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The National Assembly will consider the report of the independent panel on Phala Phala, tasked with determining whether President Cyril Ramaphosa should be impeached, on 6 December, 10 days before the African National Congress's (ANC's) conference in Nasrec is set to begin.

The panel's report, which should include recommendations to the National Assembly, was due on Thursday - but, on Wednesday, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula granted the panel until 30 November to complete its work.

The National Assembly rises for the year the very next day, and on Wednesday, it appeared unlikely that the panel's report would be considered by MPs before the ANC's conference, which starts on 16 December in Nasrec, Johannesburg.

Opposition MPs were none too pleased, and said they would do everything in their power to ensure that Parliament deals with the report before the year ends.

On Wednesday, Mapisa-Nqakula met with the Chief Whips Forum, where she explained the panel's reasons for seeking an extension and why she had granted it. She left with the whips to arrange a date to deal with the report.

At Thursday's National Assembly Programming Committee meeting, programming whip and ANC MP Mina Lesoma informed the committee that another sitting would be arranged on 6 December, where the Section 89 report will be considered. The report will also be distributed to members before the sitting.

Last month, former president Thabo Mbeki cautioned that the ANC had to decide what should happen if the independent panel found Ramaphosa had a case to answer, and that the party could not shy away from the inevitable conversation around Ramaphosa's fate.

"As comrades know, they [the independent panel] have been given 30 days to do that. The 30 days will run out some time in the month of November. What happens if they say he has got a case to answer? What do we do?" Mbeki asked.

Unless opposition parties get their way at Thursday's National Assembly Programming Committee, Mbeki's point becomes moot in the run-up to Nasrec.

Mapisa-Nqakula ceded to a request by the panel's chairperson, former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, who, in a letter to her, "indicated that the panel had assessed the inquiry process to determine if it will meet the submission deadline of Thursday, 17 November 2022, and had, based on its assessment of the amount of ground still to be covered, and the available resources, determined that the inquiry should be completed within 13 days, that is by 30 November 2022", according to a statement from parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.

"The panel said the additional time requested was realistic, taking into account the importance of the inquiry, its complexity, as well as the novelty of the nature of work involved."

The panel further believes that it is in the public interest that an inquiry of this nature "be scrupulously conducted and all the information and submissions placed before it be carefully considered".

Mapisa-Nqakula agreed to extend the deadline for the panel's report from 17 November to 30 November.

"The Speaker concurs with the panel chairperson that the extreme importance of the panel's work to the members of the National Assembly, the president and the people of South Africa required the panel to carefully consider all the information and submissions placed before it," said Mothapo.

Opposition parties are not happy.

Democratic Alliance chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said on Wednesday that she would "make the case" at Thursday morning's meeting of the National Assembly Programming Committee that Parliament's programme must be extended to deal with the report.

"The matter cannot be delayed or deferred to next year. It is urgent. No sitting president should have a question of whether or not he broke the law and, by extension, his oath of office hanging over his head," she said.

She added that the National Assembly's rules for the Section 89 process compelled the Speaker to table the report before the House urgently. Gwarube said it only m...

The tide is turning. Impunity is no longer a given.

That is according to National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) advocate Shamila Batohi, who has assured Parliament that the wheels of justice are turning.

On Wednesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on the investigations into corruption at state-owned entities and the Department of Water and Sanitation.

"Over the past six months, since we were last before Scopa, the NPA's leadership and its staff – by design and not by default – have implemented key initiatives to rebuild a fit-for-purpose organisation to deliver accountability and uphold the rule of law. The Investigating Directorate (ID) has stable and competent leadership, whose successes result from enhanced internal and external collaboration and focused case prioritisation.

"This strategy resulted in the enrolment of nine seminal cases at the end of September 2022, the product of long-standing investigations by the ID and Directors of Public Prosecutions (DPPs), in close collaboration with the DPCI (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks)," Batohi said.

