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Western Cape Premier Alan Winde on Monday announced that Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Anroux Marais, would be acting as Community Safety MEC following the suspension of incumbent Albert Fritz who elected to step down amid sexual assault allegations.

"Minister Marais will ensure that the Department of Community Safety continues to respond to communities' safety needs and to drive our important safety priorities," said Winde through a media statement.

He added that while it was in his nature to be open and transparent with the province's residents, he was, at this point, not at liberty to disclose details of the allegations as a result of specific requests by the complainants for the matter to be kept confidential.

"The seriousness of the allegations made and the rights of all parties to a fair and unprejudiced investigation into the veracity of the claims made, I may not do so at this stage. I have noted many rumours and reports by individuals who wish to politicise this matter. I will not play politics with the well-being of people and would like to urge anyone who views this matter as a political football to show restraint, especially in consideration of the requests made by the complainants and the rights of all to a fair process," said Winde.

He promised to provide further updates as soon as possible. Marais' appointment as acting Community Safety MEC comes after Fritz asked his party bosses to allow him to step aside amid the sexual assault allegations, nine months into his tenure as the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) leader in the Western Cape.

Jaco Londt, the DA's Western Cape chairperson, said: "I can confirm that Minister Fritz has requested that he be excused from his duties as leader until end of February. The provincial executive committee accepted this and the deputy leader, MEC Tertuis Simmers, will be acting leader for the time being. We view these allegations in a very serious light and the investigation must be allowed to run its course unhindered."

Simmers, who was recently elected deputy provincial leader, is the Western Cape Human Settlements MEC.

In May 2021, Fritz was elected leader of the party's biggest province.

Fritz took over as the DA's interim leader in the Western Cape after the resignation of Bonginkosi Madikizela last year. Madikizela resigned after it was revealed that he falsely claimed on his CV that he had a BCom degree.

Earlier, News24 revealed that Fritz was suspended following serious allegations of sexual assault that were levelled against him by young employees.

Winde announced Fritz's suspension late on Sunday evening without divulging the reasons for the decision.

A direct source who had knowledge of the suspension, however, said: "He [Fritz] allegedly sexually assaulted young female workers in his office."

Four independent sources confirmed to News24 that sexual assault allegations were at the core of the suspension.

"This has been known since last year," said a source. It was unclear whether criminal charges had been opened against Fritz.

Winde was expected to address community safety department employees on Monday. It was unclear whether other staff members would be suspended.

Asked for comment, Odette Cason, an official in Winde's office, said: We understand that there are many questions around the suspension of Minister Fritz, however, at this stage, we cannot divulge further information on the matter, until an independent investigator has determined the full extent of the allegations and their veracity.

It would be unfair to the persons who made those allegations to the premier, under requests for confidentiality, and indeed the minister too, for the premier to provide details of what is being investigated, the publication of which may well severely compromise the investigation itself.

The African National Congress's (ANC's) national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Friday heard heated calls for Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to be hauled before the ANC's integrity commission for defying President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Three sources attending the meeting noted that NEC member Derek Hanekom raised the matter on the second day of the meeting, hours after Sisulu had contradicted a presidency statement that said she apologised and retracted her controversial comments related to the judiciary.

Insiders said that ANC Veterans League president Snuki Zikalala added to the call for Sisulu to face the music following her controversial opinion pieces and public spat with the presidency.

News24 had been reliably told that first to raise the contentious matter around Sisulu's conduct was Hanekom, who proposed that the minister account for her actions and for openly defying the presidency.

News24 understands that as calls were being made for Sisulu to appear before the party's integrity commission, NEC member Tony Yengeni came to Sisulu's defence and made a counter call for ANC Limpopo chairperson Stanley Mathabatha to also face the music for jumping the gun and endorsing Ramaphosa for a second term earlier this month during the party’s anniversary celebrations in Limpopo despite the party not allowing for the opening of nominations.

"It was a very heated discussion. There were people were saying 'she can't get away with it'. Others like Tony were saying how come the president said nothing to Mathabatha when he pronounced on a second term [for Ramaphosa]," one source said.

A second source confirmed that there was a strong push for Sisulu to be sanctioned by the ANC and the president.

"She can't get away with it. She must face the music in the ANC and then the president must also act," the NEC member said.

The calls for Sisulu to face the music come after she initially wrote a controversial opinion piece attacking the judiciary and the Constitution, which was published on 7 January 2022 under the title, "Hi Mzansi, have we seen justice?"

