|
Cllick
on the underlined hyperlink where relevant
South Africa
2010 FIFA World Cup
Vuvuzela
victims could sue for damages - 15 February
The World Cup local organising committee, Fifa and stadium management
could face damage claims if they fail to warn or protect football fans
from the potential harmful effects of vuvuzelas. Professor De Wet
Swanepoel of the University of Pretoria said according to the SA
National Standard regulating occupational noise exposure, no one
within a two-metre radius of a vuvuzela should be exposed to it
continually for more than a minute. SA 2010 chief executive Danny Jordaan
has said the tournament "will be the loudest World Cup", and the
local organising committee has dismissed the study as unscientific and one
that does not prove vuvuzelas pose a risk to hearing. - IOL
website
Renting
out rooms for World Cup? Be warned . . . - 16 February
Those hoping to rent out rooms for the first time to cash in on the World
Cup have been warned of substantial risk to guests and owners. Federated
Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) chief executive Brett
Dungan "strongly recommended" that those hoping to enter the
hospitality market during the World Cup draft a legal document with terms
and conditions protecting themselves from malicious damage or fraud by
visitors. - IOL website
Renting
out your property for the World Cup? - 19 February
Those looking to score from the influx of World Cup visitors could be
caught offside by more insurance snags than they realise. - moneyweb
website
Cape
tourism sector forms pricing code to address overpricing perceptions
around 2010 FIFA World Cup - 10 February
In a bid to translate commitment into action, Cape Town Tourism
formulated a Code of Responsible Pricing for Cape Town. The code is
endorsed and will be implemented by the City of Cape Town, the Western
Cape Provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Cape
Town Routes Unlimited, FEDHASA (the Federated Hospitality Association of
South Africa), SATSA (the South African Tourism Services Association),
The Portfolio Collection, Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa,
Backpackers South Africa, and SAACI (the South African Association for
the Conference Industry). - ForImmediateRelease
website
|
World
Cup booze plan fury - 18 February
Any pub, restaurant, hotel or university wanting to screen World Cup games
and sell liquor at the same time could first have to fork out R50 000 for
a special liquor licence. This is according to draft legislation gazetted
by the Department of Trade and Industry on January 18, which was open for
comment until yesterday. According to the "2010 Soccer World Cup
Liquor Policy" any "public viewing event" where matches are
broadcast to an audience - "general public or otherwise" - will
need the special licence to sell alcohol. Lawyer Marius Blom, an expert on
liquor legislation, said the proposed bill was contrary to the provisions
of the constitution and that the department had gone beyond the boundaries
of its powers. - IOL website
18
February 2010
The
Department of Trade and Industry pleased with public comments on draft
liquor control policy
SA Government Information website
|
Joburg's
informal traders to score at World Cup - 17 February
Johannesburg's informal traders stand to score big during the 2010 Fifa
World Cup if they adhere to the international soccer body's by-laws, the
city's 2010 office said on Wednesday. "Though trading will not be
permitted in exclusion zones around the stadiums on match days, new
opportunities are being created for traders to benefit from being situated
in high-fan traffic areas", spokesperson Sibongile Mazibuko said in a
statement. She advised informal traders to join programmes designed by the
Department of Economic Development (DED) to help coach them through the
tournament. - Mail & Guardian
website
Banking
Debate
to 'nationalise' Reserve Bank hots up - 14 February
A faction of SA Reserve Bank shareholders, apparently representing more
than 20% of the bank's shares, are planning to force governor Gill Marcus
to hold an extraordinary general meeting in the next few months to
"clarify the rights" of shareholders. The shareholder group, for
whom German national Michael Duerr has become an unofficial spokesman,
clashed repeatedly with Marcus's predecessor, Tito Mboweni, sparking
several dust-ups at the bank's annual shareholder meetings. - Times
Live website
See
also :
Mboweni
Equality Court hearing told of heated exchange at Bank AGM
[Equality Courts]
Gordhan repeats Reserve Bank will remain independent below
Criminal Justice
System
40%
of witnesses quit protection programme - 18 February
Many witnesses placed at safe houses under the state protection programme
have left due to the financial squeeze. In the past year about 40 percent
of witnesses have left the programme, up from 16.9 percent the year
before, according to the Justice Department's budget vote, tabled in
Parliament on Wednesday. - IOL website
Education
Father
levels abuse charge at teachers - 18 February
Three Durban teachers at the Highway Christian Academy in Pinetown face a
child abuse charge after they allegedly made the pupil stay out of class
in the heat for several hours. The boy was taken to Pinetown Medicross,
where a doctor said his symptoms were a result of heat exhaustion. The
principal, Gavin Brophy, denied that the child had been forced to sit in
the sun. "The senior department head told me that both pupils were
suspended for a day, which is normal practice when pupils fight. It's
aimed at allowing them to cool down". He said the boy was
removed from the class because it would have set a negative precedent had
he been allowed back while on suspension. While the boy had been told to
leave the class, he had been free to drink water and sit wherever he
wanted to. - IOL website
Environment
'Parts
of SA may be uninsurable' - 18 February
As the effects of climate change intensify, large areas of South Africa
could become uninsurable, according to Santam's chief executive Ian Kirk.
