Transnet group CEO Portia Derby has hit back at critics who may feel Transnet should accede to union demands simply to end the "rough" strike, stressing that it is crucial to ensure the state-owned freight and logistics company remains sustainable.

"We cannot have labour being 66% of our cost. The next big cost driver on our side is interest cost, followed by electricity and fuel costs," Derby said at theAgri SA annual congress in Pretoria on Thursday.

"We are worried about the perishables. The citrus season is pretty much done, and we are now looking at the deciduous season starting. We are watching anxiously like everyone else. We are talking to the shipping lines and hoping really hard that we will get a solution.

"I live in hope," she said.

On Wednesday Transnet tabled a three-year wage offer to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the United National Transport Union (UNTU) during wage talks facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). It includes a 4.5% across-the-board increase in the current year, a 5.3% across-the-board increase in 2023/24, a 5.3% across-the-board increase in 2024/25, and a 4.5% increase in the medical aid allowance in 2022/23 to be adjusted in subsequent years, in line with the increase.

Estimates are that the strike could cost the SA economy up to R1-billion a day.

The Minerals Council SA, whose members account for more than 80% of Transnet’s rail business and 50% of the group’s income, is concerned that the strike is damaging exports and imports, "threatening not only mining companies but the country’s fragile economy at a time when 44% of people are unemployed".

"According to our estimates, bulk mineral exporters are losing R815-million worth of exports per day because they are unable to rail and load 357 000 tonnes of iron ore, coal, chrome, ferrochrome and manganese onto ships daily.

"On average, South Africa exports about 476 000 tonnes of bulk minerals a day worth R1.06-billion. We estimate that [at present] just 120 000 tonnes of minerals worth R261-million are being exported daily. Major mineral export harbours are operating at between 12% and 30% of their daily averages."

An executive at a fruit export body, who wanted to remain anonymous, said high-level decision makers like President Cyril Ramaphosa needed to intervene and classify staff at South African ports as essential workers. The executive said the Transnet strike puts SA's R3-billion berry export season at risk.

South Africa is currently in its berry export season and exporters expect this will be the sector of the country's fresh produce export market that will, therefore, be the hardest hit by the Transnet strike.

"Ports are strategic assets of SA. Logistic activities like exports must continue without interruptions," says the exporter.

"All SA's competitors in the southern hemisphere will now be able to enter the overseas markets before SA and be seen as reliable suppliers. The longer SA harbours are impacted by Transnet strikes, the bigger the market share SA will lose overseas."

According to Brent Walsh, CEO of producer organisation Berries ZA, harvesting of berries is happening and a lot of containers will require freight services over the next few weeks.

"Any delays will slow down getting SA berries onto retail shelves in export markets. Berries are highly perishable and cold chain storage in Cape Town is going to come under a lot of pressure if there are significant delays," says Walsh. "We are waiting with bated breath to hear about the outcome of Transnet wage negotiations."

The peak for SA's berry season is coming up over the next six to eight weeks. Berries ZA forecast the revenue from this season's berry crop could be more than R3-billion. Last year it was R2.8-billion.

Mostly blueberries are exported by sea freight, while raspberries and blackberries are mostly sent by air.

"The Agriculture and Agri Processing Master Plan confirms the importance of f...

South Africa’s biggest opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) has outlined what it calls “pro-active measures” to fix “messy” coalitions, as the country prepares for general elections in 2024.

In a press briefing on Thursday, attended by DA leader John Steenhuisen, party Chief Whip Siviwe Gwarube and spokesperson Solly Malatsi, the party denied that the ousting of Mpho Phalatse as City of Johannesburg mayor had prompted its call for measures to manage coalitions in the country.

Steenhuisen said the DA’s legislative agenda in the run-up to the 2024 elections was to prepare Parliament for the likelihood that, for the first time in 70 years, the era of one-party domination could come to an end.

He stressed the need for a legislative framework that was in keeping with the state of democracy and current South African reality.

