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The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has called on all political parties and candidates standing for election to approach the Electoral Commission, law enforcement agencies or the Electoral Court with any evidence of suspected malfeasance.

The IEC was responding to a news report, which said that 188 voters were registered in one household, in George.

Last week, the GOOD party approached the Electoral Court to urgently block the IEC from conducting by-elections in Pacaltsdorp, a suburb in the George municipality.

GOOD accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of deliberately re-registering 174 voters in wards that they were not residents of.

The court dismissed the application and the by-election went ahead.

The Electoral Commission noted that in keeping with its obligation to ensure free and fair elections, it concluded that all those voters were correctly registered in the voting district and ward linked to their addresses, and thus entitled to vote in the by-election.

"An inadvertent error allocated a common address to the 174 voters when the given addresses were checked against the ward boundaries. This is normal practice for wards with prospective by-elections," noted the IEC.

The IEC said the affected voters were not, as alleged, new entrants on that ward segment of the voters' roll.

"The voters have been historically registered in the voting district and in the ward. In fact, some have voted in previous elections, including the 2021 Local Government Elections," added the IEC.

The Electoral Commission also confirmed that all 174 voters were not registered using any of the online platforms, given that their registrations pre-date the introduction of electronic means of registration.

The IEC said as per the law, contestants were provided copies of the voters' roll ahead of the by-elections held in George, adding that no objections were lodged within the objection period in terms of the election timetable.

Power was restored to households and businesses feeding off the Bree substation in Johannesburg's central business district on Tuesday morning, following a gas explosion last week.

"The whole street of the epicentre of the explosion is now on," City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.

City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Molingoane said 100% of the power was restored within the CBD.

"The switch on the last distributor has just been flipped now at 14:20."

In a statement on Tuesday, City Power said gas levels were at 1% on the risk matrix, making it possible for the entity to restore the feeder cables under the collapsed road structure.

Sections of Lillian Ngoyi Street in the busy city centre were ripped up during the gas blast during the afternoon rush hour last Wednesday.

One person was killed and 48 were injured.

Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said on Monday that around 2 800 households were left in the dark as a result.

City Power customers who have not received electricity by Tuesday evening can log a call so technicians can attend to it.

Johannesburg City manager Floyd Brink said all entities were on the scene to fix the damage caused by the explosion.

Brink conducted an inspection on Tuesday morning.

"Water and the sewers and electricity should be back on [on Tuesday]. We will report if there are any changes, but all seems to be in order."

He said the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) had cleared the way for a Tractor Loader Backhoe (TLB) to excavate a part of the road so Johannesburg Water could reach damaged water and sewage pipes.

"[Joburg Water] is looking at the sewage lines with cameras to see the damage to the infrastructure."

He said Pikitup, the City's waste management service provider, was also on the scene to help clear illegal dumping.

Security in the area has also been strengthened.

The JRA installed a 900-metre diamond mesh wire fence and green covers around the blast site after passers-by damaged the razor wire used to keep pedestrians off the road.

The fence was installed from Von Willigh Street and extends towards the Lilian Ngoyi Street intersection with Loveday Street.

When News24 visited the area over the weekend, people had entered the road to take photographs.

South Africa's electricity minister attacked the country's groundbreaking $8.5-billion climate finance pact with some of the world's richest nations whereby it will close some coal-fired power plants and re-purpose them to produce renewable energy.

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told a meeting organised by Standard Bank Group that the closure of Eskom Holdings's Komati Power Station, the first plant to be shuttered, was "an injustice that is unfolding at Komati in the name of the transition."

Ramokgopa's observations, while chiming with earlier comments made by Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and the concerns of labor unions, may further inflame tensions around the so-called Just Energy Transition Programme, which is behind schedule. South Africa is yet to produce an implementation plan that would allow money to flow from France, Germany, the US, UK and the European Union.

"If I had my way we would go and restart the units at Komati," he said. "We closed a power station which was the best performing power station at the time that we closed it and because someone gave us money and said decarbonise we are getting 217 MW of alternative energy and we removed 1 000 MW."

Ramokgopa repeated comments made previously by Mantashe that South Africa was being used as a "guinea pig," for the green transition. Vietnam, Indonesia and Senegal are pursuing similar JETP agreements.

