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The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Tuesday called for the immediate resignation of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, saying his continued stay in office spits in the face of the victims of rape.

Godongwana is accused of sexually assaulting a masseuse at a Kruger National Park hotel, while on vacation earlier this month.

He has since denied the allegations, claiming they were a smear campaign "fashioned to achieve narrow and selfish political ends".

The EFF labelled Godongwana “a pervert”.

“The continued stay of Enoch Godongwana in office, is a spit in the face of the 9 516 victims of rape, who opened cases at police stations between April and June 2022. It is also a reflection that we are led by a government which has no regard for women,” said EFF president Julius Malema.

Malema went on to say, “It is a government of a Finance Minister who abuses women in their places of profession. It is a government of a President who tortures a female domestic worker, because of his uncontrollable greed.”

He said if Godongwana had any respect for the Office he holds, and women in South Africa, he would have resigned long ago.

Malema accused the Finance Minister of drawing “inspiration from his criminal President”, who Malema says has not shown accountability.

Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would not act impulsively over the sexual assault allegations levelled against Godongwana.

The EFF said Godongwana has failed to manage the South African economy.

“One other thing about Enoch he is in and out of hospital, he is a very sickly Minister who is not available. I don’t understand why he insists on wanting to be a Minister of Finance despite the fact that he knows that his [poor] health [is not good] for such a serious ministry that is highly involved, which requires young and energetic visionary Ministers who are in good health. Enoch does not meet any requirement with this latest allegation to be a Minister of Finance,” said Malema.

CRIME

Meanwhile, the EFF said it was disturbed by the high levels of crime afflicting the country, particularly mass shootings and tavern deaths, as well as disturbing levels of murder and the gang rape of eight women in Krugersdorp.

“The gang rapes in Krugersdorp are a sign of a country of men who have lost their sense of morality. There is no level of poverty, unemployment, or state of living that can inspire one to rape. There is a war against the women of this country, and it can no longer be ignored,” Malema said.

He added that the latest quarterly crime statistics, which revealed that there had been 6 424 murders between April and June 2022, confirmed to the EFF that the country is a nation that is engaging in a war.

Malema claimed that the deaths reported in the quarterly crime stats are higher than the number of deaths in the war between Russia and Ukraine and showed that citizens are being killed at an intolerable rate in communities.

PHALA PHALA

Meanwhile, the EFF reaffirmed its stance on the need to hold Ramaphosa accountable for the alleged crimes committed on the President’s Phala Phala farm.

Malema said it was undeniable that the popular media, political analysts and journalists, had dedicated themselves to efforts to downplay and defend Ramaphosa.

“As the third largest political party represented in the Parliament of South Africa, the EFF will also explore and participate in legislative and judicial measures to hold Ramaphosa accountable,” he said.

The party called on all “principled” members of the opposition, and civil society, to join in ensuring that “Ramaphosa does not get away with the crimes he has committed”.

South Africa’s unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 of a percentage point quarter-on-quarter to 33.9% in the second quarter.

“Our economy is recovering, coming out of Covid-19, and we can see that it is making strides in terms of employment,” statistician-general Risenga Maluleke commented on August 23.

Overall, the number of people employed in South Africa reached 15.6-million in the second quarter, Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA’s) latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows.

The sector showing the largest job gains of 276 000 was community and social services, followed by 169 000 new jobs recorded in trade, 128 000 new jobs in finance and 104 000 in construction – which Maluleke said was an indicator that the ailing construction sector was once again on the rise after years of depression.

“We can’t say if the increase in construction jobs is sustainable. It could be an aberration but we only measure what we see,” he added.

Meanwhile, the transport sector lost 54 000 jobs, while manufacturing lost 73 000 jobs quarter-on-quarter.

In manufacturing, the job losses were attributed mainly to the food, beverage and tobacco products manufacturing subsectors, while wood products, electrical products and machinery manufacturing also decreased, Maluleke told Engineering News.

Meanwhile, unemployment according to the expanded definition, which includes those who have given up looking for a job, also decreased to 44.1% in the second quarter.

Further, the statistics showed that the youth remain vulnerable in the labour market. The total number of unemployed youth aged 15 to 34 increased by 92 000 quarter-on-quarter to 4.8-million in the second quarter.

Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya revealed on Tuesday that the Hawks were investigating at least 22 477 cases, worth a combined R1.5-trillion.

Providing an update on the DPCI’s, or the Hawks’, achievements since he took over in 2018, Lebeya said corruption was South Africa’s biggest threat.

He said 1 998 cases were currently being considered by the National Prosecuting Authority.

Since 2018, the DPCI has arrested 12 157 suspects, while 4 447 convictions were secured nationally.

“The convictions relate to individuals as the charges or counts, themselves, are much higher. To cite as an example, in 2019 the convictions relating to Serious Commercial Crime Investigation alone was 37 597 counts,” he said.

The Hawks’ anti-corruption task team and operation committee have been revitalised to fast-track criminal investigation, prosecution and asset recovery.

Lebeya highlighted national priority offences since he took the helm at the Hawks as cash in-transit robberies, theft of fuel from Transnet pipelines, drug and human trafficking, corruption and commercial crime, organised crime, cybercrime, money laundering and incitement to commit crime.

He also revealed that another eight suspects have been arrested in connection with the 2021 July unrest, bringing the total number of suspects arrested, to date, to 43.

“The DPCI never stopped the investigations since. In fact, multidisciplinary teams were formed to investigate. The DPCI and the National Prosecuting Authority are satisfied that the investigation is ripe, hence the Hawks are landing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the DPCI havdadopted a "team approach" to investigations, as opposed to assigning individual investigators.

Further, the DPCI continues to assign teams from its National Clean Audit Task Team to deal with municipal cases.

“We have seen the public appreciating work done by the directorate on social media and elsewhere. Amongst others, several high profile cases, including VBS and the asbestos matter, just to mention a few, have been placed on the court roll,” Lebeya pointed out.

Other achievements of the Hawks include arrests in the R280-million eThekwini Durban Solid Waste scandal where former mayor Zandile Gumede is one of the accused.

The trial started on August 22 in Durban after months of delays.

Another case Lebeya highlighted involved the mayor of the JB Marks municipality and a director in his office, who were charged, in 2020, with fraud emanating from investigations conducted by the Hawks, involving R5-million intended for the municipality.

The case has been postponed to October 2022.

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban briefly adjourned on Monday to thrash out issues surrounding the media, cameras being allowed in court, and the protection of witnesses in the Zandile Gumede corruption matter.

Judge Sharmaine Balton first heard from Andrea Gabriel SC, who was representing the State's interests in the media application.

Balton made it clear from the onset that she wanted to protect key witnesses in the case.

"I don't want witnesses under public and television scrutiny, because we know people's lives have been threatened," she said.

Gabriel said they wanted one camera in the courtroom for the reading of the charges that was scheduled to take place this week.

She indicated that there would be supplementary papers filed regarding the media application.

The reading of charges has been delayed for some time now, with a slew of postponements arising from many of the accused struggling to pay for some of Durban's most expensive criminal lawyers.

Balton said on Monday that print and online media had to be cautioned about protected witnesses.

"Perhaps, regarding witnesses' identities, you would attend to all of that," Balton said to Gabriel.

Earlier this month, there was a blanket ban preventing media from taking photographs or filming proceedings during the corruption trial.

That ban has since been set aside after the SA National Editors' Forum (Sanef) successfully challenged it in the High Court.

Gumede and her co-accused are charged with racketeering, fraud and corruption relating to a R320-million waste contract.

The Office of the Chief Justice previously sent a letter to the media indicating that Balton would not allow the proceedings to be filmed or photographs to be taken in court.

At that stage, the media had not lodged any formal applications for permission to do so.

Sanef challenged the ban in an urgent application in the High Court, where it asked for Balton's decision to be rescinded.

In a founding affidavit, Sanef executive director Reggy Moalusi said the organisation viewed the decision as unconstitutional.

Over 95% of about 60 000 surveyed teachers and principals say the school assistants programme has vastly improved learning and want it to continue.

This was according to President Cyril Ramaphosa in his weekly letter to the nation, where he said teachers and principals noted that the programme had allowed them more time to focus on teaching.

The programme is part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the largest youth employment intervention in the country’s history, which has reached close to a million participants.

Ramaphosa said the second cohort of 245 000 young people will finish their ten-month placement as school assistants. They will join the ranks of about 600 000 young South Africans that have participated in the initiative since its launch in 2020.

