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Eskom has announced that Stage 6 loadshedding will now run continuously from 16:00 on Wednesday until further notice.

The power utility said that 11 generators amounting to 5 084MW of capacity suffered breakdowns since Tuesday morning. These were a unit each at the Camden, Duvha, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Kendal, and two units each at Kriel, Majuba and Matla power stations.

A unit each at Camden, Duvha, Hendrina, Kriel, Matimba and Matla power stations, representing 2 540MW of capacity, returned to service.

Planned maintenance is currently 5 739MW while breakdowns amount to 18 041MW of capacity.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Wednesday said her department was working on a plan with National Treasury to deal with overcrowding in the country's schools.

Motshekga said her department approached National Treasury in 2022 to fund the Special Intervention Programme to alleviate the shortage of classrooms and furniture, which caused overcrowding in schools.

She said the money would be received as soon as the 2023 financial year kicked in.

"Last year, we took the whole year to do a national review because overcrowding is a national problem. We had to approach Treasury to give us special funding for overcrowding in schools, where we work with communities to build extra classes in schools," Motshekga said while doing a walkabout at Cosmo City Primary School on Wednesday.

Pupils in inland provinces returned to school on Wednesday for the start of the 2023 academic year.

Motshekga said the school principal had briefed her about the "huge problem" of overcrowding, adding that there was a need to build more schools.

The chairperson of the school governing body (SGB) Harold Mashishi told News24 that besides the challenge of overcrowding, they also faced a furniture shortage.

"There is a lack of furniture because if we expect 50 pupils in a class and the issue of overcrowding kicks in, the furniture allocated won't be enough.

"We actually need the furniture as a matter of urgency. The teachers are trying by all means to cope because there is a history of overcrowding. Last year, we had the same issue, and even the year before, when I took over as the chairperson of the SGB, but what matters most is the children, irrespective of what we don't have," Mashishi added.

He said another issue was the lack of participation from the community and parents.

Mashishi said, "We want to urge everybody to come to the party and assist the school to grow because that will enable us to give our children quality education."

While 290 751 pupils received placement at schools in Gauteng, Motshekga said about 1 500 Gauteng pupils still needed placements. She said some schools were using churches as classrooms.

"I know the problem with admission. Even when I was MEC, we used to have problems placing children. The online system really helps to have a clear indication of where children need places.

"We have committed ourselves that in 10 days' time, we must have more space.

"Some parents find themselves having to move around because of jobs, but we normally give ourselves 10 days to mop up," she said.

A full bench of the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg will hear President Cyril Ramaphosa's application for an interdict against his predecessor's private prosecution on Thursday.

Former president Jacob Zuma accuses Ramaphosa of "being [an] accessory after the fact to crimes committed by, among others, Adv Downer" and alleged breaches of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act.

Advocate Billy Downer is prosecuting Zuma on behalf of the State for arms deal-related corruption. Ramaphosa argues that Zuma's prosecution is being done with an ulterior motive as he was served with the summons the day before the ANC's national elective conference started.

Zuma has denied this.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday that it is “implacably” against the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) intention to move Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprises to the Ministry of Energy, overseen by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.

The DA said the move also had potentially significant financial implications for the country.

On Monday President Cyril Ramaphosa said government would implement “a clear mandate” from the ANC to move many State-owned companies, including Eskom, to ministries overseeing their economic sectors.

DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia is fearful that private investment will be passed over and that corruption and loadshedding will flourish.

Only factional interests are set to gain from this move, which is "clearly an outcome of a political deal to keep president Ramaphosa in power for another term,” said Cachalia.

He highlighted that in the recent run-up to outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s resignation, Mantashe displayed his “destructive influence”.

“He is on record as saying ‘Eskom, by not attending to loadshedding, is agitating for the overthrow of the state’. This, on top of earlier statements that De Ruyter was acting ‘like a policeman’ at the corruption-riddled entity,” Cachalia recalled.

He claims that Mantashe will use the coal lobby and his allies to champion the saving of jobs under the guise of fixing Eskom’s energy availability factor.

South Africa has been advised to ramp up its Covid-19 testing after the first case of a new Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, was detected last week.

The advice, from scientists and the World Health Organisation (WHO), comes on the back of climbing Covid-19 cases in China and the US.

In a briefing on Tuesday, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council had signed off on a decision to refrain from implementing restrictions on travellers from affected countries, such as China and the US, and no restrictions would be placed on South Africans.

Phaahla added the health department had been monitoring international developments with the virus, amid a 25% increase in global cases in December.

He said more than 14-million new infections were recorded worldwide in December, with 70% of all cases recorded in China, the US, South Korea, Japan, and Brazil.

This has led to a 12% increase in fatalities globally in December, compared to the previous month.

Phaahla added the number of new infections had slowed in the last week of December, except for in China where positive cases increased by 45% and fatalities by 48%.

