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Chief Justice Raymond Zondo believes the African National Congress (ANC) may not have learnt its lesson, and should state capture happen again, the party would still use its majority to protect those implicated.

"They are many questions that arise in the context of what I call the Gupta-Zuma state capture. One of them is why Parliament did not stop this," he said.

"The evidence led before the commission was clear that Parliament had all the power to stop it but did not stop it because the majority party didn't want to stop it."

Zondo, who chaired the State Capture Commission of Inquiry, was giving the keynote address at News24's On the Record Summit on Thursday.

"Many times, opposition parties tabled motions for the establishment of inquiries to look into the allegations of the influence of the Guptas on the president.

"A number of parties also tabled motions of no confidence into the president as a way of trying to stop this, but of course the majority party would have nothing to do with it."

He said should "the Guptas be back and not in jail and be free in SA and started all over again, would Parliament act different [and prevent state capture]".

"I doubt that they [MPs] would act differently because the evidence was quite clear that members of the majority party are not expected to support a motion of no confidence in the president of the country who belonged to their party.

"Then the question arises if we are at risk of what happened again and Parliament not being able to act. These are matters that must be considered. They are very difficult matters."

In his findings, Zondo blamed in the main ANC MPs for their unwillingness to expose allegations of malfeasance and corruption to public scrutiny.

He said the National Assembly had a constitutional duty to exercise oversight over the executive, including organs of state such as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and had failed dismally in this regard.

"The problem here was not Parliament's ability to ferret out the truth [questions put in the National Assembly by opposition MPs elicited admission in this regard] but the ANC stance that there was nothing wrong with this," read one of Zondo's reports.

On Thursday, the chief justice said, "of course, Parliament operates on the basis of the majority, and whatever decisions are taken by the majority stands".

He, however, went on to say such governance needed to be interrogated now if it still served the needs of all South Africans or only the governing party.

Zondo succinctly summarised the crux of his state capture findings and reiterated the commission had indeed uncovered state capture.

"Many of us gathered here, and those who have read on state capture may be aware that internationally a definition of state capture includes changing laws and changing policies for benefactors to benefit from public funds.

"The view we took [as the commission] in the contest of SA was to go back to the Public Protector's report, and it became clear to us that when you go to that report, the main focus of what the Public Protector had in mind was that there were allegations that the Gupta family was exercising undue influence on the head of state.

"Through their proximity to him [then-president Jacob Zuma], the Guptas influenced decisions in governments and SOEs that were aimed at enriching themselves and their entities from public funds unlawfully," said Zondo.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that failures at a local government level are widening the trust deficit between national government and the citizenry.

Ramaphosa was speaking during Thursday’s national conference focused on local government accountability, service delivery and human rights, organised by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.

Ramaphosa said unless failures were remedied, South Africans could become disillusioned with democracy itself.

He stressed that local government was one of the most important custodians of the socio-economic rights of South Africans.

“Efficient and affordable service delivery could mark the difference between leading a life of dignity, as promised by our Constitution, and a life of squalor, misery and deprivation. When local government works – when basic services like water, sanitation, education, electrification and health care – are distributed efficiently and equitably, people’s quality of life is improved, businesses thrive and economies grow and the dignity of our people is assured,” he said.

He warned that when local government delivery failed, the impact was direct and devastating and it had an immediate overarching negative impact on the lives of South Africans.

He said it was deeply disturbing that recent reports from the Auditor-General, National Treasury and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs showed that the majority of the country’s municipalities were failing.

“The National Treasury classifies two-thirds of South Africa’s 257 municipalities as being in financial distress, with only 41 receiving clean audits in the past financial year. What this means is that many municipalities are unable to deliver basic services and are unable to build and upgrade clinics and hospitals, and fix roads,” Ramaphosa outlined.

He stressed that political contestation and infighting, lack of skills, failure to adhere to legislative prescripts, poor governance, lack of accountability, and “super corruption” were causing instability in municipalities and eroding the provision of services.

“Continuing along the current trajectory is neither viable nor sustainable. It undermines the constitutional promise of human dignity. It threatens economic growth and investment. It is a threat to our constitutional order because local government is in many ways the most important sphere of government - it operates where our people live, it operates where businesses invest and it operates in a sphere where basic human rights of our people need to be actualised,” he said.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

Ramaphosa went on to say that while good governance was a prerequisite for efficient local government, facilitating access of local communities to municipal decision-making was essential to participatory democracy.