Kirk was speaking at a forum organised in the city this week by the
University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership on what
the failure of the Copenhagen climate change negotiations means for
business. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Climate change
Government
Chabane
outlines plan to improve govt performance - 12 February
Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
Collins Chabane on Friday outlined some of the 12 performance outcomes
that government has set itself. He noted that Cabinet had already
approved nine of the 12 outcomes last year, with the remaining three to
be discussed in Cabinet in the next two weeks. President Jacob Zuma said
in his State of the Nation address on Thursday that department’s
performance would be monitored to improve government's performance. One
of the key outcomes would be the creation of decent employment through
inclusive economic growth, with government aiming to increase income and
employment on an individual level and to promote equality and economic
growth on a broader scale. - Creamer
Media's Engineering News website
12
February 2010
Statement
by the Minister for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation as well as
Administration, Collins Chabane, to announce the performance outcomes
and measurable outputs ; Imbizo Media Centre, Cape Town
SA Government Information
website
State
enterprises may be 'rationalised' - 19 February
State-owned enterprises are under review for possible rationalisation,
the Treasury's director- general Lesetja Kganyago confirmed yesterday.
The review is being conducted by the Department of Public Enterprises
and the Treasury. - Business Day
website
Health
National
health plan 'may cost extra R244bn' - 15 February
A new study commissioned by private hospitals has cast doubt on the
African National Congress's (ANC's) proposals for national health
insurance (NHI), raising tough questions about its affordability and
feasibility. Research by the Econex consultancy group shows the
government will have to come up with an extra R165bn-R244bn a year, over
and above the money it already spends on public health. In the fiscal
year 2008-09, the government’s health budget ran to R84bn. - Business
Day website
History
Lawyer
tells how he tried to cut Mandela speech - 13 February
One of Nelson Mandela's Rivonia trial lawyers confessed on Friday how he
tried - and failed - to stop the ANC leader using one of the most famous
phrases in South African history. Joel Joffe, instructing attorney in
the 1964 trial, was speaking at a reunion of political prisoners hosted
by President Jacob Zuma at his official residence in Cape Town.
"[Advocate] George Bizos said to him, Madiba, if you actually say
those words, the court will take it as an invitation to impose a death
sentence. And it might well accept that invitation". Mandela was,
however, adamant that was what he would say, Joffe said. - Mail
& Guardian website
Portrait
of a winning nation - 17 February
There I was sitting in my office in December 1989 when the phone rang.
"Hello, this is Sergeant Marais of the South African Police".
"Yes, Sergeant Marais, what can I do for you?" "There's
a prisoner who would like to talk to you". "I don't know any
prisoners". "You know this one". "Really?"
"Nelson Mandela". "You're kidding". "No I'm
not". "When would he like to see me?"
"Anytime". So off I went to Victor Vester in early January
1990. - Clem Sunter on the News24
website
Human Rights
Girls,
14, forced to marry in South Africa - 14 February
Girls as young as 14 are still being forced into marriage in some rural
communities in South Africa, despite a campaign to end the practice.
