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City of Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink says the City is in a poor financial position due to the metro's monthly R91-million tax payments for an irregularly awarded smart meter contract.

Brink said the African National Congress (ANC) irregularly awarded the contract to PEU Capital Partners and Total Utility Management Systems in 2012, and a court declared it unlawful in 2016 already.

It was for the provision and installation of smart meters for City customers when the ANC governed the metro. The ANC governed in Tshwane until 2016 when the party lost its majority.

Brink said the City was obliged to pay SARS value-added taxes for payments made to the companies between 2012 and 2015.

The City paid R2-billion to PEU and Total Utility Management Systems, he said.

"In the past year, we have learnt that we owe SARS VAT and penalties on this unlawful contract for the period from 2012 to 2015. The full extent of this liability is between R4.7-billion, and most are in the form of penalties," Brink said.

But SARS is now demanding more than R91-million a month.

News24 previously reported that the City paid more than R830-million towards the contract in October 2013 and only 12 000 meters were installed.

The mayor said an investigation would be conducted into why the City was liable for the tax fines and penalties.

Brink's revelation comes after the metro's adjustment budget failed to secure the required number of votes for it to be passed at a council meeting last week.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and its coalition partners had 107 votes, but needed 108.

Brink added that another reason the City was struggling financially was that it needed to increase its revenue collection, which is sitting at 63%.

To increase this expenditure, the City plans to raise rates and taxes by 12%.

Brink said the City would not award increases to its staff and councillors, a decision which could leave it at loggerheads with unions.

Former president Jacob Zuma has used his private prosecution against Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan as a basis to again seek the State advocate's removal, leading to the postponement of his corruption case to August.

In the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Monday, Judge Nkosinathi Chili ordered that the case, in which Zuma and French arms company Thales are accused, be postponed to 15-16 August, when the former president's lawyers and the State's legal representatives will argue over Downer's continued prosecution of Zuma in the trial.

While Zuma had tried and failed to use Downer's alleged role in the "leaking" of court papers containing a sick note as a basis for his removal in a "special plea" application, he has based his latest case on the fact that he is seeking to privately prosecute Downer and this writer for alleged violations of the National Prosecuting Authority Act. He maintains that Downer's continued presence in this trial will amount to a violation of his rights to a fair trial.

He says: "I believe I can no longer have a fair trial as guaranteed in Section 35 of the Constitution if Mr Downer remains the prosecutor in the matter."

"The evidence is that his overall conduct in relation to my prosecution is inconsistent and incompatible with my right to a fair trial," he states in court papers filed on Monday morning.

Zuma further argues that Downer's efforts to have his private prosecution set aside as an "abuse of process" aimed solely at further delaying his already very delayed trial is further evidence that the career prosecutor is conflicted.

"What is important, however, is the fact that Mr Downer is also personally litigating against me in civil motion proceedings under case number 13062/22P in this court and both he and the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) still refuse to accept that this is but another ground that constitutes conflict. The conflict is again such that it meets the test of a perception that objectivity (of a prosecutor) is compromised as set out in the NPA's manual on ethics," Zuma argues.

The former president has also sought to blame the NPA and Downer for the delay his latest application has caused.

"This situation is the direct result of the unreasonable and unjustifiable stance adopted by the State and/or Downer himself in insisting on being a prosecutor in this matter when the circumstances and the Constitution dictates otherwise," he states in court papers.

Zuma insists that as soon as he issued a private prosecution summons against Downer, "the NPA should have prevailed on Mr Downer to recuse himself or summarily removed him from the matter".

While both Downer and the NPA maintain that enabling criminal accused to force the removal of their prosecutors through the use of private prosecution could set an incredibly dangerous precedent, Zuma continues to argue that there is no difference between a case pursued by the NPA and a private prosecution.

"The prevailing attitude of advocate Downer and the NPA has been to treat the legal implications and consequence of a private prosecution as being of lesser standing in law or akin to civil proceedings. Such attitude is wholly misguided and erroneous on their part," Zuma says.

