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With 25-million vaccine doses available, Health Minister Joe Phaahla says the government is still struggling to get South Africans vaccinated against Covid-19, especially after a "less severe" fourth wave.

According to Phaahla, getting more young people vaccinated is one of the government's main goals.

He responded to African National Congress (ANC) MP Xiaomei Havard's written parliamentary question on the government's efforts to boost the vaccination roll-out plan should the National State of Disaster be suspended.

"The vaccination programme is able to administer 250 000 vaccinations a day and all measures are in place to sustain this capability. There are at least 25-million doses of vaccine in the country. The challenge is convincing people to vaccinate, which is more difficult now because many believe that the pandemic is over purely because the impact of the fourth (Omicron) wave was less severe," Phaahla said.

Phaahla said the national Department of Health, private sector and NGOs had commenced with new and intensified measures to get jabs into arms.

A project management unit in the department was established to sustain vaccinations as other health services returned to full implementation.

"The youth-focused programme, #KeReady, was launched and is being driven by a team led by young health professionals. The Department of Higher Education and Higher Health has embarked on vaccination campaigns in all tertiary education institutions," he said.

"The NDoH (National Department of Health) is working closely with the Department of Basic Education to include vaccination in the school health service. The media campaigns have been intensified and all radio and television stations in the country are participating," he added.

Phaahla also said several companies had implemented mandatory vaccination in workplaces while others supported their workers' vaccination.

"The intervals between doses (including booster doses) have been reduced to the lower limit of the evidence for good immune responses. Heterologous (mixed) vaccination regimens have been introduced to allow either of the vaccines to be used, which eases the options for vaccination," Phaahla said.

Furthermore, he said provincial health departments had implemented strategies to reach communities where vaccination coverage was poor.

Phaahla said, as of 2 March, 1 635 827 vaccine doses had been administered to 1 364 029 children aged 12 and older.

"The departments of health and basic education are working together to protect learners through the provision of vaccination against Covid-19. The vaccination programme and the Integrated School Health Programme have been tasked with ensuring that all appropriate schools (predominantly secondary schools) are linked to a vaccination service," he said.

This emerged in response to a separate parliamentary question from ANC MP Tshilidzi Munyai.

In November last year, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) took the national Department of Health to court over Covid-19 vaccinations for children.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has approved Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to be used for vaccinating children aged 12 to 17. According to the latest government notice, children are eligible to receive two doses of the Pfizer vaccine 21 days apart.

According to the ACDP, the matter is expected to be heard in April.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday expressed confidence in the Special Tribunal and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), saying they are the most effective weapons in the fight against corruption.

The Special Tribunal was established to recover public funds taken from the fiscus through corruption, fraud and illicit money flows.

Ramaphosa said since its establishment, the Tribunal has recovered around R8.6-billion from unlawful contracts.

He warned those who have stolen from the State, saying they will learn that crime does not pay.

“But the arm of the law is long. Those who have stolen from the State may believe they have gotten away with it. But their deeds will eventually catch up with them, whoever they are, and whatever position they may hold,” said Ramaphosa.

He blamed corrupt relationships for the inability of the State to deliver on its mandate, saying corruption set back the State’s efforts to provide decent healthcare, clean water and power to communities and businesses.

“There is still a long way to go, and there is a huge amount of stolen public funds that still need to be recovered. But the SIU and the Special Tribunal have made a good start, and I am confident of many more successes in the months and years ahead,” Ramaphosa said.

He believes that the Special Tribunal has shown that the country is steadily turning the tide against corruption, noting that perpetrators are being arrested and are also having to return the proceeds of their crimes.

Last week, the Special Tribunal ordered two construction companies to return the profits they earned from R40-million in contracts to erect the Beit Bridge border fence.

This followed an investigation by the SIU that uncovered a number of irregularities, including a pre-payment to the companies by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

Over the past few weeks, the Tribunal has reviewed and set aside more than R100-million worth of irregular and unlawful contracts arising from Covid-related procurement.

“I have said before that winning the war on corruption will be difficult, and that it will take time to unravel the vast webs of patronage that had become entrenched. I have also maintained that we must fight private sector corruption with equal vigour, because for every public sector employee willing to be bribed, there is a business person willing to pay a bribe,” Ramaphosa said.

National Treasury released updated government tender regulations for comment under the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act on Friday, ending the uncertainty that had put government tenders on hold since mid-February.

On 25 February National Treasury issued a circular stating that the issuing of tenders would be "held in abeyance" after the Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal by the Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to overturn an earlier court judgment which had set regulations signed in 2017 aside.

