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The Democratic Alliance (DA) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday signed a Service Delivery Pact, to bring much needed stability to a number of municipalities where both parties are involved.

The agreement has been six months in the making and follows on from the parties’ successful cooperation in by-elections to win wards from the African National Congress (ANC).

The agreement will ensure that where each party holds seats in a hung municipality, the DA and IFP will work together to improve service delivery and better the lives of residents.

The parties said in a joint statement that they shared a strong commitment to Constitutionalism, the rule of law and service delivery improvement.

“We are also parties of government that govern in various local municipalities across the country and are only two of three parties that have governed a province,” they pointed out.

Both parties have pledged to ensure that communities have access to basic service delivery and will also relieve residents and businesses from crippling loadshedding by accessing affordable and sustainable electricity.

The DA and IFP said they would bring in investment and jobs to the local economy and make it easier for businesses to trade. The parties have promised to support devolution of power within the constitutional and legislative framework and eliminate corruption and patronage networks.

Both parties will also promote multilingualism and enhance the province’s heritage landscape.

The DA and IFP have included 15 priorities that the joint caucuses will set to work on to radically change the landscape of local government in KZN, if successfully implemented.

The parties accused the ANC of wrecking local government across the province.

“That is why we believe we are able to come together and put the interests of citizens first. In the interests of transparency and to gain the trust of voters in these municipalities we will also be publishing these agreements so that they can hold us accountable. This is a first for KZN and a fresh approach from the shady ANC/Economic Freedom Fighters coalition agreement that is built purely on corruption and access to state resources,” said the parties.

Both parties explained that it is their collective view that they can achieve more together than separately, as well as being able to learn from one another.

“We are guided by the approach of IFP Founder and President Emeritus Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi who has sought to bring parties together from across the political, religious and racial divide for over 40 years and the current work that DA Leader John Steenhuisen has been doing to bring various opposition parties together to unseat the ANC in next year’s election,” parties added.

President Cyril Ramaphosa noted on Monday that for government to end poverty, it needs an economy that grows, attracts investment, creates jobs and allows new companies to emerge and thrive.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that the provision of comprehensive social protection will not, on its own, end poverty or inequality in the country’s society.

This month, South Africans will celebrate the life and work of former President Nelson Mandela, on Mandela Day on July 18.

“In everything we do this month to honour the founding father of our nation, let us recall his observation that, while poverty persists, there is no true freedom. Since the advent of democracy, we have dedicated great effort and resources towards alleviating poverty and reducing inequality. Through its substantial social protection programmes, government has provided vital support to millions of South Africans, lifting many out of extreme poverty and meeting many of their basic needs,” he said.

Ramaphosa said social protection in South Africa goes far beyond the provision of social grants for the elderly, children, people with disabilities and military veterans.

He added that it goes beyond the work of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, which provides income support for unemployed workers, or the Compensation Fund, which supports those involved in workplace accidents.

“It encompasses all support provided to South Africans, mainly the poor, through what has become known as the ‘social wage’. This includes the provision of free basic services, health care, basic education, higher education, social housing and transport,” he said.

Ramaphosa explained that the country’s policies and programmes needed to work together to build an inclusive economy and provide social protection to the poor and unemployed.

He added that a growing economy provided the funds government needed to strengthen its social protection measures, and that the support that poor people received, especially through access to education and health, enabled them to better contribute to that economy.

“Because expansion of social protection can only take place at the pace and scale the fiscus can afford, we are focused on growing our economy and developing sustainable solutions to support pro-poor spending. Through an integrated and comprehensive system of social support, we are not only meeting our collective responsibility to the most vulnerable in society, we are also investing in our country’s future,” he said.

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has granted the government's application to place the South African Post Office (Sapo) in business rescue, putting a halt to ongoing liquidation proceedings and paving the way for a R2.4-billion taxpayer bailout.

Sapo was placed in provisional liquidation in February due to its failure to pay rent and other liabilities, but its provisional liquidators did not oppose the application.

