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Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy on Tuesday appealed to the Mpumalanga police to find the perpetrators who killed a German tourist.

A group of German tourists was travelling to a Mdluli community-owned safari lodge, in Mpumalanga, when they were held up by a group on the Numbi road on Monday afternoon. One member of the group of four tourists was shot and killed during the attack.

Creecy condemned the crime and added that the tourist’s murder will undermine the country’s tourism recovery and job creation as it emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The killing of a foreign tourist to South Africa is detrimental to the country’s attempts to recover from the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The safari lodge, which opened its doors to the public shortly before the international travel ban to stem the spread of the pandemic, employs 200 local community members comprising 95% of the staff complement. These men and women are also part of a skills development programme,” explained Creecy.

She said police should work tirelessly to bring the murderers to book.

A special sitting of the Gauteng provincial legislature has been called for Thursday where a new premier will be sworn into office.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura and the Gauteng African National Congress (ANC) had indicated his departure from the position last month.

Makhura said he was not being forced out of office and that it was his desire that a new person take over the helms of province just before the 2024 elections.

The leadership shift in the province follows the election of Panyaza Lesufi as the Gauteng ANC chairperson. Lesufi is believed to be the person likely to replace Makhura.

Three preferred names were picked by the province which included Lesufi.

Former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse has asked the High Court to set aside decisions taken by Dada Morero in the interest of justice because he was unlawfully appointed as the new mayor.

Phalatse said council Speaker Colleen Makhubele had an ulterior political motive when she "unlawfully" called for an extraordinary council sitting which saw her being removed as mayor.

The former mayor and the Democratic Alliance (DA) argued in court papers, filed at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, that Makhubele wanted to help her political allies and disregarded councillors when she approved Friday's special council sitting.

The court application was filed on Monday.

The DA wants the following declared unlawful and unconstitutional: the programming meeting held on 29 September, which rubber-stamped the extraordinary sitting; the council sitting held on 30 September; Phalatse's removal and Morero's election as the new mayor for Johannesburg.

In an affidavit, Phalaatse conceded Makhubele had the powers to call a special sitting, but took issue with the importance of the matter to be discussed which was the motion of no confidence against her.

Phalatse said despite these powers and council rules did not specify the notice that must be issued for the sitting, councillors were supposed to be allowed at least three days to prepare for the meeting and ensure they could attend.

The DA Johannesburg leader added if less than three days were required for the sitting, Makhubele should have justified the urgency for the motion to be debated.

She said the decision was unlawful because it violated the Municipal Structures Act.

"The notice, in this case, met neither of the requirements. Councillors were only given 20 hours' notice that there would be a council meeting. And at best, 16 hours that a motion of no confidence would be debated.

"The urgency was entirely unjustified. The motion of no confidence in me had been pending against me for more than two months. Nothing had happened to suddenly make it so urgent less than a day's notice should be given to moving the motion," Phalatse said.

She added Makhubele had political motives in fast-tracking her removal to achieve a political advantage for herself and her allies.

"I am advised that it is contrary to the principles of legality to act for an ulterior purpose not permitted by an empowering provision. That is what Colleen Makhubele has done. Her decision must be set aside for that reason."

Phalatse argued the council meeting was illegal because the programming committee that approved it did not quorate because the DA and other political parties had walked out.

Another argument for the former mayor was the special sitting was unlawful because DA councillors present were not allowed to speak, Makhubele denied the DA a caucus break, and the motion of no confidence was not debated.

Phalatse said the court should treat the case with urgency for herself and the residents of Johannesburg.

She also asked the court to set aside and review any decisions Morero had taken while in office.

"My removal as mayor was an abuse of power. Should I return to the office, I should not return to be faced with decisions taken by an unlawfully appointed mayor. It is in the interest of justice to set aside all these decisions," Phalatse argued.

The case will be heard next Tuesday.

On Monday, the Western Cape High Court ordered that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) provide Toto Investment Holdings with all confidential documents pertaining to their decision to sell a 51% stake of South African Airways (SAA).

But the court turned down Toto's application to halt the sale of shares of SAA, punishing it with costs.

Judge Nathan Erasmus ordered that Gordhan and the DPE provide a non-confidential record and a confidential one and that all parties in the litigation be bound by confidentiality agreements.

Toto Investment Holdings, an unsuccessful bidder for some of the assets of SAA, has launched an application to have the sale to Takatso's parent company Harith set aside. This application is to be heard at the end of January 2023.