While speaking of successes, Batohi said work still needed to be done.

"The hard, focused work and close collaboration are bearing fruit. Criminals will exploit the gaps in law enforcement cohesion. We need clear strategies to stay one step ahead of them by ensuring our respective mandates align to close these gaps," she said.

Key to turning the tide at the NPA, Batohi said, was their focus on building the NPA into a fit-for-purpose organisation.

"The wheels of justice – grinding at first – are now turning and will gain momentum. Our actions demonstrate that impunity is no longer a given. We are confident that the rule of law will prevail," she said.

Batohi said several measures were established to increase capacity and strengthen the NPA's work. This included the establishment of the joint NPA and DPCI task force.

There is also a multiple partner approach between the DPCI, NPA (which includes the ID, Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit and Asset Forfeiture Unit) and Financial Intelligence Centre.

"Its mandate is to drive coordination and coherence in responses to Zondo [Commission] reports. Reliance on prosecution-guided investigation approach. [It aims to build] partnerships and adopt bold and innovative measures with the private sector to strengthen and supplement the skills of our prosecutors through specialised training and the contracting of forensic specialists, while zealously guarding our independence," she said.

Establishing the ID as a permanent entity is beneficial as it:

Facilitates attraction of needed specialised skills and qualifications

Provides security of tenure to investigators and prosecutors as permanent staff

Enables continuity in case work without risk of being recalled/reassigned, as is currently the case

Safeguards the independence of a pivotal corruption-fighting entity in SA architecture

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the ID would become a permanent organ in his response to the Zondo Commission's recommendations.

"Permanence will require legislative changes that will take time. In the interim, the minister has been asked to confer, by regulation, peace officer powers to ID investigators in terms of the CPA without delay to enhance significantly their ability to do their work," Batohi said.

Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse will face a second vote of no confidence in less than two months.

The latest vote of no confidence in Phalatse will take place next week after the programming committee heard two requests for motions of no confidence in the mayor on Monday.

The committee is headed by the council speaker and meets to discuss and set down the agenda of council meetings.

The City of Johannesburg council will meet on 23 and 24 November for an ordinary sitting. The no-confidence motion will be heard on one of the two days.

According to a source within the committee, members discussed two votes of no confidence at the meeting.

The minority opposition parties brought one. At a briefing last week, the parties said they were concerned about what they called a "financial crisis" within the City. They indicated that they would be requesting a motion of no confidence in Phalatse.

It is still unclear which party brought the second request for a no-confidence vote.

There was also a request for a motion of no confidence in Johannesburg speaker Colleen Makhubele.

The programming committee rejected this as a similar request was currently before the Section 79 Rules Committee.

The City of Johannesburg has 270 council members. For a motion to pass, it needs 136 votes or more.

Last week, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema said the party would vote in defence of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg until the African National Congress (ANC) agreed to back the EFF in Ekurhuleni.

This came after the ANC and EFF disagreed on who should govern in Ekurhuleni after Tania Campbell was axed in a motion of no confidence last month.

Campbell, a DA leader, was reinstated following a vote in the council because of this disagreement between the EFF and the ANC.

The EFF has 29 councillors in Johannesburg, and if they were to back the DA, it would likely give the DA-led coalition the majority needed to keep Phalatse in power.

A day before its report is due, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has extended the deadline for the independent panel appointed to determine whether there is a prima facie case for President Cyril Ramaphosa's impeachment after the Phala Phala saga.

Parliament announced the extension on Wednesday after chairperson of the panel, former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, wrote to Mapisa-Nqakula.

"In his letter, the chairperson indicated that the panel had assessed the [inquiry] process to determine if it will meet the submission deadline of Thursday, 17 November 2022, and had, based on its assessment of the amount of ground still to be covered, and the available resources, determined that the [inquiry] should be completed within 13 days, that is by 30 November 2022," reads a statement from Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.

"The panel said the additional time requested was realistic, taking into account the importance of the [inquiry], its complexity, as well as the novelty of the nature of work involved."