The case was brought by Afribusiness NPC, arguing that the 2017 regulations were unfair because they allowed for "pre-qualifications" to be set for tenders. For example, state institutions could declare that only black-owned businesses qualified to tender.

The regulations gazetted on Friday restore the system that existed before the 2017 iteration of the rules and do away with the pre-qualification rules that Afribusiness NPC contested in court.

Under this system, the formula for scoring points in tender awards proposes a 80/20 BEE preference point system for the acquisition of goods with a value of up to R50-million and a 90/10 BEE preference points system for goods valued higher than R50-million.

National Treasury Director-General Dondo Mogajane said last week that the department had sought urgent clarification from the Constitutional Court on its ruling and that in the meantime tenders would be suspended, although Eskom has continued issuing tenders during this period.

For the first time in the history of Jacob Zuma's battle with his corruption prosecutors, the State has chosen not to file papers to explain its opposition to the former president's latest appeal bid – effectively fast-tracking the Appeal Court's decision.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga told News24 on Friday, "We will oppose the petition for leave to appeal as we believe there are no prospects of success on appeal and we stand by Judge Piet Koen's judgment."

Asked if that meant that the NPA would not file any papers in response to the four petitions filed by Zuma at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) earlier this week, Mhaga responded: "Yes. Judge Koen's judgment speaks for itself and we stand by it."

Zuma has asked the SCA for the right to challenge 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).

Poor prospects

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's decision to not file any papers detailing its opposition to Zuma's attempts to appeal Koen's rulings against him is arguably a powerful indication of just how poor it believes the former president's prospects of persuading the Appeal Court to even hear his case are.

It also means that the SCA can consider whether it will hear Zuma's appeal, which he clearly intends to use as a basis to further delay the start of his long-awaited arms deal corruption case on 11 April.

The State is adamant it will fight any attempt by Zuma to further delay his prosecution, meaning that the former president's legal team will need to formally apply for a postponement of the case.

Given that Koen found that Zuma's appeal has no reasonable prospect of success and his repeated emphasis that it is in the interests of justice that his trial starts, it is highly unlikely that the judge will grant that postponement.

Newly appointed Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo, says Supreme Court of Appeal President Mandisa Maya was one of the first people to congratulate him on his appointment – just as he had congratulated her after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommended her for the position.

"I was also, in my own mind, certain that whoever got appointed, I would give them full support," he told News24 on Friday morning.

"After Justice Maya was recommended by the JSC, I called her the next day to say congratulations on the JSC recommending you, and if you are appointed you must just know that I will give you full support. And she was very happy with that," he said, adding he believed that all the candidates for the Chief Justice position were aware that "we are here for the country, not ourselves. This is for the country and we must always remember that these positions are not there for us to be important. It is about service to the country. I think that everyone approached the interviews with that in mind," he said.

The JSC has been accused of acting unconstitutionally and attempting to force President Cyril Ramaphosa's hand when it put Maya forward as its preferred candidate for the Chief Justice position, despite the president having largely untrammelled discretion in selecting the judge who will lead the country's courts.

'An excellent judge'

Ramaphosa, however, indicated that he would nominate Maya as Zondo's deputy, subject to another JSC interview process. Given that Zondo will only serve two and a half years before his term ends, this appointment will mean that Maya will be the frontrunner to replace him.

Zondo says he looks forward to working with Maya, who he acknowledges is "an excellent judge".

"She and I have known each other for decades and we get on very well and she sent me a message of congratulations yesterday," Zondo said, adding that he had also received congratulations from fellow Chief Justice nominees, Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo and Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.

Zondo said he was asked to meet Ramaphosa while in a virtual court hearing on Thursday morning and visited the president at his home after the case had concluded. It was at that meeting that the president informed him that he had been appointed as Chief Justice, Zondo said.

"I think he told me just after 3pm.I felt very humbled. I thought it's a very important appointment. I thought about the responsibilities that come with the position, of course, and I thought it's a privilege and it's an honour to be given a chance to serve in this kind of position.

"I will just have to do the best I can to make sure that the judiciary works properly and that it plays its role as envisaged in the Constitution. Of course I thought about the fact that there were three other excellent candidates so it must have been a very difficult decision on his (Ramaphosa's) part. It could not have been an easy decision," Zondo said.

Support 'has been wonderful'

Zondo said he "was overwhelmed" by messages of support received in the wake of his appointment.

"It makes you feel appreciated – and the support of ordinary South Africans has been wonderful," he said.