She later wrote two more letters that were also deemed overly critical of the judiciary and the Constitution.

Beyond this, Sisulu had also gone on to accuse the presidency's media team of deliberately misrepresenting the outcomes of a meeting she had with Ramaphosa on Wednesday.

In a statement on Friday morning, Sisulu said she was "troubled that the president's media team was deliberately mischievous in the statement issued as the minister at no point in the conversation was firstly admonished or secondly expressed regrets resulting in agreeing to withdraw or apologise for her article, but agreed to reconsider the particular line relating to the judiciary which the president had raised the issue with and was to share with her".

Her sentiments came after the presidency on Thursday evening released a statement saying Ramaphosa had met with her and admonished her about her attack on the judiciary, following which, the minister then retracted her sentiments.

The statement issued by the presidency on Thursday said, "Minister Sisulu conceded that her words were inappropriate and retracts this statement and affirms her support for the judiciary. I accept that my column has levelled against the judiciary and African judges, in particular, unsubstantiated, gratuitous, and deeply hurtful comments."

But Sisulu set the record straight in her own statement shared on Thursday night.

"I wish to categorically disown this statement in its entirety as a misrepresentation of the said meeting I had with the president. The president and I met on Wednesday at 21:00 at his house," she said in the statement.

"In such a meeting, he shared his challenge with one aspect of the article on the judges. The president proposed an intermediary that would focus on the one line about the judges to resolve that. I awaited such to be communicated, which would do nothing to the entire article.

"Under no circumstances did I...

Parliament arson-accused Zandile Mafe's bail application will not be heard on Saturday as planned, his lawyer Luvuyo Godla said on Friday.

He said the magistrate did not want to risk bringing a person with Covid-19 to court, and the legal team had not been able to consult with him on the application.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed the postponement.

Ntabazalila added, "On Tuesday, the court was advised that Mafe contracted Covid-19 and is in isolation. Today, the State, Defence and the Acting President of the Regional Court met virtually to discuss the logistics of the bail application and the parties agreed with the defence as they are unable to consult with Mafe until he completes his isolation on 24 January 2022."

A new charge sheet has been provided to the defence and the accused now faces charges of housebreaking with intent to commit terrorism and arson, arson, terrorism, and theft.

"The changes came after advocate Mervyn Menigo, who is the leading prosecutor in the matter, had studied the docket afresh, further consulted with the investigating officer, and felt that the charges needed to be reformulated," Ntabazalila said.

On Tuesday, Mafe won round one in his bid to be out of custody while the cause of the fire is investigated.

The Western Cape High Court ordered that he be released from Valkenberg Hospital, where he was under psychiatric observation.

Mafe was released from Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital on Wednesday following the court order, after the defence applied for a review of his referral for a 30-day mental observation.

The High Court reserved judgment in the review application.

A report submitted to the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on 11 January noted a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia made during Mafe's pre-appearance physical, and Magistrate Zamekile Mbalo referred him for observation.

The Western Cape High Court declared this unlawful and ordered Mafe's transfer from Valkenberg Hospital to Pollsmoor Prison.

The court heard on Tuesday that he had contracted Covid-19, and would be subject to Pollsmoor Prison's Covid-19 isolation protocols.

The African National Congress's (ANC's) national working committee (NWC) has appointed national executive committee members (NEC) Jeff Radebe, Joel Netshitenzhe, Ronald Lamola, Lindiwe Maseko, and other legally skilled members to evaluate and make informed referrals to the party on how it ought to implement recommendations made in the initial State capture inquiry report.

Radebe had been assigned as the convenor of this team which was also tasked with compiling a discussion paper for ANC structures on corruption and State capture following their contemplating on the recommendations made in the first of three State capture inquiry reports.

In its report to the NEC seen by News24, the NWC, which met on Monday, said the aforementioned senior party members, besides overseeing the processing of recommendations of the State capture inquiry report relating to the ANC and its deployees, these members would also refer to the party's Renewal Commission any matters identified as needing action to be taken by the party.

"The 2022 January 8 Statement states that one of the resolutions of the 54th National Conference was to support the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of State capture.

"We welcome the submission and release of the first part of the commission's report and look forward to the completion of the commission's work by the end of February 2022.

"The work of the commission is vital to the national effort to place the era of state capture behind us and ensure that such events are never allowed to happen again.

