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A month after deadly floods hit KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial government is still locked in talks with the National Treasury on the allocation of disaster funds to the tune of R1-billion.

"We are told that R1-billion has been allocated to KZN, we have not yet received that money, but we are working with National Treasury and provincial treasury on the processes that need to be followed so that the money is allocated to relevant sector departments to municipalities," Cogta MEC Sipho Hlomuka said on Wednesday.

Hlomuka was briefing the media in Durban about various issues, including budgets for damages and repairs, after the floods.

He said provincial departments were also juggling their budgets.

"We will be guided by the national government, but I am aware that we need to reprioritise our budget as well to talk to the disaster. All departments affected by this disaster, they need to reprioritise the budget to speak to the disaster."

Hlomuka added that some of the worst-affected areas were identified in the western and northern parts of Durban, where water supply is in question.

The Tongaat Water Works was destroyed during the flooding, leaving tens of thousands of residents without clean running water.

Contaminated river water

In addition, there are high E.Coli levels in rivers, raising alarm bells for many rural communities that rely on river water daily.

"The infrastructure damages owing to recent torrential rains pose a risk of the contamination of water sources, such as rivers. As restoration of water has progressed in most areas, focus will now be on the protection of water resources to minimise deterioration.

"Most water resources (rivers) in the eThekwini District have been found to have a significantly high percentage of water contaminants (mainly E.Coli) due to raw sewer spillages, owing to water treatment works infrastructure damages.

"This increases the risk of a potential outbreak of waterborne diseases, like cholera, hepatitis, typhoid fever, etc. We are appealing to communities to exercise extreme caution when dealing with water from rivers."

He added that they were attempting to augment the supply of water in the northern parts of the city, with eThekwini having 263 water tankers. Tongaat and Verulam residents have complained that they don't see many water tankers in the areas.

According to Hlomuka, more than 400 lives were lost (386 in eThekwini, 31 in iLembe, seven in Ugu, four in King Cetshwayo, three in Harry Gwala, two in uMgungundlovu and two in uMzinyathi);

48 people are still unaccounted for;

77 600 lives were severely disrupted;

7 286 homes were destroyed;

12 062 homes were partially destroyed,

There is R25 billion (with assessments still under way) worth of damages to both public and private infrastructure across the province; and

Disaster management teams have conducted 748 search operations and more than 168 rescues.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is also getting in on the action to get State capturers behind bars, and recover some loot.

The SIU presented their annual performance plan to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on Wednesday.

Before SIU head Andy Mothibi could present the part of their presentation dealing with the Zondo Commission's reports to the committee, he was cut short by committee chairperson Bulelani Magwanishe due to time constraints.

The presentation states that the SIU is considering a number of areas coming out of the State Capture Inquiry reports:

Identify matters that are highlighted by the report and are covered by the issued proclamations, and those that are not covered;

Identifying matters where civil litigation for cancellation of contracts and recovery is underway and those matters where SIU will institute civil litigation;

Holding officials, executives and directors to account based on evidence and findings;

Making referrals to NPA where the evidence points to a criminal offence;

Referrals of evidence to state institutions for disciplinary action;

Collaborate with other law enforcement agencies on common matters; and

Blacklisting of companies and directors;

and referrals to other Regulatory Authorities.

"The SIU constituted a committee, chaired by the Head of SIU, to consider the first three parts of the State Capture report and identified matters that will be further investigated to ensure that there is sufficient evidence to proceed," reads the presentation.

The SIU will also consider the most recently released fourth part of the report, particularly as it pertains to troubled state power utility Eskom.

"The SIU has extensive Eskom investigations, and there are already outcomes in this regard," reads the presentation.

From the first part of the report, the SIU has identified nine matters on South African Airways and South African Express Airways. Also, from part one, the SIU has identified a South African Revenue Service related matter that "could lead to civil litigation".

"The SIU has also identified three potential civil matters, mentioned in passing in Part 1, relating to City of Johannesburg, the Asbestos project (where civil litigation has already been instituted) with contract value of R255m and the Estina Dairy Project," reads the presentation.

From the second part of the report, the SIU identified 11 matters dealing with Transnet, and three potential civil matters relating to Denel.

"SIU Civil Litigation Team is considering the reports and investigations outcomes for further civil litigation matters," reads the presentation.

Furthermore, from the second part of the report, the SIU investigates SAA, Denel, Transnet and the now-defunct Gupta-owned The New Age media company, who received money from government departments to host breakfast events.

From the third part, they are investigating state-owned enterprises Eskom and Alexkor.

