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The Johannesburg Magistrate's Court has imposed a R200 000 fine or a four-year prison sentence, with half of either of the two suspended, for African National Congress Women's League president Bathabile Dlamini.

She was sentenced for perjury on Friday morning.

In imposing the sentence, Magistrate Betty Khumalo said the offence was a serious one that warrants retribution.

She said the sentence imposed should not only rehabilitate Dlamini, but should also reform her.

Dlamini opted to pay R20 000 on Friday and the rest of the money on or before 29 April.

Khumalo earlier found Dlamini guilty of perjury for lying under oath during a 2017 inquiry into the social grants debacle at the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) that left millions of grant beneficiaries unsure about whether they would receive their money.

The magistrate also found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that the former minister had lied under oath.

Dlamini's defence team argued that she should not be found guilty of perjury because Section 38 proceedings, such as the Ngoepe Inquiry into the Sassa debacle, were not formal judicial ones.

But Khumalo said the inquiry qualified as a formal judicial process.

She said she was she was satisfied that Dlamini gave false evidence during the inquiry.

In the latest move in her Stalingrad defence against being held accountable by Parliament, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has lodged a court application for an interdict to force National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to halt her impeachment and prevent President Cyril Ramaphosa from suspending her.

This is the first part of her application to the Western Cape High Court.

In the second part, she wants the court to declare Mapisa-Nqakula's letter "instigating" her suspension unlawful and to set it aside. This is in reference to the letter Mapisa-Nqakula sent to Ramaphosa informing him that the Section 194 Committee dealing with the impeachment is continuing with its work.

In February, the Constitutional Court effectively gave Parliament the green light to go ahead with the impeachment, provided that Mkwhebane is afforded an attorney.

Mkwhebane has since approached the Constitutional Court to ask it to rescind that order.

Before she lodged the rescission bid, she informed the Section 194 Committee – so-called after the section of the Constitution that deals with the removal of Chapter 9 institution heads – that she intended to do so and insisted it halt its proceedings.

But the committee decided to forge ahead.

She then lodged the rescission application and again insisted that the committee stop its work.

After getting legal advice, the committee decided to continue its work earlier this week because nothing prevents it from doing its work.

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa asked Mkhwebane to motivate why she shouldn't be suspended, triggering what Section 194 Committee chairperson Qubudile Dtyantyi called a "festival of letters".

Mkhwebane argues that Ramaphosa has a conflict of interest and therefore can't suspend her. This assertion is also contained in her court papers.

Mkhwebane argues that Mapisa-Nqakula's letter to Ramaphosa is "illegal" because she "failed to take into account or apply her mind to a relevant consideration, namely the actual delivery of the rescission application and took into account an irrelevant consideration, namely the earlier decision of the committee, which had been significantly overtaken by events".

"The president committed and repeated the same consequential mistake."

Mkhwebane further argues that the Section 194 Committee "breached the Constitution" when it decided to continue with its work earlier this week.

She said the committee failed to take her rescission application into account in contravention of the National Assembly's Rule 89. Rule 89 reads as follows: "No member may reflect upon the merits of any matter on which a judicial decision in a court of law is pending."'

Incidentally, it's the same rule that the African Transformation Movement (ATM) quoted when it insisted its motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa should be postponed.

"Furthermore, the desire by the speaker and/or committee to act irrationally and outside the ambit of the law does not end with all the reasons mentioned above, it extends to flouting its own rules. The National Assembly has rules in place which ought to govern its process. These rules enjoy a status of subsidiary legislation. For instance, Rule 89 prohibits the National Assembly from discussing an issue which is sub judice."

"I submit that the committee will be acting unlawfully by reflecting or proceeding with the impeachment process whilst the constitutionality of the relevant rules is pending in court."

"I also point out that the rushed nature of the committee process is improper also because the exact manner and procedure of [it], by which my legal representatives will participate, has not yet been determined, decided by the committee and/or communicated to me so that I can prepare for the removal process," Mkhwebane complained.

"Neither has any related communication in that regard been directed at me, even as a matter of...common decency, let alone legal obligations and the requirements of fairness."

Mkhwebane's seven-year term ends in October 2023.

