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Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola says his department had to plan thoroughly to ready themselves for the masses of cases arising from last July's unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

"We have all learnt a valuable lesson from the July unrest. This necessitated the Department of Justice to issue directives to speed up processing of accused persons that emanated from the July unrest due to the sheer volume of arrests that came at the time that the system had to absorb.

Lamola told the SA Human Rights Commission on Thursday, "We as the justice [department] also had a responsibility to coordinate the operations of the courts countrywide, including where there is a need to expand and have more courts."

During his testimony at the commission hearing into the unrest that caused destruction and led to widespread looting in July last year, Lamola said his department had to establish a case management task team to monitor and track criminal cases arising from the violence.

"In order to prepare a response to the July events, the NATJoints (National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure) committees met daily, sometimes more than once per day to deal with the various operational aspects within the criminal justice value chain.

"The structures and sub-committees met daily throughout the commencement of the unrest until well into the month of September 2021."

Retired magistrates, prosecutors brought in

He said the NATJoints sub-committee meetings dealt primarily with the South African Police Service (SAPS) operational matters with joint intelligence services briefings taking place with updates presented daily.

"The Department of Justice played a critical and pivotal role in the case management task team as the focus was on the management of criminal cases arising from SAPS arrests and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) prosecutions.

"It was the department's responsibility to ensure that the courts were in a position to deal with cases speedily and efficiently."

Lamola told the commission that cases flowing from the unrest did not enter the Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS) with "unique identifiers which would allow for rapid data gathering on the system".

"Regional heads within the department had to manually, on a day-to-day basis, in collaboration with the NPA and SAPS, record the unrest cases and record their processes through the system," he said.

Lamola told the commission that his department also had to bring in retired magistrates and prosecutors to ensure the speedy processing of those arrested.

He said that the department had to take into consideration various socioeconomic aspects when looking at different cases.

Zuma incarceration

He said no further tracking of cases could be done in September after the department was hit by a ransomware attack causing the ICJS system shutdown.

In an attempt to suppress the unrest, Lamola said his department tried to be transparent about the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma.

He said the department tried to keep the public well informed about how Zuma was incarcerated and provided updates on his condition.

In dealing with the high number of cases, Lamola told the commission that his department also had to look at the Covid-19 protocols from the police services, court cells and correctional services.

"It was a very difficult situation because you did not want any outbreak. Were worried that this will further compound challenges of congestions in cells and sit with a huge number of inmates infected with Covid-19."

"The biggest concern was that if there was a massive incarceration, we could be dealing with a human catastrophe with people being infected with Covid-19," he said.

When asked by evidence leaders if he knew why the unrest was happening and who the culprits were, Lamola said the intelligence operatives and SAPS would be better placed to answer it.

Following the disbanding of the African National Congress (ANC) provincial leadership in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga, task teams in these two provinces will have to ensure that provincial conferences are held.

This week, the ANC's national working committee (NWC) decided to dissolve the provincial executive committees in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

The two provinces have expired mandates, and the ANC constitution requires that a provincial conference be held every four years.

In Mpumalanga, the province last held a conference in December 2015, when former provincial leader David Mabuza was still at the helm.

The ANC in the Eastern Cape held a conference in October 2017.

ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said in a statement on Thursday that provincial task teams will be mandated to ensure that provincial conferences will be held, and new leaders elected.

Mpumalanga was set to hold its conference on 11 March.

The ANC in the Eastern Cape was scheduled to hold its conference at the end of March. News24 understands that these two conference dates look set to change.

The task team appointed in the Eastern Cape will be led by Oscar Mabuyane, the former provincial ANC chairperson.

In Mpumalanga, the province's former acting chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu, will lead the provincial task team.

Leagues' expired mandate conundrum

The ANC has another expired mandate conundrum affecting two structures – the national task team of the ANC Youth League and ANC Women's League also have expired mandates.

ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile, who has been acting in the secretary-general's office, will have to make recommendations on the status of the two leagues.

Violence and candidate selection disputes

Mabe said the NWC was concerned about violence affecting its Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape members.

ANC councillors have been shot dead in these provinces in attacks suspected to have been linked to political meetings.

National ANC officials will visit the affected areas, Mabe said.

"The NWC underscored the need to strengthen the capacity to deal decisively and expeditiously with disciplinary matters and any manifestation of violence in ANC structures."