South Africa is currently suffering its worst ever power cuts - known locally as loadshedding - as its aging coal-fired plants, which supply more than 80% of its energy, regularly break down.

Ramokgopa's description of Komati don't match its condition prior to its closure last year. When Bloomberg reporters visited the plant in early 2021 only one of its nine generating units was still operating, meaning it was producing just over 100 MW. The town surrounding the plant was rundown and there was little evidence of economic activity.

President Cyril Ramaphosa noted on Monday that because of its vital developmental function, government continues to prioritise investment in infrastructure across government.

However, he admitted that government was concerned that municipalities were failing to spend conditional grants allocated to them for maintenance and upgrades of infrastructure.

He wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that infrastructure development played a key role in ensuring fast economic growth and alleviating poverty.

"However for this world-class infrastructure to continue to support our developmental goals, it has to be properly, effectively and efficiently maintained. And decisions on infrastructure investment have to respond to the growing need and be upgraded appropriately," he said.

Ramaphosa highlighted that South Africa had good quality infrastructure, but in far too many instances it was not being properly maintained and upgraded.

He explained that last year, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering gave the country's social infrastructure a D rating, with E being failed or failing. Passenger rail scored particularly low, achieving an E.

"We continue to witness the detrimental consequences of failure to maintain public infrastructure. We are seeing accidents, disease outbreaks and other tragedies that in a number of instances have been associated with dilapidated infrastructure," Ramaphosa pointed out.

He said the maintenance of public infrastructure was often the responsibility of local government.

The National Treasury recently reported that slightly more than half of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant was being spent by municipalities.

Ramaphosa said this grant was for upgrading and building new infrastructure and rehabilitating existing infrastructure.

He explained that at the last meeting of intergovernmental forum the President's Coordinating Council, in June, it was agreed that greater accountability from municipalities that consistently underspend on their conditional grant allocations was necessary.

Part of the problem was that municipalities, especially smaller municipalities, lack implementation capacity, he said.

"However, there are municipalities that are spending conditional grants successfully and timeously. For example, about 91% of funding allocated to municipalities to fund reconstruction and rehabilitation after floods in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal was spent by the respective municipalities," he said.

Ramaphosa said this illustrated that with the necessary support, technical assistance, planning and coordination, the problem of municipal underspending on public infrastructure could be overcome.

MORE INVESTMENTS

Ramaphosa announced that construction was underway on several bulk water, housing, energy and roads projects.

He explained that together with better infrastructure maintenance, government was determined that these investments would make a big difference in people's lives.

Last week, Ramaphosa attended the launch of a new phase of upgrades to the Vulindlela Bulk Water Supply Scheme in KwaZulu-Natal, a water infrastructure project that mainly services the uMgungundlovu and uMsunduzi municipalities.

He said when the first phase of the scheme was commissioned 25 years ago, it was only servicing 100 000 people, that number has almost tripled in the intervening years, putting a strain on the existing infrastructure resources.

Once the current upgrades were completed, about 350 000 residents would receive clean, quality water, added Ramaphosa.

The Darvill wastewater treatment plant outside Pietermaritzburg has also been upgraded and will now be able to treat up to 100-million litres a day and better service households, businesses and industries in the municipality.

Defence Minister Thandi Modise has admitted the defence force is becoming more and more unsustainable, while an expert believes if a military super power were to attack, South Africans would be defenceless.

Modise's admission comes against the backdrop of severe budget cuts which has led to a weakened South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Responding to a written parliamentary question from Economic Freedom Fighters's Washington Mafanya, Modise said reviving the SANDF required a comprehensive approach that encompassed various aspects, including leadership, funding, training, and strategic planning.

Mafanya had asked Modise whether she intended to resign in light of the failure to revive the SANDF and make way for new leadership that will understand the 2015 defence review.

"The South African Defence Review 2015 is, and remains, the national policy on defence. The Defence Review 2015 remains largely valid and appropriate, even though it was predicated on a steady-stream improvement in defence allocation, agreed to by Cabinet at that time, but which did not materialise," Modise said

"The defence force is becoming progressively more unsustainable in terms of the declining defence baseline allocation and we have now reached the point where the Republic must decide on the kind of defence force it wants and what it can afford."

According to Modise, it is within the context of a constrained fiscal environment that a review and analysis of the South African Defence Review 2015, will be required by 31 March 2024.