Hundreds of teenagers every year fall victim to what village elders
defend as a "tribal tradition", most of them in the Eastern
Cape. The refuge where the girls we spoke to are staying was set up by
Zoleka Capa, who is using her status as the first female Mayor in the
area to try to change the traditions of her own people. - Sky
News website
Keyphrase :
Virginity testing
International
Affairs
Death
penalty threatens Botswana/SA relations - 18 February
The legal standoff between Botswana and South Africa over the death
penalty is threatening to disrupt diplomatic relations between the two
countries. This week the Minister of Defense, Justice and Security,
Ramadeluka Seretse vowed that Botswana will not give in to South Africa's
demands of assurances that murder suspects extradited to Botswana will not
be sentenced to death even if found guilty. Botswana has a strictly
implemented death penalty. - Sunday
Standard website
See
also : Ex-BHC
boss waits for extradition verdict [Magistrates Courts]
Judicial Service
Commission, and, Judiciary
Bench
probed for outstanding judgments - 17 February
South Africa's judiciary is again under the spotlight - this time for
failing to deliver a long list of outstanding judgments, some of which
have been pending for six or even 10 years. This has prompted the General
Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) to formally lodge a
complaint with Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, requesting that the issue be
addressed and that incompetent judges "should be persuaded to do the
right thing before we have another public spectacle involving the
judiciary". Chief Justice Ngcobo responded that he was aware of cases
where there were outstanding judgments and that these were reported to the
Judicial Service Commission (JSC). He asked the GCB to furnish him with
details of all cases in which there were outstanding judgments and to
include the names of the responsible judges as well, as whether the issue
had been reported to the head of the court. - IOL
website
Media,
judiciary need each other, says Ngcobo - 14 February
The media and the judiciary were two of the most vital pillars supporting
South Africa's constitutional democracy, Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo said
in Cape Town on Saturday night. He was addressing a SA National Editor's
Forum dinner. - IOL wesite
See
: Full speech at http://docs.iol.co.za/Chief%20Justice%20Sandile%20Ngcobo's%20speech
'Media,
judiciary partners for justice'
- 16 February
The media and judiciary were partners for "open justice"
Constitutional Court chief justice Sandile Ngcobo said yesterday. The statement followed an address he had made at a gathering of the SA
National Editors' Forum (Sanef) in Cape Town on Saturday.
- Dispatch Online website
|
14
February 2010
Law
Society Urges Justice Minister to Reconsider Mpshe Appointment to
the Bench
The
Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) urges Minister of Justice and
Constitutional Development Jeff Radebe to withdraw or suspend the
appointment of Mokotedi Mpshe as an acting judge of the North-West
High Court :
Mafikeng
to allow the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to consider the
matter and make its official views public. The JSC is scheduled to
meet again in April.
The
LSSA joins the General Council of the Bar and the JSC in
expressing grave concern at the appointment of a former acting
National Director of Public Prosecutions as an acting judge. The
LSSA agrees with the above organisations that it is undesirable
for a government official – while still retaining his civil
service position as a public prosecutor – to be a member of the
judiciary. This offends the concept of judicial independence.
In
addition, the LSSA believes the manner in which the acting
position was canvassed – in terms of which the Minister made
both the nomination and the appointment – hints at Executive
interference in the judiciary.
Issue
on behalf of the co-Chairpersons of the Law Society of South
Africa, Thoba Poyo-Dlawti and Henri
van Rooyen
Barbara Whittle
Communication Manager, Law Society of South Africa
Telephone : 012-366 8800 or 083-380 1307
E-mail : barbara@lssa.org.za
Website: www.lssa.org.za |
Bar
council waits on Justice Ministry reply over Mpshe - 12 February
The General Council of the Bar of South
Africa is
expecting to hear from the Justice Ministry soon on its complaint over the
appointment of Mokotedi Mpshe as an acting judge in the North West High
Court. "The minister [Jeff Radebe] said they would be responding to
us", said GCB chairperson Patric Mtshaulana on Friday. - Mail
& Guardian website
Mpshe's
appointment cannot be justified - 13 February
The General Council of the Bar of SA has confirmed that the justice
ministry will soon be responding to the complaint of appointing Mokotedi
Mpshe, deputy director of the National Prosecuting Authority, as an acting
judge in the North West High Court. The problem with that, is that there
is nothing that Justice Minister Jeff Radebe or his staff can say that
will overcome the internationally recognised principle that a temporary
judge who is still a civil servant, and stands to return to his post,
"lacks sufficient institutional independence to serve as a judge".
