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Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is participating in her impeachment hearings "under protest", her legal counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu, has told the Section 194 Committee.

On Monday, the hearings finally got under way, more than two years after a motion for such a process had first been lodged with the speaker of the National Assembly.

Mpofu said they were appearing under protest because there had been several constitutional violations.

"We represent a law-abiding citizen and Public Protector," he said.

He added that Mkhwebane had always made it clear that she wanted the opportunity to assure the committee and the nation that she was willing and able to do her job.

Her long and persistent court challenges to the process had been described as a Stalingrad defence, but Mpofu said this term was used by people who "hate the Constitution".

Mpofu insisted, "That's a very strange accusation. Every time she has raised concerns about this process, she has been proven right."

Several court rulings would suggest otherwise.

Mpofu said what had been called "Stalingrad" was actually the "Public Protector assisting Parliament to do the right thing".

He also complained about Mkhwebane's suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 9 June, and said the committee should be concerned about it.

"She is literally shackled!" he said.

Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi pointed out that the committee was not a suspending body.

"It is wrong!" Mpofu said. "If this committee wasn't there, there would be no suspension."

Mpofu also said that they wanted a secret ballot.

He said Mkhwebane was "sabotaged" in preparing for the impeachment and her impending court case.

However, he didn't deal with the substantive charges against the suspended Public Protector.

Evidence leader Nazreen Bawa opened proceedings by mentioning that the committee was the first of its kind in South Africa.

"This committee is not a court of law," she said. "There is no accused."

Bawa said the committee's rules had already passed constitutional muster:

That ship has sailed.

Mkhwebane listened quietly to proceedings, sometimes typing on her laptop or phone.

Mpofu was still talking at the time of writing.

On Tuesday, constitutional expert Hassen Ebrahim will provide specialist testimony to outline the role of the Office of the Public Protector within the parameters of the Constitution and South African legislation.

South Africans can expect Stage 4 load-shedding until midnight for the next few days, with Stage 2 between midnight and 05:00.

This may be downgraded to Stage 3 during the day on Friday, with Stage 2 expected over the weekend, if offline power stations are returned as expected.

The intention is to lift load-shedding in the next ten days or so, Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer told a media briefing on Monday morning. However, he warned that the unpredictability and unreliability of the system bring large risks.

Currently, almost 14 500MW are offline due to unplanned outages. While the expected demand for electricity will reach almost 32 000MW on Monday evening, Eskom only has around 20 000MW (excluding emergency supplies) available.

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter says the illegal strike at Eskom during wage talks hindered vital maintenance work at six power stations: Duvha, Arnot, Matla, Hendrina, Kamden, and Lethabo.

The deadlock ended last week as the utility and unions signed a one-year deal for a 7% wage increase.

De Ruyter told reporters that Eskom would still be pursuing internal disciplinary proceedings as well as legal action against strikers who intimidated staff that wanted to work at plants during the wage deadlock in June.

"The first process is internal disciplinary processes. We are not going to accept that workers were able to go on an illegal strike and engage in intimidation. There are also external legal processes and criminal charges to be laid.

"We have video footage of several incidences, and we are engaging police on charges to be laid. We are also greatly heartened by an announcement by the police commissioner and the president that a task team on sabotage has been established," he said.

"Our colleagues are working extraordinarily hard to return to capacity. Kusile 1 is being restored to capacity. Today we have already seen Kriel 3 Medupi 5 and Hendrina 7. Medupi 6 and Arnot 4 are expected to return for the evening peak," he said.

In total, 12 units are expected to return to service by Thursday this week, he said. A faulty transmission line from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique has been restored, while the Medupi Unit 6 returned to service on Saturday.

However, he warned it will take weeks to fully recover from the strike.

"After the initial recovery late last week, we had an increase, unfortunately, in load shedding, and that was due to increased demand. The generators that were limping during the strike have now been taken off to attend to failures and defects. We had generators delayed in returning to service," said Oberholzer.

Oberholzer said Eskom expected the pressure on the electricity grid to be alleviated once Unit 2 of the Koeberg power station comes online by the end of July with 920MW. The unit was offline since January, and its return has been repeatedly delayed.

On Monday, Eskom announced that its chief nuclear officer Riedewaan Bakardien has resigned to join a Canadian company. Eskom manager Keith Featherstone, who has 30 years’ experience in the field, has been appointed in an acting position.

