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Those wishing to apply for the 2022 National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) can do so from November 2 until January 7, 2022.

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande made the announcement on Thursday and urged those hoping to study at public universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges to apply on time.

Addressing the media in a press briefing attended by NSFAS CEO Andile Nongogo, officials from the Department of Higher Education and Training and student leadership, Dr Nzimande said the demand for student funding had increased now more than ever, owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

NSFAS funding had increased from R5.9-billion in the 2014/15 financial year to about R35-billion in 2020/21.

“This is a significant contribution by government to supporting access to higher education and the success of students from poor and working class backgrounds. I am very proud of the achievements of the NSFAS,” Nzimande said.

Government will categorise applying students as first-time and returning students who are also South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries; first-time and returning students who are not SASSA beneficiaries; and students living with disabilities.

Applications are also open to individuals who are already enrolled at institutions, but are without funding and who qualify financially for NSFAS funding.

Nzimande said the NSFAS board had given its assurances that the 2022 application process would handle student applications efficiently and seamlessly.

According to Nzimande, NSFAS funding for university and TVET college bursaries for poor and working class students increased by 107% from R20-billion in 2018 to R42-billion in 2021.

The 2020 academic year saw 751 858 fully-subsidised third year students, 489 912 of whom were university students and 261 404 of whom were TVET college students.

The total number of university students funded, including funding from other government departments, increased by 45.4% from 346 966 students funded in 2018 to 504 366 students funded in 2020.

“These indeed are not small numbers in terms of government assistance to students at university and TVET colleges. In essence what I would like to say is that indeed there is free higher education for the children of the working class and the poor in this country,” Nzimande said.

Sharing the overall student demographic profile he said university and TVET college students in 2020 comprised of 92.9% African students, 4.2% Coloured students, 0.9% white students, 0.7% Indian students and 1.4 % others.

Nzimande pointed out that NSFAS had been particularly effective at targeting female students, who constituted 61.5% of all students funded – in 2018 this was 61.4%.

He highlighted this as a huge achievement in terms of affirming women in post school education and training.

However, the Minister noted a 26% decrease in funding for students with disabilities and promised to give it focused attention.

In the 2020 academic year, NSFAS funded 1 421 university students with disabilities compared to 1 921 students in the prior year.

Students with disabilities who qualify for funding fall within the maximum threshold of up to R600 000 of combined gross family income a year.

Nzimande stressed that the system had been improved and assured students that the new changes would make the application process smooth and glitch-free.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the deployment of 10 000 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for service during the upcoming local government elections, at a cost of just over R47-million.

The deployment is effective from the kick-off of special votes on October 30 until November 3.

Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Amos Masondo said on Thursday that they had received correspondence from the President regarding the deployment.

“SANDF members are employed in cooperation with the South African Police Service for the establishment of a safe and secure environment during the elections,” they said.

Civil Society organisation Right2Know (R2K) Campaign picketed at the Union Buildings, in Pretoria, on Wednesday to demand that spies who have illegally infiltrated civil society organisations are held accountable.

In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa publicly released a redacted version of a High-Level Review Panel Report on the State Security Agency (SSA) which revealed that there were a wide range of ‘rogue’ spying on and in some cases infiltrating civil society organisations, unions, student movements, and the media.

The panel, led by Dr Sydney Mufumadi, found that former President Jacob Zuma and Ministers he appointed, including Siyabonga Cwele and David Mahlobo, as well as senior staff at the SAA, violated the Constitution by overseeing and allowing the repurposing of the spy agency to serve their own personal and political interests - a process that started in 2005.

R2K Campaign said the report’s recommendations have yet to be implemented.

“Subsequent to the release of the report, albeit a redacted version, we have consistently been calling for the implementation of the recommendations as outlined in the report. It is worrying that two years after the release of the report no one has been held to account so far and the implementation of the recommendations remains stalled,” it said.

Former Minister of State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Dube assured South Africans in 2019 that those who had been implicated would be held accountable.

“In demanding justice and ensuring that the spies that were implanted to illegally infiltrate our movement, the Right2Know Campaign will be embarking on a picket action today at the State President's office to demand that the spooks be unmasked and held accountable. We will not rest until all those implicated, from the highest level, are brought to book to account for their illegal spying on and infiltration of our movement and others,” Right2Know Campaign said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa offered his best wishes to the matrics of 2021, saying the country is immensely proud of the nearly 900 000 candidates who will be sitting for the National Senior Certificate examination.

