The View Point

Guest: Trudie Broekmann an attorney specialising in Consumer Law.

• A person (“buyer”) must:
• contact his/her bank to find out whether or not s/he qualifies for a home loan and if so, what amount s/he qualifies for;
• make sure that s/he can afford the monthly loan repayments and other costs like, rates and taxes, water and electricity, insurance premiums and so on;
• find out about any once off costs, for example, legal costs, transfer duty or value added tax, loan administration, initiation and registration fees and so on;

THE MOONSHOT PACT: IS THIS WAT SOUTH AFRICA NEEDS? 

Guest: Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast, Political Analyst

African Education Award: Two South African Educators top 10 finalists

Guest: Prof Mary Metcalfe, Executive Director of the Programme to Improve Learning Outcomes (PILO)

Harassment is defined in the Protection from Harassment Act (No. 17 of 2011) as any harsh, severe, or disrespectful action that harms or causes another person to believe that he or she will suffer. It might refer to general physical, emotional, financial, or psychic anguish. This is frequently the start of domestic violence. How can you identify a pattern of harassment, protect yourself, and obtain a protection order? Typically, the persons you are protecting yourself from are difficult to report or are near enough to know your routine and will be obstinate.

• What is harassment?
• What can a person do if s/he is being harassed?
• How can a person apply for a protection order?
• What happens if a person does not know who is harassing him/her?
• What will happen after an application for a protection order has been filed at court?
• What happens if the person is your spouse or father of children or even a girlfriend?

Guest: Sheri Breslaw, Director practising in the Family Law department at Wertheim Becker attorneys

The government's failure to take action and mend fences with the US could be detrimental to the economy of the country. Load shedding and crime have done serious damage to South Africa's economy.

Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador to South Africa, stated that the US was sure that SA had armed Vladimir Putin's army despite SA's assurances that it takes a non-aligned stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On a continent divided following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, South Africa is one of Russia's most significant supporters. However, the country claims to be impartial.

Guest: Dawie Roodt, Director and Chief Economist of the Efficient Group

South African officials on Friday hit back at U.S. accusations that a Russian ship had collected weapons from a naval base near Cape Town late last year, a move investors fear could lead Washington to impose sanctions.

The U.S. ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said on Thursday he was confident that a Russian ship under U.S. sanctions took aboard weapons from the Simon's Town base in December, suggesting the transfer was not in line with Pretoria's stance of neutrality in Russia's war against Ukraine.

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Western diplomats were alarmed at South Africa carrying out naval exercises with Russia and China this year, and at the timing of a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

South Africa is one of Russia's most important allies on a continent divided over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but says it is impartial and has abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions on the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday had discussed the conflict in Ukraine in a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Kremlin said.

Ramaphosa's office said on Thursday that an inquiry led by a retired judge would look into the U.S. allegation. On Friday, a minister responsible for arms control and a foreign ministry spokesman said South Africa had not approved any arms shipment to Russia in December.

"We didn't approve any arms to Russia ... it wasn't sanctioned or approved by us," Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele, who chaired the National Conventional Arms Control Committee when the purported shipment took place, told 702 radio.

He did not say whether or not an unapproved shipment had left South Africa.

South Africa's defence department said on Friday it would give its side of the story to the government's inquiry.

AMBASSADOR SUMMONED

Brigety was summoned on Friday to meet South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor. The ministry "expressed the government's utter displeasure with his conduct and statements made yesterday," a statement said.

It said Brigety "admitted that he crossed the line and apologised unreservedly to the government and the people of South Africa."

Brigety said on Twitter: "I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Foreign Minister Pandor this evening and correct any misimpressions left by my public remarks."

The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone call with Pandor "and reiterated cooperation on shared priorities, including health, trade, and energy."

After leaving Simon's Town, Refinitiv shipping data showed the vessel, the "Lady R", sailed north to Mozambique, spending Jan. 7 to 11 in the port of Beira before continuing to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

It arrived in the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea on Feb. 16, the data showed.

The United States placed the Lady R and Transmorflot LLC, the shipping company it is linked to, under sanctions in May 2022 on the grounds the company "transports weaponsfor the (government of Russia)".

SANCTIONS FEAR

Washington has warned that countries providing material support to Russia may be denied access to U.S. markets.

"This is not just a verbal warning, this is something that the Biden administration has shown through its actions that it is willing to do, including by sanctioning companies in places like China and Turkey," said Edward Fishman, a foreign policy expert who worked on Russia sanctions during President Barack Obama's administration.