"The ANC will support government in effecting the measures required to eliminate conditions and conduct that enable State capture and systemic corruption. As the ANC, we will engage with our structures and members to ensure sufficient understanding of the contents and findings of the commission," the NWC report stated.

In an attempt to ensure that the recommendations made by the commission's report were fulfilled within its own organisation, the NWC concluded that there was a need for mechanisms such as appointing the aforementioned NEC members to process any parts of the commission report that pertained to the organisation, its deployees or members be adopted as this not only assured the implementation of recommendations, but also "helps the party to enhance its own fundamental renewal and rebuilding process".

The ANC members who make up the NWC, also resolved to "intensify efforts to eradicate corruption" not only from among its ranks, but in society as a whole through calling on "South Africans to engage with the commission's report and to be part of the national effort to put State capture behind us and build an ethical, capable developmental State and a society governed by the values of our democratic Constitution and the rule of law".

The State Capture Inquiry report in its first instalment of its three-part report, found that the ANC not only folded its arms and allowed State capture to flourish, but in some instances proceeds of this form of corruption flowed into the party's coffers.

Reflecting on some of the rot at State-owned enterprises, commission chairperson Judge Raymond Zondo said in his report that, "all of this happened, happened under the watch of the government of the ruling party, the African National Congress".

"Most, if not all, of these entities were led by the chief executive officers and boards of directors who would have been approved by the ruling party through its national deployment committee."

"There is a pattern of executive interference and political overreach at the SOEs [State-owned entities]. Evidence shows that ministers, and even the former president, Mr Jacob Zuma, were regularly involved with operational matters," the report stated.

The first volume of the report also advised the NPA to "consider" - and in some places, "seriously consider" - prosecutions against about 20 individuals among who were ANC members or deployees and firms implicated in Stat...

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to immediately lift the National State of Disaster, along with the remaining lockdown regulations.

On Wednesday, Ramaphosa said government would consider alternative legislative measures to the National State of Disaster.

Speaking at the launch of a new vaccine manufacturing facility in Cape Town, Ramaphosa referred to falling Covid infections and the need to look to alternative health protocols instead of relying on the Disaster Management Act.

Steenhuisen says the DA challenges the constitutionality of Section 27 of the Disaster Management Act - the mechanism that allows the government to make extra-Parliamentary laws under the declaration of a National State of Disaster.

That matter is currently before the Constitutional Court.

Steenhuisen also wants schools be allowed to open fully, immediately, and is also calling for rotational schooling to be called off.

“There are very low expectations of this week’s matric results announcement, and this is a direct result of the hundreds of school days lost over the past two years. For some time now this rotational schooling has disproportionately affected poor learners, as the top quintile schools have mostly returned to full-time classes. There is no justification for this widening inequality,” he said.

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK’s abandonment of most emergency lockdown measures, including mandatory mask wearing in public and in classrooms. He spoke of trusting the judgment of the people.

The DA leader says Ramaphosa needs to exhibit the same trust.

He warns that the repeated extension of the National State of Disaster creates “a dangerous constitutional convention”, and added that economic recovery will be impossible under lockdown.

Steenhuisen says businesses will remain hesitant to invest and take on staff as long as restrictions are reintroduced.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will table the national budget on 23 February, 2022.

The ministry of finance on Thursday issued an advisory - highlighting that this would be the minister's "inaugural" speech.

Godongwana was appointed finance minister in August 2021, relieving his predecessor, Tito Mboweni, who requested to step down.

In a call with investors shortly after, Godongwana said he would lead differently to Mboweni but would stick to the fiscal framework. This was evident in the tabling of the medium-term budget policy statement, later in November.

In the short while he has been finance minister, Godongwana has used his speaking engagements to stress the importance of rolling out structural reforms to boost economic growth.

The finance ministry in its statement highlighted that the budget allocation aims to "strike a balance" between competing national spending priorities.

Godongwana has invited South Africans to give suggestions for the upcoming budget, particularly on what government should be spending, how to address a large budget deficit and possible new sources of tax revenues, among other things.

The African National Congress's (ANC's) dismal performance at last year's municipal elections set the tone for the party's national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Thursday.

The party is holding a two-day virtual NEC meeting which is expected to end on Friday.

Party president Cyril Ramaphosa gave an opening political overview at the start of the meeting, which began at 9am on Thursday.

Insiders said members were presented with a research outline from the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection concerning the party's electoral performance in the municipal elections.