Matric final exams kicked-off on Wednesday with the language papers, with the first sitting for English Home Language, English First Additional Language and English Second Additional Language.

Ramaphosa said the country can be proud of the determination, focus and sacrifice with which learners braved the 2021 academic year in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on school life, home life, social interaction and society.

“We wish you the best of success in your final revision and in your examinations, which will lay the foundations for your life as independent, adult members of our society. This year we place our arms of support around the Class of 2021 who have persevered and endured in their effort to create a better future for themselves, their families and our economy,” he said.

He paid tribute to parents and educators who were also affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The President called on learners to adhere to Covid-19 safety regulations throughout the examination period and in the celebrations beyond. He also urged learners to present themselves for Covid-19 vaccination.

The African National Congress (ANC) - as the national governing party which has overseen power utility Eskom for the past 27 years - noted with "grave concern" Eskom's announcement of Stage 4 load-shedding and says it may be deliberately done for "political ends".

The party also admitted that it poured cold water on its manifesto promise of providing reliable energy.

Eskom announced on Wednesday that it was pushing load-shedding to Stage 4 at noon on Wednesday, and this would continue until 05:00 on Friday.

Stage 2 load-shedding would then be in effect until 05:00 on Saturday, as announced by the utility earlier in the week.

"The latest bout of load-shedding is despite a commitment by the CEO of the utility to contain load-shedding and ease disruptions to power supply in mid-October," ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The ANC is further concerned that the announcement made by Eskom coincides with the first day of final examinations for thousands of matriculants across the country who must have the opportunity to study and write their exams uninterrupted by power outages.

"Given the inconsistency in information and assurances received from the utility, the ANC is by all intents and purposes quite concerned that these acts may be the deliberate actions of some within Eskom for political ends."

He said the ANC demanded "unequivocal answers" on the current state of power supply.

"The mixed messages and lack of public transparency and accountability witnessed are a source of grave concern and suspicion," Mabe said.

"It is also a direct affront to the ANC's commitment in our manifesto to ensure safe and reliable electricity supply to our communities."

He said the ANC called for "leadership and transparency" in explaining to South Africans the state of power supply and to make an honest assessment on whether the right skills and leadership were at the utility's disposal under the current circumstances.

"The anxiety and disruption meted upon our people by the inconsistency in messaging and failure to take the nation into confidence in the state of the grid must be condemned."

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, on the campaign trail in Buffalo City on Tuesday, claimed the reintroduction of load-shedding was all part of a well-orchestrated, elaborate scheme by the ANC to steal votes from smaller parties.

"Once the electricity switches off, we go stand next to the boxes, and no one is going to touch any box. There is no vote that is going to be stolen here," Malema said.

The ANC responded, calling the allegations a "blue lie of the highest order".

Meanwhile, in Cape Town, the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis wrote an open letter to the city's residents, expressing his concern about load-shedding, particularly as the matric exams had started.

"We, the people of Cape Town, should never accept the unacceptable. I can assure you that ongoing electricity blackouts and the prospect of a complete collapse of our electricity grid will never be acceptable as long as the DA governs in Cape Town."

Hill-Lewis had recently announced a plan to reduce Cape Town's reliance on Eskom.

"We will procure our own electricity from independent producers. We will empower residents to generate and trade their own electricity via the City's grid. And we will build on the success of Steenbras to expand our own generating capacity," he said in the letter on Wednesday.

Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) will be pushed back by a week to 11 November.

This comes after Business Day reported that the date for Godongwana's joint sitting debut would be changed from Thursday 4 November.

The change in date comes as a number of economic developments fall on the table of government and, more especially, National Treasury.

Since being appointed as finance minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa in September, Godongwana has spoken at a handful of public events and sent signals of that he looks to lead National Treasury with a business-friendly and pro-growth approach.

Mothapo tweeted on Tuesday morning that Godongwana wrote to the National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise requesting that the date for tabling the medium-term budget be changed.

National Treasury released a statement shortly after Mothapo's tweet saying Godongwana will table the medium-term budget policy statement on 11 November 2021, and not 4 November.

"The postponement is due to the local government elections which were promulgated for Monday, 01 November 2021. All processes leading up to the finalisation of the MTBPS remain on track," the Treasury statement said.

