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EFF urges Justice Madlanga to withdraw from judicial commission into Saps allegations

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Tuesday urged acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga to relinquish his role in what it says is a "disgrace and fake process", which the party warns will taint his legacy in the legal profession.

This after the commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system announced that it was unable to begin its work owing to failure by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to procure the necessary infrastructure, despite having made commitments that it would be able to do so.

The commission was established in July, following explosive allegations of corruption, political interference, and malfeasance, with KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi specifically accusing Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of unilaterally disbanding the Political Killings Task Team and redirecting 121 active investigation dockets to the office of National Deputy Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, where they have allegedly been neutralised.

Mchunu has since been placed on special leave by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The EFF claimed that Madlanga was being used as a "pawn" in a process that it believed was a "political ploy" to quickly "ease crime anxieties".

It said the commission was a "pretence at action".

The EFF said it was not surprised by the announcement of the delays to the commencement, saying this formed part of a "deliberate attempt to stifle accountability".

The commission is due to begin its work on September 1.

"…the fact that this commission, which was supposed to provide an interim report of its work in three-months has not had the necessary resources allocated to it is a testament to the fact that its establishment was a political ploy to ease the anxieties of South Africans in the immediate, hoping that our nation would in time collectively forget the damning allegations against Mchunu and our law enforcement agencies, which were alleged to be captured by criminal networks and drug syndicates," the party stated.

Following the establishment of the commission, opposition parties have since expressed scepticism and concerns about whether it will lead to accountability and prosecutions.

The EFF said Mchunu continued to draw the benefits of a Minister, accusing Ramaphosa of "patronage and political allegiance".

"…not only has Senzo Mchunu avoided accountability, but he also continues to live a life of privilege because it comes at no personal expense to those who owe favour to Mchunu within the African National Congress," said the EFF.

The party reiterated its call for Mchunu to be removed as a Member of Cabinet to protect the public purse and taxpayer money.

GPAA gets a new CEO, DA demands plans for investigation

National Treasury deputy director-general for corporate services Job Stadi Mngomezulu is Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) acting CEO, effective from Monday.

Last week, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana placed GPAA CEO Kedibone Madiehe on precautionary suspension with full pay, effective immediately, following allegations of serious misconduct concerning high-value procurement transactions.

Mngomezulu joined the Treasury more than two decades ago as a director: financial management before being promoted to CFO.

He later served as a chief risk officer before taking up the role of deputy director-general: corporate services.

Godongwana expressed confidence in Mngomezulu's ability to lead the organisation during its transitional period.

"Under Mr Mngomezulu's leadership, GPAA will continue to deliver on its mandate while we work to resolve these matters expeditiously," he stated.

He assured pensioners that all services would continue without interruption, and that the investigation would be conducted "promptly and thoroughly".

Madiehe's disciplinary action has been delegated to the Minister of Finance to institute disciplinary processes concerning misconduct allegations.

"This includes precautionary suspension, as well as any subsequent steps.

"It is important to note that precautionary suspension does not in any way constitute a judgment of guilt or innocence. Rather, it will allow investigations into the matter to be carried out without prejudicing any of the current employees at GPAA," the Finance Ministry highlighted.

Godongwana assured that there would be minimal disruption to GPAA's critical operations and that the highest standards of governance would be maintained.

To achieve this, National Treasury, through the Office of the Accountant General (OAG) unit, has commenced a detailed forensic investigation into all allegations against implicated individuals as well as contracts that have been awarded.

The preliminary focus of the investigation will focus on the GPAA head office lease; African mobility bus lease; Jicho consulting contracts, as well as the LCS biometric system lease.

Godongwana expressed confidence that the investigation and related disciplinary measures could be completed within 60 days.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to Mngomezulu asking him to disclose what the GPAA plans are to investigate all implicated, and to reinstate and protect whistleblowers.

The party is also demanding that the GPAA disclose what steps it will take to recover squandered funds and whether criminal charges have been laid.

"If these answers are not sufficient, the DA will not hesitate to approach the Presidency to issue a proclamation asking the SIU to investigate the GPAA and seize funds where appropriate," said DA spokesperson on Finance Dr Mark Burke.

He said too many implicated government officials lingered for years on suspension while still drawing "cushy salaries".

He explained that the DA wa pushing for due process to be followed with urgency and for all implicated officials to be fired.

Local elections to take place between November and January - IEC awaits date from Minister

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa will announce a date for the next Local Government Elections (LGE) once his consultation with the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has concluded.

The law provides that the term of a municipal council is five years and that elections must be held no later than 90 days following the end of the term.

The current municipal councils were elected on November 1, 2021.