He said there had been reports of "overburdened" hospitals and crematoriums.

"This is what has caused a lot of panic. A lot of countries imposed special requirements for travellers coming from China," added Phaahla.

He said the wave of positive cases had been driven by the recent easing of restrictions in China, the large population, and low levels of immunisation against the virus.

The high levels of immunity in the South African population prompted the decision to refrain from implementing restrictions on Chinese travellers, as well as other countries experiencing a surge in cases, such as the US.

The health minister added the outbreak in China was not being driven by the XBB.1.5 subvariant, although it appeared to be driving the increase in cases in the US.

The subvariant was detected in South Africa on Friday, News24 previously reported.

Phaahla said the variant of concern that remained dominant in South Africa was still Omicron (accounting for more than 97% of all cases).

While different subvariants have shown different levels of transmissibility, there had not been any marked change in terms of the severity of illness in those infected with XBB.1.5, he added.

"We believe that the dominant variant in the world remains Omicron and that immunity of South Africans from natural immunity and vaccination is still very strong."

Phaahla said the department had consulted with scientists and organisations such as the WHO and had been advised there was no need to impose any travel restrictions on any country, nor was there a need to impose any restrictions internally.

He added the department had been advised to increase the rate of testing and number of samples sent for genomic sequencing.

The department will also increase its surveillance of wastewater to monitor the prevalence of Covid-19 in the population and would extend this surveillance to international flights from countries of concern.

The advice given to the department included "reinvigorating" its vaccination campaign.

"Vaccination remains the bedrock to protect us against any subvariant, and not travel restrictions, at this stage," said Phaahla.

It's all systems go for schools across the country as the Department of Basic Education is well underway with preparations for the upcoming academic year.

Pupils in inland provinces, including Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West, prepare to return to their school desks on Wednesday, 11 January, for the new school year.

Coastal schools in Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape will reopen on Wednesday, 18 January.

The department says they are ready for the new academic year. Speaking to News24 on Friday, DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said all necessary teaching and learning equipment, including school books and stationery were delivered between September and December 2022.

He said the school management teams would visit schools in the inland provinces on Monday to prepare for pupils' return on Wednesday.

With schools opening in a few days, Mhlanga has noted with concern some of the events which occurred over the past year that resulted in the disruption of teaching, learning or damage to school property.

The year 2022 got off to a bad start when two schools in Gauteng were robbed.

The principal of Caiphus Nyoka Secondary School in Benoni on the East Rand was assaulted in front of her colleagues, and valuable items such as laptops, car keys, and petty cash were stolen.

Meanwhile, the general assistant at Leeuwpoort Primary School in Germiston was reportedly confronted by four armed men who held him hostage, while robbing the administration block of a laptop, music sound system, grass trimmer, leaf blower, grinder, sanitisers, nutrition stock, milk packs, and R250 in petty cash.

In the same year, several schools were gutted by fire which saw classrooms including tables and chairs being destroyed while violent protests took centre stage, disturbing final matric examinations.

In a recent incident in Alexandra on Tuesday, a group burgled and damaged MC Weiler Primary School before fleeing with food and learning materials.

Bearing in mind these events, Mhlanga said social issues, including bullying at schools, crime, and community protests, negatively affect the department's work.

He said it is a waste of resources and unfortunately affects the future of the children of the same community where the schools are located.

Mhlanga said community members should take charge and make education a priority.

"The entire community [need] to play their part in protecting the interest of the children," he said.

Protocols to allow the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to accept donor funding in order to solve complex cases have been finalised and are being implemented.

This is according to Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola in response to a written parliamentary question from Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Werner Horn.

Horn wanted details on the implementation protocols to enable the NPA to use donor funding for high-profile, complex corruption cases.

Lamola said, following consultations, the NPA was dealing with donor support in line with established protocols, prescripts and delegations.

"The current system where the accounting officer has delegated the acceptance of donations in-kind to the deputy director-general within the NPA will remain. Where a donation is in cash, the normal regime of channelling funds through the National Treasury will apply; the Office of the Auditor-General, as well as the internal audit team, will fulfil the role of oversight in line with relevant regulations.

"The NPA is currently in the final stages of approving the amended NPA donor funding policy, which will be aligned to the National Treasury donor funding guidelines and regulations. This will create internal control systems in dealing with all donations within the NPA. An internal register of all donations is being kept centrally and will enable the NPA to disclose in the annual financial statements as per the National Treasury requirements," Lamola added.

In June last year, Lamola promised that the protocols would be in place by the end of that month, but that never happened.

The idea of private donations first made headlines after then-head of the NPA's investigative directorate, Hermione Cronjé, mooted the idea of using private funds for the cash-strapped institution.

Last year, News24 reported that the NPA needed an additional R1.7-billion to deal with the slew of prosecutions that should stem from the State Capture Inquiry, prosecute those implicated, and modernise the organisation.

When Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled his Budget in February last year, it appeared that he had brought some relief to the perennially underfunded NPA and the other corruption-busting agencies.

However, according to the NPA, the money was not enough to bring everyone involved in state capture to book.

In the 2021-2022 financial year, the NPA spent 99.72% of its budget of R4.5-billion.

For 2023-2024, it got R4.8-billion, and the year after that, R5-billion.

The NPA received an additional R1.1-billion over the next three years.

Almost R394-million of this will go to the Investigating Directorate (ID), which deals with state capture cases, meaning that 91 investigators and prosecutors can be brought into the ID.

During a 2019 budget vote speech on the Presidency budget, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema raised concern about private donations to the NPA.

Malema warned that some of the donors could be among the "capitalists" who may be involved in financial crimes like tax evasion.

The African National Congress (ANC) has said it will lead a campaign against illegal electricity connections to eliminate load reduction, which it says is placing an added burden on communities, and the party wants South Africans to join energy-saving initiatives to alleviate the stress on the national grid.

Delivering the party’s January 8 statement on Sunday, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said the insecurity of electricity supply continues to be one of the greatest impediments to economic recovery and disrupts the lives of all South Africans.

“We will continue implementing the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 which includes the procurement of over 18 000 MW of new generation capacity. This includes ensuring investment resources mobilised through the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan are used to speedily upgrade Eskom’s transmission network to facilitate entry of new generation capacity,” he said.

The ANC has also resolved to reduce its carbon emissions and highlighted that the transition must be just and inclusive and assure the welfare of those workers, communities and industries most affected by the transition.

“Just transition plans that address the interests of workers and communities must be developed for all sectors of the economy and regions of the country, particularly for the most affected provinces like Mpumalanga,” Ramaphosa said.

The party also urged Eskom and government to immediately focus on restoring additional units to operation as quickly as possible and to undertake critical maintenance of power plants.

It said Eskom should ensure that power stations have skilled and experienced personnel; tackle sabotage, theft and corruption at power stations; and streamline procurement processes.

“The Eskom board needs to recruit world-class professionals to fill the vacancies in executive management,” Ramaphosa acknowledged.

To further reduce stress on the national grid, government and Eskom must enforce demand management measures to reduce electricity consumption and ensure available energy is directed to areas and sectors of priority including support for health and educational institutions and municipal infrastructure, he said.

“Government should secure additional power in the short term by leveraging surplus capacity from existing generators and procuring additional power on an emergency basis,” he added.

Meanwhile, as the party builds an “outward-looking ANC” with a clear programme that is responsive to the needs of South Africans, the ANC is urging all its structures to focus on putting people and solutions to their daily struggles first.

“The journey of renewal has to begin in earnest and become unstoppable and irreversible so that we pay attention to and direct all our energies to the resolution of the pressing problems facing the people of South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.

EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

The ANC wants broad-based black economic empowerment to be undertaken with greater intensity. It said competition policy, preferential procurement and other instruments to address highly concentrated ownership patterns must be used.

“There is vast untapped potential for inclusive growth and employment creation in small, medium and micro Enterprises (SMMEs), cooperatives and informal businesses. Our conference called on government to remove the regulatory constraints on SMMEs and to support micro enterprises and cooperatives in the township and rural economies through the creation of trading spaces and industrial parks; access to value-chains and finance for small and independent retailers and wholesalers; and the provision of roads, digital connectivity and other economic infrastructure,” said Ramaphosa.

CRIME AND CORRUPTION

Having acknowledged the disturbing reality that there is a breakdown of basic security as a result of rising levels of lawlessness, criminality and violence, the ANC says it will take steps to strengthen law enforcement agencies and citizen involvement to restore peace and stability across the country...

African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) member Lindiwe Sisulu said the party cannot have leaders who threathen to take members’ jobs away for not towing the party line.

This after Members of Parliament (MPs) debated over whether to adopt the Section 89 panel report that found President Cyril Ramaphosa may have breached the Constitution and broken anti-corruption laws.

If the report was adopted by Parliament, Ramaphosa would have faced an impeachment process.

The motion to adopt the report was defeated 214 votes to 148, with two abstentions, on Tuesday.

Sisulu claimed ANC MPs were dictated to by the party’s national chairperson Gwede Mantashe to vote against adopting the report at an NEC meeting prior to the vote.

She said on the day of the vote she had received a text message, which said she and former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who were both reportedly poised to vote in favour of adopting the report, had been targeted, and she walk out to read it.

Sisulu claimed that when she tried to re-enter to the chamber for the vote, the doors were closed.

"After being hounded in caucus, I went to the chamber and sat down. Then I get a message, which said, 'you and Zweli Mkhize are being targeted, we suggest you do not vote'. So, I go out to check what this message is about. By the time I come back, the doors had been closed," Sisulu said.