There are good reasons why this is the case. - Michael Trapido on the Thought
Leader blog
Radebe
backs Mpshe as acting judge - 18 February
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe on Thursday vigorously defended his
appointment of former acting prosecutions head Mokotedi Mpshe as an
acting judge in the North West High Court, and said his decision stood.
Briefing the media at Parliament, Radebe accused the Law
Society of South Africa and the General
Council of the Bar of waging a "politically motivated"
campaign against the appointment. Acting appointments to the Bench were
not as a matter of law preceded by any nomination process, he said. - Mail
& Gaurdian website
Mpshe's
appointment constitutional : Radebe - 18 February
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe says he
acted within the Constitution and his authority as a minister when
appointing former acting National Director of Public Prosecutions
Mokotedi Mpshe as Acting Judge in the North West High Court. - BuaNews
Online website
DA
reiterates objection to Mpshe appointment - 18 February
The Democratic Alliance's (DA) objections to Mokotedi Mpshe's
appointment as acting judge in the North West High Court stand, despite
his resignation as deputy national director of public prosecutions, the
DA said on Thursday. Mpshe's resignation from the National Prosecuting
Authority (NPA) was no doubt aimed at avoiding a legal challenge of his
appointment by Freedom Under Law (FUL), the General Council of the Bar
(GCB) and other members of the legal community, DA spokesperson Dene
Smuts said. - Mail & Guardian
website
Radebe
(LLM Leipzig) strikes again - 18 February
Minister of Justice, Jeff Radebe, is a learned man. He obtained a B Iuris
degree at the University of Zululand, and finished an LLM in International
Law at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig in 1981. He also studied at the
Lenin International School, Moscow in 1985. No wonder, then, that Radebe
has some difficulty with concepts such as an independent and
impartial judiciary and the separation of powers. - Pierre de Vos on the Constitutionally
Speaking blog
Mpshe
: legal challenge in doubt - 19 February
The General Council of the Bar is reconsidering mounting a legal challenge
to the appointment of former acting director of public prosecutions
Mokotedi Mpshe as an acting judge in the North West High Court.
Chairperson of the council Patrick Mtshaulana said discussions on the
matter had been circulated to its exco members. "I think we need
legal advice. We've heard Mpshe is no longer a state employee as he is
believed to have resigned, so a legal challenge might be academic". -
Mail & Guardian website
Mpshe's
appointment harks back to dark era for courts - 19 February
The
argument against the appointment of advocate Mokotedi Mpshe, deputy head
of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), as an acting judge rests on
the understanding of four interrelated concepts : the meaning of an
independent judiciary ; the necessity of an independent judiciary ; the
notion of the rule of law ; and the doctrine of separation of powers.
Judicial
independence consists of two elements : institutional independence and
individual independence. Institutional independence refers to independence
in relationship to other arms of government, while individual independence
refers to the ability of judicial officers to act independently and
impartially in the discharge of their duties. This,
in practice, demands that there should be no executive interference with
either the running of the courts, or the appointment of judges. It further
requires that judges adjudicate matters in accordance with the
constitution - with an independent and open mind ; and without being
influenced by extraneous pressure. - Nichola de Havilland on the Business
Day website
Labour Issues
Denel
snubs trade unions with refusal to enter talks - 17 February
Denel, the defence parastatal, is heading for a showdown with trade unions
after deciding to implement a "cost of living" adjustment of 4
percent across the group and not to enter into wage negotiations with the
unions. - Business Report website
Land Affairs and
Property
South
Africa's best property returns : all the stats - 15 February
Greater Johannesburg property owners are enjoying the highest property
returns (8.9%), while KwaZulu-Natal South Coast owners have watched their
property values fall by a painful 21% over the past year, according to
latest figures published in Absa's quarterly housing review. Figures vary
considerably from region to region and property type. Of the country's
seven metropolitan regions, Johannesburg was the top property performer
year-on-year followed by Durban/Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal (7.7%).