Cameron Hudson, a former CIA analyst and now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he thought it was unlikely that Washington would impose sanctions or suspend South Africa from AGOA, a major U.S. trade preference programme for Sub-Saharan Africa, although he said there were grounds to.

Authorities in South Africa's opposition-run Western Cape province said they feared losing a market for exports such as oranges, macademia nuts and wine.

The U.S. allegation over the weapons has heaped pressure on the rand currency , already weighed down by concerns over a power crisis. It struck an all-time low early on Friday before regaining some ground, but remained at its weakest in three years.

Seeing that the country’s economy has been severely damaged by loadshedding and crime, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso noted on Monday that a concerted effort to restore positive relations with the US is needed.

Mavuso wrote in her weekly letter that a loss of critical trading relationships would further set back the effort to create a conducive environment to growing businesses and the economy.

“It could be the final straw that breaks the back of our fragile economy,” said Mavuso.

Last week the US ambassador made serious allegations that arms destined for Russia were loaded onto a Russian ship in Simon’s Town, in Cape Town.

Last week the Presidency announced an inquiry into the matter, which will be headed by a retired judge.

Following the news, BLSA urged government to make clear whether an export permit had been granted to supply arms to Russia. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said that the National Conventional Arms Control Committee had “no record” of an approved arms sale to Russia.

Mavuso said if arms were loaded it was done so illegally and pointed out that the relevant legislation allowed for a fine and imprisonment of up to 25 years for exporting arms without a permit.

BLSA wants government to take a clear position on arms trade with Russia, as other non-aligned countries such as China have done (it will supply to neither Russia nor Ukraine).

Mavuso said supplying arms to Russia would leave the country afoul of the US’s Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.

“It probably wouldn’t stop there – we also have a free trade agreement with the European Union that could be at risk and trade relations would also be affected with the United Kingdom,” she added.

Mavuso highlighted that the Simon’s Town episode needs an explanation.

Even if arms were not loaded onto the ship, the fact that it docked at all, particularly in a military facility with its transponder turned off, was ill-advised, she said.

She went on to say that it was now imperative that government cleared up the mess.

“We need a clear explanation of who authorised the docking and what was offloaded and loaded. We need to understand the full chain of command. If laws were broken, there should be arrests and prosecutions. This needs to happen immediately, before irreversible damage is done, and not months down the line when an enquiry concludes,” she added.

GLOBAL POWERS

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa noted that South Africahad not been, and would not be, drawn into a contest between global powers.

He said the experience of reaching out across political divides and building relations with very different countries had helped to shape the country’s foreign policy. This had been coupled with a firm belief in the value of an inclusive multilateral world order and the peaceful resolution of conflict through dialogue, he added.
 
“That does not mean that we do not have a position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Consistent with our stance on conflicts in other parts of the world, South Africa’s view is that the international community needs to work together to urgently achieve a cessation of hostilities and to prevent further loss of life and displacement of civilians in Ukraine. It needs to support meaningful dialogue towards a lasting peace, which ensures the security and stability of all nations,” Ramaphosa explained.

He said South Africa supported that members refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of otherStates, adding that South Africa’s position sought to contribute to the creation of conditions that made the achievement of a durable resolution of the conflict possible.

The reality was that the Russia-Ukraine conflict – and the tensions that underlined it – would not be resolved through military means, it needed to be resolved politically, Ramaphosa noted.
 
“We do not accept that our non-aligned position favours Russia above other countries. Nor do we accept that it should imperil our relations with other countries,” he said. 

Out of 699 illegal firearms that have been confiscated in the Western Cape, none have been destroyed in the first quarter of this year. This was revealed by the MEC of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen in a response to a question by the chairperson of parliament’s standing committee on community safety, Gillion Bosman.  The news comes days after Gun Free SA’s class action against the Western Cape SAPS for the deaths of people who were killed by guns that were sold to gangs by SAPS members.

Guest: Reagan Allen, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety and Police Oversight

According to Gun Free SA, police records show that since 2016, guns distributed by Christiaan Prinsloo to gangs killed 166,000 people, 67 of them children, with thousands more injured.

The organisation’s director Adele Kirsten said they lodged the class action on behalf of nine families of children and relatives who has been killed or injured by "Prinsloo guns".

"And so, for these families and for Gun Free South Africa, one of the aims is to ensure some kind of justice for the family."