"…this means that the current term will end on November 2, 2026. Therefore, the general elections of municipal councils fall due between November 2, 2026 and the end of January 2027," the IEC said on Tuesday.

Municipal wards are the political boundaries within which a single councillor is elected based on the first-past-the-post principle.

The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) plays a pivotal role in shaping the political geography of the country through the determination of both municipal and ward boundaries.

The MDB has indicated that it is about to conclude the process of ward delimitation.

"Crucially, the MDB will hand over final ward boundaries to the IEC at the end of October 2025. There will, however, be a residual of 18 municipalities that will be handed over at a later stage," the commission explained.

These relate to municipalities that were subject to requests for the review of external municipal boundaries.

Engagements with the MDB are planned to agree on the precise date for the receipt of wards for these residual municipalities, the IEC said.

"Once the MDB provides the final set of wards to the Commission, the Commission will analyse its network of voting districts to ensure that they are geographically aligned to the final ward boundaries in preparation for voter registration ahead of LGE 2026-2027," the IEC explained.

Sasol seeks to soften US tariff blow on South African exports

South African petrochemical firm Sasol is working to contain the impact of higher tariffs on its chemical exports to the US, Chief Financial Officer Walt Bruns said on Monday, saying they could affect $80-million worth of sales.

A 30% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump on South Africa came into effect this month, threatening the viability of billions of exports from Africa's most advanced economy into the US.

Sasol, which operates a chemicals business in the US, also exports about 10% of its South African chemicals production into the world's biggest economy.

"We estimate the impact on our business to be around $80-million, of which we believe we can mitigate at least $20- to $30-million," Bruns told Reuters in an interview.

"Some of our customers are willing to allow us to pass on the higher cost to them. If not, then we can re-allocate some of the product to Asia, so there'll be a bit of a shift from a supply chain point of view," he added.

Sasol CEO Simon Baloyi told analysts that the U.S tariffs were not a major threat to the company. "We produce what we sell in the US mainly in the US," Baloyi said.

Earlier on Monday, Sasol posted basic earnings per share of R10.60 for the year ended June 30 compared to a R69.94 loss per share the previous year, on the back of higher chemicals prices, tighter cost controls and lower asset writedowns.

Sasol also benefited from a R4.3-billion payout from Transnet, after it claimed in a legal suit the state-owned logistics firm had overcharged for oil transportation over several years.

The company also recorded significantly lower impairments of R20.7-billion, compared with R74.9-billion in the previous year.

The asset writedowns were related to its Secunda and Sasolburg liquid fuels refinery operations, Mozambique gas production sharing agreement and exploration project, and Italian chemicals business.

Sasol once again skipped dividend payments as its $3.7-billion net debt remained above the $3-billion debt cap in terms of its dividend policy.

SANDF rubbishes claims that army chief 'giving the middle finger' to Minister Motshekga

Amid tariff pressures, Ramaphosa calls for economic diplomacy and multilateralism

Back from his trip to Japan, where he attended the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit (TICAD9), President Cyril Ramaphosa underscored the importance of the forum to strengthen trade and investment, amid global trade disruptions.

Speaking at the TICAD9 last week, Ramaphosa said South Africa was seeking to deepen intra-African trade while becoming a "continental industrial platform from which Japanese and other global firms can export into Africa".

In his weekly letter to the nation on Monday, he reiterated the importance of Japan as a trading partner of South Africa's, particularly in areas such as construction, manufacturing, technology and agriculture.

He noted discussions at the conference on potential collaboration in renewable energy, automotive components and hydrogen production.

"One of the promising discussions was around the continental expansion plans by the Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors. Isuzu's South African plant has trialled the manufacture of commercial trucks and truck bodies locally, and is engaging with Isuzu Motors Japan on its plans to become a manufacturing hub for the African market. At a time of global trade disruptions and mounting tariff pressures, participating in forums like TICAD is key to our economic diplomacy efforts," Ramaphosa enthused.

Economic diplomacy, he said, was significant to South Africa's foreign policy, particularly presently, as the world faced economic headwinds and global power shifts.

Ramaphosa pointed to South Africa's National Interest Framework Policy Document, which advocated forging strategic alliances for economic and trading partnerships.

Tensions between the US and South Africa saw the latter country fail to secure a trade deal with the former, resulting in tariffs of 30% levied by the US on a slew of South African goods and produce.

"At a time when our country faces potentially high tariffs imposed by the US administration, we are continuing to put in place measures that reduce our dependence on historical markets. South Africa continues to advocate for an international trade regime that is fair, equitable and rules-based. We are seeking a trade regime that does not render developing economies vulnerable to unilateral measures or protectionist pressures," Ramaphosa stressed.

