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Despite record load shedding, South Africa's economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter – avoiding a recession.

The economy grew by 1.6% in the three months to end-September after shrinking by 0.7% in the second quarter, which was affected by the KwaZulu-Natal floods.

A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of a shrinking economy, but - despite load shedding during more than half of the days in the second quarter, as well as rocketing interest rates, and food and fuel prices - South Africa avoided this by growing in the third quarter.

The 1.6% growth rate was much stronger than expected. The median forecast of economists polled by Bloomberg was for growth of 0.4%.

Quarterly real GDP - R1.16 trillion (at constant 2015 prices) - is now the highest it’s ever been, exceeding the previous peak of R1.15 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018, Stats SA said.

Eight of South Africa's ten industries grew between the second and the third quarter, with agriculture, forestry and fishing surging by more than 19%. "This was mainly associated with a rise in the production of field crops and horticulture products," Stats SA reported.

The finance, real estate and business services industry – the largest industry in SA – grew by almost 2%. The manufacturing industry grew by 1.5%, with seven of the ten manufacturing divisions reporting growth in the third quarter. Manufacturing of motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment division made the largest contribution in the third quarter.

South African exports increased by 4.2% in the third quarter.

The unadjusted real GDP for the first nine months of 2022 was 2.3% bigger than in the same period in 2021.

The National Assembly has postponed its consideration of the Section 89 Panel report to December 13, when a vote on whether impeachment proceedings should be instituted against President Cyril Ramaphosa will take place.

Parliament was set to debate the damning report by the independent panel on Tuesday.

Next week’s meeting will require all MPs to attend in-person, and the vote will take place by open ballot.

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa has applied to the Constitutional Court for the panel’s report to be reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside.

He is under pressure following the release of the report, which made damning findings against him in relation to the theft of foreign currency from his game farm, Phala Phala, in Limpopo.

In his affidavit, he pointed out that the information submitted to the panel by the African Transformation Movement, mainly in the form of statements by former spy boss Arthur Fraser, takes the form of allegations, speculation and hearsay.

He said the panel accepted this information without question and dismissed evidence he provided under oath in favour of speculation, hearsay, and evidence that should have been ruled inadmissible.

“The panel wrongly concluded that the President was required to report the theft to the Hawks in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. Because the company has a separate management team, the President doesn’t qualify in terms of the act as ‘holding a position of authority’,” highlighted Ramaphosa in a summary of his review submitted to the Constitutional Court.

Ramaphosa believes the panel misunderstood its mandate by establishing that there is a prima facie case for him to answer to instead of determining if there is “sufficient evidence” to justify an impeachment.

“The panel overlooked the fact that Parliament’s rules confine ‘serious misconduct’ and a ‘serious violation of the Constitution’ to deliberate misconduct by the President acting in bad faith,” he said in his affidavit summary.

He also noted that the panel misinterpreted the charges and that it was wrong to conclude that he abused his position as President by asking the head of the Presidential Protection Service (PPS) to investigate a security breach at his farm.

He stated that it was the responsibility of the PPS to attend to the security of the President and, therefore, reporting the theft to the PPS could not be considered a serious violation of the Constitution.

He went on to assert that he had not contravened the Constitution as he had declared all of his financial interests as President, which is required by law.

Ramaphosa went further to claim that the panel considered issues that did not form part of its mandate. These included the source of the money that was stolen, the nature of the sale of game and claims of the PPS head travelling to Namibia.

“I have carefully considered the report and respectfully submit that the process followed by the Panel and its conclusions are seriously flawed, thus making the recommendations irrational. In summary I submit that the Panel misconceived its mandate, misjudged the information placed before it and misinterpreted the four charges advanced against me. It moreover strayed beyond the four charges and considered matters not properly before it. I submit that a proper case is made out for this Court to review and set the report aside,” Ramaphosa said to the court.

PANEL’S CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATION

Ramaphosa further stated that the panel failed in its duty to fulfil its constitutional obligation to conduct the inquiry lawfully and constitutionally.

