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The African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday reaffirmed the party’s commitment to organisational renewal, as well as the advisory role of elders as champions and ambassadors of the party’s renewal agenda.

ANC national officials met with former President Thabo Mbeki following the much-publicised leaked letter that Mbeki addressed to the national officials in which he criticised the party’s protection of President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Phala Phala saga.

The party said meeting with Mbeki over the contents of his letter reflectied a “comradely and collegial spirit”.

The ANC said the discussion was framed around organisational renewal and unity of the ANC.

“To this end, former President Mbeki underscored his strong support for the renewal and unity of the ANC,” the party said.

Among the key areas of discussion was the matter of constitutional democracy, including the role of parliamentary oversight and how these need to be managed.

The ANC highlighted that when all three arms of the State worked in step with one another, any matter of national interest got to be fully ventilated.

“Following a cordial and robust engagement with our former President, the ANC will continue to draw on the well of wisdom of its elders whenever the need arises,” concluded the party.

Eskom has started work to restore power and repair damage after seven pylons collapsed in the City of Tshwane on Sunday night.

Vandalism has been linked to at least three of the seven damaged pylons, which collapsed along the N4 freeway. It led to a massive power outage, with over 40 suburbs still without power on Tuesday night, News24 reported. The outage also led to the car manufacturer Ford closing its plant. This is an output loss of 720 vehicles a day.

Eskom is assisting the City and has provided three monopoles which are already on site, said Daphne Mokwena, the utility's interim spokesperson.

The monopoles differ from the pylons in that the base is solid concrete, with the bottom being thicker than the top, said Mokwena. The foundation on which they are mounted is also made of concrete.

With pylons, the tower members (near the bottom) are targeted by thieves. When these are stolen, then it is easier for pylons to collapse when there is wind, Mokwena explained.

The monopoles being provided by Eskom are locally manufactured. They are 23 meters tall, Mokwena said.

The City will provide nine other pylons, which will be 20 meters tall.

Replacing the pylons as they were, would take longer, which is also why the monopoles are being considered. The area of the new powerlines will cover 3km, as opposed to the 1km initially thought. It is not yet known how much repairing the damage would cost.

A preliminary schedule indicated that the repairs could be done by Thursday latest – but this is not yet confirmed.

"We have started work on site," Mokwena said. The pace at which work will be completed depends on the availability of resources, she added, saying:.

Our major focus now is to get the structures up and get the customers back on.

Eskom is involved with the repairs due to its competencies with high voltage structures and its resources and equipment - like trucks – needed to assist the City.

As was the case in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, the West Rand District Municipality now also has a new mayor from a party that only has one seat in the council, thanks to the African National Congress/Economic Freedom Fighters alliance.

Thabiso Bovungana, of the African Independent Congress (AIC), which has one seat in the municipality, was elected as the mayor on Tuesday, defeating the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) candidate, Hullet Hild.

Bovungana received 29 votes, compared to Hild's 19, from the 42 councillors present in the 44-seat municipality.

The council also elected a new whip - the ANC's Brenda Mahuma - who, like Bovungana, received 29 votes from the 42 councillors present.

Last week, Hild and Alme Swart, also from the DA, who was the chief whip, were removed via a motion of no confidence.

Bovungana's election comes two weeks after the same ANC/EFF partnership nominated the AIC's Sivuyile Ngodwana for mayor in Ekurhuleni.

In his acceptance speech, Bovungana thanked the alliance, and vowed to consult extensively with them before announcing his mayoral committee.

The new mayor said, "There is no 'I' in this partnership, we work as a collective, and I will engage all of our partners before outlining our priorities and announcing the mayoral committee."

He committed to announcing the mayoral committee before the end of the week.

Bovungana said the team needed to work with speed to ensure that service delivery challenges were addressed.

If what happened in Ekurhuleni is anything to go by, Bovungana, like Ngodwana, is set to announce a mayoral committee made up ANC and EFF members.

Speaking to News24, Bovungana was reluctant to comment on the ANC/EFF alliance, and maintained that his experience in politics and love for people were what drove him to accept this challenge.

"I promise to work for our community, which is facing severe service delivery challenges, and focus on nothing else. The trust placed in me is not misplaced," said Bovungana.

The Office of the Deputy President Paul Mashatile announced on Tuesday that he has retained two advisers of former Deputy President David Mabuza’s, for his own advisory team.

Mashatile was sworn in as the Deputy President on March 7, following Mabuza’s resignation last month.

Madala Masuku will advise Mashatile on Service Delivery and the District Development Model (DDM), while Thulani Mdakane will provide advice on Land Reform and Social Cohesion.

Former African National Congress communication head Keith Khoza will be Mashatile’s Political Adviser and former Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga will be his International Relations Advisor.