The judgment, delivered by Judge Elmarie van der Schyff following an urgent hearing in Pretoria, confirmed the appointment of Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Martins Damons as joint interim rescue practitioners. Roolpal has been overseeing the liquidation of VBS Mutual Bank since 2018 and will now also help guide the process of looking to prevent Sapo from being wound up and its assets sold off.

The appointment of the business rescue practitioners must be ratified by a meeting of the majority of Sapo's creditors.

Judge Van Der Schyff said placing the state-owned utility in business rescue would allow the government to inject the much-needed R2.4-billion in funding it has committed to providing.

"It is gleaned from the minister's papers, and no objective reason exists to doubt the correctness of the evidence provided under oath, that Cabinet has not only pledged to provide Sapo with the initially earmarked R2.4-billion, but also indicated its intention to support Sapo's application for an additional R3.8-billion in the October budget," she wrote in the judgment.

In addition to the already announced cash bailout, "there is a further possibility of continued government funding to see Sapo through the business rescue process," the state's application reads.

The Sapo's provision liquidation came after a case brought by property company Withinshaw. It also owes hundreds of millions of rands in unpaid salaries to its staff, retirement and medical funds, the SA Revenue Service, landlords, and other suppliers.

Turnaround hopes

Mondli Gungubele, the communications minister, is pinning his hopes that the business rescue process - which offers temporary protection against creditors - will save as many jobs as possible.

"The purpose of this application is to avoid the destruction of the Sapo by placing it under business rescue," said Gungubele in the court application. "This will give Sapo the space and time it needs to restructure its affairs and implement a turnaround plan under the supervision and direction of the business rescue practitioner. There is a reasonable prospect of Sapo being rescued."

Sapo has been making annual losses of more than R2-billion the past three years. Of its 1 266 branches, fewer than a quarter were profitable, its 2022 annual report reads.

To return Sapo into an operational state and solvency, the minister's plan approved by Cabinet and filed as part of the court application, seeks to reduce about R1.33-billion in employee costs. This would cut 7 000 jobs in Sapo, leaving just under 5 000 employed by the postal services company. Sapo's current workforce is just under 12 000 employees.

"The harsh reality is that the facts point to it that Sapo's workforce needs to be extensively curtailed for Sapo to survive, but business rescue proceedings are prone to have a less severe impact on the workforce than final liquidation," wrote Judge Van Der Schyff.

This remedy will be robustly opposed by the trade unions that represent employees at Sapo. The Democratic Postal and Communications Union (Depacu), which was represented in the court proceedings, said it would resist any attempt to cut jobs at the utility. The union's secretary general, Livy Zwane, said Depacu is the majority union representing about 63% of the Sapo employees.

The funding committed by the government could be increased as the government has already indicated its support for increased funding should the entity be placed in business rescue, said Gungubele in the court application. No state funding, however, would be available should Sapo...

African National Congress (ANC) first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane stressed on Monday that South Africa will remain a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), however, she stressed that her party would not remain silent if its membership is "abused for other motives".

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.

ICC president Piotr Hofmanski said the Russian president can be arrested if he travels to ICC member countries, including South Africa.

South Africa is set to hold a Brics Summit in August and speculation about whether Putin will attend is rife.

Meanwhile, Mokonyane also announced on Monday that her party will host a Political Party Plus Dialogue ahead of the Brics Summit.

The dialogue is set to take place on July 18, in the Maropeng Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and Soweto and will be attended by representatives from more than 54 global political parties.

The dialogue will focus on global peace and security, inclusive multilateralism, strengthening Brics and expanding its membership and partnership for mutually accelerated growth and sustainable development.

Mokonyane said these are the pillars of the ANC and provide for a vision of a prosperous Africa and better world, as the party forges alliances and builds party-to-party relationships and inter-party relationships, as well as bilateral and multilateral relationships to deepen internationalism, solidarity, peace and friendship as advocated by the Freedom Charter and the founding principles of the African Union its Agenda 2063.

