Polity.org.za Audio Articles

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen in his capacity as a Member of Parliament (MP), announced on Monday that his party will be filing a complaint with Parliament's ethics committee against his fellow MP, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema.

Over the weekend, during the EFF's tenth birthday celebrations at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, Malema was heard chanting "Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer".

Speaking during a live address to the nation, Steenhuisen said a political leader who incited mass murder and an MP who called for the killing of an entire section of society, was not normal.

He also added that "cowardly politicians" who turned a blind eye to the incitement of civil war, were not normal.

"We are further obtaining legal advice on approaching the Public Protector and the courts. But it is also important that we are honest about one thing. For more than a decade, the South African State has utterly failed to use appropriate internal remedies to stop Malema," Steenhuisen stated.

He said instead of dealing with Malema, senior law enforcement officials drank expensive champagne with him at a fundraiser.

Steenhuisen is looking for support from the global community and political and civil society leaders to publicly denounce Malema and he wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to publicly condemn Malema.

"To the media, I ask that you put pressure on Ramaphosa to come out of hiding for once. If Ramaphosa fails to denounce Malema, it can only mean that he is too cowardly to honour the oath he took to uphold the Constitution and defend all the people of South Africa," he said.

YEARS-LONG FAILURES

Steenhuisen also announced that the DA was filing charges against Malema and the African National Congress (ANC) government at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council.

"The first element of our UN case will focus on Malema's repeated incitement of ethnic violence. The second element will charge the ANC national government, before the UN, over its years-long failure to take action against their one time protégé even as brutal farm murders continue to escalate in the wake of Malema's demagoguery," the DA leader said.

He explained that the charge would be laid in terms of Malema's violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

He added that Malema would also be charged in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"Julius Malema told us exactly who he is. It is time that we believe him. For far too long, people in government, the media, civil society and constitutional institutions refused to acknowledge Malema for the bloodthirsty tyrant and demagogue he really is. These people helped to normalise Malema's hatred and racism," he noted.

The DA recently forced the South African government to live up to its international responsibility to comply with warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

"We will now do the same to force it to act against Malema," said Steenhuisen.

Judgment was reserved in an enforcement appeal related to former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution of News24 specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan and senior State advocate Billy Downer.

Maughan and Downer filed an enforcement appeal to prevent any action resulting from Zuma's private prosecution while he appeals the matter.

Three judges - Gregory Kruger, Jacqui Henrique and Mokgere Masipa - deemed Zuma's private prosecution against Maughan and Downer was an abuse of power.

Downer is the prosecutor in Zuma's arms deal corruption trial.

The judges agreed that Zuma's private prosecution of Maughan had all the elements of a Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suit, which is a legal strategy often employed by big corporations or individuals that bring defamation actions for huge amounts against individuals who criticise them.

Zuma has, however, appealed the matter.

The former head of state has resorted to Stalingrad tactics, using almost every opportunity to appeal processes of the court.

Speaking on behalf of Downer, Geoff Budlender SC commenced proceedings before the same three judges, saying Zuma was obsessed with removing Downer from his arms deal prosecution case.

He said Zuma chose to privately prosecute Downer in a bid to remove him from the years-long matter.

He added that, if the enforcement order was not granted, interim issues related to the private prosecution would be problematic while an appeal process unfolded.

"We will have endless problems with private prosecutions launched for alternate reasons."

He said the order they sought was an interim order and would not impact or prejudice Zuma.

Steven Budlender, for Maughan, said the relief they sought "would render the criminal proceedings annulled until this court's order is set aside on appeal".

"We are not debating a permanent interdict, we are debating the section 18 (3) order which lasts while appeals are taking place.

"His rights are fully protected if his appeal wins and there will be a trial and everything will be in order."

Dali Mpofu SC, for Zuma, said the matter should be dealt with in a criminal court.

He added that the judges should decide whether the appeal would have no prospect of success in the Supreme Court of Appeal.

He said the upcoming private prosecution appearance on 4 August would still likely be postponed as Zuma's appeal was dealt with.

Judgment was reserved.

Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders' woes are still not over.

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is heading back to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in a bid to appeal a finding on the his decision to terminate the permits.

The ZEP system was introduced in 2009 to regulate the status of Zimbabweans fleeing to SA for political or economic reasons.

It allows permit holders to live, work and study in South Africa.

