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Following the publication of new Covid-19 health regulations by Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla, Solidarity launched legal action against the regulations, calling them “unlawful and irrational”.

Phaahla published amendments to health regulations on Wednesday night, just hours before the 30 days of transitional rules (put in place after the end of the National State of Disaster on Covid-19) automatically lapsed.

“The Department of Health’s (DoH's) dragging its heels in publishing the regulations led to the absurd situation where the South African public did not know by 23:00 last night what would hit them the next morning. This is totally unacceptable and it has taken the country back to family meetings and with the immediate effect of lockdowns,” Solidarity chief executive Dr Dirk Hermann said.

Regulations retain the wearing of masks in all indoor public spaces.

The venue capacity for indoor and outdoor gatherings is a maximum of 50%, if attendees are vaccinated against Covid-19 and have a valid vaccination certificate.

If these requirements are not met, attendees must produce a valid negative Covid-19 test result not older than 72 hours prior to the date of the gathering.

“If complying with this indoor gathering requirement is not possible, then attendance shall be limited to 1 000 people or 50% of the capacity, whichever is smaller, while the attendance at an outdoor gathering shall be limited to 2 000 people or 50% of the capacity, whichever is smaller," said the DoH.

Solidarity issued Phaahla with a legal letter asking him to disclose how the decision on the Covid-19 health regulations was reached.

Hermann said there was major uncertainty about the legal framework within which these limited regulations functioned.

“The most draconic and worrying of the new regulations is the fact that the Minister of Health can arbitrarily decide to enact or withdraw them. Practically, this means the Minister can put the whole country into lockdown with no prior notice and no limits to this power. The huge uncertainty this creates in several sectors of the economy will have major consequences if the regulations remain as is,” he explained.

He argued that no mention was made of preserving the country’s healthcare capacity by the regulations, saying South Africa traded a temporary pandemic for an eternal lockdown which, he says, cannot be allowed.

He said Solidarity’s legal team was also considering further steps to challenge the substance of the regulations relating to the public comment process.

Hermann argued that while government admitted in the Government Gazette that it needed more time to consider public input, it nonetheless, gazetted the regulations.

He added that government’s actions made a “mockery” of the public participation process and showed “the true colours of a government that wants to rule over citizens rather than in solidarity with citizens”.

AfriForum campaigns manager Jacques Broodryk said AfriForum’s court documents had already been finalised and its legal team was also standing by to immediately fight amendments.

He added that AfriForum would litigate to review the “astoundingly and unjustifiable regulations”.

An illness kept former South African Airways (SAA) board chairperson Dudu Myeni away from court on Wednesday, forcing a second postponement of her case relating disclosure of the identity of a protected witness at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry in 2020.

A warrant of arrest was issued against Myeni for her failure to appear in court, but will be on hold and only effected if she fails to arrive in court without providing a valid reason. The state has charged Myeni with defeating or obstructing the administration of justice.

Her attorney, Nqabayethu Buthelezi, informed the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court that Myeni was ill and could not be present in court. Her absence forced the state to postpone the matter to 14 June.

Myeni, who was SAA board chairperson from December 2012 to 2017, raised eyebrows when she revealed the identity of a witness known as "Mr X". The undisclosed witness had given evidence in camera in February 2020, relating to his dealings with Myeni and a company run by her son.

The witness had told the commission that his evidence would destroy his relationship with Myeni, News24 reported.

Despite her failure to appear in court, the representations she had made with the Gauteng director of public prosecutions regarding the matter have been unsuccessful, allowing the case to continue.

The outcome of the bid was confirmed by Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.

"The matter was set down for the outcome of the representations that the accused lodged with the office of the director of public prosecutions in the Gauteng local division. The representations were unsuccessful and the full prosecution will continue," said Mjonondwane.

Myeni has the option to take the matter up with the national office of the director of public prosecutions.

"If she fails to appear again and there are no reasonable grounds for her absence, the warrant will have to be executed," said Mjonondwane.

Without fixing dysfunctional municipalities, dangerous roads full of potholes and reducing reliance on Eskom, South Africa can forget about meaningful economic growth, says former finance minister Tito Mboweni.

Speaking at the PSG annual conference in Sun City on Wednesday, Mboweni said even though SA's economy bounced back quickly from the Covid-19 setback, it's still at levels last seen in 2017.

"That short-term V-shaped recovery - there's not much to write home about it. It was recovering from a very low base," he said.

Instead, Mboweni said that the 1.2% GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2021 paints the true picture of SA's stagnation and proves that the target of growing the economy by 5% by 2030 is a pipe dream.

The problem?

There is no capable state to ensure that the economy grows. Instead, there are more businesses which, like Clover, are suffocating because of ineffective municipalities.

"The municipal roads were bad. Their trucks experienced tyre bursts all the time. The municipality overcharged them for rates and taxes," said Mboweni.