"This dialogue will give political parties and former presidents a platform to tackle and unravel complex issues that affect the globe. These issues range from global change, famine, poverty, disease, food security, information technology to industrialisation, the International Criminal Court, sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Sustainable Development Goals, transformation of the global institutions, the impact of the dwindling dollar as the international reserve currency and the escalating war between Russia and Ukraine which has a debilitating effect on the global economy,” said Mokonyane.

She added that NATO expansion and the geopolitical shift towards the new paradigm of collaboration, and the diplomatic policy towards dialogue and cooperation for mutual growth and shared prosperity, will also be discussed.

The ANC believes that the upcoming dialogue repositions South Africa as an important role player and change catalyst in the global arena.

Brics political parties expected to be present are the Chinese political party, the Communist Party of Russia, the Indian Congress Party and the Workers Party of Brazil.

Mokonyane said the University of South Africa would also host a seminar targeting academia and stakeholders.

The ANC’s Progressive Business Forum will also host a Finance Colloquium on July 13, targeting the business community and the financial sector, based on internationalism, and the pillars and resolutions of the ANC's 55th National Conference.

"The ANC will continue to work towards a multipolar world order where national sovereignty is not undermined. We will work with progressive forces in the world by focusing on the implementation and the goals of Agenda 2063 for Africa and the world we want," added Mokonyane.

The suspended Pretoria chief magistrate Desmond Nair will be making representations on why he should not be prosecuted for corruption based on witness testimony from his misconduct hearing.

Nair briefly appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Friday.

Prosecutor Bheki Manyathi placed it on record that Nair would be making representations on why he should not be prosecuted on a charge of corruption.

It relates to security installation at his home by the controversial company Bosasa. The cost of the upgrade is said to be R200 000.

Manyathi said the representations would be based on the testimony of two State witnesses during Nair's misconduct hearing which was held by the Magistrates Commission.

However, the prosecutor said they still needed to obtain the transcript of the second witness' testimony, former Bosasa employee Richard le Roux, before making the representations.

Le Roux implicated Nair in the State capture Inquiry.

The State asked for a postponement to 30 November, which is only a provisional date.

This is because if it finds in favour of Nair, the charges will be withdrawn and a court date won't be necessary. However, if Manyathi is not persuaded by the representations, a date in January 2024 has been set for pre-trial.

Corruption charges

News24 previously reported that Nair was charged with one count of corruption after allegedly accepting the installation of Bosasa-sponsored security systems at his Pretoria home, including a full electric fence, CCTV and alarm systems valued at R200 000.

According to the charge sheet, Nair is accused of accepting a bribe from Bosasa in or near Silverton, Pretoria, in September 2016 while he was a judicial officer and the chief magistrate of Pretoria.

News24 reported that Nair confirmed that security cameras were installed at his private residence, but said this was "pursuant to a private agreement".

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) regional leaders who fail to sell gala dinner tickets and fill hundreds of buses for the party's 10th birthday celebration will be publicly shamed and banned from attending its rally on July 29.

This according to party leader Julius Malema.

The EFF is celebrating its founding anniversary with a rally at FNB Stadium.

Malema said all leaders were mandated to bring as many supporters as possible to the celebration.

Those who fail will be publicly exposed.

Malema said the EFF had told its representatives in Parliament as well as municipal and provincial legislatures to send busloads of constituents they claimed to be representing to the event.

The directive's deadline was 30 June.

Tickets to the EFF's gala dinner were on sale for thousands of rand.

"This directive to EFF representatives was to ensure that they bring those they claim to represent and that the people of South Africa are part of this event.

"All those who failed to comply with this directive, including members of the central command, are prohibited from attending the birthday celebration, and the EFF will publicly release the names of the representatives who are banished from attending.

"Action will be taken against them immediately after the rally.

"The EFF will host a gala dinner, and all members of the EFF and public representatives are expected to sell tickets to the gala dinner. If they fail, their names will be published to the public," Malema said on Thursday.

He was speaking at the Uncle Tom community hall in Orlando, Soweto, where the EFF was founded in July 2013.