Steenhuisen said any party contesting the elections in 2024 should support the DA’s proposal.

He explained that more consultations would be conducted with relevant stakeholders, including the electorate.

Outlining the party’s suggestions, Gwarube said there should be an electoral threshold for national, provincial and local governments.

This would require that a political party secure 1% or 2% of the overall vote to qualify for seats in a legislature or council.

The party also wants formal coalition agreements in place.

“There is currently no legislation that regulates coalitions or that stipulates what must be included in a coalition agreement to make it valid. There is also no oversight body or institution which holds and publishes these agreements. A coalition agreement is currently merely a document of goodwill between parties, with no consequences for breaching it,” Gwarube pointed out.

The DA suggested the establishment of an independent Registrar of Political Parties for public accountability in coalition governments.

Gwarube said South Africa could learn from Kenya, where political parties who negotiate to enter into a coalition are required by law to deposit their written political agreement with Kenya’s registrar of political parties.

She explained that the registrar could be a politically independent individual, such as a retired judge.

Meanwhile, the DA also wanted to extend the time period for the election of mayors from the current 14 days from the declaration of the election result.

It says this would give parties sufficient time to negotiate functional, binding coalition agreements.

The DA also believed that there was a need to limit the frequency of motions of no confidence.

It says setting a limit will give the governing coalition an opportunity to govern without the “constant distraction and threat of being removed”.

The pending decision by the global Financial Action Task Team (FATF) on whether to greylist SA is a "sword of Damocles" hanging over the economy with an 85% probability of falling, says a new research report commissioned by Business Leadership SA.

FATF is a global body that monitors compliance with anti-money laundering and combatting terrorism financing measures. In SA's last mutual evaluation undertaken in 2019, it was found to be partially compliant or noncompliant with 20 of FATF's 40 recommendations. The body will take a final decision at its plenary in February.

Greylisting is an indication of the risk that the rest of the world attaches to South African companies and individuals as counter-parties to transactions.

While some of the weaknesses relate to legislative shortcomings, which are being processed in Parliament now with the prospect of becoming law before February, many of SA's failings are due to the weakness of the criminal justice system and the absence of prosecution for crimes of money laundering and terrorism financing.

The economic impact could range between less than 1% and 3% of GDP depending on how quickly SA can exit the greylist, says the report compiled by consultancy Intellidex. SA must be seen to be making a concerted effort to meet the requirements of FATF if this damage is to be limited to the lower end of the scale.

The immediate effect will be an increase in the risk category for all South African clients at many international financial institutions, particularly those in the European Union and UK.

"South African clients will become subject to enhanced due diligence, which will mean more frequent [usually annual instead of every three years] and more invasive assessments for AML [anti-money laundering] and CFT [combatting of terrorism financing measures] risks. This will mean increased costs for SA businesses and individuals that trade internationally and have bank accounts or investment accounts abroad. Costs will increase particularly for SA banks in managing correspondent banking relationships and relationships with global infrastructure providers such as payment systems," the report says.

The nonprofit sector and bilateral funding arrangements with other countries – such as SA's Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) transaction with international partners - will also be subjected to enhanced due diligence, complicating access to this type of funding.

Given the high probability of greylisting, the best that can be done is to minimise its impact and aim to exit the greylist as soon as possible, says the report.

Still insufficient

Intellidex recommends that government mounts a "comprehensive and credible effort" to address FATF's concerns, coordinated from the highest level of government. As the most difficult challenges are to build institutional capacity in a range of areas and departments, from the prosecuting authorities to the Hawks, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Department of Home Affairs, police, SARS and others, Intellidex recommends that this be done by the Presidency.

Private-sector companies and individuals should also prepare for the enhanced due diligence that will accompany greylisting. They should engage foreign service providers to establish how their risk rating will be affected; what enhanced due diligence measures will be taken (if any); and how they can prepare.