East London property fell (-2.6%) in value the most out of all
metropolitan areas since the first quarter of 2009. - moneyweb
website
The
Dladlas can sleep easy : insurance cancelled - 17 February
Melusi Dladla and his wife will now sleep soundly. Nedbank will cancel the
bond on their house, have it transferred to their names and write off any
balance they owe. Two weeks ago the Dladlas had accused the bank of trying
to repossess their house on the grounds that they owed home loan
insurance. Dladla said Nedbank was keeping him in "perpetual
bondage" by voluntarily paying his home insurance without his their
consent. He said this had delayed the transfer process since he had to pay
a home loan insurance that he had verbally cancelled. - Sowetan
website
Land
Claims and Expropriation
S
Africa drafting new land policy : minister - 15 February
South Africa's government will introduce a new draft policy on land tenure
this year aimed at speeding up its programme to give land to landless
blacks, a government minister said on Monday. Rural Development and Land
Affairs Minister Gugile Nkwinti said his department was working on a
policy framework that would set out how the government should go about
reversing inequalities in land ownership between blacks and whites. - Reuters
website
Back
to land-policy drawing board - 18 February
The government plans to introduce a new draft land reform policy this
year that will focus on acquiring land more cheaply from whites and
securing tenure rights for millions of landless blacks living on farms
or peri-urban informal settlements. A new green paper would be submitted
to Cabinet for approval by next month before going to Parliament. This
would be used as a framework for a new tenure reform law the department
wants passed by March 2012. - Business
Day website
Land
grabs now inevitable? - 19 February
The ruling ANC is keen
to get moving on redistributing commercial farmland from white to black
hands and is set to present a revised Expropriation Act to Parliament
next month.
Rural development and
land reform minister Gugile Nkwinti calls the looming legislation
"the elephant in the room". For many people concerned whether
South Africa will follow the same downward economic trajectory as
Zimbabwe, expropriation of productive farm land is a terrifying
prospect. It is a sign that South Africa's demise is inevitable. - realestateweb
website
New
pragmatism curtails reform ambitions - 17 February
Severe budget and capacity constraints, and a new mood of pragmatism on
the land issue, have prompted a drastic cutback on ambitious land-reform
targets. Figures released yesterday showed the target of transferring 30%
of white-owned land to blacks could take at least 60 years - not five as
originally planned. Since
1994, the department has handed over only 6% of 86-million hectares owned
by whites. More than half of those collapsed or are in decline. - Business
Day website
South
Africa : land values if farms don't produce - 16 February
In the current debate about land values and the willing buyer/willing
seller principle, politicians and others show they don't understand how
land values are determined in the marketplace, and what the price of
farmland really represents. With this in mind, government would do well to
stop worrying about the 30% land target, and focus on providing assistance
to small-scale and emerging farmers.
The market vale of a farm is a combined payment for its productive,
investment, residential and aesthetic value. In an ordinary transaction, a
buyer must offer a price higher than the combined value these offer to the
seller. - Meat Trade News
Daily website
Land
commissioners probed - 16 February
A probe into the conduct of provincial land claims commissioners is
underway after farmers lodged complaints against them, the Human Rights
Commission of SA (HRCSA) says. - News24
website
Britte
help grondeis in KZN afweer - 17 February
Goeie
dokumentering deur die eertydse Britse regering in Natal het die akteur
Scott Scott en 26 ander KwaZulu-Natalse boere gehelp om 'n grondeis
suksesvol af te weer. Die Mavunda-gemeenskaps-eis om 44 plase in die
omgewing van Paddock en Izotsha tussen Port Shepstone en Margate te bekom
is op 23 Desember 1998 ingedien. 'n groep boere het 'n antropoloog
aangestel wat agt maande lank ondersoek ingestel en 'n verslag van sowat 2
000 bladsye opgestel het. Die antropoloog het bevind die eisers het nie
gronde vir hul eis nie. - Beeld
website
Minerals and Energy
South
Africa pushes ahead with royalty legislation - 17 February
A number of technical anomalies contained within the Mineral and Petroleum
Resources Royalty Act would still have to be corrected, but the National
Treasury was going ahead with the implementation of the act on March 1. A
number of technical anomalies contained within the Mineral
