, together with the party's partners in the Multi-Party Charter, these political parties were already polling as high as 45% in Gauteng.

He noted that if the DA could grow beyond the 27% of votes it received in Gauteng during the 2019 elections, then the Moonshot Pact was guaranteed to succeed in the province.

He warned that the DA must "not be under any illusions about the desperation of the ANC".

He claimed that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi had already gone on record to say his plan was to form a "Doomsday Coalition" between the ANC, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Patriotic Alliance (PA) to cling to power next year.

Steenhuisen noted that allowing this to happen would leave Gauteng beyond repair.

"We have already seen what happens when the Doomsday Coalition comes to power. The unholy alliance between the ANC, EFF and PA has utterly destroyed Johannesburg," he said.

Steenhuisen said there were currently no less than 18 different parties in the Joburg Council. Eight of these parties have only one seat each, he said, saying he believed that it was not the way to run a city - much less a whole province.

"This is exactly why the DA has tabled a motion to dissolve the entire Johannesburg Council, so that we can hold fresh by-elections to elect a new, less fragmented and more cohesive city government," he explained.

He called on every party represented in the Joburg Council to put residents first by supporting the DA's motion for a dissolution.

Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Premier candidate Solly Msimanga noted that the only way a province can work and thrive, is if it has a good working relationship with municipalities.

Msimanga was speaking in Johannesburg, on Wednesday during the DA's announcement of his candidacy for Gauteng Premier, where he said once elected he will address the safety and security of residents as a matter of urgency.

Msimanga was elected leader of the DA in Gauteng last month, beating out National and Provincial MPs Ghaleb Cachalia and Khumo Ramulifho.

He noted that people cannot walk freely in Johannesburg because they fear for their safety.

"You have a Minister that tells women you are lucky if you were raped once and I don't think that is something we can accept. You have people that are killing each other in terms of gangs that are operating in some of the areas such as Eldorado Park, and you have drug infested townships to be dealing with," he said.

He also noted that infrastructure was being vandalised daily and while illegal mining continues.

He said the DA proposes policing units to deal with safety and security issues.

The DA will also prioritise infrastructure, to ensure that it is maintained and upgraded, in light of the recent disasters in the city centre.

"We going to continue to have roads that explode, roads which are not safe in the CBD, where people have to drive zigzagging all over. You going to also have a situation where electricity [outages] continues to be the norm and a situation where water outages becomes a norm. And we do not want that," he said.

He highlighted that once the DA has prioritised the safety of residents and ensured that infrastructure is looked after, it will demonstrate its seriousness in improving the economy.

Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen explained that the "unholy alliance" between the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters and Patriotic Alliance (PA) has destroyed Johannesburg, saying roads are literally exploding in the CBD.

"But Kenny Kunene, the utterly useless MMC for roads from the PA, spends his days gulping down expensive bottles of luxury champagne," he said.

Just two weeks ago, South Africans witnessed the horror of 77 human beings burning to death in a hijacked building owned by the City of Johannesburg.

Forty-four of the victims were burnt so badly that they are unidentifiable.

"I want to say to the millions that are not registered to vote, you staying at home and not voting is not a solution. We need you to register and vote DA for a better Gauteng. We need to get this province working again, because when Gauteng works, Africa works," he said.

Former president Jacob Zuma's attempted challenge to the invalidation of his private prosecution of his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has been unanimously dismissed by a full Bench - with costs.

In a brief virtual sitting that was not attended by Zuma's counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu SC, Gauteng High Court Judge Lebogang Modiba said the Bench's ruling would be uploaded later today.

"I should mention, it's a unanimous judgment of this court," she said.

Ramaphosa had successfully challenged Zuma's attempt to launch a private prosecution against him for not instituting an inquiry into the former president's corruption prosecutor Billy Downer on the eve of the African National Congress's elective conference. The full Bench agreed with the president's assertion that the private prosecution was an "abuse" launched for an "ulterior purpose".

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Monday dismissed Zuma's attempt to appeal the invalidation of his private prosecution against Downer and this writer. It found the appeal bid did not have reasonable prospects of success.

South Africa's R4.7-trillion "unsustainable public debt levels", including low growth rates, forced President Cyril Ramaphosa to consider cutting the government's size to stabilise the economy, the Presidency has told News24.

This while a public sector union claimed 80 000 jobs would be cut from the government, calling the move "insane".

On Tuesday, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said public sector spending would be cut over the next nine months to "restore confidence and bolster the growth strategy going forward".

"Work is ongoing on the reconfiguration of government; necessary consultations are taking place and will continue to take place as required with a broader section of stakeholders, including labour," Magwenya said.

He was reacting to a recent Sunday Times report that Cabinet mandated the National Treasury to "work with all government departments and relevant stakeholders in [the] national government, as well as with provinces, to identify immediate measures to reduce the level of government spending".