He envisioned that the ideal municipality was accessible, provided opportunities for public engagement, and communicated while being considerate of local needs such as language and media platforms.

“In an ideal municipality, customer care and feedback management systems are functional and implemented effectively. In an ideal municipality, local government has regular outreach with communities on matters affecting development and consults other stakeholders, such as businesses, NGOs and community-based organisations,” he added.

He said government’s aspiration was that citizens be partners in their own development.

SERVICE DELIVERY PROTEST

Ramaphosa said the rise in service delivery protests, many of which turn violent, was a barometer of public dissatisfaction with the non-delivery of services.

He noted that the reasons for protests varied, and that social and economic dynamics, high unemployment and failing municipal governance all inevitably played a role.

“We are categorical, however, that no matter how legitimate the grievance, arson, looting, violence and damage to propert...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that he stands ready to take the nation into his confidence and that he would do so through legal and Parliamentary processes.

Following a disruptive session in the National Assembly on Tuesday, the Presidency said it was concerned about claims made by MPs that Ramaphosa did not answer the question for oral reply in the National Assembly, on the robbery that occurred at his Limpopo farm in January 2020.

“On a proper reading of the question, President Ramaphosa did, in fact, answer the question,” said his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, on Wednesday.

In his oral reply, Ramaphosa had said, “I know there is a great deal of interest in my answer to this question and I’d like to say that, without appearing that I do not want to answer questions, that I do not want to be accountable, I should say that as I have indicated before – in written replies to Members of this House, in the debate on the Presidency Budget Vote and in statements on various public platforms – I stand ready to cooperate with any investigations on this matter.”

He pointed out that investigations were ongoing by a variety of agencies, which showed the importance of the matter.

He said he had responded, and would continue to respond, to all the questions put to him by the relevant authorities.

Ramaphosa said he stood ready to give an explanation, but for him, it has been important that he should give space, stand back and allow the various agencies to deal with these matters as thoroughly as he believed they were doing.

He added that he had been advised to address the matter once the due processes had concluded.

“While there are clearly individuals and organisations that seek some mileage out of this issue, the most appropriate response from my side is for the law to take its course. It is important for me that due process is followed, including the process that is going to unfold in Parliament. I stand ready to cooperate with that process as well and will be ready to be fully accountable,” Ramaphosa said further in his oral reply.

Ramaphosa also indicated that he would cooperate with, and be fully accountable to, the Parliamentary investigation.

“It is clear from the President’s reply that he considers it prudent to account on this matter through the due processes. This is consistent with what the President has said from the outset that there is no basis for the claims of criminal conduct that have been made against him, and that he will provide any information that the relevant authorities require,” said Magwenya.

Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has asked the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to review a National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decision to prosecute her on two counts of perjury.

The NPA indicated in March that it wanted to proceed with the case.

On Wednesday morning, Mkhwebane appeared in the dock of the Pretoria Magistrate's Court for less than five minutes.

Her advocate, Dali Mpofu, SC, asked the court for a postponement to "allow [them] time" to deal with the High Court review.

The matter was postponed to 9 December for the outcome of the review.

The matter stems from a Constitutional Court finding in 2019 that Mkhwebane acted in bad faith and put forward a "number of falsehoods" in a case involving the SA Reserve Bank's (SARB) loan to Bankorp.

Accountability Now, which initially laid criminal charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice against Mkhwebane, welcomed movement in the case and said it was "long overdue".

The organisation's director, advocate Paul Hoffman, previously said, "It is sad that this matter has taken so long, but we are pleased that the decision to prosecute has finally been taken."

Mkhwebane, the first Public Protector to be criminally charged, initially faced three counts of perjury relating to the review case.

Following her first court appearance in January 2021, she made representations to say why she should not be prosecuted. In June that year, one perjury charge was withdrawn.

Fin24 previously reported that Bankorp received financial assistance from the SA Reserve Bank between 1985 and 1995, as it was about to collapse due to mounting bad debts, according to Absa.

Absa acquired Bankorp on 1 April 1992, while the SARB's assistance was still continuing.

The bank stated that Bankorp's collapse would have resulted in depositors losing their money. It further stated that when Absa acquired Bankorp in 1992, the assistance programme was already in place.

The bank said in 2017, when it explained its position in the matter:

The debt write-offs that would result from the SA Reserve Bank's intervention were taken into account in determining the price Absa would pay for Bankorp. This price was set at R1.23-billion, and Absa paid it in full. This is why Absa cannot pay for the same thing twice.