Current acting Koeberg Power Station General Manager Nomawethu Mtwebana will also leave Eskom for the next year as she joins the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) as a "reverse loanee". Mahesh Valaitham, a senior manager with over 27 years of nuclear power plant experience, will be filling the role of Koeberg PSGM in an acting capacity.

Police Minister Bheki Cele said on Monday he will deploy more police officers and five new police vans to patrol the Nomzamo informal settlement, in Soweto, following what he referred to as a “bloody weekend” in the country when 21 people died in three separate mass shootings.

Cele visited the Orlando East community in Soweto where 15 people died at a tavern when gunmen opened fire.

In other similar incidents, four people were killed at a tavern in Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal and two people were killed in Katlehong, in Gauteng.

Cele was accompanied by Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko, Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse, Gauteng police commissioner Elias Mawela and National Police Commissioner General Fana Masemola.

Angry community members in Soweto threatened to punish the ruling party at the polls in 2024.

The Minister said it was concerning that there were about 130 AK-47 cartridges found at the crime scene in Soweto.

Cele referred to the events as brutal and violent acts of criminality but he dismissed the idea that all three incidents were coordinated and that they were acts of terrorism.

“From today we want to see the police taking over the streets not the criminals,” he said.

He called on communities, including community policing forums, to work closely with the police to curb violence.

He promised that the newly recruited 10 000 police personnel, who were undergoing training until December 15, would also assist in communities.

“We are going to seal the community and conduct a door-to-door campaign to confiscate illegal guns. For the fact that there are people who use AK-47s killing people at this scale, it shows that there are many illegal guns in the area. Those who have illegal firearms must return them to the police,” said Cele.

The Orlando policing precinct has 239 taverns and 22 bottle stores, with no recreational facilities.

Cele appealed to the Johannesburg mayor to assist in creating recreational facilities in the area for the youth.

He also appealed to the Orlando Police Station Commander Brigadier Nonhlanhla Kubheka to allocate a special desk for gender-based violence cases and he condemned police officers who turned away women that reported cases.

The Minister said the country needed to revisit the issue of alcohol abuse in the country.

Meanwhile, Phalatse said the Liquor Board must look into the high number of taverns in communities, which currently outnumbered schools or churches in the same area.

She promised that the City of Johannesburg would also enforce by-laws in the community.

Institute for Security Studies founder and former executive director Jakkie Cilliers said that increasing factional tussles within the African National Congress (ANC) were driving South Africa’s economic meltdown.

He was speaking to a local radio station where he said he believed there was an orchestrated move to repeat the violent unrest the country witnessed in July 2021.

Cilliers said it should be remembered that 2022 was the year of the run-up to the ANC's elective conference, where ANC factions would battle it out.

Last year, the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma sparked violence that resulted in looting, destruction and the death of more than 200 people in some parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

When asked if the country was prepared in the event that Zuma was jailed, Cilliers warned that the country would likely see some kind of destruction regardless as those who instigate violence were threatening violence so that they too would not be prosecuted.

He said people who were heavily implicated in corruption within government were still employed as ambassadors and deputy ministers, infuriating many South Africans.

He blamed the Presidency for not taking action owing to the huge internal fighting and factional battles currently at play ahead of the ANC internal elections that would determine South Africa’s future.

Police Minister Bheki Cele has yet to announce any information about the instigators of the July unrest despite the damning expert panel report that was issued in February this year.

Cilliers said naming people and holding them to account by arresting and proving that they were guilty in a court of law were two different things.

He pointed out a complete lack of coordination from South Africa’s intelligence at the most senior level which had resulted in the recommendations of the expert panel report not being implemented.

Cilliers pointed out that secrecy in State security was a huge challenge for the country.

He said the Zondo Commission of Inquiry reports clearly showed that the intelligence community in South Africa did not have enforcement capacity.

He further pointed out that government had consistently increased budget in the VIP Protection Units to protect politicians, but did not have the capacity expected to respond to events like the July unrest.

He said while the police were trying to restore calm, more could be done.

STRIKES IN SA

He said because of the country’s labour legislation and how it was regulated, unions were holding government to ransom, as was recently shown with the Eskom strike.

Since the 1970s labour unions had managed to negotiate a position of power and strength within the South African dispensation, he said.

“Even if the strikes are illegal, they are not criminal. We are caught between a rock and hard place in the way we have built a constitutional edifice where everybody can take you to court to account should you act in a way that violates their rights,” explained Cilliers.

Eskom has confirmed that while workers below the senior management level at the entity will be getting a wage increase, its executives including group CEO Andre De Ruyter and chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer will not be getting any salary increase.