The panel believes that it is in the public interest that an inquiry "of this nature be scrupulously conducted and all the information and submissions placed before it is carefully considered".

In considering the request, Mapisa-Nqakula was mindful that rules governing the Section 89 process do not provide for a deadline extension for the panel to submit its report.

She invoked Rule 6 - which deals with unforeseen circumstances - to accede to the panel's request. In terms of this rule, the speaker may give a ruling or frame a rule in respect of any eventuality for which the rules or orders of the House do not provide, having due regard to the procedures, precedents, practices and conventions developed by the House, and based on constitutional values and principles underpinning an open, accountable and democratic society.

"The speaker concurs with the panel chairperson that the extreme importance of the panel's work to the members of the National Assembly, the president and the people of South Africa, require the panel to carefully consider all the information and submissions placed before it," Mothapo added.

She extended the deadline from 17 November to 30 November.

"The speaker has advised the chief whips of political parties of her decision this morning. The speaker continues to wish the panel well in its work."

On 14, September, Mapisa-Nqakula appointed Ngcobo, Judge Thokozile Masipa and Professor Richard Calland to the panel.

But, before it could start with its work, the Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters raised concerns about Calland's alleged bias towards Ramaphosa.

After a discussion with Mapisa-Nqakula, Calland withdrew and Mapisa-Nqakula replaced him with advocate Mahlape Sello, SC.

This meant that the panel started with it is work on 17 October - a month after it was appointed.

All parties represented in Parliament are entitled to make submissions to the panel.

Ramaphosa was also expected to provide a written submission to it, which he did.

The panel isn't allowed to have oral hearings.

In its report, it must include any findings, with reasons, upon which its recommendations are based. It must also include a minority view - if there is one.

The National Assembly will then consider it.

If a simple majority votes in favour of a recommendation that Parliament should investigate Ramaphosa, an impeachment committee will be formed for this purpose.

This will be a similar process to the one under way for suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.

Mapisa-Nqakula's predecessor, Thandi Modise, also granted an extension to the independent panel that considered whether there was a case against Mkhwebane.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said the South African Airways (SAA) deal with government's chosen partner, the Takatso consortium, "remained alive" and dismissed a major schism in the consortium as "argy-bargy".

On Monday, Gidon Novick resigned from the consortium's board, citing concerns about its ability to raise the money needed for the deal. The former co-CEO of kulula.com and co-founder of LIFT, also represented Global Airways, an aviation leasing company which owns LIFT. They are the minority shareholders in Takatso, and were supposed to contribute aviation expertise to a "new" SAA.

The investment fund Harith is the majority partner in the consortium and was responsible for raising money for the deal. Takatso is supposed to take a 51% stake in SAA. In return, they would invest R3-billion in the airline over two years.

For its part, Harith said Novick's resignation was "appropriate" given the potential conflicts of interest between LIFT and SAA.

On Tuesday, Gordhan told Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts that it was intriguing that Novick resigned from the Takatso board, but did not resign as a partner, likening such an act to "having your cake and eating it". Global Airways and Novick are retaining their stakes in Takatso.

"Mr Novick was a small and relatively minor party in a transaction. Just because he happens to be somebody with experience somewhere in his past, as all of us do, doesn't discredit everybody else, nor does it mean that what he puts on the table is something that one must take seriously," Gordhan said.

Gordhan said that despite concerns the deal was still moving along.

"Issues have emerged in the public domain over the last 24 hours, but that is an internal matter as far as the consortium is concerned and is part of the argy-bargy of such a transaction. The transaction remains both alive and live," said Gordhan.

'Minor party'

Gordhan and multiple members of the delegation, which included the Department of Public Enterprises and SAA, told Scopa that the Takatso deal was in a "sensitive" stage, which prevented them from sharing the finer details.