In terms of the uniform rules of court, Gordhan and DPE were compelled to provide the record of decision for the transaction. But only a part of the record was handed over to Toto, as Gordhan and his department argued that crucial parts of it could not be disclosed due to commercial sensitivity. They said that some records must remain confidential.

Erasmus ordered that for purposes of the case management of the January hearing, these records must be disclosed within 20 days of Monday's order. They will remain confidential and only parties to the litigation may be present in court when they are aired.

Monday's order followed an urgent application by Toto last Wednesday to force Gordhan to provide the record. The applicants also asked the court to interdict the sale of shares to Takatso.

Erasmus dismissed the application with costs on several grounds. Among the reasons was that Toto could have applied for an interdict last year when the sale was first announced, but opted not to. Toto had also failed to join Takatso as a party, citing instead its parent company Harith as a respondent.

Despite the dismissal, Erasmus said that he had the "obligation and authority" to ensure that the process was appropriately managed, leading up to hearing of the main application in January. With the approval of the Judge President of the Western Cape High Court, Erasmus said he would case manage the matter, the first step of which was to regulate the furnishing of confidential documentation under a confidentiality regime.

ActionSA Gauteng Chairperson Bongani Baloyi has accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of destabilising the coalition in the City of Johannesburg “in the interest of power and position”.

ActionSA briefed the media following the collapse of the multi-party government in the municipality.

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) Mpho Phalatse was voted out as City of Johannesburg mayor in a motion of no-confidence against her last week.

The African National Congress's Dada Morero was voted in as the new mayor.

Baloyi announced that there is no coalition arrangement in the City of Johannesburg moving forward and added that his party has accepted the “new reality” that they are now an opposition party.

He promised that ActionSA will be a formidable opposition by ensuring that a budget approved is affected and by holding the executive accountable.

“We are going to do our part. We have decided to place the residents ahead of everything else and ensure that they will get the services that they need,” Baloyi stated.

ActionSA wished former mayor Phalatse well and added that despite her removal she was a great leader of the now disbanded coalition.

“We are not there subserving into the will and the whim of the DA and to help it govern. No one won, there is no majority party there. All of us are the same. It’s important that the coalition appreciates theses dynamics and also acts in the best interest of stabilising our coalition by making sure that the members’ participation is deepened and that you don’t have the same party occupying the key leadership positions, that being the speaker, the chief whip and the executive mayor,” said Baloyi.

As the Presidential Employment Stimulus reaches a milestone of one-million participants, President Cyril Ramaphosa assured that government will continue to build on the success of the programme and expand its reach.

The Presidential Employment Stimulus was launched less than two years ago as part of government’s economic recovery plan during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many South Africans lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic and the programme was created in response.

In his weekly newsletter to the nation, Ramaphosa attributed the achievement to a collaborative effort between government, the private sector, community-based organisations and others.

“As we pursue economic growth to deliver decent and sustainable employment at a much larger scale, we will continue to build on the success of the Presidential Employment Stimulus and expand its reach. It is still very much needed to complement recovery of the job market. It also supports that economic recovery in important ways,” the President said.

Highlighting some of the achievements of the programme, Ramaphosa revealed that almost 600 000 young people have been placed as school assistants in over 22 000 schools across the country.

He said school management, teachers and other stakeholders all agree that school assistants have improved the learning environment in schools.

Over 140 000 subsistence farmers have received production input vouchers to assist them following the disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Presidential Employment Stimulus is also supporting graduates with the help of universities, 26 of which are helping place unemployed graduates in work relevant to their qualifications.

“The Department of Science and Innovation has introduced a range of innovative citizen science programmes, such as the Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust, which employs local youth as Enviro-Champs to empower communities to rehabilitate local water sources. Another programme by the department helps entrepreneurs to develop business proposals in the green economy,” explained Ramaphosa.

The President added that government wants to expand and deepen the impact of graduate hiring and he urged businesses to hire young people with newly-acquired work experience as they leave these programmes.

“Once employers see the Presidential Youth Stimulus as a place to find young talent, then we will be able to realise the full potential of this innovative and hugely successful initiative,” he said.

Swiss Engineering firm Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) says it has put aside $325-million (about R6-billion) as a provision to cover costs related to corruption probes at Kusile power station.

On Friday, the Zurich-headquartered firm said it was cooperating fully with the authorities and "hopes to reach a final settlement with them in the near term".

ABB won a R2.2-billion contract for work at Kusile in 2015. Its subsequent subcontracting of some of the work out to a company called Impulse International is being probed by authorities.

