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The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will on Wednesday take over the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) chairpersonship from the Election Commission of India, at an event on Wednesday.

South Africa is currently acting as deputy chairperson of A-WEB.

Delegates from 63 countries will attend the A-WEB’’s first meeting in Africa, the fifth General Assembly, which incorporates the A-WEB Executive Board Meeting and an International Conference.

The Commission’s delegation will be led by newly-appointed Commission chairperson Mosotho Moepya, while the secretariat of A-WEB will be led by a new secretary-general, to be elected at this General Assembly.

The IEC said it was pleased to take over the chairpersonship and have the opportunity to lead the “august body”, and serve the objectives of electoral democracy.

The Commission will work with sister election management bodies – in particular its African colleagues – to raise electoral excellence in electoral democracy not only within Africa, but across the world, it said.

“Accordingly, the Commission acknowledges and pays tribute to Glen Mashinini who served as the Deputy Chairperson of A-WEB on our behalf, and the Election Commission of India, led by its Chairperson and outgoing Chairperson of A-WEB, Mr Rajiv Kumar, for their sterling leadership of this important organisation – especially during the turbulent times of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the IEC said.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the IEC looked forward to an exciting exchange around best practices internationally on measures to mitigate the effects of the democratic recession.

South Africans will have to wait another month to find out whether President Cyril Ramaphosa has a case to answer for, with regards to allegations relating to an incident at his Phala Phala farm.

On Monday night, Parliament announced that an independent panel tasked with probing the allegations would start its work on Wednesday.

"The 30-day timeline within which the panel must report in terms of Rule 129G(1), starts from 19 October 2022," a report on Parliament's announcements, tablings and committee reports read.

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appointed the Section 89 inquiry panel, following a motion by ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula for Ramaphosa's removal on the grounds of "a serious violation of the Constitution or the law and serious misconduct".

"Reporting the matter to General Wally Rhoode, a member of the Presidential Protection Unit, is not in compliance with the South African Police Service Amendment Act, 2012, which directs that reporting should be made to the police official in the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in terms of Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004. The fact that there is no case number to date is proof that the manner in which the purported reporting was made was irregular and unlawful," Zungula alleges.

He added that Ramaphosa's "life and limb" were not threatened by the burglary.

"Thus, General Wally Rhoode had no business to be investigating anything at the Phala Phala farm as unlawfully directed by the president," he added.

The National Assembly's rules for the Section 89 process - the section of the Constitution dealing with the removal of the president - require three "fit and proper, competent, experienced and respected South African citizens" to serve on the panel.

Former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo will chair the independent panel, which will determine whether there is a prima facie case that requires an answer from Ramaphosa.

Following objections from the DA and EFF last week, legal academic and political commentator Richard Calland announced he would no longer serve on the panel. Replacing him is advocate Mahlape Sello, SC.

The third person is former judge, Thokozile Masipa.

The Phala Phala saga became a burning issue in June, after the former director-general at the State Security Agency (SSA) and former commissioner of correctional services, Arthur Fraser, opened a kidnapping and money laundering case against Ramaphosa, Rhoode and Crime Intelligence members for allegedly concealing the February 2020 burglary.

According to Fraser's affidavit, Ramaphosa had at least $4-million in cash stashed in a couch at the game farm, and played a part in covering it up, following an allegedly illegal investigation.

Well-known South African Catholic priest, anti-apartheid activist and internationally renowned theologian and author Fr. Albert Nolan has died at the age of 88.

He died peacefully in his sleep under the care of the Dominican Sisters at Marian House in Boksburg in the early hours of Monday October 17.

Born Denis James Harry Nolan in Cape Town on September 2, 1934, Nolan was born to a family of South Africans of Irish descent, who lived in Gardens. He went to school at St. Joseph's Marist Brothers in Rondebosch and after a period working for a bank, entered the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church in 1954, taking the name Albert.

Awarded the ‘Order of Luthuli in Silver’ by then President Thabo Mbeki in 2003 for his “life-long dedication to the struggle for democracy, human rights and justice and for challenging the religious ‘dogma’ especially the theological justification for apartheid”, Nolan inspired a generation of Christian activists and theologians.

