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South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Solly Mapaila reacted to the Constitutional Court ruling on Janusz Walus by stating that it was “sickeningly disappointing” and by claiming that it failed to protect the party’s right to exist as communists.

On Monday the Constitutional Court ruled that Walus - who gunned down SACP leader Chris Hani nearly 30 years ago - should be released on parole within 10 days.

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said more than 15 years had passed since Walus had become eligible for parole.

Mapaila explained that the judgment did not say anything about the submissions made by the SACP and the Hani family when the court heard the matter.

“The judgment has far-reaching implications that compel the SACP to analyse it deeper and look for a new way forward under the circumstances. The reality we now face is that the court failed to protect our right to exist as communists. We will have to protect this right ourselves,” said Mapaila.

He said the assassination of Hani left a gaping wound in his family, the SACP and the ranks of the working class and added that the judgment has rubbed salt granules to the wound.

“Hani was assassinated for being a communist, for leading the struggle for democracy in our country, but the Hani family permanently lost a husband, father, uncle, you name it all,” he explained.

The SACP highlighted that like Hani, they are unapologetic for being communists.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is leading the African National Congress (ANC) branch nominations for party President with Zweli Mkhize also in the running as the party prepares for its upcoming 55th National Conference.

Announcing the final list on Tuesday, the party’s Electoral Committee chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe said 89% of the ANC branches have successfully participated in the nomination process, surpassing the 70% threshold required for the National Conference.

The conference will take place between December 16 and 20 at Nasrec, in Johannesburg.

A total of 3 543 out of 3 982 branches in good standing have held successful Branch General Meetings which produced the approved outcomes of the nominations for both branch delegates and National Executive Committee (NEC) candidates.

Ramaphosa received 2 037 nominations from branches for President while Mkhize received 916.

For the position of ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile received 1 791 nominations, Ronald Lamola collected 427 and Oscar Mabuyane received 397.

Battling it out for the National Chairperson position, Stanley Mathabatha collected 1 492 nominations, Gwede Mantashe received 979 votes and David Masondo received 501.

For the Secretary-General position Mdumiseni Ntuli leads with 1 225 nominations, Phumulo Masuale received 889 and Fikile Mbalula garnered 749.

Nomvula Mokonyane received 1 779 nominations for Deputy Secretary-General and Febe Potgieter received 905.

Benjamin Chauke leads with 552 nominations for the position of In Treasure General, Pule Mabe received 428 and Mzwandile Masina received 349.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has welcomed the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA’s) decision to uphold the Gauteng High Court’s finding that former president Jacob Zuma’s medical parole was illegal.

The DA applied to the Gauteng High Court in September to review and set aside former Correctional Services Commissioner Arthur Fraser’s decision to place Zuma on medical parole.

Judge Tati Makgoka ruled that Zuma must return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to finish serving his prison sentence.

“This SCA judgment is a victory for the DA on behalf of the people of South Africa. It is a victory for the rule of law, for the principle of equality before the law, and for accountability, all of which are essential prerequisites for a successful, prosperous society,” said Steenhuisen.

The DA pointed out that Fraser’s medical parole decision was unlawful because it was taken against the recommendation of the Medical Parole Advisory Board, which did not want to grant medical parole to Zuma.

The party went on to state that if left unchallenged, Fraser’s parole decision would have harmed the court and future decisions made by the judiciary.

It also lambasted President Cyril Ramaphosa for not challenging Zuma’s parole and for moving Fraser from the State Security Agency to Correctional Services.

“The president’s ulterior motive for allowing Mr Zuma to be placed on medical parole has become clearer with the benefit of hindsight. It was not only an attempt to placate the Zuma faction of the ANC for the sake of ANC unity, and to avoid another frenzy of mass destruction as happened in KZN in July last year after Mr Zuma was convicted. It was also aimed at stopping the president’s own smallanyana skeletons from tumbling out the Phala Phala closet, since Mr Fraser held the key to that closet,” Steenhuisen said.

The Constitutional Court has ruled that Janusz Walus - who gunned down South African Communist Party (SACP) leader Chris Hani nearly 30 years ago - should be released on parole within 10 days.