In the initial court application, the Helen Suzman Foundation and Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa challenged Motsoaledi's decision to terminate the ZEPs.

A full Bench of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled against the minister in June when it held that the termination of the permits was invalid, unlawful and unconstitutional.

The court found that the minister did not follow a fair process, which should have included consultation with and an opportunity for ZEP holders to make representations.

The ZEPs were supposed to expire in December 2021 but the deadline was extended to the end of June 2023, and then to December 2023.

But, as the date approaches, Motsoaledi wants to appeal the High Court's decision and filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The application was filed on the basis that the court erred in concluding that his decision required compliance with Section 4 of Promotion of Administration of Justice Act, which deals with public procedures that an administrator must decide on, when dealing with issues that have a general impact, meaning that public participation was required.

"The decision to not call public participation was justifiable. First, the decision affected a specific category of persons, not the public. Second, such a decision is not administrative action and is voluntary," Motsoaledi submitted in his papers.

The minister said his decision not to call for public participation didn't show disdain for the value of public participation, as the court found.

He added that the court failed to consider that representative groups, such as the Scalabrini Centre, African Amity, Freedoms Advocate and Zimbabwean Diaspora Association, were consulted after the decision was made.

The papers read, "There is no factual and legal basis for the conclusion that. the minister failed to conduct any prior consultations before announcing the decision to terminate the ZEP programme, rendering the decision procedurally irrational, given the far-reaching implications of the decision."

Motsoaledi also submitted that a special project to grant exemptions was financially unsustainable.

He said the department had asked the National Treasury to make just over R145-million available to start a special project.

But the Treasury only approved R15-million to deal with the exemption process for SADC nationals.

"The court correctly agreed with the applicant's case that the minister is empowered to terminate the temporary exemption regime granted to the Zimbabwean nationals. It erred, however, in finding that the decision of the minister is reviewable under any of the grounds advanced by the applicants," the papers read.

African countries should, as sovereign states, be able to pursue independent foreign policy approaches which are not beholden to any of the major global powers or blocs.

This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa who delivered his opening remarks at the Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg.

Ramaphosa met Russian President Vladimir Putin a week after his publicised affidavit to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that his fear of war with Russia was the reason he did not want to execute an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin, should he visit South Africa.

The government claimed a diplomatic victory last week when it announced that Putin would not physically attend the Brics summit next month.

Domestic and international laws would have forced the government to arrest him.

"African countries should, as sovereign states, be able to pursue independent foreign policy approaches that are not beholden to any of the major global powers or blocs. This second Russia-Africa Summit is an opportunity to further enhance and strengthen international cooperation and partnership for Africa's development," Ramaphosa said.

He welcomed cooperation between Russia and Africa to promote investment, facilitate the development of value chains, and boost capacity to produce and export manufactured products.

"The proposed Russia-Africa Action Plan for the coming years should align with the second 10-Year Implementation Plan of the AU's Agenda 2063. This will ensure better coherence and more action-orientated interventions," he said.

Ramaphosa's visit to Russia comes a month after the peace mission by heads of state from Comoros, Senegal, Zambia, the Republic of Congo, Egypt and Uganda.

War talk aside, Ramaphosa was highly positive of Russia's role in Africa.

"As South Africa, we remember with deep gratitude how the support of the people and the government of the then-Soviet Union sustained our struggle for liberation. Today our bilateral relationship remains strong," he said.

"We continue to collaborate in the political, economic, social, defence and security spheres. We work closely across multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, G20 and as members of Brics.

"As South Africa, our participation in forums such as this one is guided by our quest to realise the African Union's Agenda 2063 vision of economic integration and inclusive socio-economic development."

He added that geopolitical tensions were negatively affecting countries across Africa.

"As part of Russia-Africa cooperation, we must repeat our call for existing global institutional mechanisms to be both strengthened and reformed. Greater participation of countries of the Global South will promote inclusiveness and engender trust. The reform of the multilateral financial institutions and the UN Security Council remains a priority."

Ramaphosa said that, in an interconnected world, everyone wass affected by conflict and instability in other parts of the globe.

On South Africa hosting of the upcoming Brics summit, Ramaphosa said it was an opportunity to promote enhanced global cooperation.

"The Brics partners are significant investors in Africa. The upcoming summit will therefore give particular attention to infrastructure development, supported by the New Development Bank, and the African Continental Free Trade Area. As African countries, we are shaping own destinies, as nation states and as a continent."