The previous day, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) informed the same committee that its Investigating Directorate (ID) intends to prosecute nine "seminal" corruption cases related to State capture within the next six months.

National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi said the nine prioritised cases were "seminal cases that will talk to the heart of State capture".

The ID has declared 82 investigations and enrolled 20 cases, with 65 accused. And it has prioritised nine corruption matters for enrolment within the next six months.

Dealing with State capture cases will be the NPA's main focus this coming year.

"We are determined to ensure that those implicated in state capture are held to account. This will rebuild public confidence, which is closely linked to investor confidence and also to economic growth, which will help the poorest and the most vulnerable in our country and also deal with the increasing inequality gap in South Africa," Batohi said.

While the SIU and NPA are taking action as the reports are published, ...

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga on Tuesday argued that President Cyril Ramaphosa can help the African National Congress (ANC) but only if the party allows him.

Speaking during a State of the Nation business breakfast in Johannesburg, Mathekga noted that South Africans look at the ANC’s experiences by looking at individuals.

“Whatever Ramaphosa is able to do within the society will have an effect within the ANC and that will limit how far he moves within the society,” Mathekga warned.

He added that this reform would not have symmetrical benefits, explaining that the more gains Ramaphosa makes in correcting things in society, the more costly it becomes within the ANC.

Mathekga noted that Ramaphosa is trying to bring the ANC back from the “back door”, through government institutions.

“Actually you can say he is trying to transform the ANC from above . . . going to government and saying this and that is not allowed. But in most cases the people that are going to be caught by those regulations and laws you put in government are the people who should have been sanctioned by just tapping them on the shoulder in your own party and saying don’t go out and do this and that,” he said.

Mathekga warned that if the President pushed to eliminate corruption in government it would result in crisis within the ANC. He stressed that if Ramaphosa succeeded in reforming government, he wouldn’t succeed within the ANC, as these two spheres were becoming mutually exclusive.

Mathekga believed that South Africa was experiencing a political fragmentation, noting that “the ANC is not holding”.

He argued that South Africans were already getting accustomed to declining authority.

“In the rural areas there is a lot of shift to traditional leadership as a new source of legitimate authority, despite controversy with the institution and its evolution,” he pointed out.

Mathekga was joined by Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse's Wayne Duvenage and StreamIn’s Michael Sham, who was of the belief there was no redemption for the ANC, citing the opposition to Ramaphosa’s faction within the ruling party, which he said was damaging to the country.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Tuesday dodged questions from parliamentarians concerned with how much her office had incurred in litigation costs while defending reports, the recommendations of which have been overturned by the court, and in a bid to escape impeachment.

Mkhwebane had made several ill-fated efforts to approach the courts to avoid impeachment through an inquiry into her fitness to hold office.

She was also fighting President Cyril Ramaphosa's looming bid to suspend her in the interim.

The call for Mkhwebane to divulge the legal costs she had incurred, came as she and her colleagues appeared before the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services on Tuesday, making a presentation on the 2022-2023 annual performance plan and budget for the Public Protector's office.

Mkhwebane pleaded with the committee for additional funding of just over R50-million over the next three financial years, mainly to finance critical positions.

Instead of acceding to the request, portfolio committee members were more interested in knowing how much Mkwebane's legal pursuits were costing the Chapter 9 institution and if such monies could be redirected towards the additional funding needs.

Mkhwebane requested to answer the parliamentarians through a written response and not respond to the questions on the day.

A total of just over R360-million had been approved for the public protector's office for the 2022-2023 financial year, with over 90% of the money expected to go toward staff salaries.

Notwithstanding that a large chunk of the organisation's budget went toward salaries, the public protector's office revealed that it still needed to fill 22 crucial positions at an estimated cost of R15.1-million.

The office's chief executive officer, Thandi Sibanyoni, said: "The posts would have been funded by the public protector's office over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, had the baseline not been reduced in the 2019-2020 financial year."

Beyond the funding constraints, Mkhwebane's office indicated that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Auditor-General's (AG) office and would also be keeping a close eye on the spending of the KZN flood funding.

The office said it would be receiving cases as soon as they were identified by the AG's office and would not be awaiting a final report on the total spending.

The National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) Investigating Directorate (ID) intends to prosecute nine "seminal" corruption cases related to state capture within six months.

National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi made this announcement as she presented the NPA's annual performance plan to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on Tuesday morning.

According to Batohi, the leadership transition at the ID, from Hermione Cronje to Andrea Johnson, had been "seamless", and the directorate was "poised for action".