He noted that it is only the Constitutional Court that can decide whether or not he failed to fulfil the obligation imposed by Section 83(b) of the Constitution, which states that “the President must uphold, defend and respect the Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic”.

“In the event this court were to conclude that it does not have exclusive jurisdiction as submitted, I submit that direct ac...

A probe by the Western Cape Police Ombudsman into alleged links between gangsters and Western Cape police found evidence the claims could be substantiated.

The investigation came after Western Cape High Court Judge Daniel Thulare delivered a judgment in October, where he stated there was evidence gang members had infiltrated top management structures in the police.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde then requested the Ombud to probe the matter.

Police Ombud retired Major-General Oswald Reddy handed over his report on Friday following a thorough investigation into alleged links between gangsters and the police in the province.

"We have to act within our limited mandate on this issue to confirm what many residents of the Western Cape have long suspected: that some SAPS members are colluding with gangsters, effectively abandoning their oath to protect and serve, instead choosing to make many of our gang-stricken communities even more unsafe," Winde said after receiving the final report.

The premier added he was busy studying the report, which concluded the allegations were likely substantiated.

As part of the investigation, Reddy gave Western Cape police management an opportunity to respond to the judgment.

The Ombud also consulted with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

"There must be decisive consequences for those found to be colluding with gangs. This includes senior officials under whose watch this has been allowed to happen.

"One of the first steps that I took this week on this matter is that I meet with the SAPS provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General advocate Thembisile Patekile, to discuss the findings of the report," Winde said.

"I will be holding further engagements on the Ombud's report and will share this with the public as soon as I am in a position to do so.

"What is clear is that this infiltration likely extends far beyond this particular case, and also that dangerous forces are at play here."

He added he was still considering his next steps to address this issue and make headway against gangsterism.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's main political rivals, Paul Mashatile and Zweli Mkhize, are expected to push back against calls for his removal during an African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Monday.

A key Mashatile ally and lobbyist, Nkenke Kekana, said the NEC could not seek to remove Ramaphosa and that the president's fate should be decided at the party's conference.

"Dr Mkhize's view is that the NEC would be well-advised to defer the question of whether President Ramaphosa should be forced to resign or not to the delegates who would be gathering in Nasrec in less than two weeks' time to decide," Mkhize's communication advisor, Vuyo Mkhize, said.

He is expected to argue at the ANC meeting that he, too, subjected himself to a parliamentary process and was cleared by the legislature with regard to the allegations he faced.

Ramaphosa opened the meeting on Monday morning but left soon after, saying that he could not be present when his fate was being discussed.

The ANC's national working committee (NWC) resolved on Sunday that ANC MPs should not vote to adopt the Section 89 panel report, which would open the way for an impeachment process against Ramaphosa.

The matter is expected to be debated sharply at the broader meeting on Monday. Kekana told News24 that the ANC could not take action against the president on the basis of the Section 89 panel's report.

"The NEC is not in a position to remove a sitting president, especially when we are about to arrive at the conference - unless the integrity commission reports that the president must step aside. Outside of that framework, the mere report of Parliament is just the beginning of a process that must be allowed to take its course," he said.

Kekana added he believed that the ANC should work in the next two weeks to agree to an uncontested leadership race.

"I am still confident that there is still a chance that we can find each other [so] that there is an uncontested conference. Provincial leaders can come together and work out something that is palatable for the conference and for the conference to ponder over it," Kekana said in an interview with News24.

News24 understands that a meeting between Mashatile and Deputy President David Mabuza took place in Johannesburg on Thursday, while Ramaphosa was mulling over whether to resign, spooked his allies enough to convince him that his resignation would be "exactly what Paul wants".

Then, a seemingly unilateral decision by Mashatile to move a planned NEC from sitting virtually on Thursday evening, to an in-person meeting on Friday, proved to Ramaphosa's allies that his resignation would mean "handing over the ANC to DD (Mabuza) and Paul to do what they want to with it".

Mashatile - who holds enormous power as treasurer-general, acting secretary-general and acting deputy secretary-general - is contesting the ANC deputy presidency at the conference, which is expected to begin on 16 December.