Mkhwebane released the Bankorp-CIEX report in June 2017. Her findings directed Absa, which took over Bankorp in 1992, to repay R1.125-billion for a lifeboat provided by the SARB during the apartheid era. She called the bailout "an illegal gift". The SARB and Absa had asked the court to review the report and set it aside.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Mkhwebane's "entire model of [the] investigation was flawed".

It found that she failed to engage with the parties directly affected by her new remedial action before she published her final report, and that her explanation for why she discussed the vulnerability of the Reserve Bank with the State Security Agency (SSA) was "unintelligible".

The majority judgment also found that Mkhwebane failed to explain why she did not disclose any of her meetings with former president Jacob Zuma in her 2017 report.

She also did not produce transcripts of her meetings with the Presidency or the SSA.

President Cyril Ramaphosa did not report the foreign exchange transaction that was the source of the US dollars stolen from his farm, as required by law, his response to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) indicates.

Ramaphosa also has yet to respond adequately to the central bank, which has written to his lawyers asking for details of the transaction.

In a letter to Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday the governor of the Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago said following press reports about the robbery its Financial Surveillance Department had written to Ramaphosa's legal advisors on 20 June requesting "information and details regarding the origin of the foreign currency and any underlying transaction that may pertain to it."

The bank had initially given Ramaphosa 21 business days to respond to the letter and subsequently granted an extension of 15 working days.

The letter states, "The department has since received a response from the president's legal advisors to which further information and details were requested by the department. A response to this additional request for information is required and expected no later than 8 September, whereafter the department will be able to progress its investigation into the matter."

Kganyago's letter to the committee follows letters written to it by two of the committee members Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) deputy leader Floyd Shivambu and the Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Dion George.

The SARB administers South Africa's exchange control regulations and investigates contraventions. Under the regulations, all foreign currency transactions must be reported to the bank within 30 days. Kganyago's letter requesting information confirms that Ramaphosa did not report the transaction as required by law.

Ramaphosa has previously said that the cash stolen from his farm Phala Phala was the proceeds of the sale of animals. The theft first came to light in June when former spy boss Arthur Fraser declared in an affidavit lodged with the police that at least $4-million, which had been concealed in furniture, was stolen from the farm. Ramaphosa has said the amount was nowhere near as large but has not provided any information on the sum.

On Tuesday, Ramphosa faced a chaotic and humiliating question session in Parliament where for several hours he declined to answer questions on Phala Phala, citing legal advice. While opposition MPs from the EFF, African Transformation Movement and DA demanded answers, African National Congress MPs argued that Ramaphosa's refusal to answer constituted "a response" which was all that was required in terms of the rules. The sitting was eventually adjourned.

On social media Ramaphosa supporters defended the President arguing that it was not Ramaphosa's responsibility to oversee the day-to-day running of the farm. Shivambu said that Kganyago's letter was proof that Ramaphosa was already guilty of at least one crime, in failing to report the transaction.

DA leader John Steenhuisen described Ramaphosa's failure to answer as "Nkandla 2.0" reminiscent of the former President Jacob Zuma's refusal to answer questions on the upgrades to his home, while MPs rallied around him to defend him.

Following a public spat that culminated in a series of tit-for-tat suspensions on Monday, the faction within Cope pushing for the axing of party leader Mosiuoa Lekota has extended an olive branch to its rivals "for the sake of the party's future".

"Above all else, we [as rival leaders] must save Cope. There is no way that we should priorities anything but the party," Cope's secretary for communications Dennis Bloem told News24 on Tuesday morning. Bloem was one of the leaders who announced Lekota's precautionary suspension on Monday.

"We are not enemies, as comrades in Cope. There may be differences, but those differences need to be sorted out around a table [and should] not play themselves out in public. The president of the party (Lekota) is the father of the party. As the father of the party, he must call his children and say, 'You have made mistakes here', or he must admit that he has made mistakes. All of us are not immune to making mistakes but what should be a priority is the party," Bloem said.

Despite extending an olive branch, Bloem and his faction said Lekota and Cope's national chairperson Teboho Loate were misleading the country.

Bloem said Cope's congress national committee (CNC) had the power to suspend members. He added that the announcement of Lekota's suspension was valid as the decision had been taken by a properly constituted CNC.

"We, as the CNC, had a meeting on Sunday, which was duly constituted. By this, I mean the meeting met the necessary quorum, given that six of the nine provinces were there. Seven directly elected members, as well as the youth and women's leagues were present. At this meeting...we took the decision to suspend Mr Lekota," said Bloem.