The school assistants have either supported teachers in the classroom or performed school maintenance, security, food garden production and other upkeep activities, Ramaphosa said.

He explained that updates sent by participants to the Department of Basic Education showed the impact the initiative had had on more than 22 000 participating schools around the country.

“There are images of new libraries and reading corners. There are before-and-after pictures of barren school grounds now bursting with cabbages and of once dilapidated classrooms gleaming with new paint. There are videos of newly-trained sports enrichment coaches running exercise classes and participants at laptops doing school administration,” he said.

Aside from a monthly stipend, the programme has also provided young people with work experience and skills.

“They have received accredited training across several disciplines, ranging from digital literacy to basic bookkeeping, from child and youth care to bricklaying, plastering and plumbing,” he said.

Ramaphosa said government now needed to allow these young workers into formal employment, further education or entrepreneurship.

The Youth Employment Service aims to place many of the young people in work experience positions in companies and the National Youth Development Agency will help those with business ideas.

“I am calling on all our partners, especially business, to harness the energies, talent, skills and experience of these young people to grow our economy. The quality work experience and training provided by this programme addresses the concerns of many businesses that young applicants lack skills and experience,” he said.

He also called on businesses to participate in this process by taking advantage of the Employment Tax Incentive to hire more young people and create learnerships.

He said the SAYouth.mobi platform can be used to publicise opportunities that exist in the companies, explaining that there were currently 2.9-million young people registered on SAYouth.mobi and many organisations, companies and departments used the platform to provide opportunities.

Public Protector employees had to address suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane as "madam" and bow down to her, as more testimony about a culture of fear during Mkwhebane's reign was heard by the Section 194 Committee.

Former Public Protector chief operating officer Basani Baloyi testified to the committee – which has to determine whether Mkhwebane is fit for office – on Monday.

"The PP's leadership style was authoritarian. She must be addressed as 'madam'. She must be bowed down to, quite literally," reads Baloyi's affidavit to the committee. She added that staff also had to stand up when Mkhwebane entered a room.

Baloyi perceived this as an exercise of power and found it most unusual.

"Her style of leadership was characterised by inflexibility, irrationality and a failure or refusal to treat her staff with dignity and respect. She fostered a culture of mistrust and insecurity within the organisation," continued the affidavit.

"In this regard, I recall a WhatsApp text message which the PP sent to me, warning me not to trust Ms Ponatshego Mogaladi, one of the executives who reported to me. Based on my own experience of Ms Mogaladi, I had no reason not to trust her."

Baloyi also recalled an instance when her 8-year-old daughter was sick and had to be hospitalised.

"Whilst I was in the hospital with my daughter the PP called me enquiring when some reports would be ready. I sent a message to her informing her that I was in the hospital with my daughter. I told her of the diagnosis and even sent her photographs of her on her hospital bed as proof.

"She replied to me, via WhatsApp text, saying: 'Will be taking action against CEO for your failure to meet deadline. We need to lead by example and be accountable. If you submitted all these on time such emergency would not portray one as insensitive.' Because I had to continue working to meet deadlines whilst my daughter was in the hospital, I had to take files with me to the hospital to attend to whilst visiting my daughter."

According to Baloyi, investigators would cry when they were moved to investigations they had no previous experience with.

Furthermore, Mkhwebane put "relentless" pressure on Baloyi to take disciplinary steps against staff.

"On many occasions I would refuse to take such steps against staff members who reported to me after the PP had instructed me to do so, in circumstances where they had furnished me with reasonable explanations for their failure to perform the tasks at issue."

Baloyi believed she was purged from the Office of the Public Protector. Two months after her probation period ended, she was furnished with a letter from former CEO Vussy Mahlangu to provide reasons why she should be employed permanently.

In the letter, Mahlangu said there were weekly meetings between Baloyi and Mkhwebane to assess her performance, as well as impromptu meetings with Mahlangu.

"It's a lie," said Baloyi.

According to Baloyi, her work and conduct were not appraised during her probationary period.

She was eventually let go, and took the matter to court. Since Mkhwebane's suspension, the Office of the Public Protector offered her a settlement.