While the report notes that there are some areas where SA has made good progress since the mutual evaluation – such as progress in prosecutions, arrests and asset forfeiture related to state capture – there are many other areas in which SA will not be able to make progress in time for the February meeting. Intellidex also acknowledged efforts under way to pass the necessary legislation that would, for example, put in place controls over sectors not presently monitored by the FIC such as estate agents and attorneys. Still, it was doubtful that this would have become embedded by February.

Similarly, the...

The Presidency on Wednesday confirmed that it has received the amended version of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry report from Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who chaired the Commission.

The release follows the granting of permission by the Pretoria High Court on the 4th of October 2022, to allow Chief Justice Zondo to make corrections to the final volume of the report which was submitted to the Presidency in June 2022.

The corrections will be in Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the report. Both were handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa on 22 June.

The amended report will be made available on the Presidency’s website, the Presidency said.

After multiple tense meetings characterised by infighting within President Cyril Ramaphosa's CR22 caucus, the grouping has come up with a list of leaders to be his running mates.

On Wednesday, the caucus confirmed that it stood by Cabinet minister Senzo Mchunu as the candidate to be Ramaphosa's deputy, despite several of Ramaphosa's allies putting their hand up for the position.

The slate supported by the caucus, which is made up of African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) members who are Ramaphosa's firm lieutenants, caused ructions among his supporters.

The final line-up ditched former ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli, who has a firm grip on the position of secretary-general.

But, a personal grudge between Mchunu and Ntuli and a push to appease all ANC provincial blocs, led to the caucus opting to support Cabinet minister Fikile Mbalula for the secretary-general position. Mchunu hails from KwaZulu-Natal.

News24 understands that a rule by the ANC elections committee, led by Kgalema Motlanthe, that two women ought to be in the ANC top six pushed the caucus to punt Febe Potgieter-Gqubule as its candidate for the deputy secretary-general position and Gwen Ramokgopa as treasurer-general.

An initial push to support Tina Joemat-Pettersson fell through after some back and forth.

The latest list is expected to set the tone for Ramaphosa's campaign as nomination processes will conclude by the end of the month.

But the slate is facing vehement opposition internally among Ramaphosa allies in provincial ANC structures, who claimed that their views were not taken into account.

The ANC in Limpopo agreed to support Ramaphosa for a second term on the proviso that its chairperson Stanley Mathabatha would be elected as ANC national chairperson.

The ANC in the Eastern Cape pushed Premier Oscar Mabuyane as deputy president and was said to be firmly against a plan to catapult Mchunu as Ramaphosa's running mate.

Mchunu's candidacy threatens to rule out several others who are loyal to Ramaphosa and who have indicated their willingness to contest for the deputy presidency at the ANC's December conference, including Ronald Lamola, Mmamoloko Kubayi and Mabuyane.

The front runner for the position, however, remains ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile, with incumbent deputy president David Mabuza hopeful of remaining in that position.

"What the CR22 caucus wants is not necessarily what Ramaphosa wants," said a Ramaphosa ally and NEC member.

However, another NEC member, who is in the running for a top six position, said if Ramaphosa supported the latest line-up from his supporters "it will cause cracks in his campaign".

Ramaphosa's political advisor, Bejani Chauke, was excluded by the CR22 caucus despite him having led Ramaphosa's efforts to be elected in 2017.

He is in the running for the treasurer-general position. Chauke told News24 he was not bothered by his exclusion from the CR22 line-up.

"I was approached by branches from different provinces regarding my possible contribution to providing service as treasurer-general. I am humbled by this consideration for such an important position in the movement. I am not in a position to decline the nomination should it be a popular stance from an overwhelming number of branches," he said.

At least two other ANC NEC members who spoke to News24 questioned whether Mchunu and Mbalula enjoyed "ground support" in terms of nominations from ANC branches.

Mchunu confirmed he was in the running for the ANC deputy presidency after being approached by "several branches."

However, he denied assertions that the interfactional jostling by Ramaphosa's allies would weaken the president's bid for a second term as party president.