She said dictating how people should vote is reckless behaviour as “no one is owing the ANC and nobody has a right to take decisions like that”.

She said ANC members were not allowed to discuss the matter, and that they were deliberately blocked by Mantashe.

She said the ANC need a stronger integrity committee that operates on a daily basis.

“This [meeting] starts off with us discussing the matter of Phala Phala and the Section 89 report and we discuss it in the NEC and in the NEC both Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Zweli Mkhize and myself were aggrieved about the way the ANC Chairperson Gwede Mantashe was dealing with the matter. It became quite clear to us that his purpose was to protect president Cyril at all costs,” she said.

Sisulu said they wanted an opportunity to engage with the document to ensure a free vote for everyone. She claimed that there was an attempt to try to cushion the impact that the report would have.

She said the outcome of this week’s vote was the result of threats imposed on ANC members.

"Parliament was held by the scruff of the neck to vote the way that it voted. And it is wrong, that is dictatorship of the worst kind... even If I did not vote, I do not regret it," Sisulu said.

WORST SCANDAL

Sisulu described the Phala Phala matter as the worst scandal to affect the country.

She claimed the country was being held to ransom by people who looked to protect their access to Ramaphosa's "patronage".

“I must say this about Comrade Cyril, his first instinct was to run away, but it is the people around him who are dependent on his patronage that said, 'Mr President what about us?'” she stated.

She said what played out is an example of how one can erode the very essence of integrity of any economy.

She said the party should have allowed Ramaphosa to resign, and should have investigated the matter to ensure it does not happen again. Instead, she said the party covered up and created an untenable situation.

Meanwhile, Sisulu questioned why the country’s law enforcement processes were slow in dealing with the Phala Phala saga.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s rival in the race to head the nation’s governing party called for the review of a rule that compels members to relinquish their leadership positions if they’re found to have brought the organisation into disrepute.

Former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize will compete with Ramaphosa to lead the African National Congress (ANC) at a five-yearly elective conference that begins on Friday. Both men have been embroiled in scandals that have been scrutinized by the party’s integrity commission, whose findings will be delivered at the five-day gathering.

Ramaphosa’s critics argue that the so-called step-aside rule has been used selectively to neutralize his detractors. The party used the measure to suspend officials including ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule — one such adversary.

The integrity body also recommended Mkhize step aside last year after he was implicated in a tender scandal. He resigned as health minister in August 2021, while denying any wrongdoing, but remains a member of the ANC’s executive body.

“We are all complaining about this step-aside thing,” Mkhize, 66, told a rally of supporters in Soweto near Johannesburg on December 12. “You establish a rule that you can use to deal with some, while protecting others. That is a rule that is not ok.”

Ramaphosa, 70, has championed the step-aside directive as part of his efforts to clean up the party in the wake of his predecessor Jacob Zuma’s nine-year rule, when state corruption became pervasive in South Africa. A commission of inquiry into government graft found the ANC responsible for keeping Zuma in office and criticised Ramaphosa and the party for not doing enough to prevent the looting of billions of rands of taxpayers’ money.

Mkhize said the step-aside rule has been applied haphazardly without any input from the party’s rank and file, and in some instances it was applied retrospectively to eliminate leaders.

“You don’t run the organisation like that,” he said. “This is undermining the branches and their authority where the power of this organisation lies.”

The party’s National Executive Committee had been scheduled to discuss the integrity commission’s findings at a meeting last weekend, before deciding the reports would be presented at its upcoming conference. Under ANC rules, members who are asked to step aside are unable to stand for office.

“If the conference says we are accepting this recommendation that you should step aside, then you will immediately be disqualified,” Livhuwani Matsila, secretary of the party’s electoral commission, said in an interview. “There is nowhere to appeal if the conference accepts the recommendation because it is the highest decision-making body.”

The electoral commission has already disqualified former Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini from contesting position because she has a criminal conviction. Both the electoral commission rule that disqualifies compromised candidates and the step-aside rule are expected to be targeted for review at the conference, Mkhize said.

Ramaphosa and Mkhize are the only two names on the ballot to lead the ANC for the next five years, with the incumbent the frontrunner having secured the most nominations. In the event that both are disqualified, members would have to nominate other candidates from the floor.

Mkhize also criticised the party for dragging its feet when it came to implementing policies with the potential to address the rampant poverty and unemployment, and questioned the government’s plans to reduce the use of coal.

“We can discuss everything but closing down coal mines,” he said. “Those mines create jobs. We can use solar, wind and others, but coal-powered electricity is not going anywhere. We will not shy away from saying that.”

The former minister called on the ANC to implement its previously agreed resolutions to make it easier to expropriate land without compensation and establish a pro-poor state bank. He was non-committal about whether central ban...