Although some intelligence reports were handed to the government, it did not reflect the full scale of what occurred during the unrest that broke out in the country in July 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday.

"The events as they manifested themselves, and the scale, intensity and ferocity were unforeseen. What we had gleaned from some of the reports was that there were protests and signs of unhappiness, particularly over the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma," Ramaphosa said.

He was testifying at a South African Human Rights Commission hearing into the unrest, which claimed the lives of more than 340 people and bludgeoned the economy to the tune of R50-billion.

Detailing the role of intelligence and the knowledge that the government had prior to and during the unrest, Ramaphosa said the targeting of key structures was not predicted.

"None of what happened or ensued in the targeting of malls and infrastructure was foreseen. That never surfaced in reports or indications."

Ramaphosa said the extent of the knowledge the government had from intelligence included the mobilisation of truck drivers and unhappy Zuma supporters.

"Prior to the unrest, the sum total of reports was around this mobilisation. Some of it was the MKMVA getting together, mobilising, unhappy with things, or truck drivers that blocked roads. None of what eventuated was pinpointed.

"I guess you could say there was an intelligence failure, security-gathering failure. Should it have been known? Yes. We were not fully forewarned about it," he said.

He added that, even if intelligence was accurate, it was likely that the police would still have been under-resourced.

"The speed with which it happened, given the lack of resources they had, given the lack of being properly organised themselves, I think they would have been challenged as they themselves concede.

"Public Order Policing was not structured or organised. It did not have personnel to deal with this, was too centralised to respond quickly, and did not have all the equipment they had."

Intelligence structures not optimal due to Covid-19 pandemic

Ramaphosa conceded that the Covid-19 pandemic interfered with intelligence.

He said that while he wanted the national security council to focus on the security situation, the explosion of Covid-19 "kind of stopped that".

"It was a great mistake on our part, but we were called upon to focus more on the pandemic, which had security ramifications. We met soon after the unrest happened, almost every day. We [have] now resolved, following the criticism made against us [about] not meeting prior, to meet every two months."

He also scoffed at criticism from people in the government and the public, who said it was difficult to get hold of his office during the unrest.

"Even if you don't meet, there is never a shortage of ways of communicating. To say you will only rely on one sole method of communication is taking a shortcut."

The African National Congress (ANC) believes the country will be back to catastrophic pre-pandemic levels if no regulations are promulgated once the national state of disaster is scrapped.

The party welcomed the gazetting of regulations for public comment by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The regulations were published on 29 March and public submissions set to close on Thursday. It followed a decision by the Cabinet to end the state of disaster.

The ANC said if there were no regulations when the state of disaster was scrapped, the country would be affected.

The regulations had been in place since March 2020. The government had been criticised for not lifting the state of disaster.

Political critics, including the Democratic Alliance, said the measures were hampering economic recovery.

President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated last week during his national address that he would end the state of disaster.

However, some of the regulations put in place along with it would have to remain to help mitigate any threats of the pandemic.

Some of the regulations that would likely remain under Covid-19 health regulations, include relaxed rules on mask-wearing, the payment of the R350 social in distress grant and other health measures.

The ANC said that Dlamini Zuma had the legislative right to put in place transitional post-disaster measures to help tackle a post-state of disaster environment.

The party said on Thursday that regulations were necessary.

"The public health measures published in the 'transitional' regulations are very critical to prevent or manage a further devastating wave of Covid-19. Furthermore, the published regulations will create a situation where the country will be able to mitigate and manage the effects of Covid-19.

"It is of critical importance to take note that should there be no 'transitional' regulations from Cogta, and the national state of disaster is terminated before the health regulations are promulgated, the country will be back to the pre-March 2020 situation.

"The scenario of not having the 'transitional' regulations will erode all the gains that the country has made during the past two years. This will also be catastrophic to the country and the health sector, both public and private," the ANC said.

The government would assess the public comments and Ramaphosa was expected to end the state of disaster after consideration, Dlamini-Zuma said on Tuesday.

On Friday President Cyril Ramaphosa will give evidence at the South African Human Rights Commission National Investigative Hearing into the 2021 July unrest.

He will testify as part of his responsibilities as President.

In July last year, chaos broke out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng when former president Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment after being found guilty for being in contempt of court. The unrest claimed more than 300 lives.