Cities specialist and former government Communicator Tshilidzi Ratshitanga is the Deputy President’s Strategy and Spatial Transformation Adviser.

Former acting director-general in the Gauteng provincial government Mduduzi Mbada will head the Office of the Deputy President and will be supported by Chief Directors Melene Rossouw: Personal Support and Advisory Services, Vukani Mde: Spokesperson and Communication and Lerato Ntsangani: Strategy and Special Projects.

The Presidency noted that all appointments are subject to Public Service and Administration processes.

Meanwhile, The Presidency said a handover process took place to outline the delegated responsibilities that the Deputy President would inherit from his predecessor, as delegated by the President.

Mashatile will be leading government efforts to fast-track land reform and agricultural support, while also implementing rapid response interventions on service delivery and trouble-shooting in service delivery hotspots.

Mashatile will assist the President in the roll-out of the DDM, lead the South African National Aids Council and be part of a special envoy on South Sudan. He will also lead peace missions on the continent.

Mashatile will lead the Human Resources Development Council of South Africa and foster collaboration between government and social partners towards addressing the shortage of skills in critical sectors of the economy.

“To achieve these objectives, the Office of the Deputy President supports the Deputy President in his Constitutional responsibility of assisting the President in the execution of the functions of Government. A well-capacitated office with technical skills to achieve the objectives of Government will ensure that the Deputy President is able to effectively fulfil his mandate,” said the Presidency.

ActionSA resolved on Tuesday to submit a motion of no confidence against City of Johannesburg Mayor Thapelo Amad, who the party believes is an “ill-equipped expedient candidate between the ANC [African National Congress] and EFF’s [Economic Freedom Fighters’] coalition of doom”.

Action SA blamed the mayor for being unable to articulate a coherent plan to improve the city as well as for the deterioration of service delivery in the city.

The party has pointed to the compromises involved in electing mayoral candidates between the ANC and EFF.

“Since Amad’s election, service delivery in Johannesburg has rapidly deteriorated with heaps of rubbish piling our city’s streets, with ANC members of the mayoral committee – such as Jack Sekwaila – wanting to blame homeless people for the city’s mess instead of taking responsibility themselves,” said ActionSA caucus leader Funzi Ngobeni.

Further, ActionSA has levelled criticism at City of Johannesburg speaker Colleen Makhubele for using ill health to justify her inability to exercise her duties. The party contends that residents of Johannesburg deserve capable leaders as opposed to leaders who are elected on the basis of a compromise.

“The motion of no confidence will serve at the next council meeting on 25 April 2023 and we stand ready to litigate against any effort by Makhubele to protect herself and her newfound political allies from these motions of no confidence. ActionSA will start engaging with all other parties in the Council to ensure that the ANC and the EFF are removed from exerting any further control on Johannesburg and we are confident of our prospects of success,” Ngobeni added.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has called for an inquest into the death of its former general secretary, Chris Hani.

This year marks 30 years since Hani was assassinated.

As part of the commemoration, the party has started an online petition to garner support for an inquest.

Hani's nephew, Mphatheli Hani, said that he was not aware of the petition, but he fully supported it.

"The family appreciates any effort to bring more information to light regarding the assassination. We have said on record that we have questions, and that we believe there is information about the assassination that has not been shared," he said.

"We accept, of course, the recent Constitutional Court judgment on the [Janusz Walus] matter. As of now, as a family, there is nothing more we can do."

SACP spokesperson Mhlekwa Nxumalo said the party had repeatedly called for an inquest into Hani's death, but had recently renewed this demand following the release of one of his murderers on parole last year.

Nxumalo said many questions surrounding Hani's death remain, and an inquest would offer closure to his family.

"We still believe the truth has not been told about who was involved and what led to his assassination," said Nxumalo. "We think the inquest is the only way to get closure."

Nxumalo added that more information needed to come to light about allegations that a South African Defence Force firearm was supplied to Hani's killers. Also, that an alleged hit list – featuring the names and addresses of struggle leaders – was found.

We have a number of questions. We deserve to know the truth. The family deserves to know the truth, so that they can rest.

"We’re convinced that an inquest, as painful as it may be, is the only solution."

After spending 28 years in prison for the assassination of Hani, Walus was released from prison in December on the order of the Constitutional Court. He was placed on parole under strict conditions.

Walus was sentenced to death for the murder of Hani in 1993, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment after the death penalty was abolished.

After his death sentence was commuted, he became eligible for parole in 2005 and started applying to be released on parole in 2011. However, he was denied multiple times over the years.

Clive Derby-Lewis, who was also handed a life sentence for the murder, died in 2016.

Both Walus and Derby-Lewis were denied amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The petition, which had more than 700 signatures on Tuesday morning, called for "justice and absolute truth about his [Hani's] killing".