But those around him have hinted that given the Phala Phala scandal involving Ramaphosa and the Digital Vibes scandal involving Mkhize, Mashatile might make an 11th-hour bid for the ANC presidency.

Kekana said that there were a lot of "rumour-mongering and distortions" about Mashatile in the run-up to the conference.

"As per the Constitution, and it's not Paul's design, if the president resigns, the section of the Constitution kicks in, the deputy president takes over, and the Cabinet stays put. In a hypothetical situation, it would mean 14 days before the conference, there would be a new president," Kekana said.

He added that there was a case for Ramaphosa to answer and that he should face a parliamentary process in that regard. "We cannot use emotions; we can't use our historical dislike for the president to take a political decision," he said.

Kekana also said that the ANC integrity commission's report on the Phala Phala matter should set the tone for a decision by the party. That report, as well as a report on...

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that the fight against State capture and corruption is gaining momentum.

He wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that in the last few months, several cases have been brought to court, with former executives of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) Eskom and Transnet charged alongside business people for allegedly colluding to steal public funds.

He said progress is also being made in other areas where there has been malfeasance.

Ramaphosa is facing backlash for allegedly violating the Constitution following the release of a Section 89 panel report, which made damning findings against him in relation to the theft of money from his Phala Phala farm.

While many are calling for Ramaphosa to step down, others claim the report findings are being used by those implicated in corruption to push Ramaphosa out of the running for the African National Congress presidency, and ultimately, State President.

Ramaphosa explained that the announcement by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) last week that it had reached a settlement with an international company implicated in corruption at Eskom is a huge development in the country’s effort to hold those responsible for State capture to account.

The NPA Investigating Directorate finalised a landmark agreement with Swiss engineering company ABB to pay R2.5-billion in punitive reparations to South Africa relating to bribes allegedly paid to obtain contracts with Eskom between 2014 and 2017.

“This amount, which will be paid into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account, is in addition to R1.6-billion that ABB paid Eskom in 2020 to settle an investigation into allegedly criminal conduct involving contracts at the Kusile power station. Importantly, the current settlement does not indemnify the company or its staff from prosecution,” explained Ramaphosa.

He noted that for the last five years, South Africa has been working hard to end the looting of resources and to prosecute those responsible and recover stolen funds.

“When we embarked on this journey, we understood that the results would not be felt overnight. We first had to rebuild State institutions that had been deliberately weakened, emptied of expertise and rendered incapable of preventing capture by criminal elements. We had to strengthen law enforcement institutions and shield them from outside interference,” he said.

He went on to say one of the most important steps the country took was to establish, in 2019, the Investigating Directorate in the NPA to deal with cases emanating from the State capture commission and other corruption-related offences.

He added that recently plans to make the Investigating Directorate a permanent structure were announced.

FIGHTING CORRUPTION

Meanwhile, the Special Investigating Unit continues with its investigations into corruption and mismanagement at State institutions and SOEs, with its Special Tribunal empowered to recover stolen funds.

The South African Revenue Service continues to fight corruption through lifestyle audits and other legislative tools. It is piloting a new wealth initiative to recover assets suspected of having been acquired illegally or through the proceeds of crime.

Ramaphosa highlighted that the NPA, through the Investigating Directorate, the Asset Forfeiture Unit and other structures, is successfully using preservation orders, asset forfeiture and other tools to tighten the noose around those involved in corrupt activities.

“Many of those involved in State capture and their enablers in the private sector saw nothing wrong with diverting public funds to private pockets. At the height of the State capture era, unscrupulous politicians repurposed State institutions for private enrichment and to cover their tracks,” he said.

He said today South Africa has law enforcement authorities and a prosecuting authority devoted to investigating and prosecuting without fear or favour, as well as State institutions committed to fulfilling their respective mandate...

Eskom will implement continuous stage 2 loadshedding until further notice due to the breakdown of six generating units at five power stations, the power utility said on Friday afternoon.

There has also been a delay in return to service of "numerous" generating units, spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha added. A generating unit each at Duvha, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Majuba and two units at Arnot Power Station, were taken offline for repairs over the past 24 hours.