Zuma is accused receiving multiple benefits and payments from his former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, whose business interests the former deputy president then allegedly advanced and protected. The State further alleges that Shaik facilitated a R500 000-a-year bribe for Zuma from Thales in exchange for his political protection from any potentially damaging investigation of the multibillion-rand arms deal.

On Monday, Downer said the State remained ready to begin its case in that trial, which dates back to events that occurred in the late 1990s.

South Africa has a valid Electoral Act again after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Electoral Amendment Bill.

The Presidency announced on Monday that Ramaphosa signed the Bill, which allows independent candidates to contest national and provincial elections.

The Bill gives effect to a Constitutional Court judgment that was handed down on 11 June 2020. The apex court declared the Electoral Act unconstitutional "to the extent that it requires that adult citizens may be elected to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures only through their membership of political parties".

But it suspended the declaration of unconstitutionality for "24 months to afford Parliament an opportunity to remedy the defect giving rise to the unconstitutionality".

Parliament, however, initially deferred to the executive and Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi only introduced the Bill to the legislature in January 2022. Parliament had to approach the Constitutional Court twice for deadline extensions, the final deadline being 28 February.

The National Assembly passed the Bill on 23 February with the support of the ANC, EFF, Good party and Al Jam-ah.

According to the Presidency, the amended Act now provides for the inclusion and nomination of independent candidates as contesters to elections in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.

Notable measures that feature in the Bill are:

the requirements that must be met by persons who wish to be nominated as independent candidates;

the inspection of copies of lists of independent candidates and accompanying documents;

provision for objections to independent candidates;

the inclusion of a list of independent candidates entitled to contest elections;

the requirements for the appointment of agents by independent candidates;

an obligation for independent candidates to abide by the Electoral Code of Conduct;

a revised formula for the allocation of seats and their reallocation in the event of vacated seats; and

a stipulation for the minister to establish the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel.

The amended Act requires the minister of home affairs to establish the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel within four months of gazetting the amendments. This panel will make non-binding recommendations on potential reforms of the electoral system for future elections of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures after the 2024 polls.

"The Electoral Amendment Bill marks a significant milestone in the evolution of our democracy by expanding electoral participation and widening the pool of leadership choice for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. The Bill presents a development that can only enrich and sustain our growing constitutional democracy," Ramaphosa said, according to the Presidency's statement.

Ramaphosa is satisfied that the processes leading up to the passing of the Bill followed all legislative procedures as envisaged by the Constitution and that the substance of the Bill will pass constitutional scrutiny.

Sections of civil society, however, have been highly critical of the Bill and have mooted the possibility of litigation if it is passed in its current form.

A general concern is the Bill does not allow a mixed constituency-proportional list system.

Implementing such a system in time for the 2024 elections is not plausible, and it is also not supported by the governing ANC.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala has called for an investigation into allegations that government employees are refusing to pay rent for State-owned properties.

He said the "problem was first reported by the public works and roads department in the North West".

He ordered the department's property and asset management unit to conduct a countrywide comprehensive analysis of State-owned properties employees occupy to establish if tenants are paying rent.

"We need to establish how widespread this problem is in the country. We take a dim view of such practices of non-payment and illegal occupation of government-owned properties. The revenue from rentals is used for maintenance and renovations of such properties," he said.

Zikalala added that the probe would look into the amount defaulting tenants owe, how many of the tenants are State employees, and what legal action can be taken.

It will also look into whether some property can be sold to "prevent vandalism and further illegal occupation".

The probe is one of a number of initiatives "aimed at addressing challenges within the multibillion-rand property portfolio and assets belonging to government", the minister said.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) have endorsed a report released earlier this week by the Public Protector, which found that former African National Congress (ANC) MP Lindiwe Sisulu acted improperly in her appointments of officials to the National Rapid Response Task Team (NRRTT) and that her conduct amounted to maladministration.

The improper conduct stated refers to the period in which she served as the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation between May 2019 and August 2021.

Sisulu was found to be in contravention of Section 6(4)(a)(i) of the Public Protector Act and Section 182(1)(a) of the Constitution. The report found that “there were no legislative prescripts which empowered Ms Sisulu to make the appointments of members of the NRRTT-DHS [Department of Human Settlements] and in doing so, acted in contravention of Section 195(1)(a) of the Constitution.”