In reference to the Economic Freedom Fighters' (EFF's) scathing attack on Ramaphosa's decision to appoint him, Zondo said "there will always be others who will criticise and I'm aware that the EFF has criticised.but most of the reactions that I have seen or heard have been very positive.

Zondo was also unperturbed by the prospect of working with EFF leader Julius Malema at the JSC, where the new Chief Justice will chair the interviews of prospective judges.

"I will work with everybody and I'll work with all the JSC members. I will work with Mr Malema, I will work with [Jacob Zuma's advocate] Dali Mpofu and I actually think that we'll work very well," he said, adding that – during the October 2021 JSC interviews that he had chaired as Acting Chief Justice – "we had worked very well".

"Because some of the statements that Mr...

The government's plan to end the state of disaster is being hampered by concern over, among others, the suspension of alcohol bans and curfews should there be another wave of Covid-19 infections.

On Thursday, Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, held a post-Cabinet media briefing and said government had made it clear that it wished to "do away with the National State of Disaster Act" but reiterated that in doing so, there was a need for caution and to ensure no vacuum was left in terms of laws to manage the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We do not want to leave a vacuum because the biggest challenge here is, is that this thing [the pandemic] is so unpredictable. We must have means in case it comes at an unexpected time. We must have the means to take care of it. I do not doubt that very soon we will have another update on how the government will move forward," Gungubele said.

News24 understands that there were disagreements in terms of finalising laws to manage the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gungubele declined to comment on what the disagreements centred on.

He said President Cyril Ramaphosa would be making an announcement soon on whether the national state of disaster would be extended by another month or terminated, and in its place, new regulations implemented to contain the pandemic should another surge in infections and hospitalisations occurred.

What appeared to be of particular concern and raised by some in the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) was that government would not be able to reintroduce measures such as alcohol bans and curfews which had, in the past, been implemented to curb the spread of the pandemic, should the national state of disaster be made away with

South Africa's state of disaster was set to expire on 15 March and Ramaphosa and Health Minister Joe Phaahla had previously stated that the latest state of disaster extension was envisaged to be the last.

This would make it 24 months since it was first declared at the end of March 2020.

While the national state of disaster was initially set to lapse on 15 June 2020, the act provided that it could be extended by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister by notice in the gazette for one month at a time before it lapsed.

Gungubele said significant strides had been made in the effort to fight the pandemic.

"Cabinet acknowledged the country's efforts toward the fight against Covid-19, but cautioned that the battle is not over and urged all people in South Africa to continue protecting themselves and stop the spread of the deadly virus.

"Cabinet is also pleased that almost 32-million vaccine doses have been administered and that over 42% of our adult population is fully vaccinated. However, unvaccinated people still remain unprotected against Covid-19 and pose a health risk for themselves and those around them. Vaccination remains the best way to fight Covid-19, and Cabinet calls on everyone age 12 and above to vaccinate without further delay," said Gungubele.

He added that Covid-19 booster shots were now available and called on those eligible to get them.

The South African government has once again called for a “negotiated diplomatic solution” to the Russian war, saying the socioeconomic cost of the conflict is devastating and its impact will be felt around the world.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered day 15. On Wednesday afternoon it was reported that a children’s hospital and maternity ward in a southern Ukrainian city was destroyed by a Russian airstrike – at least three people have died.

Briefing the media on the post Cabinet meeting, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele explained that Cabinet remained deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“We are always against conflict that leads to loss of life, even more disrupting when it costs the lives of children. But the question that is always asked, what do we do? This government is led by the President; whenever you enter a conflict of this complexity you always have to ask a question how will our participation as South Africa improve the situation? Because here it’s a conflict underlined by complex factors. Russia would have their reasons, the West would have their views but at the end of the day it actually results in people fighting and dying. How you enter that you must answer the question, how am I improving the situation,” said Gungubele.

He explained that this was one of the reasons why South Africa was avoiding taking any sides in the Russian war.

“So that is why we say we call for peace, we are against the killing of people for whatever reasons. We always believe in negotiated peaceful resolutions. We cannot be comfortable about the bombing of children in Ukraine,” Gungubele said.

Cabinet urged all parties to uphold and protect human rights and to abide by their obligations in terms of international law and international humanitarian law.

Gungubele said government continues to assist South African citizens in leaving Ukraine and a number of them have since returned home.

He also expressed concern about the ill-treatment of Africans trying to cross international borders during the conflict.

There have been reports of racism at borders.