The delay in returning to service two generating units at Camden and one unit each at Arnot and Duvha power stations contributed to capacity constraints. Eskom is moreover facing a budget crunch for diesel supplies for its open cycle gas turbines.

It anticipates increased loadshedding over the next 6 to 12 months, it said.

"The imminent refuelling and maintenance outage, as well as the long-term operation project of Unit 1 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, together with the October chimney failure that has forced three generation units offline at Kusile Power Station, will further reduce available generation capacity and significantly increase the occurrence of loadshedding during the next 6 to 12 months."

Currently 4 423MW of capacity is out on planned maintenance, while another 16 708MW is unavailable due to breakdowns.

An urgent African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at Nasrec ended abruptly with a decision that the Section 89 Phala Phala report should be processed by the top four officials and national working committee (NWC).

Treasurer general Paul Mashatile told the media that the NEC adjourned after it decided that the report should first be processed by the top officials - President Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy President David Mabuza, ANC chair Gwede Mantashe and Mashatile himself.

They must consult Ramaphosa and report to the NWC, before reporting back to the NEC before Tuesday's meeting of Parliament, which will need to decide whether to adopt the Section 89 report or not.

Mashatile said the president had yet to discuss the matter with any structures of the ANC since the report was published on Wednesday.

Mashatile said Ramaphosa was still consulting, but he didn't know with who.

If President Cyril Ramaphosa were to resign, it would be "chaotic" for the country and the ruling party, according to African National Congress (ANC) national chairperson Gwede Mantashe.

The mineral resources and energy minister was interviewed by the SABC at Nasrec, Gauteng, ahead of a meeting with ANC leadership on Friday. The party's National Executive Committee is meeting to discuss Ramaphosa's fate following the release of an independent panel report on Wednesday, with findings against him related to the handling of a theft of $580 000 in cash at his game farm in Limpopo, Phala Phala.

According to the panel, the President "may have committed serious violations" and breached anticorruption laws, News24 reported.

Mantashe said the report has "a lot of loopholes" and can be challenged. "If it were me, I would have kicked dust about it," he added. But unlike him, Ramaphosa would probably take a more "gentle" approach, Mantashe said.

"I think we must give him space to do that."

He also pointed out the use of the phrasing " may have" which indicates the findings against the President are still to be tested.

"No one says the President has committed a crime. it says he 'may have which opens a way for a parliamentary process," said Mantashe.

He emphasised that space should be created for the report to be "processed properly" and to allow Parliament to handle the matter as it should.

Mantashe said that Ramaphosa should do "anything that can be done" before taking a decision to resign – this includes taking the report on review.

Ramaphosa may face impeachment, but has been leaning toward resignation, while some of his allies have been encouraging him to "fight" the report, according to News24.

'Chaos'

Asked what the implications of Ramaphosa resigning would be, Mantashe said it would be "chaotic".

"The country would be leaderless. We would have an acting president . We (the ANC) have a conference in two weeks' time, and to me, that is chaos," he shared. Mantashe stressed that it is important to maintain stability.

Ramaphosa, the incumbent leader, will have his position contested at the ANC's elective conference, which will kick off in two weeks. "My view is let us go to the conference, elect a leader for the ANC and see what happens beyond that point," he said.

If Ramaphosa is elected for a second term, then he would continue to deal with the Phala Phala report as a "sitting" president, Mantashe said.

On Thursday, the rand and local equities crashed on rumours that Ramaphosa may be resigning.

Given that, the priority is to signal to society and the markets that there is stability in South Africa and that legal processes will unfold and there will be compliance with those processes, Mantashe said.

Members of Parliament are expected to vote on Tuesday on whether or not to adopt the report, News24 reported.

Multinational engineering firm ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB) has agreed to pay over R2.5-billion in punitive reparations to South Africa for "serious crimes" committed at Eskom during the State Capture-era.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement on Tuesday that its Investigating Directorate finalised a settlement agreement with ABB.

"This settlement represents a bold and innovative step towards accountability and justice for alleged offenders, particularly in the form of restitution for the serious crimes committed at Eskom during the state capture period," the NPA said.