In handing down judgment, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said Justice Minister Ronald Lamola’s decision was irrational and should be reviewed and set aside.

Zondo said more than 15 years had passed since Walus had become eligible for parole.

He said Walus apologised to the family more than once. Walus approached the apex court to review Lamola’s decision on 16 March 2020 not to approve his release on parole.

The Polish immigrant is serving a life sentence at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Facility for the murder of anti-apartheid activist Hani in 1993.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has found that former prisons boss Arthur Fraser had no legal power to override the Medical Parole Advisory Board and release Jacob Zuma – and slammed him for using the July unrest as justification for his "unconstitutional decision".

In a ruling written by Judge Tati Makgoka, the SCA on Monday morning confirmed that the medical parole granted to Zuma by Fraser was unlawful and set it aside. The unanimous Bench stressed that the effect of this order was that "Mr Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence".

"He must return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to do so. Whether the time spent by Mr Zuma on unlawfully granted medical parole should be taken into account in determining the remaining period of his incarceration, is not a matter for this Court to decide," the court ruled.

"It is a matter to be considered by the Commissioner. If he is empowered by law to do so, the Commissioner might take that period into account in determining any application or grounds for release."

The Department of Correctional Services said it was still studying the ruling, which effectively put the decision about Zuma's future incarceration in its hands – with the caveat that the commissioner must be "empowered by law" to make a call on the impact of Zuma's time on medical parole on his 15-month sentence for contempt of the Constitutional Court.

That will put significant pressure on the department to make sure that any decision it makes in regard to Zuma can withstand legal scrutiny.

Zuma was jailed by the apex court after he defied its ruling to appear before the State Capture Inquiry to answer questions that did not implicate him in specific crimes and then launched scurrilous attacks on its justices. His imprisonment was followed by eight days of deadly unrest and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which left 350 people dead and resulted in billions of rands in damage to businesses and properties.

Fraser had tried to use the unrest to justify his decision to grant Zuma medical parole, which he granted despite the Medical Parole Advisory Board – which is made up of doctors and medical experts – finding that the former head of state did not qualify for it.

While stressing that Fraser did not have the legal power to override the board after it recommended against medical parole being granted, Makgoka found that – even if he was "the ultimate decision-maker" on medical parole – the former Zuma administration spy chief's decision "does not pass muster".

The judge said Fraser "took into account factors which are totally irrelevant in the enquiry of whether Mr Zuma qualified for medical parole", including the former president's age, his "status as former Head of State" and "the riots which occurred in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July 2021, allegedly as a result of Mr Zuma's incarceration".

Fraser had also claimed that the Department of Correctional Services had "no capacity to give Mr Zuma the specialised care that he requires".

"While these factors may well be taken into consideration in an application for normal parole, they have no bearing at all in an application for medical parole. To that extent, the Commissioner acted irrationally," Makgoka said.

Makgoka said Fraser also failed to make any mention of a crucial requirement for the granting of parole: the risk of re-offending. Following his release on medical parole, Zuma has continued his unsubstantiated attacks on the courts that have ruled against him.

"Thus, on any conceivable basis, the Commissioner's decision was unlawful and unconstitutional," Makgoka said.

"The High Court was correct to set it aside."

Crucially, the SCA's ruling has confirmed that the commissioner of correctional services cannot grant medical parole to an inmate "unless the [Medical Parole Advisory] Board makes a positive recommendation on the appropriateness to grant medical parole".

The "upshot", Makgoka said, was that, "once the Board has properly applied its ...

After a key member in South African Airways's (SAA's) chosen equity partner, the Takatso consortium, resigned over concerns around the deal, government claimed that "deliberate misinformation" was being spread by "certain elements" aimed at scuttling the transaction.

On Monday, Gidon Novick, the former co-CEO of kulula.com and co-founder of LIFT, announced his resignation from the board of the consortium, telling News24 this was amid concerns around its ability to raise enough money and "a lack of information and communication". Novick represented Global Airways, an aviation leasing group which owns LIFT, on the board.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said in a statement on Friday morning that the "public should be aware of the efforts of competitors, detractors, and other forces to undermine our efforts to save jobs and ensure a viable airline".