His dedication to the anti-apartheid struggle saw him decline the prestigious role of Master of the Dominican Order to which he was elected in 1983, as it would have meant him being transferred to the Order’s Rome headquarters. Instead, he convinced the Dominicans to allow him to remain in South Africa. At the height of the second State of Emergency in 1986, he was forced into hiding in order to escape from the notorious South African Security Police. Nolan was particularly vulnerable to arrest for steering the drafting process of the Kairos Document in mid-1985, which arose primarily from the work of grassroots theologians in Soweto and Johannesburg, but which he and Reverend Frank Chikane of the Institute for Contextual Theology (ICT) played a central role in editing. Described as a ‘theology from below’, the document critiqued the role of the churches in apartheid South Africa, dismantled any theological justification for racism and totalitarianism and proposed instead a ‘prophetic theology’ akin to Liberation Theology.

From 1973-1980, he served as national chaplain for the National Catholic Federation of Students (NCFS) and also, until 1980, for the Catholic Students Association (CASA), which was formed in 1976 after black students began organising themselves into separate formations as Black Consciousness flourished. In 1977, Nolan was instrumental in establishing Young Christian Students (YCS) in South Africa after he attended an International Movement of Catholic Students gathering in Lima, Peru, in 1975, where he was introduced to the See-Judge-Act method of social analysis and was inspired by Gustavo Gutiérrez, who later also became a Dominican and who is regarded as one of the pioneers of Liberation Theology. From 1977-1984, Nolan served as national chaplain of YCS, which affiliated itself to the United Democratic Front, initially formed in 1983 to oppose the Tricameral Parliament but which also united more than 400 organisations across all sectors of society in the struggle for a ‘non-racial, non-sexist and united South Africa’.

Nolan also played a brave role in the "underground work" of the liberation movements, notably the African National Congress, offering his support to activists, especially those who became victims of the apartheid regime’s violent and repressive security police. He was part of a secret underground network that managed logistics, including the transportation and movement of activists, providing safe houses and a means of communication while in South Africa.

The full extent of his role in these networks was revealed by Horst Kleinschmidt in a tribute to Nolan on October 20, 2022. Kleinschmidt, who was himself banned, detained, and exiled by the apartheid regime, disclosed that Nolan was part of a group of more than 20 operatives who smuggled communication out of South Africa to the then exiled African National Congress and returned with messages from Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki to activists inside the country. “I reveal today for the first...

Former Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse has accused the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in the City of Johannesburg of wasting no time in resuming “corrupt dealings” after what she called her “unlawful removal”.

Addressing the media on Monday, Phalatse said the ANC in Johannesburg has reinstated people who were previously removed from critical positions owing to corruption.

“As we speak, Johannesburg’s top Investigative Group Forensic and Investigation Services Unit is without a head. We now hear that the ANC intends to place it under a? unit that is meant to ensure clean governance but is led by one of the individuals who was previously dismissed... Since she was re-engaged by the ANC, billions of rands of irregular expenditure have been incurred and, once again, corruption abounds,” Phalatse alleged.

She said a coalition with the ANC in Johannesburg should not be considered because of corruption and added that a party that wants to be successful in government should be in a position to appoint the best possible Mayor.

“While we are confident in our own ability to choose the right person to be the Mayor of our City, we have no confidence that the ANC could ever provide someone with integrity; someone with the political will and the latitude to deal with the hordes of corrupt cadres deployed by the ANC over decades,” added Phalatse.

Phalaste said it is a given that ANC corruption would be exposed at some point.

ActionSA announced former KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Zwakele Mncwango as its KZN provincial chairperson.

Earlier this month Mncwango resigned from the provincial legislature and the DA.

“For me is about looking forward, the big question now is many people want to know why I joined ActionSA? And the simple answer is because I want to fix South Africa,” said Mncwango.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said Mncwango brought to the party an enormous amount of leadership ability and experience.

“But certainly looking forward to applying that in a new dynamic in a party that is much more free to build and grow in all directions,” said Beaumont.

He described Mncwango as a man of principle, with high ethics and a man who would put South Africa at the core of his agenda, saying these were the leaders ActionSA looked for.

Mncwango said he travelled the entire province and he noted that all people wanted was hope. He said that politicians must continue to give people that hope to build South Africa.

“I have an assignment to serve the people of South Africa, more especially people of KZN,” he said.

He went on to explain that ever since he left the DA he had been approached by former members of ActionSA who were keen to return to the organisation.

He explained that ActionSA's policies and values were aligned to his personal values.