In July, two former South African ABB employees and their wives were arrested in connection with kickbacks allegedly paid by Impulse to ABB for inflated contracts.

ABB South Africa has already paid back R1.56-billion as part of a settlement reached in 2020. At the time, it warned that it may have to pay more based on further reviews of its work at Eskom.

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla announced that the Health Department is considering a phased approach investment in renewable energy, specifically solar power installations at health facilities, as part of an energy mix.

South Africa is currently facing it longest bout of load-shedding, which is negatively affecting businesses and health facilities such as hospitals and clinics.

Phaahla said the impact of load-shedding on the provision of healthcare services cannot be underestimated or overemphasised.

Nine hospitals in Gauteng have been excluded from load-shedding, one in the Free State; thirteen in KwaZulu-Natal; four hospitals in Limpopo; five in the Eastern Cape and three in the Western Cape. Three hospitals in the Northern Cape and two in Mpumalanga are waiting response from Eskom.

Phaahla said the exemptions were done in collaboration with his department, Eskom and municipalities.

Meanwhile, he said the proposed energy mix needed a feasibility study before plans progressed.

Solarised energy will be prioritised for areas such as theatres, Intensive Care Units, high-tech and advanced equipment, he said.

“We would like to ensure that all facilities have Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) technology to improve the reliability and efficiency of an electrical system across an entire hospital facility to sustain critical services and data protection for its patients and staff,” he said.

Phaahla said in terms of the department’s response to the disruptive challenges caused by load-shedding, the Health Department has developed a multifaceted strategy for immediate short- and long-term implementation.

He said the criteria for hospital exclusion include the volume of patients, the nature of specialised services they provide and the technological and medical equipment they have.

“These are mostly academic, regional and district hospitals. The exclusions or exemptions do not mean the facilities should use electricity without limitations, we have made it clear to Eskom that we have joined their call to ensure that even our health facilities use electricity sparingly, productively and purposefully at all times,” he added.

He announced that his department is further engaging the National Treasury to discuss the additional budget implications to sustain the load-shedding contingency plans, including an unbudgeted increase in diesel and oil expenditure to run the generators and maintenance costs.

“The Department has committed to work with Eskom to install, where required, the dedicated feeder line that isolates the power supply line of the facility from that of the rest of the community. We will, together with Eskom, consider the costs of these infrastructures as we view it as a necessary investment to ensure the long-term exemption of all facilities,” said Phaahla.

He added that load-shedding compels the Health Department to revise its plans and costs when constructing new facilities to include new sources of energy – renewables– over and above generators.

In addition, the Department must ensure the installation of the dedicated feeder line to avoid the current exercise of reconfiguring the electricity networks.

The African National Congress's (ANC's) Dada Morero is the City of Johannesburg's new mayor-elect after the ousting of Mpho Phalatse. Morero stood unopposed.

Today's developments come after a tumultuous period in which the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) Vasco da Gama was voted out as speaker of the Johannesburg council.

On Thursday, new speaker Colleen Makhubele of Cope called a special sitting of council for today, just days after being elected.

Phalatse was voted out as mayor in a motion of no-confidence this afternoon.

Of the 145 councillors who signed the register, 139 voted to pass the motion.

The Inkatha Freedom Party, and a member of the DA-led coalition abstained. This happened whilst the DA was in the High Court seeking an urgent interdict against the meeting.

National Treasury has banned consultancy Bain & Co. from tendering for public sector contracts for a period of 10 years.

"The effective date of restriction is 5 September 2022 until 4 September 2032 for engaging in corrupt and fraudulent practices related to a SARS [SA Revenue Service] contract," Treasury said in a statement on Thursday.

"This restriction has been published on the National Treasury website and database for restricted suppliers. The restriction will apply to any other contract for services awarded to Bain & Co in the public sector."

Treasury said it was, in collaboration with SARS, "in the process of restricting Bain & Co, South African Directors through a phased approach."

The decision to ban the company comes seven weeks after the UK government banned it from competing for state contracts for three years.

While National Treasury's acting director-general, Ismail Momoniat, previously called on companies in the private sector to not do business with Bain, Thursday's announcement is the first time that Bain has been banned from public work in South Africa.

While Bain has acknowledged making "serious mistakes" in its work for SARS, it has consistently denied that its representatives "knowingly" participated in state capture or an effort to "damage SARS".

It has also launched a legal challenge against its ban from state contacts in the UK.