"Government is awaiting the completion of the regulatory processes and thereafter will finalise Takatso’s acquisition of the 51% shareholding in SAA. The deal is not at risk," DPE said.

"We condemn the deliberate misinformation and casting of doubt about the transaction and regulatory processes since the resignation of Gideon Novick [sic] as a board member of the Takatso consortium."

"DPE wants to thank the travelling public and loyal SAA customers for their continued support. Your support has helped to create over 800 jobs for pilots, cabin crew and other workers.

"Their jobs are being endangered by the selfishness, reckless behaviour and greed of certain elements."

Takatso consists of the infrastructure investment firm Harith as majority shareholder, and Global Airways, which owns airline LIFT, as minority shareholder.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan this week dismissed Novick's resignation in Parliament, calling him a "small and relatively minor party in a transaction".

However, a senior industry player told News24 that Novick was crucial to the due diligence for the SAA deal given his experience. Novick and Global Airways were supposed to contribute aviation expertise to a "new" SAA.

The DPE said on Friday that it was certain "Takatso will introduce the required technical, financial, and operational expertise into the business".

There has also previously been doubts about Harith's ability to raise the funding from the start.

Harith CEO and Takatso chair Tshepo Mahloele told News24 on Tuesday that until government pays SAA’s outstanding debt, Harith is unable to wrap up the final funding for the deal.

Mahloele told News24 he also welcomed Novick's resignation, saying it resolved competition issues with LIFT.

An index measuring South African economic transactions fell to a 10-month low in October after a strike at the State-owned port and rail operator hobbled exports, suggesting a weak start to the final quarter.

The BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index, which tracks interbank payments, dropped to 130.7 from a revised 131 in September, signalling ongoing strain in the economy, independent economist Elize Kruger said in a statement.

Labour unions at Transnet went on a 12-day pay strike last month curtailing mineral, agricultural and manufacturing exports. The Minerals Council South Africa estimated that the industrial action cost mining companies about R815-million a day.

In addition to the strike and ongoing power cuts, “the economy has also been buckling under the significant rise in the cost of living,” said Kruger. The South African Reserve Bank has increased interest rates by a cumulative 275 basis points since November 2021 to curb surging prices, adding to pressure on consumers with debt exposure.

Another hike is expected on November 24, when the central bank’s monetary policy committee is due to announce its final interest-rate decision of the year, Kruger said. That may crimp economic expansion in the coming months because household spending accounts for about two-thirds of gross domestic product.

Slowing global growth may also weigh on the economy. International trade flows in October continued to dwindle in the face of heightened economic, inflationary and political pressures, according to Kruger.

The deteriorating economy may result in labour protests and potential social unrest, which the country can ill afford, she said. “Much needed infrastructure upgrades -- including road, rail, power and water -- and broader structural reforms are urgently needed to address the declining trajectory of the South African economy.”

The central bank and National Treasury predict the economy will expand by 1.9% this year, though the former may revise its forecast next week.

BETI is an early economic scorecard for South Africa in terms of growth trends and correlates closely with the central bank’s co-incident indicator and GDP data.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, on Friday, addressed the community of Ugu, in KwaZulu-Natal, where he said the local community should join hands with government to strengthen their municipality and local governments throughout the province.

He was speaking during the outreach programme of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) where, for the first time this week, taking Parliament to the People took place in the Ugu district municipality, on the South Coast.

The municipality was badly affected by floods early last year alongside its counterparts in eThekwini, KwaDukuza, and in Msunduzi. Since then, the state of the roads has been a challenge for workers travelling to work, and for businesses that transport their products to markets.

“We have heard during the public hearings that the people of this district need housing, particularly after the floods earlier this year destroyed many homes and businesses. The poor state of the roads in parts of the district also did not spare difficulty for leaners to get to schools and for people to get to the clinics. Good roads are not just important to people’s everyday lives; they also open up economic opportunities and strengthen local economic development,” he stated.

Ugu is an agricultural district, and the president acknowledged that the majority of people relied on the land to feed themselves and their families and to grow crops and for their livelihoods.

“Challenges with agricultural production are also having a direct impact on people’s lives in this community. There are also longstanding issues with land tenure in areas under traditional administration,” he pointed out.