Further, it was found that the officials comprising the Minister’s Advisory Committee, established according to the Water Services Act, lacked the requisite education and experience to perform their functions effectively.

Malfeasance typified the activities of the NRRTT as the chairperson and deputy chairperson were remunerated at a daily rate of R5 549.00 with ordinary members earning R4 317.00 a day.

Previous allegations made by the DA that “the NRRTT was in fact a political campaign team, irregularly appointed at the taxpayer’s expense” were vehemently denied by Sisulu.

“The Public Protector has now instructed President Ramaphosa and the Ministers of Human Settlements and Water and Sanitation to take cognisance of the irregularities resulting in maladministration and improper conduct during the appointment of members of the NRRTTs and to institute remedial action,” noted DA Shadow Minister of Human Settlements Emma Louise Powell.

While convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester never registered with Home Affairs at any stage, he did have an American passport on him when he was found in Tanzania, following an escape of Hollywood proportions.

This was revealed in a media briefing by Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi on Friday, soon before Bester appeared in court in Bloemfontein.

Bester allegedly staged his death and escaped Mangaung prison in 2022.

Bester and his partner Dr Nandipha Magudumana were arrested in Tanzania last week and travelled back to South Africa to face charges.

Magudumana is facing charges of aiding and abetting an escape, murder, violation of bodies and fraud. Bester's case was postponed to May 16 and he will remain in custody at the Kgosi Mampuru II Central Maximum Correctional facility in Pretoria.

Motsoaledi briefed the media on the case in terms of Home Affairs-related aspects.

While he maintained that Bester was not on the Home Affairs system, Motsoaledi said the only place where the convicted criminal’s details could be found was in the correctional services system.

“That is where you will find his fingerprint and photo but also in the South African Police Service crime data that is [also] where you will find his fingerprint and photo. Otherwise, in terms of registration in the civil manner, the only other place where you could find Thabo Bester is Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The records say he is now thirty-seven years old,” he said.

He explained that his department visited Bester’s mother, who gave them Bester’s date of birth and revealed that Bester was born in Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, on June 13,1986.

Motsoaledi said his department checked hospital archives, which confirmed what Bester’s mother was telling them.

He stressed that Bester did not exist on the Home Affairs systems, meaning he did not have a passport at all.

“The story that he has multiple passports, Thabo does not have any passport with Home Affairs. The passport he was carrying in Tanzania appears to be an American passport, in the name of Tom Williams Kelly. Whether real, defrauded or forged we cannot tell because we do not have American systems but he [Bester] never purported or showed any passport which he said he got from us [Home Affairs] because we never gave him any,” the Minister asserted.

He went on to explain that Kelly’s passport never crossed any border at any official port of entry, whether at sea or land, and there was no indication that the passport was ever used, making it unclear why Bester was carrying the passport.

Turning to Bester’s so-called partner in crime, Motsoaledi said Magudumana never assumed the identity of Dr Mmereka Ntshani, as has been reported in the media.

Magudumana was found in Tanzania with Bester, with two passports belonging Ntshani, one of which has since expired. Ntshani has since maintained that Magudumana stole her identity.

“There is a story that Dr Nandipha [Magudumana], the one who is in jail, has assumed the identity of Dr Ntshani. I read it somewhere in the media. That is not true. She never ever assumed that identity, she just carried the two passports of that identity and she never used them anywhere. We still do not know whether she was still going to use them or not. At no stage did she tell anybody that she is Dr Ntshani,” said Motsoaledi.

He highlighted that in 2019, Ntshani deposed an affidavit with the South Africa Police Service (Saps) declaring that her passport was stolen.

Ntshani approached the Saps again with an affidavit in March this year, saying she gave the [new] passport to Magudumana and Tk Nkwana, an identity used by Bester, to apply for a working citizenship for her in the US.

Motsoaledi clarified that it was not illegal to carry many South African-issued passports, saying the department must be given valid reasons why another passport was issued when the other was still in existence.

Magudumana appeared in court alongside co-accused, Integration CCTV techni...