The Commission launched the hearing to find the causes of the unrest and assess its impact on human rights.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed with costs former president Jacob Zuma's four attempted challenges to his corruption prosecution, just days before he is due back in court for his corruption trial.

The SCA found that Zuma's petitions had "no reasonable prospects of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason why an appeal should be heard".

Zuma had asked the appeal court for the right to challenge Judge Piet Koen's dismissal of his "special plea" application in which he sought the removal of prosecutor Billy Downer because of alleged bias and misconduct – as well as his case that witnesses should be called to testify about the abuses he claims to have suffered at the hands of the state (as part of that "special plea" application).

While Zuma also applied to lead further evidence in his appeal, largely to do with his complaints that Downer had "leaked" publicly available court documents to News24, Koen had found that none of this evidence related to whether Downer had the "title" to prosecute him – the key issue that would need to be decided in an appeal.

The State elected to not file any papers detailing its opposition to Zuma's attempts to appeal Koen's rulings against him.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga told News24 that the state welcomed the SCA's ruling, which comes as it prepares to resist Zuma's application for a further postponement of the case against him.

"We welcome the judgment and will now focus on ensuring that trial resumes on 11 April 2022. We have always maintained that there is no prospect of success on appeal as issues raised have been pronounced upon by the same SCA," he said.

According to the latest data from the Central Energy Fund, petrol and diesel prices currently look set for large increases on Wednesday next week – but not as big as previously expected.

Based on the current data, 95 octane petrol is set to increase by R1.84/litre, 93 octane is expected to climb by R1.76/l, diesel by between R2.98/l and R3.14/l and illuminating paraffin by R2.51/l.

The expected petrol price hikes have moderated thanks to a falling oil price and a firming rand.

Earlier in March, an increase of up to R2.15 was expected in the price of petrol.

Local fuel prices are determined by international oil prices, as well as the dollar-rand value, as South Africa buys oil in dollars.

Oil prices have been soaring over the past month amid the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of crude oil, and the expectation that it will be locked out of the market has caused a surge in oil prices. Traders are scrambling to secure oil supplies with Russia, unable to deliver some of its oils due to shipping and banking restrictions.

But after Brent oil was pushed close to $140 a barrel earlier in the month, it has now fallen back to around $110.

The market has been encouraged by peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Russia’s offer to "fundamentally cut back" its attacks in northern Ukraine. In addition, new pandemic lockdowns in China are expected to cool fuel demand. Millions of people in the eastern half of Shanghai are currently confined to their homes.

The rand has also seen strong gains: it is currently trading at around R14.46/$, its best level since October last year - after almost touching R15.40 earlier in the month.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan did not attempt to influence the appointment of Judge Dhaya Pillay to the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2016, the Public Protector has found.

On Wednesday, Busisiwe Mkhwebane released reports related to several investigations.

One of the probes related to a complaint lodged by Economic Freedom Fighters Member of Parliament Floyd Shivambu.

The complaint came after Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interviews last year, in which former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng hinted that Gordhan had conducted himself improperly at a meeting five years before.

At the time, Mogoeng said: "Is it potentially compromising to judicial independence and impartiality for a minister or a senior politician to be keenly interested in the upward mobility, or to look like he or she is interested in the upward mobility of a judge?"

Pillay said she was not aware of the interaction, and Mogoeng acknowledged that Gordhan had simply asked how she had done and did not say "anything like 'you should appoint her'".

News24 reported that Gordhan subsequently released a statement confirming that he had asked the question at the tail-end of a scheduled meeting and that it was in no way intended to influence any pending decision on Pillay's nomination to the Appeal Court.

On Wednesday, Mkhwebane said her office had closed the investigation because Shivambu's allegations could not be corroborated.

She said the investigations revealed that when Gordhan and Mogoeng met at the Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa in Camps Bay, Cape Town, on 6 April 2016, the spokesperson for the JSC had already announced the interview results, and it was already public knowledge that Pillay had not made it.

"It would therefore be factually or legally impossible for Mr Gordhan to have influenced the outcome of an interview that had already been concluded," she said.