He acknowledged that reports from the Auditor-General and National Treasury pointed to inefficiency, maladministration, lack of financial controls and poor governance in many municipalities.

However, he welcomed the new Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Act, which he declared as an important tool for improving the manner in which municipalities function and for accountability.

“This should be viewed alongside the Framework for the Professionalisation of the Public Sector, which was adopted by Cabinet last month. This makes specific proposals to ensure merit-based recruitment and promotion and more effective consequence management for all public servants. This is going to have a big impact on how government, at all levels, works,” he said.

The President said that the task of this year’s Taking Parliament to the People was to deliberate on what was being done and what must be done to strengthen local government.

“The interaction with the people of Ugu district municipality has no doubt done much to enrich the NCOP’s deliberations. We often spend a great deal of time diagnosing the problem and painting a picture of what a poorly-run municipality looks like. We should instead be focused on what an ideal municipality should look like and how to build such municipalities across the country,” Ramaphosa said.

He reiterated that the key elements of an ideal municipality included a vibrant economy, places which tourists wanted to visit, inter-connected communities and skills and training hubs.

To achieve this, he said local government needed to be capacitated to play a far more prominent role in implementing the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.

“We cannot achieve higher economic growth, we cannot create more jobs and we cannot grow more businesses, if local government does not function well. We know there is so much further we need to go if the promise of our Constitution is to be fulfilled for all,” Ramaphosa said.

The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) in KwaZulu-Natal obtained a forfeiture order to seize the Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe belonging to accused unrest looter Mbuso Moloi.

Moloi is currently facing charges of theft and public violence relating to the looting at a Woolworths store in the Glenwood area during the July unrest.

"The car, which was forfeited on the basis that it is an instrumentality of the offences, was valued at approximately R500 000 at the time of the offence. Since the vehicle is still under purchase agreement from a bank, the vehicle will be handed over to the bank in due course," National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Kara said on Thursday.

The criminal matter against Moloi is set down for trial from 27 to 31 March 2023. He is out on bail of R5 000.

The AFU welcomed the development, saying it reinforces the NPA's strategy to focus not only on prosecutions but also on taking away assets where they are proven to be instrumental in the commission of a crime.

Seven unions in the public service, representing 800 000 members, have vowed to disrupt service at offices, including hospitals and courts, in a national day of action next week Tuesday in protest against the unilateral implementation of a 3% baseline increase in public wages.

The national day of action will include a march to the offices of the National Treasury in Pretoria, and protest action in all nine provinces. The announcement was made at the headquarters of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) on Thursday morning.

The government's decision to unilaterally implement a 3% baseline increase prompted the Public Servants' Association (PSA) to hold a one-day public service strike last Thursday, demanding a better wage offer and ending job cuts in the public service.

Along with the PSA, other unions at the briefing were the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu), the Police, Prisons and Civil Rights Union (Popcru), the SA Policing Union (Sapu), the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw) and the Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa).

Addressing a media briefing announcing the national day of action, Popcru's first deputy president Khehla Masemola said the unions rejected the 3% baseline increase, especially after the government reneged on a previous wage deal in 2020.

Masemola called Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's remarks during his medium-term budget speech on the public wage an insult.

"As a collective, public service unions at the PSCBC carrying the hopes of public servants, we could not stand by as the government erodes public bargaining. We observed with disdain as the government made jokes about assisting workers by saying 'sibazamile (we tried to help them)' in Parliament," said Masemola.

Masemola said demonstrations would continue beyond next week's national day of action "until the day that unions declare a [full-blown] strike".

Masemola said the government's actions in the public service wage talks sought to erode the bargaining power since reneging on a wage deal in 2020, and that longstanding vacancies in the public service undermined service delivery more than a bloated public service.

"Our standpoint is also to demonstrate the seriousness with which we take the government's efforts to undermine collective bargaining and previous agreements. They want workers to be at peace with less than inflation increases," Masemola said.

The unions at the briefing said even public servants who constituted essential services were prepared to embark on industrial action. The government has previously said that no-work, no-pay would apply at public service offices.

The PSA gave the government a week to respond to its demands at last week's one-day strike. The unions said the government had yet to respond to the demands at the time of the briefing.