Magwenya added that cuts were necessitated by "unsustainable public debt levels due to stagnant GDP growth".

He said the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted spending and revenue collection, while the economy was hampered by the "simultaneous growth and unemployment crisis; and low growth due to declining levels of fixed investment, economic concentration, inefficient rail and ports, and high cost of doing business, among other contributors".

On 5 September, the Treasury announced that the economy grew by a higher-than-expected 0.6% between April and June after expanding by 0.4% in the year's first three months, well shy of the 5% growth rates the government said it needed to reduce the 32.6% unemployment rate.

Magwenya acknowledged that the country's freight rail system was in turmoil and impacted economic growth. This was echoed by logistics parastatal Transnet reporting a staggering R5.7-billion loss in its last financial year owing to low volumes transported due to dilapidated infrastructure.

But the Public Service and Commercial Union of South Africa (PSCU), in a statement to News24 on Tuesday, alleged that the government was "insane to get rid of 80 000 public servants", adding that, should the planned retrenchments go ahead, it would be akin to "cutting the flesh, not fat".

PSCU deputy president Astrid Al-Anani said, "Over two decades of no accountability for billions of rands lost to corruption and mismanagement of funds received no similar attention. The same corrupt government now delivers devastating news of a jobs bloodbath to public servants through leaked media messaging."

Cosatu also rejected the expected job cuts, saying although the union "appreciated" the State's financial constraints, the Treasury was "reckless" in recommending employment losses during a bleak economic period.

In his February budget, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the country's debt was R4.7-trillion, supporting Cosatu's view that the State's fiscal position is weak.

Cosatu, however, added: "What is needed now is to grow the economy. That is the only sober path to pay down our worrying debt trajectory. Pickpocketing nurses and underpaying police officers is not a solution."

But Magwenya said the government was implementing a range of reforms - including the social relief of distress grant (R350 payments to unemployed adults) and amendments to electricity regulation allowing private energy generation to stem crippling power cuts - to "restore efficiency and competitiveness of key industry supply chains".

"So, based on the assessment of progress and analysis of the global and domestic environment, the president is driving focus on the actions the government must take to decisively shift the country's growth trajectory. The president wants more impetus on the second wave of reform that is going to make a profound and lasting difference," Magwenya said.

ActionSA founder and leader Herman Mashaba asserted on Tuesday that his party can fix South Africa, as ActionSA hosts its maiden policy conference in Johannesburg this week.

While addressing the 614 delegates gathered to discuss the party's policies over the next three days, the South African businessman-turned-politician said his party was a home for all South Africans.

The leader of the sixth biggest political party in South Africa said South Africans needed hope.

"We do not need political parties to tell us what is wrong with our country. We all live with these challenges on a daily basis and know them all too well."

Mashaba said he was humbled by ActionSA's growth.

"I am humbled by the speed at which we are building a rational and reasonable political home for all South Africans across the nine provinces of our country. Two weeks ago, ActionSA turned three-years-old. On the day we launched, in the midst of a global pandemic, you could have sat the members of ActionSA around this main table here behind me. Yet, just three years later, I stand before you with the more than 600 delegates, who have travelled from each of the nine provinces to an ActionSA Policy Conference, and who represent just a fraction of our diverse membership," he said.

The ActionSA leader said central to the outcomes of the policy conference must be a clear way forward to grow the South African economy and create jobs.

He stressed the need for economic certainty in policy, an economic stimulus to move the country's economy forward, and an altogether new approach to small businesses.

He is mindful that a growing economy cannot continue to reflect South Africa's unjust legacy and that it must transform it.

"ActionSA is unapologetic in our recognition of the continued correlation between race and access to opportunity and quality services in South Africa. In addressing these challenges, we cannot be colour-blind in our approach. While working towards a non-racial future, we must proactively work to address the legacy of racial exclusion," he said.

Mashaba said his party would not waste time apportioning blame for the predicament in which the country found itself in, as South Africans "know who has governed for the past 29 years", with unemployment reaching all-time highs, Stage 6 loadshedding becoming the norm, and South Africa becoming the most unequal country in the world.

Mashaba made it clear that ActionSA would also not place blame on immigrants as he assured South Africans that the party would present a strong migrant proposal that occupies the rational, middle ground on this important issue.

Mashaba reiterated his unwillingness to work with the ruling African National Congress but said if that ever happened his party should rather recall him.

He reminded delegates that young South Africans were in need of skills development while communities were protected from criminals.

He promised an inclusive and prosperous nation, built by his party.

He hit back against suggestions that he was just a businessman with no political knowledge and argued that his business was still popular and his story was exceptional.

Mashaba told delegates that ActionSA wanted to build a South Africa with a government that did not stand in the way of prosperity, but which was an active participant in creating it.

He stressed that his dream was for communities to be protected from criminals and a South Africa with electricity.