This is to provide a realistic and sustainable future-orientated defence value-proposition, cognisant of current fiscal realities, that delivers against the constitutional mandate of defence, South Africa's national interests and the government's priorities and risk appetite.

Defence expert Helmoed Heitman believes the country's defence systems are virtually gone.

"If any big player came to attack us, we would not be able to do anything. The only reason we are not in trouble is because no one is attacking us. In the state of our navy, we cannot patrol our waters and we can't prevent smuggling," he said.

Hietman added, "The army does not have enough troops to go everywhere. It's got troops in Mozambique, in the DRC, plus they do work on the border. Then every now and then they get called out to do work locally. They just don't have enough bodies to do the work."

Heitman said if there were more serious threats, the army would have issues with equipment.

"The defence force has no money to maintain its equipment. So [much] of it simply does not work. Almost all defence forces use drones, but we don't have a system to counter attack drones and we don't have much anti-aircraft capability," he said.

In May, Modise tabled her department's budget and warned of a looming budget shortfall of R3-billion.

For the 2022-23 financial year, the defence department was allocated R49.1-billion.

This was increased by R2.5-billion through the adjustment budget, bringing the total to R51.6-billion.

However, when the financial year closed on 31 March, the unaudited actual expenditure was R54.6-billion, R3-billion over budget, Modise revealed.

Modise said her department is focused on the five military priorities.

These include:

Promoting nation building through the pursuance of a common national identity coupled to values and ethics that reinforce such an identity.

Safeguarding the country and building internal stability by strengthening the institutions of the state and growing the economy.

Securing regional development by creating conditions conducive to regional security and stability as well as increased investment that drives regional growth and development through consumer economies.

Enhancing cyber resilience through a focused strategy that enhances the resilience of critical digital infrastructure.

Enhancing the hard power capability of the SANDF through a small but core major combat capability that is relevant and ready to meet futu...

The Presidency on Monday noted that South Africa will use the second Russia-Africa Summit backdrop to further engage Russia at a bilateral level to finalise the contents and substance of the upcoming fifteenth annual Brics Summit.

South Africa will, in August, host the first in-person Summit of Brics nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions.

Before that, President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead a South African delegation to the second Russia-Africa Summit, in St. Petersburg on July 27 and 28.

This Summit was first convened in October 2019 with a commitment to continue meeting every three years. It aims to foster mutually beneficial cooperation and partnerships between Russia and the African continent.

The Presidency explained that the Summit background will also offer an opportunity to African Heads of State who are part of the African Leaders Peace Mission to continue talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on measures to create conditions for a path to peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Putin will not attend the Brics Summit in person "by mutual agreement" owing to the International Criminal Court warrant for Putin's arrest, the Presidency announced last week. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Russia instead.

Meanwhile, the Russia-Africa Summit is expected to consider four declarations and a three-year Action Plan, which will be presented for consideration.

These submissions will focus on strengthening cooperation between Russia and African States in politics, security, trade, science, IT, humanitarian support, education, culture, sports, youth and the environment.

The declarations also seek to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism, the prevention of an arms race in outer space, and in information security.

Ramaphosa will be accompanied by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Naledi Pandor and Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni,

Scheduled side events will include an exhibition to showcase investment opportunities in Russia and Africa, a space to demonstrate new technologies, and a Business Development and Social Partnership Zone for networking between the heads of global corporations, government officials, business and the media.

Western Cape MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety Reagen Allen said on Friday that his province is determined to fight crime despite recent quarterly crime statistics which revealed that 39 children have been murdered in his province since January.

Speaking to Polity, he said although his province is seeing a reduction in murders in the quarterly crime stats, he wants to see no murders in the province due to flare ups between gang members.

He said a suspect, who allegedly shot a nine year old two weeks ago, has been arrested.

When asked about the recent move to beef up Neighbourhood Watch personnel in problem areas to support the South African Police Service (Saps) and the City's Law Enforcement Advancement Plan in Delft, he said Saps cannot fight crime alone and relies on community activism and stakeholders to work hand in hand with government.

"In Delft, we had engagements with the Saps and the Department of Social Development as they play a key role in the fight against gender based violence, which is also an evil in our society, but also [with] the launch of anti-gender based ambassadors. Besides us working with our communities and safety stakeholders, we are working across our government. In some places we are going to ramp up partnership and cooperation," said Allen.

