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Power utility Eskom is calling on the public to reduce electricity use, as the system is under pressure owing to a number of generating unit breakdowns.

Total breakdowns amount to 14 925 MW, while planned maintenance is 4 759 MW of capacity.

Should there be any further breakdowns, Eskom might be forced to implement load-shedding at short notice, it warns.

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) is proposing a Mandatory Vaccination Framework, which will require all staff and students, study or employment applicants, and visitors and service providers, to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before accessing its campus.

Staff members, students, senior managers, organised labour, and other constituencies have until October 11 to comment on the proposed framework.

If the policy is enforced, staff and students must produce their digital vaccine certificate or vaccination cards, which will be linked to their Wits access cards.

Students under the age of 18, as well as staff and students with confirmed medical risks will be exempted.

A committee will also be set up to decide on any exemptions based on reasonable accommodation, in line with labour directives, the university said.

Unvaccinated students and staff will have to undergo daily health screenings and will be required to always wear an N95 mask in lectures, laboratories, during tutorials, and/or during assessments, and on buses.

They will also be required to undergo weekly Covid-19 testing at their own cost with or without Covid-19 symptoms and will not be allowed into common areas including Wits’ residences and in-person graduation ceremonies.

“Wits is a contact teaching university and the mandatory vaccination of staff and students will enable optimal access, the holistic delivery of the teaching and learning programme, and research to continue. A mandatory vaccination policy protects the health and safety of the University community and members of the public, and advances the public good,” the university said.

Comments can be sent to [email protected] by October 11.

Democratic Alliance (DA) KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Dean Macpherson on Thursday apologised to the Phoenix community and ordered the removal of controversial posters that have recently made headlines.

The DA has been criticised for cheap politicking after MacPherson authorised the erection of posters in Phoenix displaying the words, “The ANC called you racists. The DA calls you heroes”, in reference to the residents that took up arms during the July unrest to protect their communities from possible criminality.

Macpherson said the posters have “inadvertently caused offence”and apologised for the “hurt” caused.

He explained that the posters were unsanctioned by the DA leader John Steenhuisen, party structures and party campaign leadership.

“Sometimes in politics our words may be poorly chosen, but I wish to assure the public, without contradiction, that my intentions are always sincere. My intended message was that in the massive void created by a failing State, unable to secure South Africans’ homes and businesses during the riots, some heroic residents were forced to stand up and do what the police and army were unable to do. This action was met with allegations of racism from the African National Congress,” he said.

He added that the DA did not condone or support those who undertook vigilante actions.

Macpherson stressed that the DA is a party of non-racialism.

“I remain steadfastly committed to all people in South Africa, united in our diversity, and our campaign will continue to show South Africa that only the DA can and will get things done. My singular focus is to continue to guide KZN towards the election in three weeks' time,” he concluded.

The African National Congress (ANC) says a group seeking to have disciplinary steps instituted against party president Cyril Ramaphosa have no legal authority to make such a request in terms of its constitution.

ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte wrote to a group of eight individuals, who claimed to represent members in eight provinces, who made an application to the party in August requesting its national disciplinary committee investigate Ramaphosa.

The group claimed Ramaphosa violated sections of the ANC constitution when he collected millions of rands to help finance his 2017 ANC presidential campaign.

They further claimed the ANC constitution stipulated that fundraising should only be conducted for the party's benefit and not for an individual.

Duarte responded to the group in a letter dated 4 October, which News24 had seen, where she outlined that the grievance was forwarded to the party's national disciplinary committee (NDC).

The committee felt it was not best placed to deal with the concerns raised and forwarded the complaint to the chief national presenter for disciplinary proceedings in the party.

The NDC wanted to assess whether the disgruntled members had the legal authority to institute disciplinary proceedings.

Chief national presenter, Uriel Abrahamse, said, "Only the officials, national executive committee, national working committee, provincial executive committees, PWC, the RWC, the BEC or office bearers of any of these structures have the right to invoke disciplinary proceedings under the ANC constitution."

Abrahamse found no grounds to institute disciplinary action, Duarte wrote in the letter addressed to Onica Maphisa, one of the application's signatories.

On Wednesday, Maphisa dismissed the letter, saying Duarte and Abrahamse had misunderstood the group's application.

"This is misconstruing the constitution. She (Duarte) is playing a political game. There is no way it is only institutional structures that can make applications. We are asking the NDC to charge him, we are not saying we are the ones who want to charge him," Maphisa told News24.

The ANC's head of presidency Sibongile Besani on Tuesday dismissed the claims made by the group, calling them a "distraction" ahead of the 1 November municipal elections.

ActionSA has filed an urgent application with the Electoral Court against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for “its failure to remedy the absence of ActionSA’s name” from ballot papers.

This after the party’s name was omitted from draft ballot papers for Gauteng ward candidates.

ActionSA said the IEC’s legal reasoning and decision is patently unlawful and unconstitutional.

