As South Africa celebrates the adoption of the country’s democratic Constitution this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa is calling on citizens to remember to bring into reality the vision contained in the Constitution and its break with the apartheid system.

Monday marks apartheid South Africa cutting ties with the British empire and becoming a republic 60 years ago, an anniversary that Ramaphosa says most South Africans would rather not remember.

The Constitution of that era, which was created by and for a racial minority during apartheid, contained no Bill of Rights and used faith to justify tyranny, he added.

“This unhappy anniversary takes place in the same month that we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the adoption by the Constitutional Assembly of our new democratic Constitution, which became the birth certificate of a real united nation. Now we have one law for one nation. Together, we have chosen for ourselves a system of government that gives true meaning to the concept of a republic,” Ramaphosa said.

South Africans shared a common responsibility as State and citizens to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the Bill of Rights, he expressed.

Ramaphosa stressed that elected officials have the responsibility to uphold their oaths of office and not steal from the State through corruption or mismanagement.

“When I addressed the Constitutional Assembly 25 years ago, I said our Constitution must become more than words on a page; it must become a reality in the lives of our people. Unless we do so, this progressive and revolutionary document will be rendered irrelevant and meaningless,” Ramaphosa stated.

The City of Cape Town will write off around R4-billion in debt owed by qualifying residents, organisations and businesses.

But the scrapping of debt will do little to reduce the burden placed on consumers by steep water tariffs, implemented during the drought, opposition party Good has said.

On Thursday, the Council approved the debt write-off for those who qualified to begin immediately, in a phased rollout.

The debt write-off was a first for the City, said Mayco member for finance Ian Neilson , and was being done due to the impact of Covid-19 on people's livelihoods and the slower than expected economic recovery over the past year.

There are several categories of customers eligible for a debt write-off. R1.36-billion of outstanding interest on debtors' accounts (residential and commercial), as of 31 May, will be scrapped, while R2-billion worth of arrears older than three years (as of 30 June) will be eligible for write-off.

The City will offer relief on debts of indigent residents for rental stock, low-cost housing or the breaking of new ground. Relief will also be given to 20 550 pensioners who are currently registered with the City for rates rebates.

Good party secretary-general and MP Brett Herron said the City's proposal would be welcomed by hard-pressed consumers, but would do little to "alleviate their struggles to pay monthly bills that will continue to include punitive water tariffs".

"These tariffs, introduced in February 2018 during the drought, are a primary cause for ratepayers' debt. Within a year of introducing this tariff, the City's debtors book grew to nearly R10-billion in unpaid municipal accounts. The vast majority of this debt is not being written off, as the write-off relates to debt incurred prior to March 2018," Herron said.

The City's debtor book would quickly grow again, Herron added.

"The proposed write-off therefore acknowledges that the water tariffs resulted in unaffordable bills, and that residents have been buckling under the strain – but doesn't really change anything. Residents who have been unable to keep up with their payments will continue to struggle.

"Writing off old debt that is difficult to collect, while retaining and increasing the tariff structure that created the circumstances of debt and hardship in the first place, is an anti-poor exercise in shifting deck chairs."

R162-million of debt will be written off for religious organisations, cemeteries and crematoria, non-profit organisations, animal shelters, accommodation for the vulnerable, local community museums, old age homes, public benefit organisations, social housing, youth development organisations, and sports clubs registered with the City.

"We can't do this without our loyal residents and without the support of those who are able to pay and continue to do so. We are very grateful to them. Importantly, there is also assistance available to those who have been paying, but need help now due to the lingering impact of Covid-19 on their finances," Neilson said.

"These cases continue to be considered on application to the City, on a case-by-case basis via the Covid-19 relief initiatives. The City will continue to operate in a manner that is sustainable, that does not jeopardise service delivery and that sees to it that those who qualify for support are provided with relief," said Neilson.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused suspended African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule of not giving clear reasons for his "unlawful" and "purported suspension" and for basing it on an "ill-informed distortion of the truth".

Ramaphosa also repeated that no structure of the ANC has suggested any criminal conduct related to his campaign to be elected ANC president in 2017.

In his answering affidavit, signed and sworn on Wednesday, to Magashule's court application to have his own suspension overturned and Ramaphosa's "suspension" confirmed, Ramaphosa said the secretary-general could only suspend a member "if satisfied that his or her temporarily [sic] suspension would be in the best interest of the ANC".