Scopa member and Democratic Alliance MP Alf Lees insisted on the committee getting a full report of SAA's financials, saying that Scopa and the South African public must know what SAA's financial position and the process of the transaction was.

"This cannot be a closed process. Who is the department talking to at Takatso if the CEO does not know the details? This is a parliamentary committee that is owned by the South African public. To say that performance is better than budget is really treating us with disdain," said Lees.

In response to a question from Lees on how SAA hoped to fund the transaction if Takatso did not have the funding, Gordhan said the department had been given an assurance that the deal would not fall through over a lack of funding.

SAA CEO and interim chair John Lamola said on 3 November, the Special Investigating Unit was making progress in investigating 23 contracts at SAA relating to general procurement and aircraft leases dating back to 2015-16.

"Matters being investigated were indicated without providing detailed information into what they are investigating that all of them are sensitive and withheld so as not to impugn on the reputations of companies under investigation," said Lamola.

The number of failed former ministers who have in the past been redeployed to the African National Congress's (ANC's) Luthuli House head office is set to be significantly reduced should the party adopt proposed constitutional amendments.

A move to reduce to three the number of members deployed to permanent positions at Luthuli House is among the proposed constitutional amendments put forward by ANC structures. The proposals will be published on Tuesday.

The proposed amendment limits the positions to secretary-general and two deputies.

During a media briefing on Monday following the national executive committee (NEC) meeting over the weekend, Ronald Lamola confirmed that party structures had proposed various changes to the party's constitution.

Lamola, the head of the party's constitutional development committee, said one of the most significant proposed changes was the introduction of a second deputy secretary-general.

The party has had to redeploy more than five NEC members to the secretary-general's office since Ace Magashule's suspension and the death of his deputy, Jessie Duarte.

As such, the proposal to have two deputy secretaries-general has found resonance among the party's structures.

Lamola said that "with regards to the deputy secretary, the rationale is that we will need to have a second deputy secretary who will be able to be assigned specific responsibilities by the NEC".

Should the proposed new resolution be adopted at the ANC's conference next month, the headcount of permanent staff deployed by the NEC will drop significantly.

Several former ministers and NEC members, including Malusi Gigaba, Nomvula Mokonyane, Jeff Radebe, and NEC members Nkenke Kekana, Dakota Legoete, and Sibongile Besani, are employed at Luthuli House. It's been reported that these members are paid the equivalent of a deputy minister's salary, placing further strain on the party's already bloated salary bill.

Over the last two years, the ANC has struggled to pay its administrative staff, with disgruntled employees speaking out over the late payment of their salaries. They have also had to make ends meet after only portions of their salaries were paid.

Delegates attending the elective conference in Nasrec, Johannesburg, next month will vote on the proposal on the first day of the event, ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said last week.

Mashatile, who is also the acting secretary-general, said deliberations on the proposed change would also take place on the first day.

Lamola said for the proposed change to take effect, at least three-quarters of voting delegates would have to support the constitutional amendment. Just more than 4 500 voting delegates will be attending the conference.

Attempts to increase the number of positions for deputy secretaries-general and deputy presidents have failed in the past.

The party's contentious step-aside rule is also expected to be put to a vote at the conference.

The step-aside rule stems from the party's 2012 Mangaung conference, where delegates deliberated on what should happen when someone tarnished the organisation's image and integrity, usually after being linked to criminal charges.

Given that no mechanisms were in place to ensure that members could be held accountable, the ANC's national elective conference in Nasrec in 2017 resolved to put specific guidelines in place and will now seek to strengthen the resolution by constitutionalising it.

"Once the amendment is made, it can be applied in a manner that is transparent and is also consistent because when it's in the constitution, the NEC and any structures will be obliged to follow the constitution," Lamola said.

He explained that all the proposed changes to the party's constitution were being advanced to "enhance the work of the ANC on renewal".

"They should give the impetus to guide what was started at the 2017 elective conference in terms of restoring the image of the party," said Lamola.