This past week, Eskom concluded wage negotiations with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and Solidarity, where labour got a 7% increase across the board.

The wage agreement followed weeks of protest disruptions due to a deadlock in wage talks that triggered Stage 6 load-shedding for several days. Eskom executives were not spared criticism for the crisis by South Africans.

Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha told Fin24 that top-level employees at Eskom have not received salary increases or a bonus for years.

"All managerial level employees have not received salary increases or bonuses since at least 2018. This year the lower-level managerial staff will be receiving the 7% increase agreed upon at the Central Bargaining Forum. Senior managers and executives in the F and E-Bands will still not be receiving any increases," said Mantshantsha.

With a zero percent increase on their salaries, De Ruyter and Oberholzer would still be earning salaries of R7-million and R5.4-million respectively, according to Eskom's financial statements for the year ended in March 2021.

In the year ended in March 2020, De Ruyter had a salary of R1.6-million, while Oberholzer's salary was still at R5.4-million. The variance in De Ruyter's salary between 2020 and 2021 is likely owed to his appointment only being announced in late 2019.

The total salary of executives at Eskom for the year ended in March 2021 was R11.9-million, compared to R9.8-million in the year ended in March of 2020.

During a deadlock at the Central Bargaining Forum, the NUM and Numsa were harshly critical of De Ruyter's management of Eskom. On Thursday, the secretary-general of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), Zwelinzima Vavi, called for the removal of the Eskom board as well as its executive committee. Saftu is the home federation of Numsa.

De Ruyter told reporters last week in the thick of the deadlock and its subsequent protest disruptions at various Eskom plants that he had no intention of resigning from his position.

Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed on Friday that 19 people have been arrested for incitement to commit public violence during the 2021 July unrest, with 86 more people on the radar of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI).

In July last year, chaos broke out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng when former President Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for being in contempt of court. The unrest claimed over 354 lives.

The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster held a briefing in Pretoria to update the nation on the investigations. In attendance were Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise.

Cele said the South African Police Service (Saps) had increased collaboration with other structures, highlighting that over 8 000 incidents during the 2021 July unrest were reported to the police and at least 5 000 people were arrested.

“There are 19 people that have been arrested on this issue.the DPCI is putting an eye on 86 more people on this matter but there are 19 that will be regarded as instigators. Eight are arrested by the DPCI and 11 are arrested by the detective team that was put together. So there are 19, they remain as 19, two of the cases have been withdrawn and almost all of them are on bail,” he said.

Cele stated that once a person was on bail, it means there is a case to answer. “The fact that they are on bail, the fact that they are in court means the thing [case] is progressing,” he said.

Modise said the Saps and the DPCI were still investigating crimes that were committed and were building cases against those who were arrested.

More than 3 300 cases had been finalised, so far, through non-prosecution, some withdrawn. Over 2 900 cases were closed as undetected or unfounded.

“The investigation of about 2 200 cases is concluded pending a decision on the viability of the prosecution of the cases. A number of dockets have been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision of further guidance and direction on the matter. Over 2 435 cases are on the court roll with over 50 cases finalised with a guilty verdict,” she explained.

Cases under investigation include incitement to commit public violence, murder, attempted murder, arson, malicious damage to property, possession of suspected stolen property, damage to infrastructure and culpable homicide.

Meanwhile, Modise said the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) would continue to be on standby, in support of the Saps, to protect all national key points, as well as economic corridors, from any disruption or blockages.

This was in line with the constitutional mandate of the SANDF to intervene when called on by any State institution to ensure that the safety of the people and infrastructure was protected and secure, she added.

The JCPS Cluster Ministers said they were engaging other countries, which had state-of-the-art criminal justice systems to share some of the good practices they employ.

“We will adapt our methods to make sure that we serve our country effectively. Over and above these measures, we call upon members of our community to join Community Policing Forums to fight crime and violence,” the Cluster said.

The JCPS Cluster Ministers urged members of the community to pass on relevant information that could assist the Cluster to fight crime and violence, also urging members of the community not to spread harmful and false information on social media platforms.

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka indicated that the Office of the Public Protector will withdraw the suspended incumbent Busisiwe Mkhwebane's applications to reverse her suspension and stop Parliament's impeachment proceedings against her.

This brings to an end Mkhwebane's legal battle not to face parliamentary oversight, which started in February 2020, and has been labelled a Stalingrad defence, unless Mkhwebane decides to approach the court on her own, without the Office of the Public Protector's legal backing.