He added that Clover was ready to close its business if it could not relocate to Durban.

Fix roads and infrastructure instead of social spending

If he were president, Mboweni said, his priority would be fixing bad roads and infrastructure, and cleaning up municipalities.

"The importance of running municipalities properly is so key," he said.

Mboweni said there are many other pre-conditions for achieving higher economic growth that are not present in South Africa.

While there are several structural reforms the country needs - including reconfiguring the country's energy mix because "Eskom is a major constraint to economic performance" - there are also simple things government is failing on.

"What will be the preconditions for us to achieve higher growth levels? A capable state is very important. [A] state that is going to fix the roads and do all of those things, it's very important," said Mboweni.

He said there are many other "basic factors" that government needs to refocus its attention on, including actually investing in infrastructure again rather than just talking about it.

The former finance minister also cautioned against populist policies, given that the governing ANC might try to appease voters after losing support in many metros in the local government elections last year. Mboweni thinks that the expanding social expenditure bill needs to be reined in, particularly because the social sector already accounts for about 60% of the consolidated budget.

"As people go around talking about the basic income, they have to be careful about where we want to take the country to. Yes, there is massive poverty and we must make interventions, but I'm not quite sure ... a basic income grant is where we should go," said Mboweni.

Mboweni said given SA's unemployment time bomb, the country needs to invest in infrastructure, which is a huge creator of jobs in the construction sector.

According to the World Bank's economic indicators, SA's gross fixed capital formation – which measures investment in infrastructure – has fallen dramatically in the past 13 years. In 2018, SA's gross fixed capital formation stood at 22% of the GDP. By 2020, it was 14%.

Where the state cannot fill the infrastructure gap, Mboweni believes it should let the private sector help.

"The key thing that has happened in the transport sector is that government has accepted that private operators can operate on the Transnet rail system. That's a huge development, huge!" said Mboweni.

Afriforum warned on Wednesday that should government go ahead with its plans to permanently enshrine current pandemic health regulations into law, it and public participation platform DearSA will launch court action against government’s proposed regulations.

Covid-19 rules such as mask wearing and social distancing are set to expire at midnight after government extended the regulations for 30 days after it ended the National State of Disaster.

AfriForum argued that government’s draft regulations are beyond legal powers and, therefore, outside of the intended scope of the legislation.

“It was never the legislature’s intention for these Acts to have such far-reaching effects and consequences. Some of these proposed regulations, such as forced quarantine, have previously been nullified by the court,” said AfriForum campaigns manager Jacques Broodryk.

AfriForum also submitted more than 30 000 individual comments rejecting the regulations.

“There is no reason why these temporary health regulations should be made permanent. While many countries across the globe have dropped regulations such as the wearing of masks, the South African government now wants to permanently enshrine these measures in law. It’s absolutely illogical,” explained Broodryk.

DearSA also raised concerns about the manner in which government is handling the public participation process on the proposed amendments to the Health Act.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) urged President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African National Congress government to provide clarity on when the State of Disaster will finally come to an end, and clear steps on what the road ahead would entail.

DA Shadow Minister of Health Michele Clarke said as yet, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has provided no feedback on the DA’s various requests and suggestions to ensure transparency and oversight.

“There is currently no confirmation that an audit has been done to indicate whether submissions lost due to a technical glitch were recovered and included,” she said

Broodryk said AfriForum’s court documents have already been finalised and the legal team are standing by to fight amendments immediately should they come into force.

He added that AfriForum will litigate to review the “astoundingly and unjustifiable regulations”.

Taxpayers will fork out around R500-million for the SA National Defence Force's (SANDF) deployment to flood-ravaged parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the deployment of around 10 000 soldiers to the two provinces to assist with humanitarian and rebuilding efforts.

In a letter to Parliament's presiding officers, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo, Ramaphosa said the troops were deployed, "... to preserve life and health and property in emergency or humanitarian relief operations in the KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces".

The letter dated 26 April was released by Parliament this week.

The expenditure expected to be incurred for this deployment amounts to R506 406 000, Ramaphosa said.

"This employment was authorised in accordance with the provisions of Section 18 of the Defence Act, Act 42 of 2002. The employment is for a period of two months from 14 April 2022 to 14 June 2022," Ramaphosa said.

He also requested that the contents of the letter be brought to the attention of MPs in both Houses.

A preliminary assessment report from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements indicated that more than 13 500 households were affected, 3 937 houses were destroyed, and 8 039 houses were partially destroyed.

Last month, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the floods damaged over 630 schools - 101 were deemed inaccessible and 124 suffered extensive damage.

The minister said 64 pupils had died.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the damage to health facilities in KwaZulu-Natal would cost R185-million to repair.

Several health facilities had damaged roofs due to the flooding.