The ID has declared 82 investigations and enrolled 20 cases with 65 accused. And it has prioritised nine corruption matters for enrolment within the next six months.

She said the nine ones prioritised were "seminal cases that will talk to the heart of state capture".

This is also the main focus of the NPA for the coming year.

"The reality is that, right now, our response to the findings and recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture is what will really be defining for the NPA and South Africa.

"The recent release of the Zondo Commission reports has highlighted how much damage state capture has done to our country. And the need for us in the NPA to act with a sense of urgency, not to respond to pressure, because that's when we make mistakes, but to act with a sense of urgency with a razor-sharp focus on particular cases," Batohi said.

"We are determined to ensure that those implicated in state capture are held to account. This will rebuild public confidence, which is closely linked to investor confidence and also to economic growth, which will help the poorest and the most vulnerable in our country and also deal with the increasing inequality gap in South Africa."

Batohi said they had evidence and plans in place to bring the "seminal corruption cases" to court within three to six months.

"This is our razor-sharp focus. Primarily, it is on the ID. We need to make sure that accountability for corruption is the norm and not the exception."

She said it would be a challenging few months for the NPA.

"Whether a name is mentioned or not mentioned in the Zondo Commission report will not be whether the NPA prosecutes or decide not to prosecute. We follow our own processes, and we will follow the evidence at the end of the day in our decisions to prosecute," she said.

Batohi said they were working closely with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), better known as the Hawks.

"Capacitation is still key."

She added that expanding the powers of the ID and making it a permanent body would be critical to moving its work forward.

Johnson, who took over from Cronje in March, said the ID staff had a very clear "appreciation of the urgency of what must be done".

Back from his visit to Ukraine last week, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said on Monday that the Russian aggression against Ukraine will get far worse before it gets any better.

Steenhuisen recently spent six days in Ukraine to see first-hand how war is affecting the country.

He said he made the trip to represent freedom-loving South Africans who were appalled by what the Russian military was doing to the people of Ukraine.

He said his message was to inform Ukrainians that the ruling African National Congress did not speak for the country but rather for its own narrow interests.

Steenhuisen met with mayors, members of parliament, members of the opposition, former presidents and ministers, academics, civil society organisations and ordinary citizens.

He said they were bewildered by South Africa’s stance on the war in Ukraine.

“I assured them that our government’s disgraceful stance on the UN vote and the shameless attendance of Russian functions glorifying the military parties on the day the invasion got underway is viewed as a stain on our country by the majority of freedom loving South African citizens,” he said.

He said the DA would not stop pressuring the South African government to change its stance on the war, to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his army and to call for the opening of the Odessa port where more than 30-million tons of exports were waiting.

Steenhuisen warned that ripple effects of the war were starting to be felt. He said South Africans were going to suffer, particularly the poor who could not afford any further economic hardship.

A sharp price increase in bread and milk would hit everybody hard in the near future, he said.

The DA leader said poor South Africans were one of the main reasons why government could not remain neutral on the war.

He warned that the effects of the war would go on for a long time even if the fighting stopped now, with the economic devastation and particularly the agricultural aspect, taking years to overcome.

“This is not a Ukrainian or even a European issue. This is a global issue,” he stressed.

Ukraine is the largest producer of sunflower oil and the third-largest producer of corn and among the top five largest producers of wheat in the world.

Steenhuisen stated that Africa was dependent on Russia and Ukraine for their grain imports.

Ethiopia depends on Ukraine for more than a third of its wheat.

He blamed the South African government for turning a blind eye to the war rather than condemning it.

“I will not stop using my voice to raise awareness of the war in Ukraine. The DA will continue to fight for a reduction in oil and sugar prices,” Steenhuisen said.

He called for all efforts to be directed towards fighting off rising food costs and warned that if that was not done, South Africa would experience the worst winter.

“We must choose freedom, democracy and the right side of history,” he concluded.

Stage 2 load-shedding will "regretfully" be implemented from 17:00 until 22:00 on Monday evening, Eskom said in a statement.

The previous bout of load-shedding was suspended just two days previously, on Saturday.

Earlier, Eskom said the power system had recovered sufficiently to meet the demand during the day.

"[But] Eskom would like to caution the public that load-shedding might be required at short notice during the evening peaks should there be further breakdowns in currently available capacity," the utility said.

Eskom had expected to return to service a generation unit each at Kusile and Kendal power stations before Monday evening. But it warned that should either of these units fail to return to service, there would be an "increased probability" of load-shedding at short notice.