He said Magashule "cannot conceivably contend that he was so satisfied in this case".

He said, "The circumstances and manner of his suspension of me make it quite clear that the applicant acted out of vengeful spite against the decision of the NWC [national working committee] that he be suspended together with all those members who had been charged with corruption and other serious offences but had failed to step aside."

Ramaphosa, in his papers, said the 2017 campaign wasn't for his election alone, but for a "leadership core that would make up the national executive committee that would lead the renewal process of the ANC".

He said: "I was part of that leadership core as the candidate for the president of the ANC."

Ramaphosa also said: "As far as I know, there is no structure of the ANC that has ever seriously suggested that I was guilty of any criminal conduct in relation to the CR17 campaign."

The reasons why the matter ended up before the courts was "only because the Public Protector [ Busisiwe Mkhwebane ] unlawfully investigated the CR17 campaign".

Ramaphosa attached his submissions to Mkhwebane to his affidavit, saying "they make clear, it was an entirely innocent campaign and did not involve any criminal conduct whatsoever."

A court set aside Mkhwebane's investigation and a judgment on her appeal was pending before the Constitutional Court, Ramaphosa said.

He also outlined the steps he took when there were suggestions of wrongdoing from his side by, among other things, subjecting himself to the ANC's integrity commission.

"The Commission was more focused on the question whether candidates for election to leadership positions within the ANC should be allowed to raise and use money in support of their election campaigns," Ramaphosa said.

He said he argued that "election campaigns [in the ANC] had become a reality" and should be regulated and "underpinned by transparency and accountability" rather than be prohibited.

Ramaphosa said there was an ongoing debate on this within the ANC.

He said, “Importantly, however, nobody suggested that the CR17 campaign broke any laws or rules of the ANC. The debate is confined to the question whether, in future, campaigns of this kind ought to be allowed and regulated.”

Ramaphosa continued by saying neither the national working committee nor the national executive committee of the ANC suggested that it was necessary to take any steps against him at any of their subsequent meetings where the party's rule on leaders stepping aside was discussed.

He said Magashule, in the letter he wrote to suspend him, made a false claim that the NWC at its meeting on 3 May decided that a letter should be written to "all affected members, including yourself [Ramaphosa], to inform them that it has decided that their temporary suspension would be in the best interests of the organisation".

Ramaphosa said the meeting affirmed an NEC decision, taken at its meeting from 26 to 29 March, that "all members who have been charged with corruption or other serious crimes" must step aside.

Ramaphosa said Magashule ought to have known this because they were both at the meeting.

He also said Magashule's attempt to suspend him was clearly unlawful because the ANC's Rule 25.70, on which Magashule ba...

African National Congress (ANC) national chairperson Gwede Mantashe has defended Health Minister Zweli Mkhize , calling for the Special Investigations Unit probe to be completed first before any action can be taken against him.

On Thursday evening, Mantashe participated in a zoom lecture on "revolutionary morality" hosted by the ANC in the Sarah Baartman region of the Eastern Cape. The party’s chairperson said the law had to take its course before a decision about suspending Mkhize could be taken.

"They will insult you, but what they should be asking for really is to allow the investigation of the allegations. Now if we listen to [DA leader John ] Steenhuisen every time he says somebody must be fired, we'll be left with nobody. The issue must be investigated, establish the truth, then we take action. That is my view," said Mantashe.

Mantashe’s comments come in the wake of growing concerns after the health minister's close associates were accused of scoring a R150-million state contract. It was awarded to a company called Digital Vibes for communication about the NHI rollout, and later extended to government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mantashe defended Mkhize and said the they couldn't listen to opposition parties and lobby groups which were trying to dictate who should be suspended or not.

"I see that as occupational hazard... as a mine worker when I go underground, I can’t avoid dust and effects of dust when I work underground. It is like that when you are leading a portfolio that is critical and busy, like health today," he said.

The ANC chairperson has also defended the party’s position when it came to voting with the DA on the issue of the public protector in parliament. A move which has been criticised by some of the ANC's NEC, members.

"A process is started by Parliament. Halfway through that process and we are not even talking about removing or not removing the PP. We are talking about establishing a committee which will look into those issues. It is not voting with the DA when we table budgets in Parliament. We vote with the DA on the majority of things, so don’t vulgarise language," he said.