and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act would still have to be
corrected, but the National Treasury was going ahead with the
implementation of the act on March 1. - Creamer
Media's Mining Weekly website
Mining
Charter dialogue 'very constructive' : AngloGold Ashanti - 17 February
A
confidential peek given by the South African government to the revised
Mining Charter was "very encouraging", AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark
Cutifani said on Wednesday. Cutifani said in answer to a question
from JP Morgan mining analyst Allan Cooke that the Department of
Mineral Resources (DMR) had completed the Mining Charter review process
and had been in dialogue with various stakeholders. - Creamer
Media's Mining Weekly website
'Nationalisation
not our policy' - 16 February
Nationalisation is not government policy, President Jacob Zuma said on
Tuesday. Responding to points raised during debate on his state of the
nation address, Zuma said : "We reiterate that nationalisation is not
government policy. We
have noted that political formations, including the ruling party's Youth
League, have decided to debate the matter. - Fin24
website
17
February 2010
ANC
Youth League Statement on President Zuma's Parliamentary Response on the
Nationalisation of Mines Debate
moneyweb website
See
also :
State
enterprises may be 'rationalised' above
Gordhan
repeats Reserve Bank will remain independent below
8
February 2010
Communiqué
of the seventh plenary meeting of the African Mining Partnership (AMP),
Cape Town, South Africa
SA Government Information website
Harmony
Gold to take legal action against Canadian namesake - 16 February
Harmony Gold Mining Company will take legal action against a Canadian
company using the same name, CEO Graham Briggs said on Tuesday. In an
interview with Business Report he said the company's legal counsel
in Johannesburg as well as the United States where the authentic Harmony
Gold has a listing on the Nasdaq, were investigating the best route
forward. Briggs said his company was in no way associated with
Vancouver-based Harmony Gold Corp, currently drilling for gold in Alaska. The
Vancouver-based company had allegedly implied in a press release that it
had ties with Harmony Gold Mining Company. - Business
Report website
Municipal
Management and Procedure
D-Day
for KZN municipalities - 16 February
They've been given until today to explain how they spent public funds
over the years. The municipalities were singled out by Local Governance
MEC Nomusa Dube for continually failing to report to government on how
public monies are being used each financial year. - East
Coast Radio website
Municipal
finance mess - 17 February
About R100 million of taxpayers' money had been lost through financial
mismanagement in 18 KwaZulu-Natal municipalities, the province's
Co-operative Governance Department said yesterday. The department's
spokesman, Vernon Mchunu, said in Durban that the Indaka Municipality
had lost about R4.5m and the Msunduzi Municipality, incorporating the
city of Pietermaritzburg, had wasteful expenditure of about R4m. - Pretoria
News website
Cape
Town
See
also :
Cape
tourism sector forms pricing code to address overpricing perceptions
around 2010 FIFA World Cup above
eThekwini
Mlaba
makes trunk call on elephant sculptures - 16 February
Durban mayor Obed Mlaba was unaware of the controversial elephant
sculptures being created near Durban's new Warwick Avenue interchange.
The sculptures made headlines this weekend after internationally
acclaimed artist, Andries Botha, claimed he had been asked to stop
working on them, apparently after ANC politicians in the council had
objected because elephants were a symbol of the rival IFP. - IOL
website
The
elephant that caused all the trouble - 18 February
An iconic public artwork planned for Durban at a reported cost of
R1,5-million has been scuppered, allegedly because the trio of
elephants are reminiscent of the opposition IFP's logo in the ANC-run
city, the Mail & Guardian learned this week. - Mail
& Guardian website
uMsunduzi
Serious
cash flow problems in uMsunduzi Municipality - 16 February
KwaZulu-Natal's uMsunduzi Municipality, incorporating provincial
capital Pietermaritzburg, has enough money to operate for just one
more week, provincial minister of local governance Nomusa Dube said on
Monday. She said the municipality's net available cash fell from
R120-million in 2007/2008 to R1,7-million in 2008/09. "A number
of financial discrepancies have been highlighted by the Auditor
General in his 2008/2009 audit report to the municipality", Dube
said in Durban. - Mail &
Guardian website
'Everything
is in turmoil right now' - 17 February
The corridors of Pietermaritzburg City Hall are buzzing with rumours
and speculation after the shock announcement this week that the
uMsunduzi Municipality only has enough money to operate for a week.