He commended the support his office is receiving from 17 500 community Neighbourhood Watches and volunteers in the Community Policing Forums who are fighting to reducing crime within their communities.

There has been a reduction in the amount of home and vehicle break-ins owing to more security personnel on the ground.

Allen urged more communities to actively sign up to fight crime.

In addition, the province is also introducing sporting programmes to keep teenagers away from drugs and gangsterism.

The province has relaunched a programme to collect illegal firearms. Those who comply will receive a reward for R5 000.

Eighteen illegal firearms were collected in June and Allen is urging more people to anonymously report information on illegal weapons via 021 466 00 11.

"We want to make sure that the illegal firearms that are tormenting our communities are not in the hands of the gangsters and children that are being used by gangsters to perpetuate crime," he said.

The province continues to advocate for the devolution of policing powers as Allen believes that the current policing method is no longer working.

"From 1994 we have had the same system where policing is at a national level. We all know that the policing system in our country has sadly failed. We have been calling for the devolution of powers and that call is now resonating with other provinces. The Premier of Gauteng has been advocating for a new policing model. It is the same thing that we are asking for," he stressed.

City of Johannesburg (CoJ) manager Floyd Brink revealed that the City's preliminary investigations into the recent explosion in the CBD 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 at this stage.

An explosion occurred on Wednesday on Bree street, tearing through the road, claiming a single life and leaving 46 people injured and hospitalised.

"At this stage, our preliminary investigations have presented us with three possible scenarios for the explosion. These are: ignition of methane gas in underground stormwater systems due to sewerage ingress. The second possibility considered is the ignition of natural gas, mixed with air (oxygen) in underground stormwater drainage systems or service ducts. The third and last possibility, is the ignition of gas from a gas pipe burst," explained Brink.

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

Brink highlighted that buildings adjacent to the collapsed road had been inspected and, at this stage, the buildings were regarded structurally sound for occupation.

"We have also assessed the gas leaking into the atmosphere and have been assured by the Environmental Services and Air Quality Controllers of the City that the gas leaking into the atmosphere poses no risk to residents as its concentration reduces rapidly in open air. However, gas leaks into subsoil cavities such as basements can be fatal," he explained.

He said the City was confident it had mobilised the best skills and expertise required to respond to the explosion.

Brink explained that within an hour of the explosion, plans were afoot to manage the scene, search for survivors and any fatalities, locate the source of the explosion and secure the perimeter of the site.

"For those who were present here at Mary Fitzgerald Square, they would have witnessed the rapid deployment of Command Units and support resources to immediately coordinate all response efforts across all three spheres of government," he said.

IMMEDIATE ACTIONS

Brink explained that the City had deployed water tankers to support residents in the area and City Power would also be deploying technicians to assess the power lines for damage along the 400 m of the site and would only be able to reenergize the area once it had been declared safe.

The Johannesburg Metro Police Department and South African Police Service will barricade the area to limit access and movement to allow for the efficient management of the site to minimise risk to residents.

He said barricades would also be manned by 250 members per shift supported by 50 private security personnel.

The City will also commence with the work of sampling all bulk service manholes in the area for gas leaks and ruminants.

"This will include the opening of bulk manholes belonging to City Power, Telkom and other service departments and entities. Some of the manholes are welded, due to theft and vandalism and at this stage we are unable to immediately open them for fear of igniting a further blast. Where possible, our teams, led by Johannesburg Emergency Services, will be placing Positive Pressure Ventilation Fans down the manholes to blow out any gas that may still exist below. This is intrinsically safe equipment and will assist in the effort to disperse trapped gas," Brink added.

He emphasised that the tasks being undertaken were complex and at this stage would have to be handled with care, meaning no heavy equipment could be deployed to the site immediately.

"The digging and trenching to be done now will have to be done by hand until we are confident the site is safe and all hazardous factors are cleared. We have also deployed advanced technologies to assess and review underground damage to the infrastructure," he said.

The City will, over the coming days, ensure residents are updated and informed on work being done to mitigate the risks and repair the site.

The South African government has conceded that it failed to execute its international responsibilities by failing to issue a warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin if he enters the country.

On Friday, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria confirmed that the justice department had finally sent the Putin arrest warrant to National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi on Monday.