Malema also touched on current affairs, which include the Phala Phala report issued last week by acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka.

It cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing.

The EFF leader said the report was laughable.

"It exonerated Ramaphosa from the very same business he controls. It is an illogical document."

Malema said the only valid legal document left unchallenged and spoke truthfully about Ramaphosa's guilt was the Section 189 report compiled by former Justice Sandile Ngcobo which resolved the president might have a case to answer to.

Parliament did not adopt this report after the African National Congress (ANC) voted against it.

Malema said the report was rejected by the EFF, and its legal findings were a direct sign Gcaleka was aligned with Ramaphosa.

"The claim by Gcaleka that there is no conflict of interest in a president engaging in the exchange of millions of foreign currencies, without any declaration to the South African Reserve Bank or consideration of the Executive Members Ethics Act is a sign that a lowly puppet is occupying the Office of the Public Protector," he added.

Jacob Zuma, the former president who brought South Africa’s renewable-energy programme to a halt in 2016, announced that a Belarus trade association will list the first carbon credits on a newly created exchange in Zimbabwe.

The Belarus African Foreign Trade Association, of which Zuma is a board member, has allocated 2-million carbon credits to initiate trade in the offsets on the Africa Voluntary Carbon Credits Market, he said on Friday.

“I have the memorandum of intent of these carbon offsets which have been certified and validated,” Zuma said at a carbon-credit conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. “This is our pledge to kick-start the process.”

In his speech on Friday, Zuma gave no indication of why he was representing a Belarus-backed organization or where the association accessed the carbon offsets. Zimbabwe has close ties with Belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko visited the African nation earlier this year.

A single carbon credit represents a ton of climate-warming carbon dioxide or its equivalent that’s either removed or prevented from entering the atmosphere. The credits are bought by companies to offset their greenhouse gas emissions as tighter legislation forces them to do more to slow global warming.

The global trade in carbon offsets is projected to grow to as much as $1-trillion within 15 years from $2-billion now, according to estimates from BloombergNEF.

Zuma, apart from presiding over a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2011, has no known track record in the carbon credits industry, but had close ties with Russia, an ally of Belarus, during his nine-year rule that ended in 2018.

His daughter, Duduzile Sambudla-Zuma, who accompanied him to the conference, was placed at the center of a Russia-backed Twitter campaign to bolster support for its invasion of Ukraine, according to research commissioned and funded by the Centre for Information Resilience.

In 2016, when Zuma was in power, South Africa halted one of the world’s most successful programmes to attract private investment into wind and solar power and, under Zuma’s direction, unsuccessfully pursued a plan to have Russian companies build a nuclear power plant in South Africa.

Since being ousted by South Africa’s governing African National Congress as its leader, Zuma has spent much of his time fighting legal battles related to a charge that he benefited from an arms deal in the 1990s. He has spent time in prison for contempt of court after refusing to testify to a judicial commission of inquiry into state corruption. He has denied wrongdoing.

Zuma, who arrived at the Zimbabwe conference on Wednesday and was seen wearing a brightly patterned shirt as he dined with his daughter, spoke passionately about the effects of climate change on Africa as he gave a speech.

“Climate change is a global challenge that does not respect national borders,” he said. “Emissions affect people everywhere. It does not pick and choose any type of person. It attacks all type of persons.”

He said the new carbon market, part of the dollar-based Victoria Falls Securities Exchange, was an “Afro-centric” solution to climate change.

The exchange is in talks with the Zimbabwean government and a partner to launch trade in the offsets, Justice Bgoni, the exchange’s chief executive officer, said by text message. He didn’t identify the partner.

Civil society groups have lodged their appeal against a decision granting Eskom a temporary exemption to bypass pollution controls at Kusile.

The exemption allows Eskom to run Kusile without flue gas desulphurisation (FGD), which is required to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions.