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said if the local government elections were to proceed with ballot papers that do not reflect the party’s name, it would be unfair and prejudicial to ActionSA and to voters, making the election not free and fair.

The IEC had until 10h00 on Wednesday to file their notice of intention to oppose the matter or abide ActionSA’s request to the court.

“In the IEC’s current ballot paper, only our logo appears – the party’s name does not appear and an empty space has been left in its place. The implication of this is that ActionSA supporters will be limited only to a candidate name and a logo to identify the party on the ballot, while other parties will have the benefit of their name or popularised acronym appearing,” said Beaumont.

Beaumont argued that the IEC’s decision to exclude ActionSA's name from the ballot paper, based on the Commission's chosen design of the ballot paper, was taken because irrelevant considerations were taken into account or relevant considerations were simply not made.

He explained that it was the party’s contention that it does not have an abbreviated name.

“One of the reasons ‘ActionSA’ was chosen as our name is that it complies with the IEC’s own 8-character limit on abbreviated party names, thus, our party’s name could always be used in full wheresoever it would be required,” he added.

He said the party raised its objection to the draft ballot papers with the IEC, during and after the ballot sign-off held on October 2, however ActionSA was initially informed that the issue would not be addressed as the printing of the ballot papers had already commenced.

Beaumont further stated that the IEC's assertion that the purpose of the presentation of the draft ballot papers was solely for political parties to sign-off and not intended to remedy defects that may be attendant to the registration of identifiers, is irrational.

The party has affirmed in court papers that there is no legal basis for the Commission to refuse the party’s demand to remedy the “gross omission of ActionSA’s name” from the ballot paper and the party is confident the courts will share this perspective.

The Department of Health has asked the public to be patient as it prepares to officially launch the first version of the Covid-19 vaccination digital certificate later this week.

On Tuesday, various media reported that the digital certificate website went live, without an official announcement from the Department of Health.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Department of Health would roll out vaccine certificates which could be used as proof of vaccination for those wishing to travel or access certain establishments.

Departmental spokesperson Foster Mohale said government is currently at the testing phase of the system to troubleshoot all possible glitches ahead of the official launch later this week.

He explained that the system is not officially live for vaccinated members of the public to access and download their certificates.

However, he said the department is aware that a few individuals have successfully managed to access the system and download their vaccination certificates.

Mohale added that a lot of security has been built into the system to protect individuals’ personal data.

“The development and release of fully-fledged Covid-19 vaccination certificates will be phased-in over time. Thus, we request members of the public to exercise patience while we implement the final refinement as we prepare to officially launch the first version of the Covid-19 vaccination digital certificate,” he said.

The head of the African National Congress (ANC) presidency says the office is not "bothered" by allegations by a group of ANC members who claim to have filed an application calling for disciplinary action against Cyril Ramaphosa over funding for his 2017 ANC presidential campaign.

Sibongile Besani said the office was aware of a group that held a press conference on Monday and called for the party to investigate Ramaphosa.

He dismissed the allegations and called the group a distraction, "We are focusing on elections, the campaign of the ANC is beginning to be impactful and there are people who want to distract us from the campaign. The people are on the ground and we are focusing on elections, and we are not worried about side issues. They want to take us away from the campaign, so we are really not bothered by that."

The group's spokesperson, Onica Maphisa, said she was an ANC member who was in good standing and that she and seven others were concerned that corruption allegations against Ramaphosa had not been investigated.

Maphisa said eight signatories, representing eight provinces, had signed the application.

Maphisa would not disclose how many of the ANC's members supported the call.

She said the personal assistant in the secretary-general's office collected the document and assured the group that it would be investigated.

Maphisa said Ramaphosa breached the ANC constitution when he raised millions of rand to fund his presidential campaign in 2017.

She claimed Section 25 of the ANC constitution stated that members could not fundraise individually but for the party.

Maphisa said, "We want to be listened to and we outlined from the constitution of the ANC how the president breached the constitution and we made mention of Rule 25, that he transgressed. It says any member of the ANC is not allowed to use the money to make him advance to the position of leadership."

"The campaign money was referred to as CR17 and which is Cyril Ramaphosa – an individual within the collective. So that is the problem."

Maphisa said the ANC had unfairly implemented rules linked to disciplinary action. She denied that her group was aligned to a faction of the party.

But Besani said the matter had been well ventilated.

"The matter has been ventilated, even in the courts of law. In our view, it has been adequately dealt with and the issue of campaigning in the ANC is receiving attention."

News24 sent questions to the office of the secretary-general and ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe but has not yet received a response.

Claims related to the funding of Ramaphosa's 2017 campaign have haunted his ANC presidency.

Ramphosa denied the campaign had used funds to buy votes.

The campaign's financing was investigated by the Public Protector who claimed the campaign was guilty of money laundering. Her findings were later dismissed in court.

One of the candidates vying for a position on the Gauteng High Court Bench has told the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that it has to set an example and appoint female judges.

Advocate Allyson Crutchfield SC told the JSC on Tuesday during the interview that the struggle of women in the legal profession was "huge".