This approved request for a change in the date of the joint sitting comes as government is considering how Eskom will be supported in the immediate and medium future and how it can leverage its presence at the Congress of Parties climate change meeting in Glasgow Scotland, to get funding.

Another issue that might be giving Godongwana and National Treasury pause for further reflection is considerations for the Basic Income Grant, which seeks to expand the reach of social supports for poor South Africans to include those between the ages of 18 and 59.

That said, the medium-term budget policy statement serves to outline and update the legislature on fiscal developments encompassing a three year period, and is likely to be consistent with former minister Tito Mboweni's last budget speech as well as his last medium-term budget policy statement.

While Eskom has done everything on its side to achieve the legal separation of its transmission entity by December 2021, the matter also depends on getting legislative amendments and regulatory decisions timeously, according to CEO André De Ruyter.

The group chief executive made the remarks during a pre-recorded interview with Enlit Africa, which was published on Tuesday. De Ruyter was highlighting some progress points of the power utility's five-point plan. Among these was the legal separation of the generation, distribution and transmission entities.

The divisional boards of each of the three entities has been established - as well as their functional separation. Eskom previously told Parliament the separation would cost R500-million.

The separation of the transmission entity is first in line and is subject to approval for a transmission licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), as well as lenders, Fin24 previously reported.

De Ruyter said that Eskom has made progress with the legal separation for transmission. "We have done everything we can to meet the target date of legally separating transmission by December 2021," he said.

But the legislative amendments and regulatory decisions that are required will depend on "choreography" between different departments such as Nersa, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Department of Public Enterprises, National Treasury and Eskom itself, De Ruyter explained.

"From our perspective, we are driving the process. But the date can be at risk if we do not get the regulatory interventions in time for us to achieve the legal separation," he said.

De Ruyter added that it will be "regrettable" if it is not achieved.

Eskom's other prioritises include reducing its some R400-billion debt burden to a more manageable range of between R150-billion and R200-billion.

While Eskom has been a beneficiary of equity injections from National Treasury, there is still more work to be done, he said. There is not a single silver bullet to solve the debt problem, he added. Eskom is considering multiple interventions such as optimising its working capital, addressing municipal debt levels, or converting some debt to equity. Finding a debt solution has been "slower" than Eskom would have liked, he said.

Eskom is also making headway in terms of encouraging a "high performance" culture.

"We are holding people accountable," said De Ruyter.

Eskom has made leadership changes at power stations including coal-fired Tutuka, which was in a "shocking state" following years of neglected maintenance, according to Eskom executives who briefed the media on the state of the system on Monday. A number of key people at the station have been suspended and arrests will be made.

De Ruyter added that people have been caught for engaging in corrupt activities.

"Have we won the war as yet? No, but more and more the signal is getting out to those miscreants who are seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of South Africa and Eskom that crime does not pay and we will get them in the end," he said.

De Ruyter added that Eskom would like to see greater support from law enforcement authorities to see more people in "orange overalls".

So far Eskom has been pursuing civil cases to recover monies.

Last year the power utility managed to recover R1.56-billion from contractor ABB South Africa. This was linked to overpayments to the contractor for the construction of Kusile power station.

Former president Jacob Zuma's corruption trial will go ahead after his special plea was dismissed.

Delivering judgment on Tuesday, KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge Piet Koen said the former president had failed to show that State advocate Billy Downer lacked the "title" to prosecute him.

Koen said many of the allegations Zuma raised against Downer were based on speculation or suspicion or inadmissible hearsay – not on facts.

"The allegations of bias against Mr Downer were based largely on the fact that he has allegedly not been independent and objective. On a proper interpretation of [Section] 106(1)(h) of the CPA (criminal procedure act), that does not deprive Mr Downer of the title to prosecute."

Koen continued, "In the alternative and adopting a wider interpretation of the words 'title to prosecute', I am still not persuaded that Mr Downer lacks the title to prosecute or should be removed as prosecutor."

"On the evidence before me, it has not been shown that Mr Zuma's rights to a constitutionally fair trial have been impaired, or that there is a real possibility that his rights will be impaired."

The judge dismissed the matter and directed that the corruption trial should proceed.

The former president had accused Downer of turning his criminal case into "a personal legacy project of his own".

Zuma wanted Downer removed from the case, saying he did not have a "lawful title" to prosecute him.

He also said Downer lacked the independence and impartiality to conduct the case lawfully.