City of Tshwane speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana will face a court case brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and its coalition partners, despite acceding to a special sitting to hear a motion of no confidence in him.

Ndzwanana had clashed with the DA, ActionSA, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) for his refusal to call a special sitting to hear the motion.

It was brought forward a few weeks ago and prompted Tshwane city manager Johann Mettler to arrange a date for the special sitting.

When it began, Ndzwanana insisted on chairing it.

The sitting was later adjourned after he declared it "illegal".

This decision left the DA and its coalition partners fuming and threatening legal action.

They want Ndzwanana to be interdicted from chairing the meeting which was called to discuss his fate.

The DA, Freedom Front Plus and ActionSA said they believed he would not be fair and just in chairing a sitting which questioned his authority.

The court case, to be argued in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on 11 April, had initially sought to force Ndzwanana to call for the sitting on 12 and 13 April.

He acceded to this request on Wednesday and sent a notice for the sitting on 12 April.

But despite this move, the DA and its coalition partners are determined to argue in court on 11 April that Ndzwanana should be legally interdicted from chairing the sitting and Mettler should take over.

The coalition also wants Ndzwanana, the ANC, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and its minority party supporters interdicted from inciting violence or disrupting the sitting.

EFF Tshwane leader Obakeng Ramabodu threatened the DA and its partners if they attempted to remove Ndzwanana shortly after Cilliers Brink's election as mayor.

This was the basis for the coalition partners asking for opposition parties to be held in contempt if they disrupted council proceedings.

The parties also want the interdict to protect the council on 13 April, the date set for passing the City's adjustment budget.

In court papers seen by News24, the coalition partners argued:

The speaker is interdicted and prohibited from chairing, adjourning and or interfering, whether directly or indirectly, with the functioning of the 12 April special sitting.

They also asked the court to hold Ndzwanana personally liable for costs if he tried to challenge it.

Brink submitted an answering affidavit with the application and said the EFF's threats against the DA about a "no-go area on Ndzwanana" were serious and warranted an interdict.

"The historical behaviour of the EFF in the Tshwane council demonstrates that the threats by Mr Ramabodu pose a serious risk to the rights of the implicated in the matter," Brink said in his affidavit.

Ndzwanana is an African Transformation Movement councillor.

He was elected due to support from the ANC, EFF, and a group of smaller opposition parties.

The DA and its coalition partners see Ndzwanana's removal as speaker as crucial for the stability of the political arrangement in Tshwane.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) have dug in their heels and refused to enter into any coalition agreements with the Democratic Alliance (DA) before the 2024 national elections.

They have cited the DA's condescending approach to the proposed partnership as their main bone of contention.

Writing to DA leader John Steenhuisen who, during his victory speech, proposed a "moonshot pact" with smaller parties – that, according to him, could drop the African National Congress' (ANC's) electoral support below 40% – UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said they had asked the DA not to use other parties as pawns in its quest to govern nationally.

"The UDM advises that it is not too late for the DA to reconsider its big brother mentality," Holomisa said.

He said the UDM, unlike the DA, would continue to engage all political formations and not pick and choose who they would deal with.

ACDP deputy president Wayne Thring, in a media statement, echoed similar sentiments to the UDM, saying while it noted Steenhuisen's calls for the establishment of a "pre-election moonshot pact with like-minded political parties, civil society organisations, and civic movements" to defeat the ANC and keep the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) out, the party did not like the DA's approach.

"Any opposition party['s] 'moonshot' political process that fails to be inclusive, to consult properly, and where one single party positions itself as superior to others, will be left hanging in space," Thring said.

He added that the party had been "open and consistent, regarding its position on coalition agreements, which is: We will not enter into any 2024 national election coalition agreements prior to the election itself".

The ACDP and the UDM also cited the DA's attempt to "hijack" an initiative already started by Holomisa, who is said to have called a meeting of all opposition parties on 15 March in central Cape Town, to put together a framework to "save" South Africa from the ANC.

"The guest speaker at this meeting was political economist and analyst, Mr Moeletsi Mbeki. The DA was present at this meeting, and it appears they now seek to take this initiative from General Holomisa. Mr Steenhuisen should have taken a leaf from the general's book by consulting party leaders first, thereby bringing them into his confidence. The general also did not announce a coalition pact from his elective conference," said Thring.

He added that, "in any coalition agreement, there are negotiations about terms and conditions, structures, meetings, strategies and so on. No one party can assume to have the monopoly on all of these".

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has also warned Steenhuisen not to make the formation of a united opposition about the DA or his leadership.

Despite this, Mashaba confirmed on Wednesday morning that his party had responded to the DA, and had expressed a willingness to meet and engage further over developing a multiparty opposition platform to unseat the ANC.