Mbalula told News24 he had long been engaged to contest the position of secretary-general but would prefer to discuss whether he would accept the nomination in November "when there's a clearer picture".

"I think it's still early days. Nominations will tell a dif...

President Cyril Ramaphosa is preparing for an intense period of economic diplomacy, including participation in the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, and the COP27 climate negotiations to be held at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

In a statement, the Presidency reported that Ramaphosa would participate in a series of bilateral and multilateral engagements during October, November and December, describing economic diplomacy as a key lever for the realisation of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan to rebuild the economy.

In October, the South African President will meet host President Brahim Ghali of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain in Pretoria, before undertaking a working visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He will then travel to Egypt in early November to participate in COP27, where South Africa is hoping to announce the conversion of the $8.5-billion Just Energy Transition Partnership offer made at COP26 by France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union into funding for projects in the electricity, electric vehicle and green hydrogen sectors.

He will then visit Kenya for his first engagement with recently elected President William Ruto, before participating in the G20 Summit in Bali, where leaders of the world’s major developed and emerging economies will hold discussions on global priorities, including the energy transition.

Also in November, Ramaphosa and First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe will honour an invitation by King Charles III to undertake a State visit to the UK.

Then in early December, the President will host President Nicolás Maduro of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for bilateral discussions in Pretoria.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will file a complaint with the Public Protector, calling for the abolition of the Ministerial handbook, which sets out the perks that Ministers and deputies are entitled to.

Recent media reports suggested that Ministers and deputies were now entitled to free water and electricity, following amendments made to the handbook by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Government has since clarified that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure will be responsible for water and electricity costs at State-owned residences.

DA Shadow Minister for Public Service and Administration Dr Leon Schreiber said his party had spent years exposing and fighting back against the abuse of taxpayer money contained in the ministerial handbook, which provided benefits to Ministers who are already paid R2.4-million a year.

“But as the public outcry following the DA’s latest revelations confirms, President Cyril Ramaphosa has now gone a step too far. Forcing South Africans to pay the private electricity and water bills for the very same Ministers who have robbed citizens of access to these critical services is a slap in the face that the people will not accept,” Schreiber said.

He said the party’s complaint to the Public Protector challenged the legality of the Ministerial handbook in its entirety, as the DA’s own legal research suggested that there was no law that made provision for the handbook to even exist.

“While the handbook – formally entitled the ‘Guide for Members of the Executive’ – notes that ‘Members are required at all times to ensure compliance with the Executive Ethics Code,’ there is no provision in the Code or in any other law allowing for the existence of a handbook that gives the President dictatorial powers to force taxpayers to pay for the perks of Cabinet members. The handbook, therefore, appears to exist ultra vires – outside of the Constitution and the law,” highlighted Schreiber.

He explained that because there was no law governing the existence of the handbook, Parliament had no authority to exercise oversight or approve the contents of the handbook.

He went on to say the President was completely unaccountable for the way in which he forced taxpayers to fund the “ANC gravy train”.

The DA believes that Parliament should decide on cases where certain benefits, such as security measures or transport for official duties, may be warranted.

“Should the Public Protector confirm that the Ministerial handbook is indeed unlawful in its entirety, it would mean that Ramaphosa and all of his ANC predecessors have for decades illegally taken hundreds of millions of rands from taxpayers in order to fund the luxury lifestyles of multi-millionaire cadres,” Schreiber stated.

Renowned South African political commentator and columnist Justice Malala on Tuesday asserted that African National Congress (ANC) treasurer general Paul Mashatile would definitely become the party’s deputy president and added that he could also be elevated to the presidency of the ANC.

Malala was speaking during a PSG webinar where he said that if President Cyril Ramaphosa and former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize (who is also in the running for party president) have to step aside for the Phala Phala and Digital Vibes sagas, respectively, two of the top runners will be out of play.

He predicted that Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who has been linked to the Jacob Zuma faction, would not ascend to the presidency.