South African authorities wasted no time after getting Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha Magudumana returned to South Africa when they put him back in prison and drove her to court for her first appearance.

Magudumana will appear in court in Bloemfontein on Thursday on multiple charges, including the violation of bodies.

At the same time, her partner, Bester, is being monitored around the clock in the maximum-security section of Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria.

National police commissioner Fannie Masemola said Magudumana would face charges of:

aiding and abetting escape;

murder due to a "number of bodies found";

violation of bodies; and

fraud.

Magudumana and Bester arrived from Tanzania on Thursday morning after a speedy deportation process, following their arrest in Arusha on Friday.

Police Minister Bheki Cele said Magudumana was "very cooperative", but not Bester.

"We know that the good doctor (Magudumana) cooperated on the other side. We know that the good doctor's customary husband (Bester) did not cooperate," said Cele.

Magudumana was taken to Bloemfontein on Thursday morning for her first court appearance, and Bester was put behind bars.

Department of Correctional Services commissioner Makgothi Samuel Thobakgale said, "We are placing a 24/7 surveillance on him."

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola and Cele said South Africa was extremely grateful for Tanzanian officials' assistance.

Fingerprint confirmation that the two are South Africans and cooperation from Tanzania seemed to seal the speedy deportation.

Bester was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend in Cape Town, on top of several sentences of 15 years for the rape and robbery of women in Durban.

He was called the "Facebook rapist" for his modus operandi of approaching women on the social media platform.

Bester as thought to have died in a fire at the G4S-run Mangaung prison on 3 May last year.

But a sighting at Woolworths in Sandton led to the revelation that he had pulled off a fake suicide by using another person's body.

After GroundUp chipped away at initial denials by prison authorities that he had escaped, he and Magudumana were tracked down to a mansion in Hyde Park. They fled but were eventually arrested in Tanzania.

So far, five people, including Bester and Magudumana, have been arrested, and representatives from G4S are on the carpet over how Bester pulled off his escape.

G4S runs the prison on a contract with the Department of Correctional Services.

Cele told News24 on the sidelines that Magudumana's children were fine, but he would not reveal further details.

The justice portfolio committee will continue with its probe on Thursday into how he escaped.

Civil rights organisation Solidarity indicated on Thursday that it is preparing for a huge legal battle over the new Employment Equity Act, saying the Bill grants draconian powers on racial representativity to the Minister of Employment and Labour.

On Wednesday President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Amendment Bill which seeks to advance transformation of South Africa’s workforce by setting equity targets for economic sectors and geographical regions, and requiring enterprises to develop transformation plans.

However, Solidarity is of the opinion that this Act is unconstitutional and that it is directly contrary to an earlier finding of the South African Human Rights Commission which indicated that even in its current format South Africa’s racial legislation is unconstitutional and not in accordance with international norms and values.

Solidarity contends that it had already written to Ramaphosa in August last year to point out that the amendments were unconstitutional.

Solidarity also obtained legal opinion which confirms this, and it has made submissions to Parliament.

“The President is, therefore, aware of the fact that Solidarity would go to court should he sign this Act into law. This is precisely what he has now done, and we are now preparing for court,” says Solidarity CE Dr Dirk Hermann.

Hermann explains that the Act, which imposes race targets on all sectors, will have dire consequences for South Africa’s economy.

He says new definitions of “designated employers” will force small businesses to remain small and will cost thousands of jobs.

“Any promotion opportunities for those fortunate enough to keep their jobs will be completely stopped. This will mean that the skills exodus will merely be accelerated and South Africa’s economy – like its public service – will become increasingly trapped in a spiral of inefficiency, contraction and imminent collapse. The State’s obsession with race must be opposed at all costs. We simply cannot afford it not to do so,” he adds.

Hermann concludes that without intervention government will pursue its policy of ineffective centralisation, apparent now in its going so far as to take over the human resource function of an organisation.

The Mpumalanga High Court has ordered a political activist to publicly apologise to former deputy president David Mabuza for accusing him of masterminding political murders in the province.

According to a ruling issued on Wednesday, Mabuza won the defamation case he brought against Pompie Letwaba, a former African National Congress (ANC) member and political activist in Mpumalanga.