“We believe that developing countries must enjoy a greater share of voice and influence in institutions of global governance. South Africa, therefore, advocates for a more equitable international system and for the reform of multilateral institutions to promote greater equality,” he said.

Meanwhile, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said the provincial cabinet has decided that no Russian Embassy or Consulate official or their staff will be invited to any event or meeting organised by the provincial government.

Gungubele commented on Winde’s statement saying the government does not have the power to prevail over who the Democratic Alliance (DA) wants to meet with.

“When it comes to the Western Cape, we have expressed the position of South Africa in the Russian war that we are not intended to take any sides, but I don’t think we have the power to prevail over who the DA wants to meet and who they don’t want to meet, that is beyond our control. But as a country we have articulated the position of the country a lot and we are comfortable with that,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will face his first motion of no confidence on 30 March.

His Cabinet will face a similar motion on the same day.

Both votes will be in the open, and this could delay the process as some opposition parties are unhappy about National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's decision and could take further steps.

At the National Assembly Programming Committee's meeting on Thursday morning, Mapisa-Nqakula announced that both motions will be voted on and debated on 30 March. She said voting for both motions will be in the open.

Democratic Alliance (DA) chief whip Natasha Mazzone said an open vote would be "very concerning" to members who might not want to toe the party line.

She said an open vote would be tantamount to wasting time. She suggested that Mapisa-Nqakula take a legal opinion on the matter.

Mapisa-Nqakula said she had taken a legal opinion.

"I wouldn't come and preside over this meeting without a legal opinion," she said. "The environment in Parliament is not toxic at all."

She said South Africa had just come out of an election, and the Zondo Commission report will be presented to Parliament in June. She said it had been discussed openly already.

She said if these things could be done, there was no reason why there couldn't be an open vote.

She said the only issue the DA raised was that members of the executive shouldn't participate in the motion of no confidence in Cabinet.

"I have ruled members of the executive will participate in the debate and the vote," Mapisa-Nqakula said, adding that they were members of Parliament.

According to DA deputy chief whip Siviwe Gwarube, things could be legally sound but make no sense where accountability was concerned.

Mapisa-Nqakula said, "If you want to take the decision on review, you can do so."

She said the rules provided for voting in a hybrid system.

African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Pemmy Majodina said the rules allowed MPs to vote against their party.

"I don't understand the issue now," she said.

Mapisa-Nqakula said she had made her ruling, and parties were welcome to make formal submissions on the matter to her. She said she would also ask Parliament's legal services to provide copies of their advice to her to the parties.

Voting in the open in a virtual setting means that chief whips will inform the table how many of their MPs are present and whether or not they support the motion.

If an MP wants to vote differently from their party, it is then up to them to publicly say so. This is yet to happen.

In March last year, the contentious vote on Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's impeachment was done in the open.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe instructed ANC MPs to support the DA motion. Some ANC MPs – believed to be aligned to the so-called radical economic transformation (RET) faction – were opposed to supporting this motion. No ANC MP voted against the motion or abstained, but a few ANC MPs were absent.

The African Transformation Movement (ATM) – who were not represented in Thursday's meeting – lodged its motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa in early 2020. It was scheduled to be heard by the end of that year, but was delayed as the ATM challenged then-speaker Thandi Modise's decision to reject a secret ballot for the vote on the motion.

Mapisa-Nqakula has already indicated that the vote on the motion will not be secret.

Last month, during the State of the Nation Address debate, DA leader John Steenhuisen announced that he had lodged a motion of no confidence in Cabinet. If this motion should pass, Ramaphosa would not be removed.

If the ATM's motions were to succeed, both Ramaphosa and his Cabinet would be removed.

The committee also heard that the DA's request for an urgent debate on Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been ceded and will be debated on 15 March.

As reports of xenophobia make headlines in South Africa this week, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said the country is at risk of becoming a pariah in Africa and globally.

South Africa’s opposition party released its “opportunity migration policy”, on Wednesday, which the party said is premised on advocating for opportunity instead of fear.

DA head of policy Gwen Ngwenya said migration has often been an inflammatory subject in South Africa where issues are couched in the language of fear. She suggests that migration can, instead, offer opportunities for South Africa.

“South Africa has struggled with incidences of xenophobic sentiment and related prejudice, violence, and crime for many years. The cost of xenophobia is high; it puts lives in danger, its stunts economic potential by deterring investment, tourism and cross-border trade, and also risks making South Africa a pariah in Africa and in the global arena,” she stressed.