The ANC will hold its fifty-fifth elective conference in December, where Ramaphosa is due to again come up against Dlamini-Zuma, after he defeated her in 2017.

Malala explained that Ramaphosa’s second-term bid had been endorsed by Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, North West and Mpumalanga. Gauteng and the Northern Cape are also expected to rally behind him.

He reiterated that while Dlamini-Zuma vies for the ANC presidency, she won’t make it as recent events have marked the end of former President Zuma in the party.

“I think the ANC delegates have rejected the influence of Jacob Zuma in the ANC and the attempt by him to influence who gets chosen as the ANC leader,” Malala explained.

He said Mashatile had been very interesting in policy terms, particularly around his pronouncements on land.

Mashatile revealed that the ANC may have to scrap its plans to change the Constitution to make it easier for the government to seize land without paying for it and address racially skewed ownership patterns.

He also highlighted that Mashatile had always been interesting in as far as business-friendliness was concerned.

Malala noted that Mashatile would not be a bad choice to lead the ANC, explaining that Mashatile could attract the popular vote in 2024 to mitigate against the party’s bad press.

COALITION GOVERNMENTS

He said recent developments in the country’s political arena were “heart-breaking for voters”, referring to coalition governments in Nelson Mandela Bay and in the City of Johannesburg.

“A lot of people would have chosen an alternative to the ANC, voted for it and said ‘Well, even if I voted DA and they work with ActionSA and the IFP at least these guys can form something’. The collapse, and high profile collapse, we have seen in the City of Johannesburg leads to a certain disgruntlement with the political establishment so people will be asking themselves why should I be voting for a small party, what is the point because they going to collapse at coalition,” he said.

He noted that while coalition governments had worked in some parts of the world, he believed that some had been very damaging in recent times.

He suggested that the City of Johannesburg prepare for a coalition government again in the 2024 election, and added that the ANC would have to rethink how it worked with the EFF, IFP, and others in a coalition.

PROGRESS DURING RAMAPHOSA’S PRESIDENCY

Meanwhile, Malala said he has not seen the kind of speed and resoluteness needed to achieve the results which Ramaphosa set out to achieve when he became President.

He highlighted that the country’s problems were massive, specifically referring to “catastrophic youth unemployment” in an economy that had hundreds of thousands of youth coming into the system every year and that was only growing at 1%.

He said government was adding to tensions that could lead to actions such as the 2021 July unrest.

Malala said he disagreed with former President Kgalema Motlanthe who said the ANC had heard the alarm bells ringing for change in the party.

Malala explained that he was not convinced that the ANC was talking renewal and leadership changes, saying the party’s momentum unfortunately included usage of State resources for its own enrichment a...

The Gauteng High Court is set to hear the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) case on overturning, what the party calls the “unlawful City of Johannesburg council meeting”, on October 18.

As submitted to the High Court, the DA wants ousted City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse, along with the executives of the City, to continue in office.

Phalatse was removed as the mayor of Johannesburg in a special sitting and replaced with African National Congress (ANC) councillor Dada Morero.

Last week Phalatse launched a court bid to overturn her removal as Johannesburg mayor.

“The Council events of that day saw the laws of the country and Rules of Council thrown to one side, in a desperate grab at power by a corrupt cabal whose only goal is to control and corrupt the City’s R77.3-billion budget,” Phalatse stated.

She said this was not about the positions that members hold or once held, but rather was about the rule of law.

“Whether we go back into government is one issue, but our removal from Government and the preceding events were illegal. And, therefore, as legislators who swore to obey, respect and uphold the Constitution and all other laws of the Republic of South Africa, it would be wrong of us to simply ‘let this go’ on that basis alone,” Phalatse added.

The DA wants the High Court to declare the decision of the Programming Committee of Council taken on September 29 to place a motion of no confidence in Phalatse on the agenda for the Extraordinary Council Meeting on September 30, as unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.