Cope's youth league as well as its Gauteng and Western Cape leaders told News24 that representatives from six provinces attended the meeting, along with the youth and women's leagues. According to them, the meeting met the minimum required attendance to take the decision.

The six provinces at the meeting were Gauteng, Free State, Western Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, and North West.

On Monday, Lekota and Loate rubbished the party leader's suspension, saying Lekota had the confidence and full support of the CNC.

Loate also alleged that the media briefing by Cope deputy president Willie Madisha, secretary for elections Mzwandile Hleko, and Bloem amounted to a "hallucination" by "Madisha and his clique".

"The facts of the matter are that a clique of only three leaders in the CNC has been engaged in conduct that is unconstitutional, ambitious, and irrational for some time," said Loate.

Loate and Lekota then announced that the CNC had in fact suspended Madisha, Bloem and Hleko. There was, however, no evidence that the two held a meeting with the CNC and that the CNC had approved such a decision.

Bloem denied claims by Loate that he had been issued with a suspension letter or received any communication from Cope's legal representatives at the behest of Lekota or Loate, as claimed by the two.

"I don't know these other rumours that are going on that I've been suspended. I have been looking through my emails, and this letter which they purport to have sent announcing my suspension, is not there.

"Besides this, who are the 'we' that Lekota and Loate claim endorsed our suspension, as the CNC is the only structure empowered to do so," said Bloem.

News24 understands that Cope members want Madisha to replace Lekota in Parliament as they believe the party's fortunes may be revived under his leadership.

A decision may be announced as soon as next week.

Lekota and Loate were not readily available for comment despite numerous attempts by News24.

The July 2021 unrest and the floods in KwaZulu-Natal in April this year have seen the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) and its entities make available R3.5-billion in support.

The dtic on Tuesday briefed the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition on the support package to aid economic recovery given the impact of the unrest and the floods. They shared that R2.4-billion - or 80% of the R3-billion approved by the department and its entities - has been disbursed to businesses affected by the unrest.

Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Fikile Majola explained that while the physical damage of the unrest was limited to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, its economic impacts were widespread.

As a response, the dtic and its entities developed an Economic Support Package of R3.75-billion. The package is funded through the reprioritisation of budgets within the dtic to the value of R700-million. National Treasury had made an allocation of R1.3-billion. The Industrial Development Corporation, an entity of the dtic, reprioritised and allocated R1.5-billion, and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) allocated R250-million.

The Solidarity Fund later provided the NEF with an additional R273-million.

The support has been made available in the form of grants and concessionary loans or bridging finance to cover cash-flow challenges until the payouts from claims with the South African Special Insurance Risk Association (Sasria) are finalised.

In its presentation, the department indicated that R3-billion had been approved for the applications made, and R2.4-billion has been disbursed so far. In some cases where construction is undertaken, or new equipment and machinery are ordered – payment is made after the completion of work. The disbursements, therefore, are expected to increase throughout the year.

A total of 2 400 enterprises were supported – and over 2 600 sites were covered as, in some instances, individual firms had several of their sites affected. Over 45 000 jobs had also been supported.

Businesses across different sectors such as manufacturing, retail, construction, agriculture and agro-processing, transportation, information and communication and the automotive industry benefitted from funds from the IDC.

Several small-scale and large retailers were supported. Among those include rural and informal traders and small businesses who benefitted from R154-million grant funding. Over 1 800 business entities were supported, and about 7 100 jobs were saved. The IDC also provided grants of R7-million to 142 sugarcane growers in KwaZulu-Natal and over 6 500 jobs were saved.

Over R12-million was approved for a black-owned company Wired Hardwares, which is a franchisee of Build-IT. Two Build-IT hardware stores in KwaZulu-Natal – one in KwaMashu and another in Inanda, that employed people from surrounding settlements - were looted, damaged and destroyed. However, thanks to the support provided, the Inanda store began trading again in March 2022, and the one in KwaMashu started trading again in late July. All 50 jobs were retained.

A woman-owned business, Wildfire Trading, which owns an Engen franchise in Alexandra, Gauteng, was looted and damaged. A total of R2.5-million was approved to renovate the site, which had been vandalised. A total of 29 jobs were saved.

Businesswoman Kedibone Lebethe, who owns 30 KFC outlets, having started off as a fryer, benefitted of R40.5-million needed to repair nine outlets across Gauteng that were damaged, looted and, in some cases, completely burnt down.