She added that the JSC was one of the most important bodies when it came to enabling women to enter and stay in the legal profession.

"We are struggling to see women enter the profession [and] find themselves in a position where they are still practising 10 years, 15 years later."

She also said the range of work given to women was not enough.

"This commission has to set an example and appoint female judges ... [women] are equally competent," she said.

Crutchfield has acted in the High Court for 70 weeks in unopposed and opposed motion court. She also did civil trials and full-court appeals.

This was Crutchfield's second appearance before the JSC this year. She first appeared in April in her bid to clinch a position as a judge, and was interviewed by the JSC.

The JSC also interviewed attorney Noluntu Nellisa Bam who has a diverse career in commercial law, as well as several years as the Ombudsman for the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services.

Bam said she would bring to the bench "the sum total of what I have learnt in terms of dealing with people".

President of the Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Mandisa Maya said Bam had rare skills that South African courts "desperately need".

"What has been the secret of your success?" Maya asked.

Responding, Bam said, "I don't know if there is a secret, more than hard work, determination, and refusal to be held back from exploring things that you are interested in. I was taught by Justice Maya in my early years of studying the law. We salivated receiving a female lecturer."

Meanwhile, advocate Daniel De Villiers SC, who like Crutchfield was being interviewed for the second time, said he was disappointed when he was not successful in April, but was back to convince the commissioners to nominate him.

De Villiers has written more than 80 judgments. He said he had never had to reserve a judgment for more than three months.

De Villers told the JSC that he had "grown enormously" as a result of the opportunities Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo had given him.

The interviews continue.

Eskom Holdings, South Africa’s coal-reliant power utility, has become the world’s biggest emitter of sulphur dioxide, a pollutant linked to ailments ranging from asthma to heart attacks, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said.

Eskom produced 1 600 kilotons of the pollutant in 2019, the latest year for which comparable data is available, according to the report released on Tuesday by CREA, an air-pollution research organization. That was more than any company, and the total emission of the power sector of any country with the exception of India.

While China, the U.S. and the European Union have slashed sulphur dioxide emissions in recent years by fitting pollution abatement equipment to power plants, Eskom has only done so at one of its 15 coal-fired facilities. Eskom has disputed a 2019 study that ties its emissions to more than 2,000 deaths a year, though it said its pollution killed 320 people annually.

“They need to comply with minimum emission standards to reduce the burden they place on public health,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at CREA, in an interview. “The only viable way to do that is to phase out some of the plants that are in the worse condition in terms of reliability and upgrade the rest.”

Eskom and South Africa’s environment department didn’t respond to a request for comment.

China has slashed its annual emissions to 780 kilotons from 13 000 kilotons in 2006, CREA said. The nation’s biggest coal-fired power plant operator, Huaneng Power, emitted 26 kilotons of sulphur dioxide last year from a fleet of power stations with almost twice Eskom’s installed capacity of about 44 000 MW, it said.

Eskom’s pollution is also high because of the high sulphur content of the coal it burns, Myllyvirta said.

Myllyvirta put the cost of fitting Eskom’s plants with the equipment, known as flue-gas desulphurization units, at between R100-billion and R200-billion. Eskom has previously said it would need to spend R300-billion to comply with South Africa’s emission standards.

The state-owned power utility is more than R400-billion in debt.

As part of the country’s efforts to ensure the full and equal participation of women in the economy, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Monday that the country will hold its first-ever Women’s Economic Assembly later this week.

The Economic Assembly will convene in Gauteng and will consider how supply chains can be used to benefit women-owned businesses and address policy impediments to women’s economic empowerment.

The Assembly will also improve access to financing for women-owned businesses, especially rural enterprises.

Ramaphosa said the country has made progress in promoting equality for women in areas like government, civil society, the administration of justice, sport and culture, adding that unfortunately, the same progress in the economy has not be achieved.

“There are more men in employment than women. Men are more likely than women to be in paid employment, and women are more likely to be doing unpaid work. The most recent employment numbers show the unemployment rate of black African women is the highest at 41%, more than 4% higher than the national average,” he said.

The assembly will bring together delegates from government, civil society and the private sector to develop a common plan of action for advancing women’s economic empowerment.

Last year, government announced that at least 40% of public sector procurement will go to women-owned businesses.

Ramaphosa said as the country works towards this target, it calls on the private sector to make a similar commitment.

“Over the past year, government has been erecting the scaffolding for women’s participation in procurement, establishing an institutional framework for operationalisation, holding capacity building and training workshops for women-owned businesses, and linking up women-owned businesses with public sector opportunities,” he said.

Although some departments have increased their procurement spend on women-owned businesses, effective monitoring is needed to ensure this translates to tangible growth and sustainability, Ramaphosa added.

“For us to realise our ambitious goals, business needs to be on board. The financial services sector must work to broaden access to credit and digital financial services like e-commerce and online banking. Lack of financing impedes the expansion and sustainability of many women-owned businesses, especially SMMEs,” he said.