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) executive director Dr Gilad Isaacs is optimistic that legal proceedings on the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant will highlight and secure solutions to the unfair and unlawful exclusion of millions of vulnerable, poor and hungry people from accessing, and benefitting from the grant.

Last week the IEJ and organisation #PayTheGrants (#PTG), through their lawyers at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri), filed court papers challenging regulations that unlawfully and unconstitutionally exclude millions of people living in poverty from receiving the R350-a-month SRD grant.

The SRD grant offered by the South African Social Security Agency aims to provide temporary assistance to individuals and families facing financial hardship.

In a briefing on Thursday, the IEJ noted that fewer people have access to the grant today than at its peak in March 2022.

Research estimates at least 16-million people should be eligible for the SRD grant, yet, in May 2023, while 14.4-million applied for the grant, only 8.4-million were approved, with 7.1-million people actually being paid.

The organisation said this is a dramatic decline from 10.9-million people paid in March 2022. In addition, the real value of the grant has been eroded owing to inflation.

"Together this constitutes a retrogression of the constitutional right to social assistance. As 93% of grant recipients spend their grant on food, it also negatively affects the right to food," Isaacs said.

The papers filed in the North Gauteng High Court include 79 supporting affidavits from people directly impacted by these regulations.

Isaacs explained that the respondents named in the case are the Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu and Sassa.

He noted that the court papers outlined the over-broad definition of income used to measure whether an applicant falls below the means-test threshold and the unlawful questions in the online application form.

The exclusionary online-only application process, flawed bank and database verification processes, and a narrow appeals process that excludes relevant new evidence, are also some of the reasons included in the court application.

Isaacs added that an arbitrary exclusion of qualifying applicants when funds are depleted and a reduction in the grant's value over time, are some of the reasons eligible people are excluded from receiving the SRD grant.

The organisations stressed that an irrational and retrogressive income threshold, and widespread and systemic non-payment of approved beneficiaries were others reasons for exclusions.

"Government's failure to meet its constitutional obligations has forced our organisations to bring this court case. South Africa's crisis of hunger and deprivation is only growing. Social assistance is our most direct and effective tool for fighting hunger, and the Constitution demands that government progressively realise the right to social assistance and to food," Isaacs said.

He said the applicants, alongside many civil society organisations, had repeatedly raised these impediments to access in good faith with government, in meetings and submissions over the last two years, in the hope that they would be resolved and rectified.

He added that, unfortunately, the barriers remained while the situation deteriorated further.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told African leaders he would gift them tens of thousands of tons of grain within months despite Western sanctions, which he said made it harder for Moscow to export its grain and fertilisers.

Speaking at a summit in St Petersburg devoted to Russian-African ties, Putin said Russia was expecting a record grain harvest and was ready to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both a commercial and aid basis to honour what he said was Moscow's critical role in global food security.

"We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50 000 tonnes of free grain each in the next 3-4 months," Putin told the summit, whose participants applauded.

"We will also provide free delivery of these products to consumers."

Last year, Russia exported a total of 60-million tonnes of grain, of which 48-million tonnes was wheat, Putin said.

The event follows Russia's first Africa summit in 2019 and is part of a concerted push for influence and business on a continent where mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group remain active despite an abortive mutiny at home last month.

Responding to Western criticism of Moscow's decision to quit the Black Sea grain deal, in which it allowed Ukraine to ship grain from its seaports despite the war, Putin restated his argument that promises made to Russia about facilitating its own grain and fertiliser exports had not been met.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that a jump in world food prices from the collapse of the Black Sea deal and Russia's bombing of the Danube river ports that Ukraine has used as a roundabout export route was "especially devastating for vulnerable countries struggling to feed their people".

PUTIN SAYS POOR COUNTRIES 'SCREWED OVER' BY WEST

Putin told the summit that over 70% of Ukrainian grain exported thanks to the now-lapsed deal had gone to high- or above-average-income countries, including in the European Union, and that the poorest countries, like Sudan, had been "screwed over" and received less than 3% of the shipments.

He made no mention, however, of the broader effect of Ukrainian supply in lowering global market prices.

He said Western sanctions, imposed in response to Russia's war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation", had even prevented Russia from supplying free fertiliser to poor nations.