In total, 14 outlets were affected. Her company KPML Group employs over 1 000 staff, mostly women and youth. The support helped the group reemploy 550 workers. The department has also supported infrastructure rebuilding programmes which covered six shopping centres, such as Protea Glen Shopping Centre in Gauteng and KwaMashu Shopping Centre in KwaZulu-Natal. Six other industrial sites also applied for funding. Close to...

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced on Tuesday that four political parties made donation disclosures during the first quarter of 2022/23, however, two of the four donations were made later than the regulated timeframe.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) disclosed the largest total donation for the quarter with R15 977 687.13. The African National Congress (ANC), which disclosed R10 000 000, made its declaration outside the IEC’s deadline. ActionSA disclosed donations of R750 000, and the Patriotic Alliance (PA), made the other late disclosure of R310 000.

The total amount disclosed by all parties for the quarter was R27 037 687.13.

Of the DA’s total disclosed donations, its single largest donation of R15-million came from Fynbos Ekwiteit, which also made significant donations to the party in the previous financial year.

The ANC’s donation came from the entity Botho-Botho Commercial Enterprise. The IEC clarified that the Botho-Botho Commercial Enterprise should not be confused with Batho-Batho Trust, which made a significant donation to the ANC in the previous year.

ActionSA’s donations were received from Style Eyes of California (R600 000) and Shave & Gibson Group (R150 000), both of which donated to the party in the last financial year.

The PA received two separate amounts of R150 000 and R160 000 from the party’s leader Gayton McKenzie.

However, the IEC explained that the donations amounting to R150 000 and R160 000 were made on March 7 and March 31, 2022, respectively, which was in breach of the legislation because the donation was declared a quarter late.

The Commission requested that the PA make a representation explaining the contravention and the IEC revealed that the party had fully complied and that the necessary action had already been taken in accordance with the law.

While the ANC’s R10-million donation was submitted a month later than the regulated deadline and while the donation was made within the reporting quarter, it was declared to the Commission almost a month after the submission deadline of July 31, 2021.

The Commission has also requested that the ANC provide an explanation for the late submission within 7 days.

IN-KIND & FOREIGN DONATIONS

The total value of in-kind donations declared during the first quarter was R723 493.56, and declared by the DA.

This amount was donated by a DA donor that had previously made donations - the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), which made total aggregate donations of R3 100 044.85 in the previous financial year.

The DA is also the only party to receive foreign donations in the reporting quarter. The total value of such donations is R977 687.13. The FNF donated R723 493.56 and the remaining R254 193.57 was received from Volkspartj voor Vrijheid en Democratie.

According to the latest data from the Central Energy Fund, the price of 95 unleaded petrol is expected to fall by around R2.28 a litre in the first week of September. The price of 93 petrol could drop by around R2.12 a litre. Diesel could be reduced by more than a rand a litre.

The price of illuminating paraffin is also on track to fall by just over a rand a litre.

The fuel prices are usually adjusted on the first Wednesday of a month, and determined by the price of oil and the rand-dollar exchange rate.

Earlier this month, petrol looked set for a R2.60 cut next week, while diesel was also due for a decrease of more than R2. However, the outlook changed after the oil price recovered from lows reached earlier this month, and the rand also lost ground.

After hitting a high of $123 a barrel in March, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, oil prices slumped to $92 earlier this month amid concerns about the weak state of the world economy and the possibility about a new nuclear deal between Iran and the West.

A deal would mean that Iran's crude output of 2.5-million barrels per day would no longer be under international sanctions and help relieve supply constraints that have been pushing up prices.

But on Monday, Brent crude oil was back above $100 per barrel after Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), warned about possible production cuts.

Meanwhile, the rand, which started the month at around R16.60/$, has since crashed through R17. It was trading at around R16.92 on Monday.

Earlier the day, the US dollar surged to a 20-year high against a basket of currencies after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that interest rates would be kept higher for longer to bring down inflation in the US.

Markets are now pricing in a 75-basis-point rate hike in the US in September.

Congress of the People's (Cope’s) national committee (CNC), its highest decision-making body, has placed party President Mosiuoa Lekota on precautionary suspension.

The announcement was made by Cope's deputy president, Willie Madisha, during a media briefing on Monday in Kempton Park.

Reasons cited for Lekota's suspension include the role he played in dividing the party and the meetings he convenes to form parallel structures within Cope.

Lekota has been Cope's president since 2008.