However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) previously pointed out the courts had already conclusively found that an application for the removal of a prosecutor on the basis of bias or apprehension of bias could not be conflated with a challenge to the prosecutor's "title" to prosecute – which was often raised when non-State advocates were briefed to pursue private prosecutions.

Advocate Wim Trengove, arguing on behalf of the NPA, previously told the court that Downer "stood up for justice and truth every time and stood up to his bosses every time".

He told the court that Zuma had tried to "dress up" his fair trial complaints – which have repeatedly failed in other court cases – as a "special plea".

He added: "There is nothing new about it. There is nothing exceptional about it."

In May, Zuma pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, including corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering, News24 reported.

The former president faces 16 charges relating to 783 payments he allegedly received from his former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, as well as a R500 000-a-year bribe that the State said Shaik facilitated for him from French arms company Thales.

Zuma's trial is expected to start on 11 April 2022.

African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa told frustrated residents of Orange Farm and Soweto that only the ANC could solve their electricity woes.

He criss-crossed Johannesburg on Monday, urging residents to vote for the ANC because the party was renewing itself.

A week before the municipal elections, Ramaphosa hit the campaign trail in Johannesburg, a metro the ANC narrowly lost in 2016.

Ramaphosa began his drive in Orange Farm in the morning, where he met hundreds of residents. His next stop was in Meadowlands, Soweto, and Diepkloof.

In each area, his message was that the ANC was renewing itself - and that voters should give it a chance.

Ramaphosa received a rousing welcome from communities as he walked about, waving at the elderly and young children.

He switched among languages - isiZulu, Sesotho, English and Tshivenda - in a bid to connect with the supporters who had gathered to hear him speak.

He told residents the ANC was on the road to renewal, and they should continue to trust the party.

In both Orange Farm and Soweto, the complaints about service delivery were the same: electricity, housing and unemployment.

When Ramaphosa called on people to list their issues, residents shouted out additional complaints about the R350 grant and many others.

He told residents that, because they were unhappy about service delivery, it did not mean they should not stay away from voting on 1 November.

He told the communities that only the ANC could solve their electricity issues.

Ramaphosa also spoke about the pledge signed by ANC members last week.

He said councillors had committed to serving their communities - day and night.

Ramaphosa added, "These candidates we have selected, we have worked in a new way, so that our candidates are chosen by you. This time, we said 'let the community choose who represents them'. This is the way the ANC is renewing itself."

"We are ensuring that the people you have chosen will do their jobs to change your lives. We are working on fixing things, so that we ensure that the support we have is grounded in our connection to the people on the ground. The ANC is no longer remote from our people, but is connected to our people," Ramaphosa said.

Defence Minister Thandi Modise assured South Africans on Monday that all relevant security aligned departments are prepped to ensure that the local government elections remain safe for all voters.

There will be increased South African Police Services (SAPS) visibility and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be deployed.

Addressing a media briefing organised by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) Modise said an intelligence coordinating committee had confirmed that there was no threat and that the country was relatively stable.

“All forms of criminality will not be tolerated before, during and after the elections,” she warned and reminded South Africans that the incitement of violence was a criminal offence.

She said interfering with the work of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), or threatening the IEC Officers was also a transgression that was punishable by law.

“The security cluster assured the country that law enforcement agencies will be on hand at every voting station to ensure that the democratic process is not disturbed in any way whatsoever and that the elections are free and fair and that everybody exercises their choice in whatever manner they choose,” she stressed.

A task team is monitoring events in KwaZulu-Natal following a surge in politically related crimes.

The task team has already made several arrests.

Meanwhile, Home Affairs has extended its operating times by two additional hours to ensure that people are assisted with their smart identity documents (IDs) and passports for the elections.

On Saturday all 412 Home Affairs offices will open between 7am and 9pm to assist those who have lost their IDs to apply for temporary documents.

Modise urged all political leaders to adhere to the local government code of conduct they signed on October 1.

Further, Police Minister Bheki Cele said KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape had so far been identified as hot spots.

He said extra forces had been allocated to cool off certain situations before the elections.

In the Western Cape 150 cars were provided as well as an additional 193 police to quell violence and crimes in voting station areas that include Delft, Khayelitsha, Makhaza and Marikana.

Cele said there were a few voting stations that had been identified as priority stations such as those that were opened late on registration weekend and voting stations that had seen protests.

Over 300 voting stations have been identified as low, medium to high risk and they will be monitored accordingly. Some have been identified from the violence the country witnessed in the July looting.