The party's own research showed the ANC was on an electoral decline because of a lack of confidence in the party.

NEC members were told that the party would have to deal with corruption on all levels of government if it wanted to turn around its electoral fortunes.

The meeting was expected to explore matters around state security, insiders said.

Other issues to be tackled by the party at the NEC, which would be followed by a two-day lekgotla, would be the state of the party's dysfunctional branches ahead of its national elective conference at the end of the year.

The party adopted the national working committee report, which had given a clear deadline for regional and provincial conferences to be held.

Several ANC regions and provinces were expected to hold conferences in the next few weeks. Mpumalanga was expected to hold its provincial conference next month.

While in KwaZulu-Natal, various regions were expected to hold conferences, with eThekwini being the most influential ANC region.

The ANC in Limpopo and the Free State were also expected to hold conferences by April.

At the same time, ANC staffers who were owed two months' salaries, want their remuneration concerns addressed by the NEC.

The staffers told News24 the matter should be discussed by the party's NEC because ANC officials had failed to resolve the issue independently.

South Africa's Reserve Bank (SARB) will raise interest rates to 4% on January 27 as it continues its hiking cycle amid a pick up in consumer price inflation, a Reuters poll found on Wednesday.

Eighteen of 23 economists polled from January 12 to 18 said the central bank would add 25 basis points (bps) to the repo rate next week, taking it to 4%, while five said it would leave rates on hold.

"The spike in consumer inflation to just below the ceiling of the SARB's inflation target in the context of tightening of global monetary policy supports front-loading of the South African rate hiking cycle," said Elna Moolman of Standard Bank.

"South Africa's inflation remains reasonably benign given the persistently weak economy, but inflation is edging higher and the SARB's interest rate normalisation process will continue," Moolman added.

Inflation (CPI) was expected to average 4.8% this year, slow to 4.5% next year and 4.4% the following year, the poll showed. The bank tries to keep inflation within a range of 3%-6%.

All five economists that expected the central bank to pause on Jan. 27 predicted rates to rise in March. The bank hiked rates in November to 3.75%.

One of those, Barclays' Michael Kafe, said his view remained the next hike would be in March as core CPI begins to track higher on recovering rental and insurance costs, with another 25 bps hike in September as a recovery in GDP growth provides enough comfort to remove excessive stimulus.

Poll medians showed hikes of 25 bps in every quarter from now until the second quarter of next year to 5.25%. The central bank was expected to pause for the rest of 2023.

Two-year US Treasury yields rose above 1% for the first time since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday as traders positioned for the possibility of a hawkish surprise from the Federal Reserve that could end with four rate hikes this year.

A hawkish Fed has the potential to attract capital flows away from emerging markets like South Africa.

Economic growth was expected to keep a steady path of 2.0% over the next three years.

The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) informed road users on Wednesday that the provisions under the Administrative Adjudication of the Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act are still enforceable until the Constitutional Court makes a judgment on the expected appeal.

Last week, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which challenged the constitutional validity of the Aarto and the Aarto Amendment Act.

Outa wanted the High Court to declare both the main Act and the Amendment Act unconstitutional.

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula has vowed to appeal the Pretoria High Court judgment and the RTIA board have also decided to join the Minister’s appeal.

The RTIA explained that Aarto is a national road safety intervention designed to change the behaviour of road users to curb the high number of fatalities that occur on the country’s roads.

RTIA estimated that about 14 000 road users die on national roads each year because of traffic law violations committed by infringers.

Mbalula said Aarto provided an adjudication system for infringements of road rules as determined by the National Road Traffic Act.

“Therefore, Aarto implementation continues until the judgment on the constitutionality of the Aarto Act has been subjected to all due legal review processes,” RTIA said and reminded road users to take advantage of the Aarto elective options to resolve any Aarto fines.

South Africa's annual consumer price inflation hit 5.9% in December 2021 - the highest annual rate since March 2017, when it increased by 6.1%.

The inflation rate climbed from 5.5% in November.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 5.5% in the year to December, while transport prices jumped by a whopping 16.8%, fuelled by rising petrol and diesel prices.

Last year, the price of 95 unleaded petrol rose from below R15 in inland regions at the start of 2021 to above R20/litre by December.

Diesel rose from R13 to almost R18/litre.

The average annual consumer price inflation for 2021 was 4.5%, compared to the average rate of 3.3% in 2020.