"The NWC requested the NEC sub-committee on peace and stability to be seized with these matters and the findings and recommendations contained in the report of the expert panel into the July 2021 civil unrest, including the impact of internal ANC problems on the security and stability of the country," Mabe said.

A fuming Ukrainian ambassador to South Africa, Liubov Abravitova, described South Africa's decision to abstain from the United Nations General Assembly vote to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine as "puzzling" and "unacceptable".

"We [as Ukraine] are puzzled by the vote and the decision by South Africa to abstain during the vote. We are especially dismayed, given the fact that South Africa is the leader of democratic processes, not only in the region [the Southern African region] but globally.

"We consider this approach taken by South Africa as not being useful for the resolution of conflict. We are aware of the reasons that South Africa has given for their stance, but even in that we still find it very alarming.

"For us, what is more shocking is, in that explanation, we don't see any words around the Russian invasion, aggression or military action in the territory of Ukraine.

"The wording talks about a conflict in Ukraine, which is unacceptable. There is no conflict in Ukraine; there is war perpetuated by Russia in Ukraine," said Abravitova.

South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Angola abstained during Wednesday's United Nations General Assembly vote to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine, and which demanded that Moscow withdraw its military forces. The action aims to diplomatically isolate Russia at the world body.

Abravitova thanked Botswana and Zambia for voting in favour of the resolution, saying it was a good sign "that these countries are not merely falling in line with what some Southern African countries are doing".

She was responding to a question by News24 during a Zoom briefing, which was called by the Ukraine Embassy on Thursday.

The Ukrainian ambassador addressed the rising wave of aggression of the Russian Federation against her country.

Abravitova said that, despite the Russian army utilising some of its best tactical units, "none of its key goals have been achieved".

"Russia's main goal is to take charge of the capital Kyiv and, in the process, to change the current government for a more pro-Russian one," said Abravitova.

She said that, despite the resilient Ukrainian resistance, 40 000 people had been left without power and food in the east of the country.

"The enemy has not allowed for the evacuation of these people. We cannot remove even the disabled people in this area. We cannot provide basic needs. It's fast becoming a serious humanitarian crisis," said the ambassador.

She said the Russian army had targeted "objects of critical civilian infrastructure", and their missiles had, in particular, hit a radioactive waste disposal site near Kyiv.

"There are no leaks detected so far, but with the random shelling going ahead, it's possible to damage the infrastructure and then cause another environmental crisis," said Abravitova.

She encouraged Ukrainians and "our foreigners who are still in Ukraine" not to use any unconfirmed channels to get out of the country.

"These corridors might not be secure. We encourage people to check the Ukraine foreign affairs ministry and their own embassies," said Abravitova.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has shot down claims that the release of the findings of an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against former Community and Safety MEC Albert Fritz was politically motivated.

Winde appeared before the Standing Committee on Community and Safety on Wednesday, a mere 24 hours after the release of the much-awaited findings in a report compiled by advocate Jennifer Williams.

And opposition parties held no punches when they grilled him over his decision to fire Fritz.

"This was not politically motivated. This was about justice that gender-based violence is dealt with decisively and that people are given a proper platform to deal with this and there are consequences," Winde told them.

Winde said he acted swiftly after he was made aware of the allegations in November last year.

"I was angry. I was disappointed. I worked with him, and this is difficult stuff. There is no party political interference in this. I take my job very seriously. I was on an emotional rollercoaster," he said.

Briefing the committee, Williams said: "The allegations range from sexual comments, inappropriate touching, attempts to kiss and kissing without consent and sexual intercourse. They range over a number of years and a number of incidents."

"Many of the youngsters provided images and videos to us because they had never travelled before. They documented their lives. We provided Fritz with the images so I wouldn't draw any aspirations that this was a conspiracy because some of it was obtained through the investigation and without witnesses," she added.

The independent investigation found "sufficient credibility" in the allegations of sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse.

Fritz broke his silence on Tuesday after resigning from the party.

He vowed to take the report on review and to approach the courts.

"It is absolutely clear that the last two months' ordeal is a consequence of political orchestration in order to assassinate my character and ensure my departure from political and executive office. This repugnant agenda seeks to attain power at all costs, without consideration of the affects it has on real people," Fritz said.

City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that the Cape Town City Hall will on Wednesday night be illuminated in blue and yellow — the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

This, he said, is a symbol of the metros’ solidarity with the people of the city of Kyiv and Ukraine.