South Africa's struggling State power utility Eskom warned on Tuesday that planned maintenance could cause power outages lasting up to a year.

The utility relies on a fleet of ageing, unreliable coal-fired power stations that are often in need of repairs, causing crippling power cuts in Africa's most industrialised economy.

South Africa has already experienced its worst power cuts in years over the past six months, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa pledging new moves to tackle the crisis.

Eskom, which has implemented intermittent power cuts for more than a decade, will start on several maintenance projects in the next few weeks that will take additional units offline, removing more than 2 300 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity from the system, it said.

One of the units, Koeberg 1, is part of Africa's only nuclear power station and the most reliable of Eskom's power generation plants, Eskom said. It will be offline from December 8 until June 2023 for routine maintenance and refuelling.

"This loss of capacity, temporary as it is, will make for a very challenging summer season," Eskom's Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer said in a statement.

"We will have to continue limping along to meet demand for electricity, particularly over the next six to 12 months."

There have been 155 days of power cuts, or loadshedding, since January, Eskom said.

Large and small businesses and residential homes have borne the brunt of the power cuts, cited by policymakers as one of the major obstacles to economic growth.

African National Congress (ANC) treasurer general Paul Mashatile said on Monday that government must strengthen and expand funding for black industrialists and also create platforms for new entrepreneur industrial classes that can fully harness the resources of the country.

Mashatile was addressing the media, following the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting over the weekend. He assured that the party’s fifty-fifth national elective conference in December will deliberate around improving the lives of the majority black population who still live in poverty.

He said the ANC must continue to spare no efforts to implements its programme to tackle the triple the fault lines of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

“NEC remains clear that the movement it leads remains resolutely committed to the implementation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). It noted that whilst progress has been made in empowering people and women in the economy, the benefits of the progress have not been felt by all South Africans,” he explained.

As President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his address to the NEC on Sunday, Mashatile reiterated the need for the ANC to intensify rather than relax BBBEE measures such as skill development, preferential procurement, investment in black-owned and managed firms and an increase in the number of black people who manage, own and control enterprises and productive assets in the economy.

Mashatile explained that such measures have been implemented in the context of an economy with a degree of market concentration which limits the opportunity for new entrance.

“We have, therefore, been using our competition laws to promote emergence of new black owned companies in various sectors of our economy. The NEC however noted that we need to do more and that there are attempts on the part of opposition parties to reserve this critical policy of economic transformation,” he added.

He said the party must also do more to advance the empowerment of young people.

The NEC noted the creation of youth employment service, established with the private sector.

In only two years, the youth employment service created opportunities for many thousands of unemployed young South Africans, with 84% of participants being youth and 62% women.

Meanwhile, the NEC said it noted the work by Treasury in responding to the Constitutional Court deadline on preferential procurement in the public sector.

The NEC reaffirmed its position that BBBEE remains its key policy instrument and urged all its deployees to ensure that this principle is sustained.

Mashatile said the ANC, through its economic transformation committee, will monitor progress in government and continue to engage with stakeholders, especially black business and professionals.

He explained that the ANC's NEC deliberated on the recent congresses of its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party and Cosatu at which it's party leaders were booed and refused an audience.

He said the ANC’s 55th elective conference will discuss the status of the alliance.

Leading up to the promulgation of the Public Procurement Bill, which the National Treasury will soon submit to Cabinet and Parliament for approval, President Cyril Ramaphosa has clarified the intention of the Bill and the Preferential Procurement Regulations that were published last week.

He says government remains wholly committed to transformation and empowerment and that broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) is here to stay, with no prospect of being reconsidered.

The Bill is aimed at unifying the currently disparate and fragmented laws dealing with public sector procurement by creating a single regulatory framework for local, provincial and national governments, as well as State-owned enterprises.

It repeals the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework, or Preferential Procurement Regulations of 2017.

The Preferential Procurement Regulations serve as a “placeholder” until the Bill is finalised and becomes effective from January 16, 2023.