ABB’s payment must be made into SA’s Criminal Asset Recovery Account, within 60 days of 1 December. The amount will "be used as restitution for victims, and to assist in building South Africa’s capacity and resources in its ongoing fight against serious corruption."

The R2.5-billion is over and above the R1.6-billion that ABB previously paid to Eskom in 2020.

Arrests

ABB was awarded a R2-billion contract in 2015 to install control and instrumentation (C&I) systems at the troubled Kusile power station. The station has suffered time delays, cost overruns running into the billions and design defects, and problems at the station have regularly contributed to load-shedding.

In October, the faulty installation of an exhaust vent resulted in ash particles building up inside a massive duct over nearly five years, which caused the collapse of a section of the pipe at Kusile.

The Kusile deal resulted in ABB paying Impulse International R549-million in 2016 and 2017 - when former acting Eskom CEO Matshela Koko's stepdaughter, Koketso Aren (neé Choma), was a shareholder of Impulse.

Koko, his wife, Mosima, and his stepdaughters, Koketso and Thato Choma, Thabo Mokwena, a former employee of the State Security Agency, Eskom's former project manager for Kusile, Frans Sithole, lawyer and alleged Koko fixer, Johannes Coetzee, and Koko associate Watson Seswai were arrested in late October and appeared in the Middelburg Regional Court on charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering. They were all granted bail, ranging from R70 000 to R300 000, and will appear in court again on 23 March.

Former ABB employees, and German citizens, Markus Bruegmann and Sunil Vip - also part of the accused in the case - were not in court.

In July two former ABB employees and their wives - Muhammed and Raeesa Mooidheen and Vernon and Aradhna Pillay were arrested in connection with alleged kickbacks in exchange for inflated contracts that were awarded to Impulse. Both couples appeared in different courts and were granted bail.

Cooperation

In September ABB said it put aside $325-million (R6-billion) as a provision to cover costs related to corruption probes at Kusile power station. It said at the time it was cooperating fully with the authorities and "hopes to reach a final settlement with them in the near term".

The NPA said on Thursday that ABB had "acknowledged liability and taken responsibility for the alleged criminal conduct of its employees involving contracts with Eskom".

"As a result, ABB has been forthcoming in cooperating with law enforcement agencies conducting the investigations into such alleged conduct."

The NPA said it also assisted in securing evidence and key witnesses as part of its ongoing investigation.

"This settlement agreement was negotiated with partner countries, including the USA, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. South Africa is getting the bulk of the settlement amount due to the nature of the crimes and the negative impact on South Africa and its people," the NPA said.

It however pointed out the settlement did not indemnify any ABB staff, directors and contractors.

"The NPA will continue to pursue these criminal prosecutions, with the support of ABB who has committed to ongoing collaboration to ensure accountability for the crimes allegedly committed by its employees."

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen wants all members of the National Assembly, regardless of party or affiliation, to support its Section 50(1) Motion, which he says he will table in the National Assembly against President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The DA wants a majority vote for the dissolution of government, which would then trigger an early election.

Steenhuisen said the hand-over of the independent panel’s report into the Phala Phala allegations represented a seismic shift in South African politics, where a sitting President stands accused of breaching the Constitution.

He noted that if Ramaphosa is recalled now, the country will end up with a “corrupt” President David Mabuza and if Ramaphosa survives until the African National Congress (ANC) elective conference only to be defeated, the country will end up with a “corrupt” President Zweli Mkhize.

“And if President Ramaphosa somehow triumphs at the conference we’re stuck with a corrupt President Ramaphosa, whose focus will be on his own political survival rather than on the good of the nation,” he said.

Steenhuisen stressed that now was not a time for cheap point-scoring and also urged caution against the proliferation of small parties and new movements that are being added to the country’s political landscape every few months.

He said the myth of the “two ANCs” has now been shattered.

“Now is the time to stand up and be counted. The Democratic Alliance calls for a national election – not one involving 4 000 delegates at an ANC conference, but one that gives all South Africans the opportunity to determine their future,” he said.

He went on to urge South African’s to not become despondent and added that what looks like a crisis could be a leap forward for democracy.