Eskom had applied for the exemption following the collapse of a flue gas duct at Kusile's unit 1 last year, owing to ash buildup inside the pipe. This affected the operations of units 2 and 3 - which meant Eskom lost about 2 100MW of generation capacity, or two stages of load shedding.

The exemption, granted by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment's (DFFE) National Air Quality Office, would effectively allow Eskom to return the units into operation earlier than if the flue duct first had to be repaired. The exemption applies until 31 March 2025.

The Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action and groundWork, which are represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), are appealing this decision, they said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The organisations said that they understand the concerns about load shedding and the impacts on the economy and livelihoods. However, they have questioned whether Eskom and the National Air Quality Officer had "adequately" evaluated the proposal to run Kusile without FGD - given its consequences for health as well as the costs.

"The costs of the permanent repair to the failed stack are not being disclosed by Eskom, making a sound cost-benefit assessment by interested and affected parties impossible," the groups put forward.

Sulphur dioxide pollution is associated with respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. Research by the Centre for Research into Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has also highlighted that if Kusile were to run without FGD it would significantly increase sulphur dioxide and mercury emissions that would affect health and cause hundreds of deaths:

In addition to the sixfold increase in SO2 emissions (an excess of 280 000 tonnes), bypassing the FGD will also see a 40% increase in the emission of mercury - a potent neurotoxin which persists in the environment for years.

"The increased emissions from Kusile are projected to result in 670 excess deaths, 3 000 asthma emergency room visits, 720 000 days of work absence and a societal costs of health impacts to the tune of up to R24-billion," the CER said, citing CREA's research.

A 2021 data analysis by CREA also found Eskom to be the world's worst sulphur dioxide polluter.

The exemption is subject to the condition that Eskom take steps to mitigate the harm caused by exposure to sulphur dioxide, but the groups have criticised these as being weak.

For example, Eskom is required to have independent health screenings and refer people to "appropriate" public health facilities for treatment.

But the groups want a more proactive approach - such as the introduction of mobile clinics, a health management outreach programme, chronic treatment and improved air quality monitoring and installing filtration systems at schools and public buildings.

"The mitigation measures required of Eskom are weak and general, and there are concerns about how effective they will be. As things currently stand, public health facilities in the area are woefully underequipped to deal with the air quality-induced crisis in the region," said Ntombi Maphosa, CER attorney.

"We are expecting hundreds of people to sacrifice their lives and thousands more to experience disabilities because of our poor energy choices. This is unconscionable. We need to shift to renewable energy as a matter of utmost urgency," added Michelle Cruywagen, senior just transition and coal campaign manager, groundWork.

Paul Mashatile, in his capacity as the country's acting president, will deliver the eulogy at the special funeral for former Minister in the Presidency, Essop Pahad.

Mashatile is acting president while President Cyril Ramaphosa is on a working trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Pahad will be buried at the Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg, at 14:00 on Thursday in a special official funeral.

The Johannesburg CBD was covered in a sea of red on Wednesday as Cosatu members marched to protest high unemployment rates, load shedding and climbing interest rates, among other economic difficulties.

Cosatu was joined by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA; the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union; and the Agricultural Food And Allied Democratic Workers Union.

Cosatu's second deputy president Duncan Luvuno said the march was one of many.

Speaking of the growing crowd, he said it was "evident that workers are saying that whatever leadership is doing in the boardrooms is not working".

"They are prepared to sacrifice a day without pay so that future generations don't have to pay.

"The unemployment rate is unacceptable, at 40% and 60% youth unemployment. We want to advance policies that have social impacts.

"We want to show the government that we are willing [to stand up] and be [behind workers] every day."

Although the crowd was not as large as in past marches, Cosatu leaders said size doesn't matter, the fact that workers are protesting across the country speaks volumes.

Luvuno also said workers were tired of the high levels of crime and corruption in South Africa.

Cosatu members nationwide will be handing memorandums to various government entities on Thursday afternoon.

In Johannesburg, protesters will march to the SA Local Government Association, the SA Human Rights Commission, the Department of Employment and Labour, and the office of the premier.