Baloyi's testimony comes against the backdrop of the Section 194 Committee having heard testimony that the ample issuance of audit letters permeated a culture of fear at the Office of the Public Protector, that there was an "exodus" of staff, a heavy workload and that Mkhwebane did not want to work with a colleague who addressed her as "Busisiwe".

The African National Congress's (ANC's) chief whip in Parliament says opposition parties gunning for President Cyril Ramaphosa's head over the Phala Phala saga are unprincipled and opportunistic.

Earlier this week, eight opposition political parties backed a motion of no confidence against Ramaphosa.

The group, which represents about 71 seats in the National Assembly, wants the president to be held accountable for what they believe was a cover-up and abuse of state resources in the scandal relating to a theft at the president's Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.

In a statement published after its caucus meeting on Friday, Pemmy Majodina said: "The ANC caucus notes the unprincipled and opportunistic ganging up of some opposition parties against the ANC, based on innuendo, untested allegations, and a rushed attempt to pre-empt proper investigations and to try and achieve political power through the back door after losing the 2019 general elections. The ANC caucus rejects the call by the DA for the establishment of an ad-hoc committee on the robbery at the Phala Phala game farm. There is a relevant portfolio committee responsible for oversight over the SAPS."

Former spy boss Arthur Fraser alleged in June that at least $4-million was stolen from the farm in February 2020 and that, subsequent to the theft, off-the-books means were used to try to locate the culprits and the money. News24 recently reported that burglars stole an estimated $600 000 in cash from Ramaphosa's farmhouse - far less than the millions of dollars that were initially speculated to have been taken.

Earlier this month, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula referred to an independent panel the African Transformation Movement's (ATM) call for Parliament to set up an inquiry into the Phala Phala saga.

The independent panel will decide whether Ramaphosa will be subjected to a process that could lead to his removal from office.

Section 89 of the Constitution provides for the National Assembly to remove a president of the republic from office on the grounds of either, serious violation of the Constitution or the law, serious misconduct, or an inability to perform the functions of office.

Majodina welcomed Mapisa-Nqakula's decision and said the ANC would submit proposed names for the independent panel of three "fit and proper, competent, experienced and respected South Africans".

"Caucus also welcomes the decision of the speaker to refer security aspects of the matter to the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, which is an appropriate committee. The ANC caucus will accord competent state agencies and relevant parliamentary processes the space to conduct their investigation," she said.

At the National Assembly's programming committee meeting in June, Majodina questioned the need for Ramaphosa to answer to the allegations.

"Now you want us to summon the president on allegations? That we are not going to do. That is not within the rules anywhere. On allegations, the case is not with us, the case is opened [at] the police station, wherever. But on what basis should we summon the president?" she said at the meeting.

So far, Ramaphosa has not answered any questions on the Phala Phala matter, and he has maintained that due process should be followed.

According to Majodina, Ramaphosa remains the torchbearer and champion in the fight against corruption.

"We welcome the commitment by the president to fully cooperate with all law enforcement agencies investigating the matter. This is what is expected from a leader who respects the Constitution and laws of the republic," she said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa won’t act impulsively over the sexual assault allegations levelled against Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

This week, police investigators grilled Godongwana on his version of events where he is accused of fondling a woman while she was giving him a massage in his Kruger National Park hotel room last week.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) instructed Mpumalanga police to take a statement from the finance minister ahead of its decision on whether or not to charge him.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told TimesLive that the due legal process must run its course without any fear or favour.

"The president cannot be impulsive in his decision-making. His action must be informed by due legal process that needs to be allowed to run its course," said Magwenya.

Although there is a decrease in total sexual offences – such as rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences – Police Minister Bheki Cele noted on Friday that the reporting period from April to June 2022 showed that South Africa was brutal and dangerous for women and children.

He presented the quarterly crime statistics, where he said there was a drop of more than 800 cases of sexual offences, which are mostly perpetrated against women.

However, he said violent crimes committed against women and children were recorded at alarmingly high and unacceptable levels.

From April to June 2022, 855 women and 243 children were killed in South Africa. Over 11 000 grievous bodily harm cases, with female victims, were opened with the police, 1 670 of such cases involved children.

Cele said the police are investigating attempted murder dockets for over 1 400 women and children who escaped death. He noted that 9 516 rape cases were opened with the South African Police Service during the reporting period.