Media have reported that a Russian military convoy approached Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on Tuesday as authorities said Russian forces carried out a deadly attack on the city's main TV tower.

This came as Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv was hit by intense shelling as a result of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which has entered day six.

Hill-Lewis explained that the gesture will serve as a reminder of the torment the city and its residents are facing.

“Today, I wrote to Vitali Klitschko, the Mayor of Kyiv, to express the City of Cape Town’s solidarity with the struggle Ukraine’s capital city and indeed the whole of Ukraine is facing. I informed Klitschko that the City of Cape Town stands alongside other nations and cities around the free world in calling for peace in Ukraine and an end to Russian imperialist aggression,” he said.

Meanwhile, the metro is also calling on South Africa’s government to do more to restore peace.

“As leaders and human beings, we must always take a firm stand against imperialism and the violence that brings, and I will not hesitate to continue to spread the message of peace and solidarity as far and as wide as possible,” said Hill-Lewis.

The Jacob Zuma Foundation has come out in defence of its patron, former president Jacob Zuma, saying the latest findings against him in the third part of the Zondo Commission's report are based on a one-sided investigation.

The foundation rubbished the finding that Zuma should be investigated for possible corruption for accepting gratification and, in exchange, preventing government departments from cancelling Bosasa contracts, saying it was "not even worth the paper [it was] written on".

"It is now well known that H.E President Zuma was denied the opportunity of a neutral platform to put his side of the story in the so-called Zondo Commission.

"The application for the review and setting aside of the refusal by Judge Zondo to recuse himself, despite the relationship between him and [former] president Zuma, which he has recently and inadvertently confirmed during the Chief Justice interviews, is a matter which is still pending before the courts," the foundation's statement read.

The foundation made it clear that "Zuma rejects any purported findings by Judge Zondo which were made without affording him the most basic human right to be heard".

It said the former president would "in due course, consult with his legal team on the appropriate course of action to be taken, following these developments".

Opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), did not mince its words when it commented on the latest part of the report, and described it as something which provided the "most damning confirmation yet that the African National Congress is now little more than an organised crime syndicate masquerading as a political party".

A statement by DA leader John Steenhuisen read, "From overseeing corruption at state-owned enterprises and benefitting from corrupt tenders in the Free State and Johannesburg, to using Bosasa to manage its 2014 election 'war room', the role of the ANC in orchestrating state capture is the common thread that binds together all three volumes of the commission's reports released to date."

He reiterated that the "damning findings contained in the third volume of the report make it more urgent than ever that all South Africans unite behind the DA's pending parliamentary motion of no confidence in the entire Cabinet".

The report found that the ANC accepted substantial financial and other support from Bosasa for the party's election "war room".

It noted that Bosasa provided this assistance to the ANC to ensure that "the ANC would remain the majority party and thus in a position to appoint to positions of public office persons whom Bosasa was able to influence or would seek to influence".

The DA also lamented that "the commission further personally implicates Gwede Mantashe, one of President Cyril Ramaphosa's closest allies, who is also the current national chairperson of the ANC and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy in Ramaphosa's Cabinet".

In respect of Mantashe, the report recommended that he should be investigated for "the offence of corruption" after Bosasa provided him with "free" security upgrades at three of his properties.

The report concluded that "the provision of free security installation was manifestly part of the corrupt modus operandi of Bosasa" and that they were provided to secure Mantashe's "influence".

Steenhuisen said the implication was clear that "we must remove the ANC's grip from political power" to eradicate state capture.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says discussions are under way with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to review the pricing methodology for petrol.

The minister made the remarks on the sidelines of the Africa Energy Indaba conference, taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Tuesday.

During his earlier address to the conference, he remarked that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is driving up crude oil prices, translating into "severely high fuel prices" for individual countries.

The price of Brent crude touched $100 per barrel on Tuesday morning, Reuters reported. Last week it traded at a seven-year high of $105.79, Reuters reported.

This does not bode well for domestic petrol prices. The petrol price will increase by R1.46 on Wednesday - pushing it beyond R21 per litre inland.

Mantashe said that the fuel tax relief announced in last week's budget is effectively "corroded" by the petrol costs. No hikes to the fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund levy were introduced for this year.

"We are having a discussion with the minister of finance," Mantashe said when asked about whether the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy [DMRE] will intervene in the rising petrol costs.