On Wednesday, Gcaleka wrote to all the respondents in the matter, including Parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Democratic Alliance, as well as Mkhwebane, to inform them of the decision.

On 9 June, Ramaphosa suspended Mkhwebane, who faces parliamentary impeachment proceedings. The following day, the Western Cape High Court ruled against Mkhwebane in her application to interdict Ramaphosa from suspending her and Parliament continuing with her impeachment process.

This application was pending a second part to her application, in which she asks the court to declare unconstitutional and invalid the letter National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula sent to Ramaphosa to inform him that the impeachment process was underway, as well as Ramaphosa's steps to suspend her and the Section 194 process.

She has since approached the court to ask that it hears this application on an urgent basis, and amended the application to ask the court to declare her suspension unconstitutional, irrational and invalid.

On Monday, she also filed a notice of motion to seek leave to appeal the interdict ruling.

In her letter, Gcaleka wrote that she had been advised that Mkhwebane delivered a notice of amendment for the second part of the application "purportedly on behalf of the Applicant, being the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA)", as well as a notice of application for leave to appeal dated 4 July, also "purportedly on behalf of the PPSA, cited as the First Applicant".

"Please take note that Seanego Attorneys Inc were not authorised, instructed or briefed by me, as the Acting Public Protector, or the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Protector, as the Accounting Officer, to deliver the aforementioned application for leave to appeal nor the notice of amendment to Part B to the notice of motion," Gcaleka wrote.

"In the circumstances, we intend delivering notices of withdrawal of the aforesaid application for leave to appeal, as well as the notice of motion, on behalf of the PPSA."

She further stated that Seanego Attorneys Inc and counsels were not authorised to act on behalf of the PPSA.

Gcaleka instructed different attorneys to draft her notices.

"In the event that advocate Mkhwebane proceeds with these applications in her personal capacity, or the respondents persist with any relief they may seek, the PPSA shall abide by the decision of the court, unless any of the respondents persist with seeking costs against the Office.

"We humbly apologise for any inconvenience to the court and the respondents caused by the aforementioned applications."

Mkhwebane's application would have been heard on 26 and 27 July.

Ramaphosa has already filed a responding affidavit in the matter, in which he denies that the Public Protector's investigation into allegations implicating him in a cover-up and foreign exchange irregularities, after a burglary at his Limpopo game farm Phala Phala, was the reason for his decision.

He disputes there is a conflict of interest in suspending her and says he was within constitutional bounds when he suspended her.

An offshoot of the latest development is that Ramaphosa's answer to questions the Public Protector sent to him in this matter will most likely not become part of the public record.

Ramaphosa undertook to file his response to the court as part of the matter. With the application withdrawn, there would be no need for him to do so.

Parliament's impeachment hearings are due to start on Monday.

As South Africans battle some of the worst load-shedding ever, there is growing pressure on Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to allow for more renewables and battery storage to address the deepening energy crisis.

Fourteen civil society organisations, in an open letter, requested that Mantashe immediately issue determinations for the procurement of 13 600 MW of renewable energy and 1 575 MW of storage capacity.

Among the groups which have signed off on the letter include environmental activists 350Africa.org, Fossil Free South Africa which successfully led a campaign to get UCT to divest from coal, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), and the Green Connection which has been involved in the fight to stop oil and gas exploration off South African shores.

The organisations have given Mantashe 10 days to issue the determination. Failing this, the groups will approach President Cyril Ramaphosa to instruct the minister to do so.

In the letter, the groups highlight that the electricity crisis and load-shedding causes "human suffering" and costs the South African economy "billions".

They also note that the minister is empowered to issue determinations allowing for large-scale new electricity generation capacity – over 100 MW – to be built. Citing the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) of 2019, they indicate that as much as 20 400 MW of renewable energy generation capacity is to be built by 2030, along with 2 088 MW of storage capacity.

While the minister in September 2020 issued determinations for 6 800 MW of renewable energy to be procured, determinations for the remaining 13 600 MW still need to be issued. Similarly, determinations of 513 MW of storage had been issued, and 1 575 MW remains.

The organisations note that in cases of urgency related to energy security – the issuance of determinations does not need to follow a timeline set out in the IRP. They, therefore, urge Mantashe to act urgently.

"Renewable energy and storage have been shown to be far quicker to build than other forms of generation. If Minister Mantashe acts with urgency and carries the best interest of South Africans at heart, he should do everything in his power to add more electricity to the grid as quickly as possible. There is an urgent need for him to sign determinations for large-scale wind, solar and storage capacity," said Peter Becker, spokesperson of one of the signatories, Koeberg Alert Alliance.