This is almost 500 fewer rape cases reported when compared with the same period last year.

“While rape cases declined in all provinces, the North West and Northern Cape provinces are the only provinces to report increases in this crime category. 3 780 of the rapes took place in the homes of the rapists or homes of the victims. 1 546 people were raped in public places such as streets, parks and beaches. Public transportation, such as buses, taxis and trains, is the third most likely place of occurrence for rape cases,” Cele said.

He said 286 rapists were convicted through investigative work done by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit, with 46 of the rapists sentenced to life behind bars.

“While the majority of rapes do take place behind closed doors and [this makes it difficult for] police, we are confident that it is through the FCS detective work that [more rapes are prevented], hence the decrease in rape cases during the reporting period. Serial rapists are stopped in their tracks and such convictions ensure these heartless rapists never rape again,” Cele stated.

Sixty-five serial sexual offence cases were finalised, with 16 of these offenders convicted. They will serve a total of 20 life sentences and 886 years imprisonment.

MURDER CASES SKYROCKETING

Cele said the number of murders in the country remained high and worrisome, highlighting that 6 424 people were killed in the first quarter of the financial year.

Cele said this was an increase of 664 more people murdered, when compared with the same period last year, when the country was under level one and two of the Covid-19 Lockdown.

The three main causes for murders remained arguments and misunderstandings, he explained. He said retaliation and revenge murders were the second greatest motive for murder, while vigilantism was the third most likely cause of murder in South Africa.

He said the uMlazi and Plessislaer police stations in KwaZulu-Natal and the Mthatha station in the Eastern Cape registered the highest number of murder cases – 221 murder cases.

Cele explained that 18 police officers were killed during this reporting period, 13 fewer police officers than in the same reporting period last year.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said she "would be happy" if the investigation into the Gupta-linked Vrede dairy farm didn't contain any adverse findings, former Public Protector manager Reginald Ndou has testified.

Ndou also told the Section 194 Committee inquiring into Mkhwebane's fitness for office on Thursday that she had issued an instruction that the Gupta Leaks shouldn't be used in the investigation.

Ndou said he had received a phone call from Mkhwebane, who said that the lead investigator in the case, Erika Cilliers, was doing the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) bidding and that Mkhwebane would be happy if there were no adverse findings in the matter.

Ndou's affidavit to the committee reads: "After I left this meeting, the PP called me from her cellphone to talk about the investigation and its transfer to Head Office. It was a short call, but she made remarks to the following effect:

"That Adv Cilliers was doing the bidding of the Democratic Alliance ("the DA") in this investigation, and that one could see she was working for the DA.

"That the PP would personally be happy if there were no adverse findings in this report. This is where the call ended.

"At the time I was driving home from the office. It was on the very day that the file had been brought to Head Office and we had not yet extensively considered or discussed the evidence.

Given that I had just started considering the file, I was taken aback by the PP's words. This is the kind of utterance that one does not forget.

He said he hadn't understood this to be an instruction, but rather a "desire".

Initially, there was an instruction to use the Gupta Leaks – a massive tranche of emails that uncovered the Guptas' and their associates' grip on the South African state.

However, only one line on the Gupta Leaks made it into a draft report. Concerned, Ndou raised this with Mkhwebane in an email. Ndou said being "dismissive" of the Gupta Leaks could be grounds for a review and that the organisation would need very good reasons why it didn't look into it.

He couldn't recall whether he had received a response. At a subsequent meeting, he again raised the issue.

"I also recall raising the issue of the Guptaleak [sic] emails again at a subsequent Task Team meeting, and the PP specifically saying that these emails were not part of the investigation. During a break in the meeting, I was later advised by Mr Nemasisi and the then secretary to the Task Team, Mr Tebele, to let the issue go, as they had tried to raise the matter at previous meetings and were also shot down by the PP," reads his affidavit.

Only the one-line mention of the Gupta Leaks made it into the final report.

After evidence leader advocate Nazreen Bawa finished questioning Ndou, she advised the committee that a dismissed charged of sexual harassment against Ndou was irrelevant to the committee's work, and that if the committee wanted to question him on it, it should be behind closed doors.

The committee discussed the way forward behind closed doors. After more than two and a half hours, the committee resumed, in the open, with Mkhwebane's counsel Dali Mpofu questioning Ndou.