On separate occasions in 2021, Letwaba made several allegations against Mabuza in television interviews broadcast on eNCA and Newzroom Afrika. Letwaba said Mabuza had been the mastermind behind political killings in Mpumalanga while serving as premier.

He listed various ANC politicians who had died mysteriously and attempted to link Mabuza to their deaths. Letwaba said former Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala's murder was but one of the killings that took place in Mpumalanga since 2009.

A series of killings in the province's political circles have been reported over the years, but no links have been made to the former deputy president.

Mabuza approached the Mpumalanga High Court in 2022, asking it to interdict Letwaba from making defamatory public statements. He also demanded a public apology on the same news platforms used by Letwaba to defame him.

The court granted Mabuza's requests.

Letwaba had argued that his statements were made in the public interest, but the court disagreed.

"In my view, the statements made had the effect of damaging the reputation of the applicant. This is more so since these statements have nothing to do with the official duties of the applicant or their execution thereof. The statements levelled against the applicant were conspicuously offensive and had the effect of lowering the applicant in the eyes of a reasonable man," Judge Brian Mashile ruled.

"They had or have far-reaching consequences which have or will negatively affect the applicant personally and in his office. The statements made were defamatory," he added.

The judge ordered Letwaba to refrain from making any further public statements, which included that Mabuza:

was responsible for killings while serving as premier of Mpumalanga,

was responsible for problems in the country and the ANC,

was responsible for the killing of whistleblowers,

was one of South Africa's most feared politicians, and

knew the identity of the masterminds of political assassinations in Mpumalanga and had caused cases against him to disappear.

Letwaba has been ordered to publicly apologise to Mabuza on eNCA, Newzroom Afrika and in the Citizen newspaper within 14 days.

If the news organisations refused to provide Letwaba the platform to make the apology, Mabuza would be entitled to approach the court for relief, Mashile ruled.

Letwaba has also been ordered to pay the costs of Mabuza's legal fees.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has failed in its efforts to remove African Transformation Movement councillor Mncedi Ndzwanana as City of Tshwane speaker.

Ndzwanana was set to face a motion of no confidence in the council on Wednesday after the DA filed a petition calling for the special sitting.

The meeting was preceded by a court case in which Ndzwanana successfully challenged the DA's request to have him interdicted from chairing the meeting that would debate his fitness to hold office.

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled on Tuesday that Ndzwanana was legally allowed to chair council proceedings.

The DA questioned whether the speaker was biased because the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) ensured his election.

Ndzwanana dismissed the petition for a no-confidence vote, saying that it did not meet the minimum requirements.

"I have also read the motion, and its advanced facts and opinions. The rules state that advanced opinions that contain discriminating and disparaging should be dismissed.

"Over and above, the petition no longer meets the minimum requirements for a petition in terms of the Municipal Structures Act. I, therefore, disallow this petition. Consequently, this meeting adjourned," Ndzwanana said to loud applause from the ANC and EFF.

DA councillor Jacqui Uys, who serves as a caucus leader, attempted to request the appointment of an acting speaker, but the speaker dismissed it.

As he cheered the dismissal of the petition, EFF Tshwane leader Obakeng Ramabodu said Ndzwanana would never be removed by the DA.

The DA's own political debacles in the metro may have contributed to the dismissal of the petition because the DA and its coalition partners no longer hold the 108 majority they had when they filed it.

A DA councillor resigned last week, creating a vacancy in the metro and causing political contestation among the DA and its coalition partners.

The party and its coalition partners sought to remove Ndzwanana and replace him with a candidate from the coalition after the last speaker election was mishandled by the DA.

The party, which holds the mayoral seat with Cilliers Brink, will have a challenging time bringing successful motions of no-confidence against Ndzwanana because of the decreased majority.

A council sitting to pass the budget is scheduled for Thursday, and the DA will have a tough time convincing the opposition led by the ANC and the EFF to support its passing.

The City has had to extend deadlines to pass the budget, and if it fails to succeed, it faces the dim prospect of the metro being placed under administration by the Gauteng government.