Ramaphosa cites the Constitution in his latest weekly newsletter, stating that, to promote the achievement of equality, legislative and other measures may be taken to advance people who had been disadvantaged by unfair discrimination – this being black people, women and persons with disabilities.

The same Constitution provides for both value-for-money and empowerment in public procurement and that, when public bodies contract for goods and services, they must do so in a manner that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective, Ramaphosa highlights.

“It also says the State must implement a preferential procurement policy that advances people who have been disadvantaged by unfair discrimination. It is in this context that the new Preferential Procurement Regulations need to be understood. Some people have mischaracterised the purpose and effect of the new regulations,” the President explains.

He says some commentary has claimed that the current government is back-tracking on its commitment to BBBEE; however, this is “far from the truth”.

The new regulations fulfil an order of the Constitutional Court last year declaring that the preferential procurement regulations of 2017 are illegal and requiring that the Finance Minister replace them within 12 months.

“Some of the commentators on this matter neglect to mention that the crux of the judgment is the scope of Ministerial powers to make preferential procurement regulations.

“These regulations now fully comply with Section 217 of the Constitution in that they empower organs of State to develop and implement preferential procurement policies when contracting for goods and services,” Ramaphosa explains.

These regulations are an interim measure pending the enactment of the Public Procurement Bill, which Treasury will soon submit to Cabinet and Parliament.

The Public Procurement Bill will maximise both value-for-money and preferential procurement objectives to enable the delivery of services and transformation.

The new regulations have no effect on the BBBEE Act, as all organs of State must fully comply with this Act when developing their procurement policies.

This Act remains in force as one of the most transformative pieces of legislation to come out of democratic South Africa.

“Government’s policy framework has not changed with the introduction of these regulations, nor has our commitment to service delivery and black economic empowerment,” Ramaphosa affirms.

Empowerment criteria will still be applied in government contracting and organs of State must comply with the BBBEE Act when developing their procurement policies.

“What has changed is that organs of State will be able to set and apply specific ‘goals’ when evaluating a tender under a preferential procurement policy.

“Despite the provisions of the Constitution, despite the introduction of measures to advance the economic empowerment of black South Africans and women, we are certainly not as far as we had hoped to be with economic transformation,” Ramaphosa st...

After extensive debate over the weekend, ActionSA decided that it will not be part of a multiparty coalition government with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and its coalition partners in Ekurhuleni, according to national chairperson Michael Beaumont.

The decision means the party's councillors won't form part of the mayoral committee that Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell is scheduled to announce soon.

But the move isn't surprising. ActionSA president Herman Mashaba has long decried the instability of the minority government in Ekurhuleni.

The DA and its coalition partners do not have enough seats to form a majority government in the Gauteng metro.

The fragility of the governance pact was most evident when Campbell was ousted in a motion of no confidence last month.

However, she was re-elected as mayor last week with the support of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Her return was only the result of the failure of the African National Congress (ANC) and EFF to broker a coalition deal.

Service delivery

ActionSA doesn't believe that it can form part of another unstable government in Ekurhuleni, which it says won't be able to fend off motions of no confidence from the ANC.

Instead, the party will take on an opposition role and ensure the DA coalition delivers services to residents, Beaumont said at a briefing on Monday.

Beaumont said the party would "continue voting with the DA to block the return of the ANC", on council decisions, but negotiations would "be treated on a case-by-case basis".

The party bemoaned what it believes is poor service delivery in the metro, even though it formed part of the previous government there.

"We believe we need to fight for better service delivery for all residents in Ekurhuleni. This requires us to give up executive positions and ensure we can fight [un]encumbered by positions that co-opt our support.

"Going forward, ActionSA will form part of the voting bloc that will work to keep the ANC out of this metro by defeating motions of no confidence and working to pass decisions that serve the service delivery needs of residents of Ekurhuleni," Beaumont said.