“It’s very important that we build a country on a piece of principle and I think we can do that. What touched me, mainly because I believe in non-racial society, and I believe it’s a core principle of the ActionSA, is we need to start focusing on equality in terms of opportunities,” he added.

He said the party must start building an inclusive economy in the country as many people were starving in poverty.

“I know, Mashaba, you always talk about social justice. It’s close to my heart because we need a pro-poor agenda, we cannot play around that. We need to start engaging on this issue, we need to say how do we help our poor people on the ground because there is no use to sit in luxury life while you pass many areas people starving on poverty. The question is how do you take those people along with us?” he said.

He said he hopes ActionSA would play a role in fighting for quality and equal education.

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba said after 2024, his party would lead the coalition that runs South Africa.

"We will be a party that treats our coalition partners with the utmost respect, because without them, we will never achieve anything,” he said.

Jacob Zuma's arms deal case was adjourned on Monday after the former president objected to the further involvement of Billy Downer, the prosecutor in the matter.

Downer is facing a fresh appeal, which was submitted by Zuma's team on Monday, for him to step down for "ethical reasons". Zuma's legal team argued that Downer should step aside in order to ensure the integrity of the court.

In a letter to the court, Zuma's legal team said: "We have been instructed to register our client's objection to any further involvement of advocate Downer in this matter.

"As you are no doubt aware, advocate Downer is accused one in the ongoing private criminal prosecution, in which our client is the prosecutor," read the letter.

It went on to state that Downer had appeared in the same court on Monday, 10 October, and was, therefore, "ethically and professionally bound to recuse himself as he is clearly conflicted".

Downer said he was acting on the instructions of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi.

He said the NPA cannot be forced to withdraw its prosecutors when they are attacked, particularly in cases where the attack is not merited.

Zuma's legal team said the former president had filed an application in the Constitutional Court to urge it to direct the Supreme Court of Appeal to reconsider its decision to deny him leave to appeal against the dismissal of his special plea, which challenged Downer's standing as a prosecutor in the arms deal case.

Zuma's lawyer, advocate Sifiso Buthelezi, proposed that, as a result of the parallel proceedings, the arms deal matter should reconvene only in the second term of next year.

Buthelezi argued that Monday's court hearing was meant to be a status quo meeting, in which Zuma's legal team was to provide updates on the pre-trial appeals.

Downer, however, made a case for the trial to go ahead on 7 November, despite the pending decision from the Constitutional Court relating to a pre-trial application to have him recused.

He summed up the latest application as yet another Stalingrad attempt by Zuma in his many attempts to delay proceedings.

Judge Piet Koen adjourned the matter until Wednesday, when he will deliver a ruling on the progress of the case.

The 80-year-old Zuma and French arms firm Thales are facing 18 counts of corruption, including money laundering, tax evasion and racketeering, in connection with the multibillion-rand arms deal.

While legal exchanges were flying inside the courtroom, outside the court there was none of the hype and fanfare seen last week, where Zuma lodged an attempted private prosecution against Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan.

Both Maughan and Downer have denied any wrongdoing.

Zuma and his usual entourage of political heavyweights did not attend Monday's proceedings.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has told Parliament that it expects to forgo R10.1-billion in revenue in the coming year because of its inability to enforce revenue collection for its ill-fated electronic tolling project in Gauteng.

Sanral was briefing Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Transport on Thursday afternoon amid several challenges facing the agency, including the cancellation of billions of rands' worth of tender awards and bottlenecks in getting procurement going.

The entity received an unqualified audit with material findings affecting the audit report. Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke raised concerns about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern because of the low collection of tolls on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).

In June, it emerged that Sanral spent less than half of its government grant over the past two years. The agency's directors introduced a procurement process stopping management from using the same consulting engineer to design the technical specifications of a project and evaluate the technical bids.

The industry warned that this instruction would lead to higher costs, longer delays, and a greater chance that projects could go wrong as different engineers were called on to manage designs that were not theirs.

Sanral CFO Inga Mulder said issues flagged by the Auditor-General included the valuation of the road network, expected credit losses due to e-tolls, and the GFIP revenue reflections. She said the pressure on Sanral's toll road portfolio put pressure on the agency's position as a going concern.

"If you look at Sanral holistically as a company, it is a going concern. However, because the two portfolios, toll and non-toll, are separated and ringfenced in terms of the Sanral Act, you have to look at the toll portfolio and the non-toll portfolio by itself to see if they are healthy.