"We are not responsible for the price. We are responsible for formulas. We are discussing with the minister of finance whether or not we should review how we calculate [the formula]," he said.

Last week, Godongwana made an off-the-cuff remark in his budget speech that he was consulting with Mantashe.

"The intention is review the structure of the petrol price going forward – to be competitive in this economy," Godongwana said.

In the 2022 Budget Review, National Treasury highlighted that administered price inflation - mainly from electricity and fuel prices - increased at an annual average of 8.2% between 2011 and 2021.

"Research on fuel price regulation has found that a combination of regulatory amendments can reduce the petrol price by 103.82 cents/litre, increasing GDP by 0.67 percentage points, by 2028," the review read. Treasury indicated that such amendments include those to the international component of the basic fuel price - proposed by the DMRE in 2018, but which have not yet been implemented - and changes to the methodology.

Treasury is considering reviewing the Road Accident Fund Levy.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is one step closer to facing prosecution for perjury over her report on the Reserve Bank’s bailout of Bankorp, after her representations motivating to have the charges dropped were unsuccessful.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday that it now wants to proceed with the case against her.

The matter follows a Constitutional Court judgment in 2019 that found that Mkhwebane had acted in bad faith and put forward a "number of falsehoods" in the Absa/Bankorp review case.

In June 2017, Mkhwebane released the Bankorp-CIEX report. Her findings called for Absa, which took over Bankorp in 1992, to repay R1.125-billion for a lifeboat provided by the Reserve Bank during the apartheid era. She had called the bailout "an illegal gift". Both the Reserve Bank and Absa had asked the courts to review the report and set it aside.

Accountability Now, which had initially laid criminal charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice against Mkhwebane, welcomed movement in the case against the Public Protector, saying it was "long overdue".

"It is sad that this matter has taken so long, but we are pleased that the decision to prosecute has finally been taken," said the organisation's director, Advocate Paul Hoffman.

In December 2020, Mkhwebane became the first Public Protector to be criminally charged, and faced three counts of perjury relating to the review case.

Following her first court appearance in January 2021, Mkhwebane made representations as to why she should not be prosecuted. In June of the same year, one perjury charge was withdrawn.

According to the NPA, Mkhwebane appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday.

NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana told Fin24 that the matter was postponed for Mkhwebane's legal team to consider the National Director of Public Prosecutions’ (NDPP’s) reply to the previously filed representations, and "to further consider a possible review application".

Mahanjana confirmed that Mkhwebane's representations on why the remaining two perjury charges should be withdrawn were unsuccessful.

Flawed investigation

Bankorp received financial assistance from the SA Reserve Bank between 1985 and 1995 as it was about to collapse due to mounting bad debts, according to Absa.

Absa acquired Bankorp on 1 April 1992 while the Reserve Bank's assistance was still continuing.

The bank stated Bankorp's collapse would have resulted in depositors losing their money. It further stated that when Absa acquired Bankorp in 1992, the assistance programme was already in place.

"The debt write-offs that would result from the SA Reserve Bank's intervention were taken into account in determining the price Absa would pay for Bankorp. This price was set at R1.23-billion and Absa paid it in full. This is why Absa cannot pay for the same thing twice," the bank said in 2017 as it explained its position in the matter.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Mkhwebane’s "entire model of investigation was flawed". It found that she failed to engage with the parties directly affected by her new remedial action before she published her final report, and that her explanation for why she discussed the vulnerability of the Reserve Bank with the State Security Agency was "unintelligible".

The majority judgment also ruled Mkhwebane failed to explain why she did not disclose any of her meetings with former President Jacob Zuma in her 2017 report.

She also did not produce transcripts of her meetings with the presidency or the State Security Agency.

Mkhwebane, who was appointed in 2016, has faced a number of legal challenges against her conduct during her term on office, including impeachment brought by a motion spearheaded by the DA in December 2019.

Hoffman said Accountability Now is calling for an expedited hearing of the perjury case, before the expiry of her seven-year term, which comes to an end in 2023.

Mkhwebane has already suffered a number of legal defeats during her time in office and the...

Axed Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz has resigned from his position as the party's leader in the province.

This comes after Fritz was given 24 hours to provide the Democratic Alliance (DA) with reasons why he should not be suspended from party activities.