He said South Africa would strategically engage with partners in the Global North and South, while it continued with its multilateralism-based foreign policy.

He asserted that South Africa's foreign policy would not be dictated by pressure but by principle.

PEACE

This approach, he said, was why South Africa continued to support Palestine, despite criticism from other countries.

South Africa had taken Israel to the International Court of Justice to declare genocide regarding its assault on Gaza following Hamas-led attacks on Israel in 2023.

"We continue to stand in principled solidarity with the peoples of Western Sahara in their struggle for self-determination, even when this has found us at odds with other countries, including on the African continent," Ramaphosa added.

A staunch advocate of negotiation, Ramaphosa encouraged dialogue in the mediation and resolution of conflict.

He laid out South Africa's peacekeeping efforts, noting the role it played in Lesotho, Burundi and the wider Greak Lakes region, as well as efforts in the South Sudan conflict and the conflict in Ethiopia.

"South Africa has also sought to play a constructive role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a role that has been welcomed by both sides. In 2023 we joined a group of African leaders as part of a Ukraine-Russia peace mission. We continue to engage with Russia and Ukraine in pursuit of peace, and this past weekend I had calls with several European leaders on the latest peace effort," Ramaphosa said.

He stressed independence in the formulation of South Africa's national interest and mutual respect whe...

SANDF rubbishes claims of abandoned Oryx helicopters in DRC

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has dispelled claims that its Oryx helicopters were abandoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), reaffirming that these aircraft are being maintained according to technical and safety requirements.

This after media reports stated that five of the military's Oryx helicopters were likely to remain permanently stranded in the DRC, owing to an alleged lack of funds to replace the engines of two of the five helicopters.

Furthermore, it was claimed that there were no spare engines available to cannibalise from other helicopters.

The SANDF said such allegations were misleading and did not reflect the actual condition or status of the SANDF aircraft.

It explained that out of the three helicopters reported, only one sustained damage during the United Nations peacekeeping military operations last year, and it would undergo repairs.

The other helicopters were operational and remained under the strict control of the SANDF, it said.

South African soldiers were stationed in the DRC when they formed part of Southern African Development Community and the United Nations peacekeeping deployments, and were unceremoniously evacuated from the country earlier this year.

MVC consults legal team after political party funding court application dismissed

Following the dismissal of its court application to overhaul the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA), civil society organisation My Vote Counts (MVC) announced that it is studying the judgment and consulting with its legal team, stressing that its court action is aimed at curbing "elite influence" over South Africa's politics.

Earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the proclamation to double the disclosure threshold and annual donation limit in the PPFA.

The new annual donation limit will be R30-million, up from R15-million, and the new disclosure threshold will be R200 000, up from R100 000.

MVC argued that the new PPFA annual donation limit would deepen secrecy in political funding and make it easier for private interests to influence the country's politics and for corruption to occur.

MVC launched its application seeking to overhaul the PPFA, as amended by the Electoral Matters Amendment Act, to compel parties to fully disclose all donations.

In February, MVC approached the Western Cape High Court to have the Act declared unconstitutional.

In a ruling handed down on Thursday, the Western Cape High Court found that the challenges to the pre-amended PPFA were moot owing to subsequent amendments.

The court ruled that the President's discretion to set donation limits was constitutional and did not violate legislative authority.

It said MVC failed to establish how the challenged provisions infringed constitutional rights.

The application was dismissed with no order for costs.

The MVC explained that it approached the court to strengthen voter accountability over public representatives, and to deepen the right of access to information so that voters could vote and exercise their political rights from an informed position.

"We will continue to advocate and litigate when necessary to achieve these objectives," it said.

Meanwhile, ActionSA, a respondent in the case, welcomed the court's judgment calling MVC's application "misguided".

Previously the party highlighted that while it is not opposed to transparency in political party funding, it opposed MVC's "short-sighted application".

It argued that the relief sought by MVC would throttle party funding by small- to medium-sized donors who choose to make donations below the current threshold for fear of political or economic reprisal.

"ActionSA has made it clear that our opposition is not to transparency in party funding. On the contrary, we have led the charge by consistently declaring our funding, achieving consecutive clean audits and exposing numerous instances of egregious non-compliance by other parties with the Independent Electoral Commission," said ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont.

He said the MVC case was silent on non-compliance and instead "sought to restrict" the work of newer political parties.

"… anyone with a practical understanding of South Africa's political democracy would recognise that such an application does nothing to advance our democratic project. ActionSA remains firm that the implications of the application served less to strengthen South Africa's democratic project and more to hinder it through poorly conceived arguments," Beaumont said.