"Accordingly, Mr Gordhan's conduct could not be regarded as having been in breach of paragraphs 2.1(c) and (d) and 2.3(b) of the Executive Ethics Code."

The first motion of no confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa has still not been heard.

African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyolwethu Zungula on Wednesday refused to move his motion, meaning that the National Assembly could not debate it.

Zungula asked for the motion's postponement after the Western Cape High Court struck the ATM's application to force National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to have the motion voted on by secret ballot, from the urgent roll on Monday.

Mapisa-Nqakula refused this request.

At the start of Wednesday's sitting, Zungula claimed the matter was sub judice and that the National Assembly's rules prohibit it from being discussed.

"It is still under judicial review," Zungula said. "There is no way we can proceed with the vote."

Mapisa-Nqakula said for the House to consider a motion, it should first be moved by the person who brought the motion. As Zungula didn't move his motion, there was nothing for the House to debate.

Zungula said he didn't want the House to say he refused to move the motion.

"The matter is still before the courts," he claimed.

Mapisa-Nqakula said according to the legal advice she received, the matter was not sub judice.

She allowed each party a minute to present its views. Several parties agreed with the legal advice that the matter was not sub judice. Several parties also suggested that the matter be referred back to the National Assembly Programming Committee, which was scheduled to meet on Thursday.

The ATM could bank on the support of the Economic Freedom Fighters, with chief whip Floyd Shivambu also claiming that the matter was sub judice.

"Once the secret ballot comes, we're going to split the ANC!" he said, adding that they would vote out Ramaphosa.

"We did it before," he claimed. A motion of no confidence had never been successfully passed in the National Assembly.

Mapisa-Nqakula, who had to remind MPs to behave themselves on several occasions, ruled that the House would continue with its programme - the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) motion against Cabinet - and the National Assembly Programming Committee would take the matter of Zungula's motion further.

The sitting continued with the DA's motion.

The Zandile Gumede corruption trial was once again postponed in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban on Tuesday when she appeared alongside former eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza and 20 others.

Former eThekwini mayor Gumede and her co-accused face more than 2 000 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering relating to a R320-million Durban solid waste project.

Several issues were raised during the brief court appearance, including a lack of legal representation for one of the accused Zithulele Mkhize.

Initially, defence lawyers, including Jay Naidoo who represents Gumede, said they were told that the trial would begin on 18 July.

Naidoo said that between Tuesday and the start of the trial a pretrial conference was required to "iron out certain issues".

He said particulars which they had requested from the State were urgently required.

"There are things like redacted statements that need to be ventilated [at pretrial]. Any later than 29 April for further particulars will also be prejudicial against the accused in terms of time."

The matter was then postponed to 18 July. All parties would have to arrange for the provision of further particulars and a pretrial process before then.

Outside court, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Kara said the State had abided by all requests relating to more particulars.

Requests

"This request was acceded to timeously, and prior to today's (Tuesday) appearance. However, in court today, counsel advised that they will be making additional requests for further particulars to the State."

In court, Gumede appeared stoic and unemotional, but was visibly aggravated by another postponement in the matter.

Despite a large marquee and a group of mainly women supporters turning up outside court, Gumede did not address her supporters.

Her spokesperson, Njabulo Mchunu, said the State was delaying submitting the requested particulars.

"It cannot be the fault of the lawyers if they did not respond on time."

Initially, Gumede and her co-accused were implicated in theft, money laundering, fraud, corruption and the contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act. However, the NPA also chose to add racketeering charges.

Gumede; eThekwini metro councillor Mondli Mthembu; Nzuza; deputy head of strategic and new development at Durban Solid Waste (DSW) Robert Abbu; and deputy director of supply chain management Sandile Ngcobo were named as the alleged top-tier racketeering offenders.

According to the amended indictment, Gumede, Nzuza, Abbu and Ngcobo were the main players who "formed an enterprise".

In the court papers, it is alleged that companies Omphile Thabang Projects, Ilanga LaMahlase Projects Pty Ltd, Uzuzinekele Trading 31 CC and El Shaddai Holdings Group – all accused in the matter – provided a "continuity of structure for the unlawful activities of the enterprise".

The State alleges that their association "was to influence and manipulate the DSW contracts" via the supply chain system of the eThekwini metro.