"It is in this assessment that you see significant pressure on the toll side because of the uncertainty of revenue in the future," Mulder said.

Mulder said the AG raised material uncertainty as there was no certainty regarding the agency's ability to raise funding on via tolls to fund the significant capital expenditure required on toll roads across the country.

"We expect not to collect about R10.1-billion [...] because of our inability to enforce the collection there. That's why the AG brings emphasis on matters there," she said.

Speaking on the maintenance of the national road network, Sanral acting CEO Lehlohonolo Memeza said the agency's underperformance was due to delays in the award of new reseal contracts and very limited actual expenditure from projects procured in terms of the latest procurement requirements. Resealing refers to road repairs.

"Reason for non-achievement of the target is delays in the award of the reseal contract. The drop in maintenance is due to delays in managing projects. But we have a procurement turnaround strategy that will catch up on the backlog," Memeza said.

Asked about the possibility of scrapping e-tolls, Memeza said: "Sanral has been consulted and has worked together with the minister of transport and the minister of finance in providing all of the info required by the ministers for that decision to be made, but it is not up to Sanral to make that decision".

The Sanral annual report said the entity's credit losses mainly relate to e-toll debtors amounting to R9.5-billion, which is down from R9.6-billion in 2021.

AG Maluleke wrote in her audit report that she recognised material impairments of R9.6-billion as a result of expected credit losses.

"The public entity's funding strategy for the next 12 months relating to the toll portfolio is dependent on positive developments relating to the increase in the borrowing limit and the public entity raising funding either from government grants or further borrowings.

"These events or conditions, along with other matters show ... a material uncertainty exists that may cast signifi...

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday assured that outstanding recommendations made by the Nugent Commission of Inquiry will continue to receive the attention of his administration and the relevant institutions.

Ramaphosa was speaking in Pretoria during the the twenty-fifth anniversary of the South Africa Revenue Service (Sars), where he said many of the Commission’s recommendations have been implemented by the Ministry of Finance, National Treasury and Sars.

In 2018 Ramaphosa instituted the Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Robert Nugent, to investigate the state of the revenue collector, which had deteriorated from being a world class institution to one that no longer held any public trust.

The most damning finding of the Commission of Inquiry was that there was massive failure of governance and integrity at Sars, facilitated by the deliberate dismantling of tried and tested organisational arrangements.

The President said since its inception, Sars had provided South Africa’s democratic government with the financial resources to fulfil the promise of freedom, and to create a better life for all.

Since its formation in 1997, Sars has been able to collect over R18-trillion for government to provide fund various programmes that have supported the lives of South Africans.

Ramaphosa said when one compared the amount of R1.6-trillion collected by end of March 2022 to the R147-billion Sars collected in 1996/1997, one became aware of the enormously impressive work that had been done by the organisation.

He said South Africa was grateful for the assistance that Sars received in its formative years from institutions such as the Swedish tax authority and the Australian and Canadian revenue authorities.

He explained that this assistance helped accelerate the pace of learning for Sars during that early period.

“Unfortunately, none of those lessons could have prepared Sars to protect itself against well-orchestrated capture by self-serving individuals who were not only unbothered by the higher purpose I spoke about but were in fact hostile to it,” the President said.

Ramaphosa thanked Nugent, his team and the evidence leaders, for providing the recommendations that had assisted Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter and his team in restoring the integrity of the institution, in improving efficiency and in regaining public trust among taxpayers, traders and other stakeholders.

Ramaphosa said for Sars to deliver optimally on its work, it was critical that all taxpayers and traders complied with their legal obligations.

“Over the past few years, Sars has been accessing data locally and across the world to help the organisation to detect and act against non-compliant taxpayers and criminal syndicates. To those compliant taxpayers who meet their legal obligations, I salute you. It is your compliance that enables Sars to fulfil its mandate of collecting all the revenue that is due,” he explained.

EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE

Ramaphosa noted that Sars’ path of transformation had been a long journey, following various iterations, remodelling and operational shifts, and asserted that it would continue to be a growing and maturing institution.

He highlighted that Sars was an “excellent example” of a government entity that was efficient and effective.

“The encouraging progress of rebuilding Sars is evidence that it is possible to arrest and rebuild ourselves to continue in this vein, and to inspire other government departments and entities to follow suit. It is crucial that Sars continues to pursue its mandate without fear, favour or prejudice,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa went on to thank the staff at Sars, particularly for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Government supported businesses in distress with tax relief measures that were well administered by Sars,” he said.