ActionSA rejects Parly Saps Committee terms, challenges Speaker over censorship

ActionSA said it will urgently challenge National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza and Parliament's "unilateral decision" to restrict access to classified information for certain members of the committee, relating to the investigation into allegations of corruption in the South African Police Service (Saps).

In June, KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of unilaterally disbanding the Political Killings Task Team and redirecting 121 active investigation dockets to the Office of National Deputy Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, where they have allegedly been neutralised.

Earlier this month, the committee held its first meeting, and this week the committee reconvened and agreed on its final version of its terms of reference, which was sent to members.

ActionSA expressed concerns with some of the terms of reference.

Party MP Dereleen James said ActionSA takes "strong exception" to Parliament's and Didiza's alleged actions in developing and effecting a protocol that would exclude ActionSA's active participation by denying alternative members access to any classified material that may emerge during the committee's investigation.

"…this clause in the protocol is not only legally baseless, referencing no legislative provision requiring such restrictions, but is wholly obstructive to the democratic integrity and intended work of the committee," she stated.

She added that it was concerning that the 'Protocol on Handling and Viewing of Classified Information by the National Assembly' was only signed on Wednesday.

"Clearly, this is neither an established precedent nor a longstanding framework, but rather a newly manufactured instrument designed by Parliament and developed without any consultation with the committee for which it was ostensibly intended," she said.

James pointed out that alternate members exist to ensure continuity when full members are unavailable when decisions need to be made.

"To unilaterally restrict ActionSA from accessing relevant information undermines our ability to participate meaningfully, leaving us in the rather absurd position of having to inevitably vote on matters without being fully apprised of the information necessary to do so," she argued.

ActionSA will formally raise the matter with Didiza, and ask her to remove the provision before the committee begins its work.

She claimed that this was a procedural irregularity, and a deliberate attempt to obstruct ActionSA's work in the committee.

"The Speaker's action, if left unchallenged, could have far-reaching consequences for all parliamentary committees and the alternate members who serve on them, creating a system where different classes of members are treated unequally," she noted.

Ramaphosa outlines vision for leveraging AfCFTA to support reindustrialisation

President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined how South Africa hopes to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to support the country's reindustrialisation.

Speaking at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit (TICAD9) under way in Japan, Ramaphosa said South Africa was seeking to deepen intra-African trade while becoming a "continental industrial platform from which Japanese and other global firms can export into Africa".

"We are actively working with the AfCFTA Secretariat to finalise value-chain protocols in automotive, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and textiles.

"We support Rules of Origin harmonisation to encourage manufacturing in Africa and the upgrading of border infrastructure to enable the faster movement of goods," he said, adding that South Africa's reindustrialisation agenda was focused on localisation, green energy and regional integration.

In a separate address to the South Africa-Japan Business Forum, hosted on the sidelines of TICAD9, Ramaphosa further underlined South Africa's gateway potential into the rest of Africa for Japanese firms.

While noting that 270 Japanese companies already had a presence in the South African economy, and were sustaining over 200 000 local jobs, he added: "Our strategic position on the African continent, our developed infrastructure and active private sector make South Africa a strong base for regional expansion."

He invited Japanese companies to co-invest in value chains anchored in South Africa that served the continental market of 1.4-billion people.

Speaking against the backdrop of the imposition of 30% 'reciprocal tariffs' on South African exports to the US, Ramaphosa also urged Japan to ease market access for African goods.

"Recent tariff actions by the United States on African goods have highlighted the need to diversify our export markets.

"South Africa is a leading exporter of agricultural produce and high quality industrial products such as auto vehicles and components.

"We call on our Japanese counterparts to support tariff cooperation to ease market access for African goods," Ramaphosa said.

In his address to Japanese businesspeople, meanwhile, he stressed that Japan was a key pillar in South Africa's market diversification outreach.

Referring to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's willingness to adjust tariffs for strained partners, Ramaphosa argued that there were opportunities for South Africa and Japan to collaborate on integrated supply chains within strategic sectors. Here, he made specific reference to battery minerals, automotive components, renewable energy equipment and hydrogen technologies.

"We are world leaders in the supply of platinum group metals and manganese. We are in the top five of vanadium producers and have untapped potential in rare earths," he added.

"We invite co-investment on manganese, vanadium, platinum group metals and rare earths beneficiation aimed at the clean energy and mobility markets."

Ramaphosa also pointed to opportunities to expand agricultural exports, describing South Africa as a top-tier global agricultural exporter, with strong sanitary and phytosanitary standards and traceability systems, with a growing range of niche and high-value products.

"Globally, we are ranked the number one exporter of Rooibos tea, the number one exporter of macadamia nuts, the second largest exporter of fresh citrus and the fifth largest exporter by volume of wine."