The Social Development Department had managed to provide shelter to about 8 400 people, with 98 shelters established.

The majority of those housed were women and children.

Last month, Ramaphosa announced that he has roped in the Auditor-General to keep an eye on the billions in disaster relief.

Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke has authorised her office to undertake real-time audits of the funds.

Maluleke said the AG has an important role to play in providing independent assurance that public funds are accounted for and are being used as intended.

The Department of Justice has a team working on implementing the findings of the Zondo Commission, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola told the Parliament on Tuesday morning.

However, this plan will be presented at the "... appropriate time, to enable us to respond appropriately to the corruption cancer," Lamola told the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services.

He was presenting a political overview before the committee was scheduled to take a closer look at the department and its entities' budgets.

The fourth part of the commission's report was published on Friday.

As before, there are numerous recommendations that people – many of them Lamola's comrades in the ANC – should be investigated for prosecution.

Lamola thanked Chief Justice Raymond Zondo for his "sterling job" at the commission as the inquiry draws to a close.

Lamola said, "We are in full flight in the rebuilding processes of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)."

He said they are, as far as possible, directing critical resources to the NPA to ensure that it has the human capital and financial resources to respond to the many crimes which afflict communities, despite a challenging fiscal environment.

"For instance, it is quite evident that our biggest challenges as a nation at the moment, are the supply of stable and reliable electricity and the provision of reliable passenger rail transport. While the challenges at Eskom and Prasa are well documented, one of the most obvious factors is cable theft.

"One of the indicators we will be monitoring closely in the NPA's performance plan is that of cable theft convictions. This is an act of economic sabotage, now more than ever, the masterminds of those who benefit from plunging communities into darkness and train stoppages must be exposed and the arm of the law must catch up them."

He said a "new injection of resources" must enable the NPA to combat organised crime, white-collar crime, and corruption.

"In the past year, there has been progress we can mention without any hesitation. The foundation of the Investigating Directorate was established by a highly skilled black woman in Advocate Hermione Cronje and the transition from her to another highly skilled black woman in Advocate Andrea Johnson has been seamless," he said.

He thanked Cronje for her service and welcomed Johnson into her new role, "... which is difficult and challenging, but we do believe she is equal to the task".

The Investigative Directorate has declared 82 investigations and enrolled 20 cases with 65 people standing accused.

It has also prioritised nine corruption matters for enrollment within the next six months.

"In their own words, Advocate Shamila Bathoi and her Deputy Anton du Plessis, have said that we are nearing a moment of high-level prosecutions being executed without fear or favour. We shouldn't second guess them, they are better placed than all of us to tell no lies and claim no easy victories. We do believe they will be able to discharge their responsibilities as enshrined in the NPA act."

Lamola said the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is also proving to be a significant agent in the fight against corruption and maladministration.

"As it also prepares to mark 25 years of its existence, there is objective proof that it is a vital cog in our accountability and consequence management framework as a state."

He said the SIU had enrolled cases worth billions of rands to the Special Tribunal and High Court.

The cooperation between the SIU and other law enforcement agencies such as the NPA and Hawks is also being strengthened.

"Honourable Members, over and above all this work, in these plans, we are also mindful of the imminent and the already released Zondo Commission reports. Special Commercial Crimes Courts have been established in every province and the one in Palmridge and Pretoria have been expanded to enable them to cope with the work that might come their way," Lamola said.

"Consultations are ...

In his latest weekly newsletter, published on May 3, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the workers at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, who heckled him off stage at a Workers' Day rally, made plain what nearly every South African knows, namely that the working class and the poor are suffering.

"Workers expressed their grievances loudly and clearly. While the main grievance appeared to be about wage negotiations at nearby mines, the workers' actions demonstrated a broader level of discontent. It reflects a weakening of trust in their union and federation as well as political leadership, including public institutions," he said.

"These workers wanted to be heard. They wanted their union leaders and government to appreciate their concerns and understand the challenges they face. In raising their voices, these workers were upholding a tradition of militance that has been part of the labour movement in this country for decades. As political and union leaders, we have all heard the workers and understand their frustration."

Further, political and union leaders are firmly committed to take the necessary action to improve workers' lives and their working conditions, but this is not something that government can do on its own. It needs labour, business and the whole of society to work with government to implement an agreed set of measures to grow and transform the economy, Ramaphosa said.

"[The workers] made the firm point that we must do more and act with greater urgency to address issues of unemployment, poverty, deprivation and hunger. At the same time, we must establish more efficient mechanisms to enable workers to participate more fully in the formulation and implementation of policy and programmes," he highlighted.