The party also wants the High Court to declare the decision by Speaker Colleen Makhubela on September 29, to schedule an Extraordinary Meeting of Council for September 30 as unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.

The DA is seeking a cost order and a personal cost order on Makhubele.

Phalatse warned that service delivery would collapse under the “illegally installed government”.

“We have been informed that the illegitimate ANC-administration has issued a directive that all the City’s Entity Boards be replaced in order to appoint their own people to continue facilitating their looting and corruption. We are concerned about what will happen to the Entities and service delivery through this move, hence we will put pressure on the courts to reinstate the legitimate government for our residents,” she explained.

She highlighted that the events leading up to the September 30th removal of the Multi-Party Government were a political hit not just on the law, but also on the work the party was doing to stop corruption and advance a pragmatic service delivery programme that was already showing results.

After a term in which opposition parties criticised the African National Congress (ANC) caucus for its failure to uphold the Constitution – which they swore to do when they became MPs – a senior ANC MP likened the opposition to fascists and accused the media of not reporting on the party's "tremendous success" in Parliament.

Ahead of Parliament's fourth term for the year getting underway after a brief recess, the chairperson of the ANC caucus, Seiso Mohai, penned a missive with regard to the third term, which was released to the media at the weekend.

In the letter, he criticised the opposition and the media.

The term saw the ANC circle the wagons around President Cyril Ramaphosa, as opposition parties turned up the heat over the allegations around the break-in at his Limpopo game farm, Phala Phala.

In August, after Ramaphosa refused to answer a question on Phala Phala, the ANC alleged that he did, indeed, answer the question.

In September, the ANC nixed a DA motion to establish an ad hoc committee to investigate Phala Phala, using a discredited notion that other agencies must first investigate before it comes to Parliament.

This is the same excuse the ANC used not to appoint an ad hoc committee into state capture, and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo rubbished this reasoning in his report.

"Leaving it exclusively to other agencies to investigate and, if necessary, to take action regarding these allegations, at this time, was not in the commission's view consistent with Parliament's constitutional responsibilities," the Zondo report read.

The third term also saw the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) disrupting plenaries, with some of their members physically removed from the chambers.

This is what led Mohai to the history books, comparing Julius Malema's red overalls to Adolf Hitler's Brownshirts and Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts, even though he never mentioned the EFF by name when he wrote about fascism.

"When historians write about Parliament's third term of 2022, they will most likely remark about the attempt by minority opposition political parties, with less than a third of seats in the National Assembly, to dominate the house through coercion and bullying. The events of this term have a historical ring to them (sic)," wrote Mohai.

"The attacks on democracy by some of the South African opposition parties, with the uncritical complicity of some in the media, I might add, have been concentrated on the head of state, President Cyril Ramaphosa."

He complained that by disrupting National Assembly sittings to "force the president to account on a matter still under investigation by other state agencies, opposition parties have taken a leaf out of Mussolini and Hitler's playbook".

"They use the most vulgar language, threats and actual violence to drown out the voices of the elected representatives of the majority party and abuse opposition party leaders who disagree with them.

"When the Speaker calls upon the Parliamentary Protection Services to restore order, the same politicians project themselves as victims of unfair rulings by the Speaker."

Mohai said the ANC caucus and presiding officers in Parliament are "often projected as lackeys of the Executive by the media".

"The reality, however, is different. In the seven weeks of the third term, Parliament had a week-long capacity-building course for MPs. It hosted successful question and answer sessions for the president, deputy president, and all the ministers in the NA and NCOP, adopting many committee reports and legislation. The NCOP held a successful local government week, which discussed solutions to the multiple challenges facing our municipalities.

"In the NA, we dealt with pressing matters, like fuel prices and the criminal vandalisation of public infrastructure. We passed consequential legislation, including the Children's Amendment Bill, Traditional Courts Bill and the Expropriation Bill.

Incidentally, the vote on the Expropriation Bill exposed the duplicity of the EFF. This...