He pointed out that none of the financial interventions would have been possible were it not for the work of “the committed employees at Sars”.

Former President Jacob Zuma has launched a Constitutional Court appeal application aimed at ensuring his prosecutor Billy Downer’s removal and his acquittal on Arms Deal corruption charges – days before his trial is due to resume.

Late last month, the apex court unanimously dismissed the former president’s arguments that then Supreme Court Appeal President Mandisa Maya had grossly misdirected herself by refusing to reconsider his failed legal bid to force Downer’s removal.

Maya had found there were no exceptional circumstances justifying her reconsidering her court's previous dismissal of Zuma's attempted challenge to Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen’s ruling that Downer had the title (legal standing) to prosecute him.

Zuma has since launched a private prosecution against Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan for allegedly violating the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act through the sharing of court documents submitted by his own lawyers and the prosecution, which contained a note from one of his doctors.

Maughan received the documents from advocate Andrew Breitenbach SC, who was acting for the NPA.

Zuma contends that his medical information was leaked, despite the fact that he failed to claim confidentiality when he filed the letter to the court. Koen found that the letter was submitted to Downer “without any specific restrictions as regards confidentiality”.

The judge further held that the letter was vague and general and did not disclose anything that could be said to amount to a violation of Zuma’s rights.

Zuma is now seeking to challenge that ruling.

He argues that Koen failed to consider “the impact of the alleged criminal acts and prosecutorial misconduct by the prosecutor in conjunction and in concert with those associated [with] the institution assigned to conduct the prosecution on behalf of the State, the National Prosecuting Authority on the requisite title to prosecute and my guaranteed constitutional rights”.

Should he convince the apex court that Downer lacks the title to prosecute him, Zuma argues, “then I would be entitled to demand an acquittal”.

“The implications of this application and/or appeal upon my rights are therefore far-reaching."

The African National Congress (ANC) in Ekurhuleni on Thursday submitted a motion of no confidence in Mayor Tania Campbell and accused her of racialising service delivery in the metro.

ANC chief whip in the metro councillor Jongizizwe Dlabathi said under Campbell's leadership "service delivery has taken a racial turn, and our townships, where the majority black communities reside, have been clearly neglected".

"The DA [Democratic Alliance] has actually pursued an anti-pro-poor (sic) budget, with one case in point being the abrupt decision of taking away the free basic electricity, which was a necessary relief for our communities, especially amid the tough economic conditions," said Dlabathi.

The DA has rubbished the reasons cited for the motion of no confidence.

DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille said opposition parties always made up excuses in their attempts at unseating a party in power.

"The ANC makes better offers to our coalition partners, and it is very easy for them to then follow the coalition of extortion and not place the needs of communities first," she said.

According to her, South Africa does not have coalition politics. She said the current situation was akin to kingmaker politics where those joining forces were always looking out for what was best for them and not the communities they were supposed to serve.

Zille said 90% of the time was being spent trying to keep coalitions together, instead of service delivery.

According to Campbell, her multiparty coalition government is as diverse as the communities it serves.

She said the coalition government "gives us a distinct advantage in understanding the real challenges facing communities across the city. As a result, we are well placed to resolve the service delivery and financial quagmire we encountered when we acceded to office barely four months ago".

The motion of no confidence, which was submitted on Thursday, paves the way for an ANC takeover in coalition with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), as was the case when the party recently managed to wrestle back power in Johannesburg with the assistance of the EFF.

Dlabathi said the motion was scheduled to be voted on at the next ordinary council sitting on 26 October.

Campbell has been leading a minority coalition, but with fractured relations between the DA and ActionSA, the party could lose control of a second Gauteng metro in the space of three weeks.

Dlabathi said the ANC was confident of "the basis under which we are putting the motion; the reasons that we are raising should resonate with the majority parties in council".

EFF Gauteng chairperson Nkululeko Dunga said they were yet to decide on the matter but added that they were aggrieved by the DA's leadership in the metro.

"Currently, there are motions adopted by the council that the DA administration is stalling in implementing because there is no political will to carry decisions of council out on the basis that they do not resonate with the DA ideology," said Dunga.

"We can't allow such a situation. We, however, remain committed to being constructive and ensuring that there is a stable government. However, the stability of a formulated governance will lie purely in its effectiveness in rendering basic services," Dunga added.