The nine families include Andre and Dianne Cornelius, whose 16-year-old son Dillan Cornelius was fatally wounded in a shooting in Manenberg in August 2013.

Kirsten said this should never happen again.

"One of the purposes of this class action is to ensure the state and particular SAPS, takes seriously the need to recover weapons that are currently circulating, particularly in communities on the Cape flats."

The South African Police Service indicated they would respond to the class action later on Thursday.

In 2016, Prinsloo was handed an 18-year jail sentence for a slew of charges including corruption, racketeering and theft after entering a plea and sentencing agreement with the state.  The case against his alleged accomplices — firearms dealer Alan Raves and businessman Irshaad Laher, who is accused of selling stolen guns to gangs — is pending.  

Gun Free SA director Adéle Kirsten said Prinsloo and another senior SAPS Col David Naidoo stole and distributed more than 2,000 guns that were held in police stores waiting for destruction, to gang leaders on the Cape Flats between 2007 and 2015.   

“SAPS records show that as of 2016, Prinsloo guns killed 1,066 people, 67 of whom were children, while thousands more were injured [by the same guns],” said Kirsten.  

Kirsten said 888 of the guns stolen by Prinsloo were forensically linked to murders in the Western Cape between February 2010 and June 5 2016. She said 187 children between the ages of one and 17 were shot between February 2010 and December 2015 with guns stolen by Prinsloo. Of the more than 2,000 guns Prinsloo admitted to stealing, more than 1,000 are still missing, Kirsten said.  

Gun Free SA filed its application in the high court in Cape Town on Tuesday. The first leg of the litigation is “to apply for certification of a class action against the police to claim for damages resulting from the theft and supply of guns in police stores by criminals by two senior police members”.   

“Gun Free SA argues that SAPS is at fault for failing to uphold its constitutional, statutory, and international obligations, which allowed Prinsloo and Naidoo to steal and distribute guns and ammunition undetected and for years,” said Kirsten.  

“SAPS’ reports, which are based on forensic data, show that between 2007 and June 2016, Prinsloo guns were used in the commitment of at least 2,784 crimes in the Western Cape alone. This includes 1,066 murders, 1,403 attempted murders and 315 other crimes. 

“SAPS reports further show that as of 2016, as many as 1,012 Prinsloo firearms were still in circulation, and are likely killing and injuring further victims. Consequently, Gun Free SA argues that the class-action must include victims of Prinsloo’s guns dating from 2007 until the present day.” 

There’s nothing conventional about Makhiba Mollo. Her experience of providing strategic counsel on Responsible Investing to a number of key institutional bodies and multinational companies in South Africa, defines her as a credible pioneer for responsible innovation, shareholder activism and justice in strategic decisions.

Her 17+ year journey of cultivating solutions in the field of Sustainability and Corporate Governance (ESG) at Africa’s leading stock exchange, including the Public Investment Corporation - Africa's largest asset manager, have validated her recent appointment into South Africa’s National Planning Commission - an independent advisory body to the Presidency, comprising experts from the private sector, academia and other stakeholders focusing on SA’s medium- and longer-term requirements as defined in the National Development Plan.

Over and above her rich insights, influence, and capabilities in international and local governance sustainability frameworks, Makhiba is known and respected for building a case for leadership excellence in the ESG value proposition of the future by advocating for inclusivity in policy.

One of her most memorable experiences was hosting a topical seminar on Marikana, a widely covered mining tragedy in South Africa in 2012. In 2016, she was part of the JSE's first Ringing a Bell for Gender Equity event.

Makhiba has made public presentations on both work related and personal matters pertaining to being a successful and effective professional with a disability. She is also a respected columnist and thought contributor.

Guest; Makhiba Mollo, Sustainability Expert, Commissioner: National Planning Commission  

Guest: Lucy Balimba, Founder & CEO: Entelo Strategic Communications

Guest: Mrs Elana Hannington, Specialises In Family Law Matters and a Partner at Norman, Wink & Stephens, in Cape Town

What degree do cultural traditions influence the law? Fathers are being denied contact with their children as a result of inhlawulo/damages! What rights can one exercise?

Guest: Dr Deonita Damons, Executive Director, Boston City Campus

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day - The Impact and possibilities that internet and other ICT can bring to societies in South African

Guest: Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, Social Development Deputy Minister 

Guest: Dr Katharine Hall, Senior Researcher at the UCT Children's Institute

# International Day of Families: Child-headed Families