Staff who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity
yesterday said they were very worried about the stability of their
jobs and service delivery. They have also voiced their concerns at the
three-man task team appointed by MEC for Local Government, Nomusa
Dube, and Finance MEC, Ina Cronje, to help the financially drained
municipality develop a turn-around strategy. The source spoke of
rumours that the positions of uMsunduzi Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo,
municipal manager Rob Haswell, council speaker Alpha Shelembe and
chief accounting officer Roy Bridgmohan, are in jeopardy. - IOL
website
Name Changes
More
talks on Pta name change - 16 February
Further talks with the parties involved will need to take place before a
decision can be made on the change of the capital city's name to Tshwane,
says President Jacob Zuma. Zuma was responding to Deputy Minister of
Agriculture and leader of the Freedom Front Plus, Dr Pieter Mulder's
speech during the Parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation Address
(SONA) in which he raised the issue of geographic name changes and
specifically Pretoria. The change of Pretoria to Tshwane has been a
longstanding and thorny issue. - BuaNews
Online website
Parliament
New
unit to probe state tender corruption - 17 February
The Treasury would establish a unit to investigate tender corruption in
provincial governments, President Jacob Zuma said yesterday
during his reply to the debate on his state of the nation address. The
"tender compliance unit" is part of government efforts to stem
corruption relating to state tenders and joins the anticorruption
commission announced last year to tackle public service corruption.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would shed more light during his budget
speech today, Zuma said. - Business
Day website
South African
Police Service
24
hour nightmare for waving away the president - 16 February
A Cape Town
student says his life has been "destroyed" after he was
arrested last week for "waving away" President Jacob Zuma’s
noisy, blue-light convoy. A "notice of
rights" document issued by police shows that Chumani Maxwele, 25,
was charged with "Crimen injuria against the president of the
RSA". Maxwele was jogging on Cape Town's De Waal Drive just before
6pm last Wednesday when a convoy of six government cars sped past him.
"I waved them away, as if to say 'hamba', because of the noise.
After that a black BMW X5 pulled up and three guys jumped out, pointing
guns at me", Maxwele told Sowetan. This was the start of a 24-hour
nightmare for Maxwele, who is an active member of the ANC's Cissie Gool
branch in Woodstock. - Sowetan
website
Zuma
cops lock up jogger - 17 February
Police officers have claimed he pointed his middle finger at vehicles in
the convoy and tried to resist arrest. But 25-year-old sociology student
Chumani Maxwele, a card-carrying ANC member, has since denied these
allegations, claiming he merely waved the vehicles away because of
excessive noise. A constitutional law expert has said that anyone may
shout, swear or point a middle finger if he or she wished to do so -
even at the president. Police sources told the Cape Times Maxwele
had been charged with crimen injuria, but the case would not be
prosecuted. - IOL website
Road
rage drivers beware - 17 February
It is true that the crime of crimen injuria does exist in
South African law. Traditionally, the crime has been defined as one
where a person intentionally and unlawfully impairs the dignity of
another person. Of course, the prevailing norms of society must be
judged against the values and norms enshrined in the Constitution.
However showing the middle finger to a politician or ridiculing a
politician in some other way will almost never constitute unlawful
behaviour because the prevailing norms in a constitutional democracy
allows for robust debate and political contestation. Maxwele will never
be successfully prosecuted. If the allegations are true, he was clearly
harassed and intimidated in an unlawful manner by ridiculously
overzealous cops. - Pierre de Vos on the Constitutionally
Speaking blog
'Zuma
jogger' apologises, has record - 18 February
Chumani Maxwele had two
criminal records, one for common assault, the other for riotous
behaviour, both committed between 2007 and 2009, spokesman Zweli Mnisi
said in a statement.
He made his apology
under oath, voluntarily in a hand-written statement last Wednesday, the
day of his arrest. - Times Live
website
Jogger
'didn't apologise' - 19 February
The UCT student alleged to have given President Jacob Zuma's blue light
convoy the finger, on Friday denied apologising for his actions. - IOL
website
Zap
student considers legal again against VIP unit - 19 February
A
University
of
Cape Town
student who was allegedly accosted and arrested by VIP Protection
Unit members said he was considering taking legal action over the
incident - Eye Witness News
website
Bully
cops harass KZN woman - 15 February
A local woman has been left traumatised after she was allegedly harassed
by police officers from the Mountain Rise Police Station, on Sunday
morning while on her way to church. They allegedly tried to push her off
the road, swore at her and handcuffed her, after she overtook them. Her
husband, Mario, has decided to take legal action against the police, and
on Sunday consulted an attorney. He said he identified the police officers
at Mountain Rise police station when he went there on Sunday. - News24
website
Woman
shaken after alleged attack by cops - 19 February
Two Pietermaritzburg police officers face charges of assault and crimen
injuria after being accused of trying to push a woman off the road and
then manhandling her. Lee-Ann Taylor, 32, of Woodlands, was so traumatised
by Sunday night's incident that she was admitted to hospital until
Wednesday and treated for shock and trauma. - IOL
website
See
also :
Woman sues over blue light attack - 3 February 2010
[InfoUpdate
2 of 2010]
Zille
to ban blue-lights - 19 February
President Jacob Zuma will not be exempt from new provincial legislation,
to be announced today by Premier Helen Zille, that will ban all
politicians from using blue-light convoys and sirens in the Western Cape.