"A paradoxical picture is emerging. On the one hand, Western countries are obstructing supplies of our grain and fertilisers, while on the other they hypocritically blame us for the current crisis situation on the world food market," said Putin.

African Union chair Azali Assoumani, who shared the stage with Putin, used his own speech to appeal for "peaceful co-existence" between Russia and Ukraine, saying this would save the lives of those who depended on their food exports.

Russia says 49 of the continent's 54 states are represented in St Petersburg, including 17 by their heads of state and four by heads of government.

That is fewer than half the number of leaders who took part in the last summit in 2019 - a fall that the Kremlin has blamed in part on efforts by the United States, France and other Western countries to dissuade leaders from attending.

Putin in his speech listed numerous sectors - such as energy, media, transport, trade, financial services, medicine, agriculture and car manufacturing - where Moscow was ready to share its expertise or do business. He also said Russia was ready to welcome more African students.

The programme includes panel discussions on topics ranging from security, nuclear energy and artificial intelligence to education and sport.

Visiting dignitaries were also invited to visit Russia's imperial palaces or watch a gala match between Russian and African "football legends".

International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor says the Africa-led peace mission to war-ravaged Ukraine and Russia is the genesis of a process to returning the world to peace.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, Pandor emphasised that security, peace and trade were important subjects for the summit.

"We have also added a much stronger focus on matters of trade and, of course, seven presidents of the African continent are part of the Africa-led peace initiative that seeks to encourage the beginning of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict between the countries.

"This is to start a process of returning the world to a context in which we have peace and stability, and thus allows for economic growth and development which are urgently necessary for many countries in the world, most particularly for us in the developing world," she said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa - who is also attending the summit - will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin a week after his publicised affidavit to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that his fear of war with Russia was the reason he did not want to execute an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin, should he visit South Africa.

The government claimed a diplomatic victory last week when it announced that Putin would not physically attend the BRICS summit next month.

Domestic and international laws would have forced the government to arrest Putin.

Ramaphosa told both the ICC and the High Court that he feared that Russia would wage war on South Africa if it were to arrest Putin.

He said the government took threats by Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev seriously.

Ramaphosa's visit to Russia comes a month after the peace mission by heads of state from Comoros, Senegal, Zambia, the Republic of Congo, Egypt and Uganda.

Meanwhile, Pandor says the summit presents African leaders with a chance to engage on pressing issues.

"There are a number of areas we have agreed upon, particularly in the area of digital innovation, collaboration in space science and strengthening people-to-people exchange. All of these will be part of the subject.

"For the first time, it is not just heads of state attending. We also have a number of state-owned enterprises from various African countries, [as well as] finance institutions from the continent and the president of the New Development Bank. This will be her [Dilma Rousseff's] first meeting with several African leaders," she said.

The summit ends on Friday.

Racial quotas are about centralising ultimate power in the African National Congress (ANC) and aimed at giving it enormous power over employment at private companies.

This is according to Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen who led an anti-race quotas march in Cape Town on Wednesday.

"We have already seen how organised mafias have taken over economic sectors like the construction industry. Mark my words: if these race quotas are implemented, you will soon see mafias going to private businesses and telling them which cadres to employ, while honest and hard-working South Africans of all backgrounds are pushed even deeper into suffering," Steenhuisen told a group of DA supporters outside Parliament.

Steenhuisen told his supporters that the ANC had already used cadre deployment to loot, collapse service delivery, and reserve jobs in the public sector.

"Now, the 'Race Quota Act' will give the ANC enormous power over employment at private companies. This Act is not about empowerment or equality. It is about centralising the ultimate power in the ANC. The power to decide who should be employed, and who should starve," he said.

In April, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020 into law, which empowers the Department of Labour to set new transformation targets for different industries.

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi recently released the targets for 11 sectors, that have to be achieved in five years.

Targets for African, Indian, white and coloured employees in top and senior management, as well as for skilled and professionally qualified positions, were put forward. There are different targets for men and women, and there are also targets for people with disabilities.

There are also two sets of targets - nationally and provincially. Companies that operate throughout the country must comply with the national targets.

So, for example, the top management of a national manufacturing company has to be 35% African (22% male, 13% female), 4% coloured (2.5% male, 1.5% female), 1% Indian (0.7% male, 0.4% female) and 8% white (4.5% male, 3.5% female).