Speaking during the DA's federal congress over the weekend, Steenhuisen said the party would initiate a process to form a pact to stop an ANC-EFF coalition from running the country.

"[The DA] will immediately initiate a process to form a pre-election moonshot pact with like-minded political parties, civil society organisations, and the civic movements to defeat the ANC, to keep the EFF out," he said in his address to delegates.

He also declared the EFF and its leader Julius Malema as the DA's ultimate enemy, adding that his party would consolidate all its efforts towards keeping them out of power.

Another Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor has been removed through a motion of no confidence.

Hullet Hild was removed as the mayor of the West Rand municipality on Tuesday along with Alme Swart, also from the DA, who was removed as council chief whip.

The removals come just three days after Gerhard Kruger, also from the DA, resigned as the speaker and was replaced by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillor Bethuell Munyai. Munyai is the deputy secretary of the EFF in Gauteng.

Kruger, Hild, and Swart had served in their positions since January last year.

Hild and Swart were ousted through an alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), EFF, and African Independent Congress (AIC) in the council. The AIC only has one seat.

Dennis Thabe from the ANC caucus, also a former mayor of the municipality, told eNCA the caucus would wait to hear from the party's provincial leadership on the names of those who would replace them.

Thabe claimed that the three DA councillors were not performing, which was why there were motions of no confidence in them.

He agreed that the ANC and the EFF were in a coalition in the municipality and had engaged on issues maturely, instead of playing politics.

"We are looking at the broader scheme of making sure that services [are delivered], not just a lip talk about services, but when you go to all the corners of the West Rand, we want to make sure that we see change. We are happy thus far with the relationship we are having with the EFF, and we believe and hope that closing all the gaps, we will be able to find each other going forward," he said.

The EFF and the ANC have been working together in Gauteng municipalities to remove DA mayors and speakers.

After the 2021 municipal elections, the ANC lost control of several municipalities in Gauteng, including the West Rand.

Last week, the ANC/EFF coalition removed former Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell and replaced her with the AIC's Sivuyile Ngodwana.

In the same municipality, the alliance removed former speaker Raymond Dlamini and replaced her with the EFF's Nthabiseng Tshivhenga.

In Tshwane, the EFF/ANC coalition failed to elect a mayor but came together and voted for the African Transformation Movement's Mncedi Ndzwanana as the speaker.

Corruption Watch (CW) said on Tuesday it intends to increase pressure for transparency and accountability in the implementation of laws, appointments of leaders, procurement processes, and adherence to good governance system.

The organisation released its eleventh corruption report, ‘Accelerating Justice’, which highlighted that local government corruption was the most reported, with just under two-thirds of whistleblower complaints.

The report showed an equal spread of reports between national and provincial government levels, with these structures accounting for 28% and 26% of graft allegations respectively.

The three biggest culprits are the City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, and City of Ekurhuleni, which collectively account for 58% of incidents reported in relation to local government.

CW executive director Karam Singh noted that the provincial breakdown also presented a familiar picture, with Gauteng accounting for 36% of complaints received, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 18%.

He added that the Free State was the province from which the third highest number of allegations were received, because community engagements were conducted there during the period under review.

He said CW had received over 38 000 complaints of alleged corruption since its launch in 2012. In 2022, the organisation collected 2 168 reports of corruption, almost a quarter of which relate to issues of graft in the mining sector.

He explained that this was owing to the organisation’s mining project which targeted communities during public education and advocacy drives in the Free State, North West and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

Singh said as in previous years, reporters blew the whistle on bad policing in 2022, saying this represented the second most frequently reported focus area, accounting for about 11% of allegations of corruption.

Completing the top four focus areas are allegations of corruption in businesses and education, accounting for 8% each.

Singh said the types of corruption most reported countrywide across all focus areas are again reminiscent of previous years, with maladministration, including mismanagement of funds, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure accounting for 25%, fraud at 17%, employment irregularities, including nepotism and favouritism, at 13%, bribery and extortion, including sextortion, accounting for 11%, and dereliction of duty, as well as procurement irregularities, including kickbacks and the flouting of processes, both at 9%.

The organisation said it would also continue to champion the need for a much-enhanced whistleblower protection and support system, as well as the incentivisation of whistleblowers.

The organisation said it was clear, from a review of the events of 2022 and the current challenges, that numerous issues required attention and focus if citizens were to rid the country of the corruption that had all but derailed many of the foundations of the country’s democracy.

“There is no time to waste, as the window of opportunity to radically overhaul our anti-corruption efforts, and indeed our current structures and architecture, will not remain open for long. It will require commitment from the whole society and a steely resolve and determination to bring us back from the brink,” concluded Singh.