DA Western Cape provincial chairperson Jaco Londt said: "The DA in the Western Cape notes the resignation of Albert Fritz as provincial leader and as a member of the party. This means that the provincial leader position is vacant and will be filled at the next provincial council meeting scheduled for May 2022," Londt said.

The deputy leader, Tertuis Simmers, will continue as acting leader until the election.

Londt said more information on the election will be communicated once a presiding officer has been appointed.

In a short statement released on Tuesday, DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille said the party's federal executive decided to act against Fritz.

Allegations of sexual misconduct had hovered over Fritz for the past month.

Advocate Jennifer Williams was appointed to head an independent investigation into the allegations against Fritz.

Fritz, his spokesperson, Wade Seale, the head of the community safety ministry, David Abrahams, support officer Michael Kwaaiman, and another official, Lazola Ndubela, had all been suspended, pending the investigation.

It is understood that the complainants - most of whom were interns in Fritz's office and others involved in the Expanded Public Works Programme - implicated several colleagues who worked in the ministry in alleged acts of grooming and of intoxicating victims before they were allegedly sexually abused.

On Tuesday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde fired Fritz from his provincial cabinet.

The independent investigation found:

Sufficient credibility in the allegations of sexual misconduct;

Credibility in the claims of alcohol abuse; and

Strong evidence of Fritz creating an environment conducive to sexual harassment, or alternatively, taking advantage of young women sexually.

Winde said he was shocked by Fritz's actions.

"I am extremely angry at what appears to be verifiable incidences of serious sexual misconduct by him, in circumstances which in and of themselves were inappropriate.

"That it is by someone who has been tasked to protect our youth and our communities, is to me unfathomable. It is a shocking violation of his oath of office and the principles of our constitutional democracy," Winde said in a statement on Tuesday.

Constitutional Court Judge Justice Jody Kollapen said on Monday that for many South Africans, the Constitution remains an illusion far on the horizon as they impatiently wait to feel its presence and wait for it to deliver on its promise.

He was addressing delegates during the Democracy and Constitutionalism webinar series, organised by SECTION27 and Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), held at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg.

The series was developed as anti-democratic actions make headlines across the world and amid hopes to ignite grassroots activism and civic education programmes.

Kollapen said the longer people wait to feel the effects of the Constitution, the more likely they are to believe that it is more elusive than it is real.

He added that the future of South Africa depends on how the constitutional pact is honoured for all South Africans.

He reminded delegates that there was life and activism before the Constitution.

He said the struggle for freedom took place outside of a formal organised State institutional framework and he stressed that it was by no means a disorganized struggle, just that it was organised differently and, in a real sense, organically.

The judge added that people at all levels of society and sectors recognised that unity of purpose was key “if we were to speak in one voice, advance one life struggle and work towards the idea of one South Africa that belonged to all of its people”.

He added that the vibrancy of civic society organisations took center stage at the time as they guided and strategised, while leading with integrity.

“It was also the age of hope just as it may have been the age of despair. We can never lose hope even though we feel hopeless at times. Hope must be what sustains us," Kollapen said.

He said after 1994, South Africa replaced the system of minority rule with a system of constitutionalism, which he said was important as it denoted a system of government that was guided by a set of enduring constitutional principles that would be difficult to change and that at its heart recognised the need for State power to be constrained in the interest of the democracy that underpinned it.

Kollapen said democratic decision-making, or majority rule, in a system of constitutionalism is recognised to the extent that it is not offensive to the precepts of the Constitution.

He said this is important in South Africa where the claims of majorities may come into conflict with the Constitution.

While the structures of the Constitution are there to provide an enabling environment, they are by no means dispositive of the manner in which people can choose to organise themselves and engage formal institutions of the State.

“We must be careful that we do not allow the grandiosity of the constitutional order to have a chilling effect on the lifeblood of democracy,” he stated.

Meanwhile, SECTION27 Education Rights Programme head Dr Faranaaz Veriava said her organisation hoped that the alliance between SECTION27 and Casac in this webinar series would help stimulate more work and collaboration to deepen and widen support for core constitutional values and democratic principles.

“It is an unfortunate reality of our times that discussions about how best to deepen democracy and how best to go about realising dignity and human rights for all, have all but disappeared from the South African landscape,” she said.

SECTION27 thus held concerns that while corruption runs rampant in government, it is proving difficult for rights-based campaigns to be effective. Therefore, the organisation is adding its focus to education on human rights.