While the pandemic has affected everyone in our society, it is the working class and the poor that have suffered most. They have also been the most affected by service delivery failures, corruption, crime and weaknesses in local government. It is the working class and the poor who were affected most by the public violence and destruction in July last year, and who were most vulnerable when catastrophic flooding struck parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

"The workers that gathered at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium and millions of other people across our country cannot wait for the impact of reforms to be realised. That is why, as we implement reform measures, we are seeking, within our constrained public finances, to provide a basic level of social protection to the most vulnerable," said Ramaphosa.

"There is still much more that needs to be done to unleash the potential of our economy and provide the employment opportunities that our people need.

"That is why we need to all work together to ensure that it will not be long before the workers of Rustenburg, and indeed workers across the country, begin to experience the benefits of ports and rail infrastructure that can effectively carry our goods to export.

"So that we can all experience the benefits of a stable electricity supply that is cleaner and cheaper, of fewer restrictions on small and informal businesses, of better access for all to broadband technology, and of an exploration strategy that leads to an increase in mining investment."

The challenges that workers face this Workers Day are many and the hardships they endure are great. The road ahead will be difficult and there is much work to do.

"That is why we need to rebuild trust and confidence, and why we need to forge a social compact that not only has the support of workers, but also delivers meaningful benefits to them," he said.

South Africa's progressive labour laws are the product of engagement among all social partners who devised an effective response to the 2008 global financial crisis and laid the foundation for the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, which is guiding the country's response to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was such a partnership that led to the introduction of a natio...

"Worrying signs" that Covid-19 infections are on the rise have been detected over the last two days, Health Minister Joe Phaahla has warned.

He introduced his department's annual performance plan to the Portfolio Committee on Health on Friday morning.

Phaahla said the last two years had been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The department's energy, financial and human resources weighed heavily in favour of containing the pandemic.

"We are hopeful, as we present the annual performance plan, that the 2022-'23 financial year will be different from the last two financial years," he said.

"We hope that there will be more stability in the pandemic, that the pandemic will be better contained."

He referred to the Omicron variant of the virus, which was highly infectious but not severe, and said he hoped this trend would continue so that the department could focus on its programmes and not be "diverted" like it had been during the last two years.

Phaahla, however, tempered this hope.

"Over the last two days, we have seen worrying signs of a rise in Covid-19 infections. We hope that this will not go much higher. But we are monitoring, and we will be able to report back to the committee and the public once we have seen the trend," he said.

On Thursday, South Africa recorded 4 406 new coronavirus cases, of which 2 157 were recorded in Gauteng. The previous day, 2 846 new cases were recorded, close to half of it from Gauteng.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has appointed David Maynier as the new Education MEC and has made changes to his cabinet.

Maynier was the MEC of Finance and Economic Opportunities.

This comes after Debbie Schäfer resigned as Education MEC to join her family in the UK and to return to the law profession.

The announcement was made on Friday during a short break in the premier's meeting day with mayors and local government representatives in the province, which was hosted at the Century City Conference Centre.

As part of his cabinet reshuffle, Winde named Mireille Wenger as Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC. Wenger previously served as Democratic Alliance (DA) chief whip in the province.

Winde also named three new portfolios: Infrastructure, Mobility, and Police Oversight and Community Safety.

Tertuis Simmers was appointed MEC for Infrastructure. Previously, he was the Human Settlements MEC.

Winde appointed DA MP Reagan Allen as MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety.

Former Transport and Public Works MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela was jettisoned when it emerged that he did not have the degree he claimed to have. Daylin Mitchell took over his portfolio, and Madikizela resurfaced as an advisor to Winde.

Mitchell has now been appointed as MEC for Mobility.

Previous Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz was fired after allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denied.

Winde thanked Anroux Marais for holding the community safety portfolio together in the aftermath of the Fritz scandal.

"It's not easy. These are tough choices to be made," he said.

He added that he had chosen "individuals who held the government's values dear".

"Over the next few days, we will set up those ministries."

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has gone to court to apply for a six-week extension of the State Capture Inquiry, while promising that report volumes on Eskom, the Free State and the "attempted capture" of Treasury should be handed over by Monday.

In an affidavit filed in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Zondo said Part 4 of the report will also include volumes on EOH and the City of Johannesburg; Alexkor; closure of Gupta bank accounts" as well as "the Free State asbestos project debacle; and the Free State R1-billion housing project debacle".

He said the commission was "about to deliver" an electronic version of Part 4 of its report to President Cyril Ramaphosa "some time today (Friday) or this evening, or tomorrow morning" - and that a hard copy was expected to be handed over on Monday.

"Unfortunately, although we have covered a lot of ground in March and April in terms of further work on Part IV of the report, we have not been able to complete all the remaining topics that must be covered and will not be able to do so by the end of April," Zondo stated.

These final topics include investigations into the SABC, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, "the Waterkloof landing", the State Security Agency and the Estina dairy farm.

It also includes a "summary of the report" and a " state capture chapter".

Zondo says the inquiry needs to be extended until 15 June to allow for these volumes to be completed.