Thando Lukuko from the South African Climate Action Network echoed Becker's views. "South Africa's electricity supply is in dire straits. We strongly call on Minister Mantashe to unlock the 13GW of renewable energy and storage as approved by Cabinet in the 2019 IRP. Urgent action is now an imperative, more than ever."

The civil society groups are not alone in demanding the government to act. The National Planning Commission has called for an emergency plan to accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity to address the energy crisis. The plan calls for 10 000 MW of wind and solar power to be procured, along with 5 000 MW of battery storage, Fin24 previously reported.

Government has launched two tender processes in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) – each of the bid windows aim to secure 2 600 MW of renewable power. Bid Window 5 is in the process of reaching financial close and the deadline for Bid Window 6 submissions is in August.

Independent thinktank Meridian Economics recently issued a report indicating that load-shedding could have been reduced by 96.5% in 2021 if government had not stalled the REIPPPP in 2016. By now, at least 5 000 MW of renewable energy would have been procured.

This would have reduced reliance on peaking plants that depend on diesel to keep the system stable and would have resulted in cost savings for Eskom of R2.5-billion and reduced tariffs to consumers.

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka has reassured the African Transformation Movement (ATM) that her office is committed to finalising its investigation without undue delay into allegations that President Cyril Ramaphosa violated the executive ethics code.

The allegations stem from the theft of millions of undeclared US dollars stashed in furniture at Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm in Limpopo, in what has become known as the Phala Phala farm theft saga.

The Public Protector's office has invited ATM president Vuyolwethu Zungula to join a virtual meeting "to outline the investigation process" that the office follows.

This comes after the ATM indicated last week that it was "taking legal advice on whether to bring an urgent application to set aside" what it describes as "the potentially unlawful and secret deal between Ramaphosa and Gcaleka" for the extension of his deadline to answer 31 questions Gcaleka's predecessor, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, asked before she was suspended.

Zungula had questioned why the deadline was extended without providing any notice to the complainant and the public in such a sensitive matter.

Responding to the ATM, Ponatshego Mogaladi, the executive manager for investigations in the Office of the Public Protector, said "this office is committed to finalise this matter without undue delay, and to this end, the acting Public Protector hereby invites you to a virtual meeting to outline the investigation process that is followed by this office in this matter and other similar matters".

Mogaladi said the date and time of the proposed meeting would be confirmed by the acting Public Protector's personal assistant.

Zungula told News24 his party was still in the process of confirming the date, but that he hoped the matter would be dealt with urgently.

Gcaleka has publicly defended her decision to grant Ramaphosa an extension, and said it was based on a request from Ramaphosa's lawyers and the amount of information required.

Gcaleka said the reason why she did not inform the public about the extension was that it was in accordance with legal prescripts relating to her office's handling of communication on ongoing investigations.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said on Wednesday that the Eskom electricity crisis is a result of African National Congress deployed cadres and socialist ideologues and has called for Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to be replaced.

The DA leader blamed Stage 6 load-shedding on a small group of illegally striking workers who, he said, were putting their own interests ahead of the nation’s by blocking work at Eskom until their demands for higher salaries were met.

On Tuesday, a 7% wage agreement was finally accepted by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the National Union of Mineworkers.

Steenhuisen said the striker’s actions are destroying jobs and businesses, scaring away investment, making communities more dangerous, causing huge inconveniences for people, destroying private appliances and public infrastructure, and impacting service delivery.

Steenhuisen said government must declare a state of disaster in the electricity sector and suspend all bureaucratic obstacles blocking businesses, organisations, municipalities and households from producing, buying and/or selling energy.

“We need to make it easy and attractive for independent power producers to bring new power to the grid at scale and in the shortest possible time. It is inconceivable that in this crisis, the State is blocking them from doing so with cumbersome, irrational regulations,” said Steenhuisen.

The DA leader added that a state of disaster should also be used to waive black economic empowerment requirements, so that Eskom can follow the most cost-efficient procurement processes to keep electricity prices as low as possible and keep processes as streamlined as possible.

“Arrest, prosecute and fire those Eskom employees who break the law. The unreasonable demands of Eskom employees for even higher salaries should not prevail over the needs of the country and economy at large,” he said.

He called on government to enable a drastic reduction of Eskom’s wage bill, with serious consequences for those who seek to sabotage the system.

Steenhuisen believes that Eskom power stations and their immediate surrounding security zones should be protected by law enforcement who should arrest and prosecute trespassers.