Companies that employ fewer than 50 employees, irrespective of their annual turnover, don't have to comply with the targets.

Responding to written parliamentary questions, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi denied that there were any race quotas in the Employment Equity Amendment Bill.

DA MP Michael Cardo wanted details on the Bill and how the race quotas were calculated.

"I sincerely have no details of the Bill that I have no knowledge off. In the department, we are currently busy looking as some gaps that may be there in some of our labour laws. These have not reached Parliament yet," Nxesi said.

"As they are busy deliberated at Nedlac level. Once those deliberations are accordingly processed, I have no doubt in my mind that they will reach Parliament and at that stage you will once again have an opportunity of adding your voice."

In separate response to Cardo, Nxesi said South Africa no longer had "the racist apartheid government that used to establish the racial benchmarks".

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka is among the eight candidates the ad hoc committee selecting a new Public Protector has shortlisted.

At a meeting on Wednesday morning, the committee nominated advocates Gcaleka, Muvhango Lukhaimane, Tseliso Thipanyane, Lynne Marais, Oliver Josie, and Tommy Ntsewa, and magistrate Johannah Ledwaba, as well as Professor Boitumelo Mmusinyane.

After the shortlist was drafted, Al Jamah-ah leader Ganief Hendricks noted that the last two Public Protectors were women.

"It may be time for a male to be Public Protector," he said.

He wanted to ensure that half the number of candidates on the shortlist were men. As it happens, four of the candidates are men.

"I can live with that," said Hendricks.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Yoliswa Yako said there was one name on the list which they "are not fine with, which everyone knows, but we're not going to talk to that now".

This was in reference to Gcaleka, who enraged the EFF when she cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Phala Phala investigation.

Other parties said they were happy with the shortlist, which was duly adopted.

The eight candidates were selected from a list of 36 individuals nominated for the position. Initially, there were 38, but Mukhali Thenga and Elizabeth Mthimkhulu withdrew from the process.

As part of the selection process, all shortlisted candidates will be subjected to processes such as suitability screening, reference checks and qualification verification. They will also be expected to complete a questionnaire.

The interviews will take place between 21 and 25 August, whereafter the committee will deliberate on a suitable candidate to present to the National Assembly.

The support of 60% of the National Assembly is required for the selected candidate to be appointed by the president.

City of Johannesburg (CoJ) manager Floyd Brink said on Wednesday that the municipality has mandated its Disaster Management Centre to finalise a report to declare the recent gas explosion in the central business district a local state of disaster.

The report will be submitted to the Provincial Disaster Management Centre in the next seven days.

Brink was addressing the media on the progress of restoration efforts in the inner CoJ, where he noted that the municipality had commenced processes of compiling the report to begin with the necessary legislated processes.

"The declaration of the disaster is critical in order to allow us to assess the impact of the explosion on infrastructure and to cost the rehabilitation work required," he said.

Wednesday marked seven days since the explosion occurred on Lilian Ngoyi street, formerly known as Bree street, which tore through the road, and which claimed a single life and left 46 people injured and hospitalised.

Brink highlighted that the CoJ had also assigned the Group chief financial officer to oversee a team to manage and oversee any procurement to facilitate its work in response to the disaster.

He further stated that the mandate was to ensure that the City complied fully with legislated procurement rules and audits, as it procured services for the response effort.

RESPONSE EFFORTS

Meanwhile, on Monday Brink said the City's preliminary investigations into the explosion pointed to an accidental leakage of natural gas into the service duct, reaching explosion concentration levels of 5%-15% and ignited by an unknown source.

He said investigations would continue to try to locate the source over the next few days.

"As you are aware, investigations are still inconclusive on the cause of the explosion and what may have ignited the gas or the source of the gas in the underground tunnels," he added.

He noted that the City continued to receive regular updates from experts on site and was also pushing to restore services and to prepare for the rehabilitation work of the road and underground tunnels.

"We have established a team of engineers from the various entities of the City to begin planning and scoping of the work we will need to undertake. It is evident to us that in rehabilitating the road surface and underground tunnels, we will have to implement new standards of how we manage and lay out underground service lines and connections. Amongst the anomalies currently, we have gas pipelines running parallel to water lines," he said.

He added that this was not ideal and as the CoJ prepared to restore the street, its work would seek to set the standard of what should be the most suited, safe and appropriate layout of services infrastructure in the City.