It is critical that legitimate fears and concerns are constructively engaged with, she said, while adding that the task for government is to harness the potential of migration, while taking seriously the anxieties of those who feel left behind.

The DA’s policy outlines what it, as a party, will do to promote efficiency and transparency in its immigration system, including the legal movement of foreign nationals in South Africa.

Ngwenya explained that the policy is anchored by three pillars: the opportunity created by freer movement of people; opportunity created by economic participation of migrants; and opportunity to address harmful myths.

She explained that the DA migration policy offers practical interventions such as implementation of an advanced migration registry system to properly document all migrants that enter or leave the country; as well as a points-based skilled migration system, as opposed to a skills-demand system, as the points-based system has proven to be more successful in attracting aspiring skilled migrants.

The DA’s policy also explores the economic cost vs benefit of an e-verification system that would enable employers to check the work eligibility status of potential employees.

The policy also focuses on blacklisting officials who are found guilty of migration corruption and fraud from working for any State agency or government department, as well as laying criminal charges against them.

The policy seeks to introduce a trader’s permit or visa for all other African countries and it supports the roll-out of an African passport.

The DA will be taking additional steps over the next few months to ensure that proposals contained in its migration policy become part of the wider national debate on immigration reform.

The full policy will be available on the party’s website in the coming weeks.

After years of legal battling, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's report on President Cyril Ramaphosa's CR17 campaign is finally dead, after the Constitutional Court dismissed her final bid to revive it.

The apex court unanimously ruled on Wednesday that Mkhwebane's application for the rescission of its majority ruling, which confirmed the invalidation of her CR17 report by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, should be dismissed "as no case has been made for rescission".

Mkhwebane argued that the Constitutional Court should rescind its finding that she had altered the Executive Ethics Code to justify her unlawful finding that the president had unethically misled Parliament over a R500 000 donation to his African National Congress (ANC) election campaign.

Ramaphosa's attorney, Peter Harris, in turn, contended that the court should refer that finding to National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi for potential criminal investigation – an argument that Mkhwebane slammed as an attempt to "silence me or intimidate me".

In the ruling on Wednesday morning, the apex court gave no such order for criminal investigation.

But its dismissal of Mkhwebane's rescission application is yet another major blow for the beleaguered Public Protector, who is facing another perjury case over her disastrous efforts to defend her invalidated report on the SA Reserve Bank.

She is also embroiled in litigation linked to the pending parliamentary inquiry into her fitness to hold office.

'Exceeded parameters of interpretation'

In her CR17 report, Mkhwebane wrongly found that then-deputy president Ramaphosa had violated the Executive Ethics Code, by mistakenly stating that a payment made to his election campaign by corruption-accused Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson was for consultancy work done by his son Andile. The code makes it an offence to deliberately mislead the National Assembly.

"The Public Protector’s report reveals that, on the facts placed before her, she accepted that the president did not wilfully mislead Parliament," Justice Chris Jafta stated on behalf of the Constitutional Court's majority.

"This meant that he could not have violated the code. The Public Protector then changed the wording of the code to include 'deliberate and inadvertent misleading' so as to match with the facts. Having effected the change in the code, the Public Protector proceeded to conclude that the president had violated the code," Jafta said.

He added that it was "inconceivable" that the word "wilfully" could be read to mean "inadvertent".

"These words carry meanings that are mutually exclusive. Wilfully cannot include inadvertent. What was done by the Public Protector here exceeded the parameters of interpretation."

Mkhwebane argued that this ruling should be rescinded.

"This Honourable Court's judgment is.erroneous in that this court ruled that I dishonestly and incompetently changed the code and that I inserted words in some quest to make a finding against the president by hook or by crook,” she stated in court papers.

"This is a serious accusation or implication for the integrity, dignity and efficient functioning of the office of the Public Protector and for me, personally and professionally. It would be a grave injustice for it to stand uncorrected."

'Opportunistically flip-flopped'

Mkhwebane insisted that she mistakenly based her finding against Ramaphosa on a 2007 ministerial handbook version of the code, which included a reference to the "inadvertent" misleading of Parliament.

It was Ramaphosa's case that this 2007 version of the code has no status in law.

Mkhwebane, however, argued that, because it was mistakenly referred to by the Constitutional Court in a footnote in its ruling on then-public protector Thuli Madonsela's Nkandla report, it has been "endorsed" by the apex court.

Harris, in turn, argued that Mkhwebane "opportunistically flip-flopped" on the text of the Executive Ethics Code to make false findings that Ramaphosa and Public Enterprises...