Zille, who is also acting Community Safety MEC while Lennit Max is on
special leave, is expected to announce the new legislation in her second
State of the Province speech this morning. - IOL
website
See
also : Cop fired 2 days
before retiring [KwaZulu-Natal High Court : Pietermaritzburg]
Trade and Industry
New
sectors to benefit from new industrial policy - 12 February
When Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies announces details of his
Industrial Policy Action Plan on Thursday this week, he will also give
details of new sectors of industry in addition to those already identified
(motor industry, clothing and textiles, chemical, forestry and furniture,
business process outsourcing etc). - Business
Report website
Whose
fine are you paying? - 15 February
Durban motorists could unwittingly be paying the traffic fines of
fraudsters who duplicate their number plates. John Schnell, the director
of the Road Traffic Inspectorate in KwaZulu-Natal, has admitted there is a
problem with the regulation of licence plates which exposes the system to
manipulation by fraudsters and other criminals. The eThekwini municipality
is also losing out because it cannot collect on fines issued to people who
prove that the offences were committed by a motorist using a cloned
licence plate. - IOL website
Transport and Roads
Now
airlines face probe of 'hidden' fares - 15 February
The Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Tourism are
expected to launch a wide-ranging investigation of the way airlines
publish their airfares, and if they are found to be lacking in
transparency they face the possibility of regulation. The probe, to be
announced by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies in the next two
weeks, is believed to focus mainly on fuel surcharges and other airline
charges. The airport taxes passengers pay include up to seven regulated
and nonregulated charges. - Business
Day website
No
ads allowed on number plates - 16 February
New
regulations make it illegal to print any form of advertising on vehicle
number plates, according to the motor industry. "This includes the
printing of the name and location of the selling dealer, whether it is a
new or a used vehicle", said ombudsman Johan van Vreden in a
statement today. "No ornamentation, figure or letter that is not a
component of the standard equipment or construction of a vehicle, may
appear within 150mm of the vehicles licence number". - East
Coast Radio website
Car
dealer charged with fraud - 16 February
The owner of a well-known car dealership faces criminal charges for
allegedly falsifying the registration of his R1-million sports car. The
man, who cannot be named until he appears in court, was to face the
charges in the Athlone Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. He is accused of
fraud, tampering with or defacing a document and defeating the ends of
justice. - IOL website
Licence
fraud arrest was baseless : car dealer - 18 February
The owner of a well-known Cape Town car dealership is crying foul
after his arrest on licence fraud charges that were withdrawn before
his first court appearance. Niyaaz Jainodien owns Velocity Cars in
Klipfontein Road in Athlone. Before his case was due to be heard at
the Athlone Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, the prosecutor withdrew the
charges, citing insufficient evidence. A spokesman said Jainodien
"seriously wonders whether our country can afford to squander
resources on a matter that could have been resolved by issuing a
traffic fine, had it been found that there was indeed a violation of
justice". A spokesman for the provincial Director of Public
Prosecutions was also investigating the withdrawal of the charges late
yesterday afternoon. - IOL website
14
February 2010
Statement
by Western Cape MEC of Transport Robin Carlisle on urgent warning about
converted quantum panel vans
SA Government Information website
Toyota
condemns converted taxis - 15 February
Toyota South Africa on Sunday condemned the illegal conversion of its
panel vans into taxis. "Our stance on the issue is clear. We
don't condone it at all", said Toyota SA spokesperson Ferdi De
Vos. "The conversions started before the introduction of the
Quantum Ses'fikile taxis. People converted the panel vans because it
was cheaper", he said. De Vos was reacting to Western Cape
provincial transport minister Robin Carlisle's comments that
converted taxis were unfit to carry passengers. - Mail
& Guardian website
See
also : Toyota to
report back to Ombudsman [International]
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