Cape Times 2021-11-26

Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za | POLITICAL BUREAU EFF leader Julius Malema yesterday announced that the party has instructed its lawyers to look into the ANC’s decision to back the election of Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) founder Philani Mavundla as eThekwini deputy mayor. Mavundla was elected deputy mayor and a member of the executive committee following the metropolitan municipality’s inaugural council meeting – the ABC won two seats. He was elected despite earlier claiming he was part of a group of small parties that wanted to oust the ANC. “We have instructed our lawyers to look at what they did,” Malema said. “Those positions belong to the ANC. We think something illegal could have happened there.” He said the eThekwini metro would be receiving court papers very soon. “The ANC gave itself…

Samkelo Mtshali samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za THE Director of Public Prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday told the inquiry into the July unrest that establishing the source of the tumult was a complex matter that they were still in the process of investigating. The hearings are probing the civil unrest that engulfed KZN and Gauteng in July, leading to the looting and burning of numerous shopping centres and other businesses and the deaths of at least 342 people. Giving evidence at the hearings held by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) Kwena Mashamaite, KZN Director of Public Prosecutions, said the organised crime unit was investigating whether instigators, organisers or sponsors were behind the unrest. “We want to see what led these people to loot. Did it come from…

from page 1 Icosa said the arrests were “orchestrated” by the DA who “do not want to see coloured people run a municipality”. The DA refuted this claim as “absolute nonsense“. Icosa provincial leader, Dawid Kamfer said: “The DA is sitting behind all these things, because it’s coloured people who are now running the municipality. We will seriously look into these things. Where are these things coming from now and why didn’t they come up when the DA was in charge of Kannaland? “We will look into why they did not arrest the people when the DA was in charge – why now? The DA was in charge for more than four years in the municipality,” he said. Kamfer also slammed claims that Donson was “on the run” when the…

Mayibongwe Maqhina mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa said the load shedding which has disrupted the daily lives of South Africans and caused great damage to the economy was a stark reminder of severe and intractable challenges the electricity system faced. Speaking during the oral question session in Parliament, Ramaphosa said load shedding was always the last resort where demand for electricity was greater than what could be produced by the system. “It is necessary to prevent the collapse of the power grid and a complete blackout,” he said. Ramaphosa said load shedding was also an inevitable consequence of the fact that many of Eskom’s power plants were ageing. “Many of us will know that a number of them are between 20, 30, 40 and 60 years. ”This has affected the inability…

Siyabonga Mkhwanazi Parliament is bracing itself to pass a new law that would allow independent candidates to contest elections for seats in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. This comes after Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said yesterday, during a media briefing, that the Cabinet had backed a report that would go to Parliament for the processing of the electoral laws. The Constitutional Court ruled last year that independent candidates could also contest elections at national and provincial levels. But the New Nation Movement had taken the matter to the highest court in the land after the high court rejected its application. The law currently only allows political parties to send public representatives to Parliament and the provinces. But independent candidates could become MPs and MPLs if the new…

Zelda Venter A MAN, who was mistaken for a robber and arrested in hospital where he was being treated for an injury to his arm, told the court of his humiliation after he was cuffed to the bed for three weeks. The high court in Joburg questioned the conduct of the police, who kept watch outside the hospital room of Simon Sipho Sibeko, 63, all that time. After he was discharged, he spent two days in a cell, before the SAPS nabbed the real culprit. Once they had the right person, they simply told him to go home, without an explanation or apology. Sibeko claimed R1 million in damages from the SAPS, which offered to pay him just over R800 000 as compensation. However, the court ordered that…