This was more than two months after the international relations and co-operation department sent its justice colleagues the warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC issued the warrant on the basis of Putin's responsibility for war crimes allegedly committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) went to court to compel the government to arrest Putin if he travels to South Africa for the Brics summit, scheduled for August in Johannesburg.

But after the government announced that Putin would not travel to South Africa, the DA asked the court to compel it to execute the arrest warrant any time the Russian president travels to the country.

The government agreed.

In an affidavit on Thursday, on the eve of the court challenge, justice department director-general Doctor Mashabane conceded that he was "obliged" to forward the arrest warrant to Batohi immediately upon receipt of it on 8 May, in line with South Africa's Implementation Act.

However, Mashabane said he did not "discharge" that obligation because he wanted to consult with the ICC first.

That meeting happened on 8 June.

"On 29 June 2023, I signed and authorised the dispatch of the letter to the NDPP.in which I transmitted the ICC's requests for cooperation to the NDPP," Mashabane said.

The court order stated that the justice department "tenders the applicant's costs, including the costs of two counsel and all costs previously reserved".

In a statement after the court order, DA leader John Steenhuisen claimed victory, saying Mashabane only sent the ICC's documents to Batohi on Monday because the application put them under "pressure".

In his speech at the launch of the book 'Reluctant Prophet: Tributes to Albert Nolan OP', Fr Peter-John Pearson reflected that, how even in death, Nolan had again provided words to disrupt complacency and to offer sustenance to those continuing the "venerable tradition of raising the lowly and casting the mighty from their thrones and righting human wrong". Pearson, who is director of the Parliamentary Liaison Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, delivered this address at St Michael's Church, Rondebosch, on July 8.

I marvelled, as I read these chapters, at just how we were drawn almost effortlessly into the utterly remarkable life of Albert; how the words gave us the shapes, shadows and the substance of his life; gave us a glimpse into the rich legacy of his ideas, into the courage of his activism, the depth of his pastoral commitments and the complexity and contradictions of the theological burden that he carried in his heart. I dared to think, as I read the book, that maybe for the second time in Dominican history the Order has birthed another Albert the Great.

But I marvelled even more at the way this book, the testimony of these words, also handed us an incendiary torch; how even in death Albert gave us words, gave us a book that would disturb us, disrupt our complacency and allow us to continue that venerable tradition of raising the lowly and casting the mighty from their thrones and righting human wrong. Albert understood well the disruptive power of words. I thought often, as I read this work, of Wole Soyinka's insight, I think from his 1986 Nobel speech, that 'books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to supress the truth.'

As I read and was further enthralled, I moved further and further from the task I was given for these few minutes, and I found myself not so much reflecting on what was new about Albert for me but about what I was learning anew about Albert's legacy.

My one lesson, as I read, was that Albert's legacy of the need for what Lenin called the 'permanent revolution', and what the Church has called 'semper reformanda', is indispensable for our very conflicted, contested times as we retreat deeper and deeper into political depravity and delinquency, the theft of land and livelihoods, and the existence of cultures of cruel exclusion.

Bertolt Brecht captures it magnificently: 'There are those who struggle for a day, and they are good. There are those who struggle for a year, and they are better. There are people who struggle for many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives: these are the indispensable ones.'

A close reading of our text leaves me with the indelible impression that the challenge of life-long struggle, of solidarity, of the occupancy of the barricades, is for our times. Following Brecht, the most basic of human vocations is to be on the barricades, it's to be in the places of contestation, it's to be in the places of struggle, it's to be in the places of burgeoning hope, it's to be in the places of resistance and resilience, and in places where we say loudly: No, not in my name!

From the pages, Albert bids us not be afraid of lifelong struggle, not to be afraid of using words to disrupt what is wrong, what does not favour justice. It is the only chance we have of making a difference.

James Lowell in the midst of the NYC race riots and as a protest against the American-Mexican war penned that hymn about the decisiveness of taking sides, opting for the poor or in Pope Francis' words being a church of the poor for the poor. James Lowell wrote at that time, being the protester that he was, the intellectual giant that he was, the person of deep faith that he was, he wrote (and just excuse the gender-exclusive language):

Once to every man and nation

Comes the moment to decide,

In the strife of truth with falsehood,

For the good or evil side;

Some great cause, God's new Messiah,

Offering each the bloom or blight,

A...