The return to service of a generation unit each at Matimba and Lethabo, as well as two units each at Hendrina and three at Tutuka power stations, was also delayed, Eskom said earlier.

Eastern Cape African National Congress (ANC) leader Oscar Mabuyane has been re-elected for a second term, brushing off his rival Babalo Madikizela.

Mabuyane and most of the party leaders on his slate managed to take over political control in the province, in what was a shambolic elective conference marred by disruptions, as 477 ballots were counted.

Mabuyane received 812 votes, and Madikizela 662.

It was a clean sweep for the rest of Mabuyane’s slate.

Mlungisi Mvoko beat Xolile Nkompela to deputy chairperson with 812 votes.

Lulama Ngcukayitobi was re-elected as provincial secretary.

Helen Sauls-August was also re-elected deputy secretary with 805 votes.

Meanwhile, Zolille Williams obtained 799 votes and was elected treasurer.

Cheers, song and dance erupted as Mabuyane was announced as the winner.

During voting on Monday, a delegate from the OR Tambo region was caught taking a photo of his ballot paper. It however had little impact on the outcome.

The conference saw a failed court bid and pandemonium about credentials, which determine who can participate and, as a result, vote for the leadership.

While the conference was meant to be wrapped up by Sunday evening, disputes and delays continued late into the night.

Conference delegates spent hours discussing credentials, with some aligned to Madikizela pushing for some branches to be excluded from proceedings.

Party President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to close the conference later on Monday.

Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe intends appealing the judgment of the Gauteng High Court, which dismissed his multiple challenges to gross misconduct findings against him and a Judicial Service Commission (JSC) process that could lead to his impeachment.

In a statement on Friday, Hlophe's lawyer Barnabas Xulu said the judge and his legal team had "carefully" read the judgment.

He said: "...fundamentally, the judgment does not reflect the established jurisprudence on the constitutional and legal issues raised by the parties, and the public is entitled to a judgment that accurately interprets the law, faithfully adheres to the established constitutional principles including judicial precedence and the correct approach to interpreting the Constitution.

"As this case is important for the public’s confidence in the judiciary and the rule of law, and we have accordingly received instructions to take the matter on appeal."

Last year, Hlophe was found guilty of impeachable gross misconduct for trying to sway Constitutional Court Justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta to rule in favour of former president Jacob Zuma in his 2008 bid to invalidate Scorpions search and seizure warrants, News24 reported.

The warrants led authorities to seize 93 000 pages of evidence that was later used in Zuma's ongoing corruption prosecution.

On Thursday, a full bench of the High Court rejected Hlophe's argument that, rather than voting on whether he should be impeached, the National Assembly should conduct its own investigation into the allegations of misconduct.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Friday said that Eskom may downgrade load-shedding to Stage 1.

The minister was delivering an address at the Just Transition Framework Multi-Stakeholder Conference. The two-day conference, which started on Thursday, is taking place in Gauteng and is organised by the Presidential Climate Commission.

In his address, Gordhan spoke about the importance of ensuring the transition is inclusive of all stakeholders of society. He also briefly spoke on issues at Eskom, which earlier this week implemented Stage 2 load-shedding, after the country lost generation capacity equivalent to that of three Medupi stations. Load-shedding is expected to continue until Monday.

"What I can tell you for a start is that Level 2 load-shedding might come down to Level 1 load-shedding, from what I heard [on Friday] morning," said Gordhan.

Eskom sticks to status quo

Early on Friday morning, however, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said in a text message that while the power utility was expecting a reduction in demand from Friday afternoon into the weekend, the slow recovery of generation capacity did not for the moment not allow a reduction in the load-shedding stage yet.

"The status quo remains," he said.

Citing a debate in Parliament on Thursday about the load-shedding challenge, Gordhan said that government takes responsibility for "missteps" in the past - as far back as 1998 and the early 2000s.

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has previously spoken of the government's role in load-shedding. Government had delayed decisions on the timeous procurement of generation capacity in the past.

Gordhan, however, has said that "we can't cry over spilt milk".

The responsibility is now to make sure there is energy security sooner rather than later, he said.

Furthermore, projects for renewables and "climate-safe base load" generation must move in the "right direction" in terms of quantities that are procured and must consider the cost of electricity for South Africans, he explained.

Among the key objectives to be prioritised in the next two to five years is the restructuring of Eskom and the establishment of the transmission entity and the Independent Systems and Market Operator and developing a competitive generation market.

This task is challenging in the face of achieving a just energy transition, which will involve the decommissioning of coal plants, introducing new technologies and retraining and reskilling workers, he added.