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South Africa

2010 FIFA World Cup

2010 World Cup exposes Southern African women to human trafficking - 13 June
Next year, Africa will for the first time host the Federation Internationale de football Association (FIFA) World Cup event to be staged in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Countries and nationals surrounding the host nation, including Malawi, expect to benefit a lot through the event in different ways, particularly infrastructure, tourism and economic development. However, there are fears that the world's most prestigious football event will negatively impact women and girls of Southern Africa as many acts of human trafficking are certainly expected, looking at the high levels of poverty in the region. - Nyasa Times website
Keyphrase :
Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Educational Trust (WLSA)

Tax implications for 2010 FIFA World Cup players - 5 June
As the 2010 FIFA World Cup fast approaches, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) can expect to gear up for an additional injection of revenue from the football team players. For each country participating in FIFA bids, there is the requirement for the relevant taxation authorities and bodies to provide certain guarantees prior to their bids being considered. In this regard, the South African government "pledged a full guarantee that no taxes would be levied on participants in the 2010 FIFA World Cup". - Moneyweb website

Union's threat to 2010 - 23 June
The National Union of Mineworkers threatens it will halt 2010 World Cup projects unless construction companies give workers a 15 percent salary increase. "Construction companies have made huge profits and we know they have the money", the union’s spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said yesterday. More than 50 000 of the union's members might down tools this week over pay. - Sowetan website

See also : Taxi drivers threaten to take down the World Cup

Accounting

Auditors moot a new liability system - 17 June
A recent study by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) recommended that auditors be held appropriately accountable for their proportionate contribution to losses resulting from the failure of a business that has been subject to an audit. And the current system of joint and several liability should be done away with. The number of people entering the auditing profession, or remaining in it, is declining, at times dramatically. The financial crisis is expected to trigger another round of litigation, much of it against auditors, who are perceived to have deep pockets because of the professional liability insurance they carry. There are about 4300 registered auditors in SA. - Business Day website

Agriculture

Minister holds out olive branch to white commercial farmers - 19 June
Briefing the media yesterday in the wake of her budget vote on Wednesday, Joemat-Pettersson said that without partnerships with organised agriculture, SA could achieve neither the target of moving from being a net importer of food to being a net exporter, nor that of putting 30% of farmland into black hands by 2014. She said her department's mandate was to turn SA into a net exporter of food and "we recognise that without organised agriculture we cannot have a turnaround strategy for agriculture in this country". The minister also moved to reassure the agricultural sector that assistance would not be confined to subsistence farmers and that commercial agriculture was vital to the department’s turnaround strategy. - Business Day website

Arms and Ammunition

SA gun owners up in arms - 2 June
The Firearms Control Act (60 of 2000) has long been the cause of heated debate between those who would possess firearms as opposed to those who regulate and administer control thereof. Gun owners do have a number of legitimate concerns which do need urgent clarification. The Central Firearm Register is claiming that in terms of the Firearms Control Act, from June 30 2009 all firearm licences issued in terms of the Arms and Ammunition Act (75 of 1969) will cease to be valid. In response to this Gun Owners of South Africa (Gosa) have instructed their attorneys to apply for an interdict. - Michael Trapido on the Thought Leader blog

9 June 2009
Implementation of the firearms control legislation in South Africa
SA Government Information website

SA firearm owners were too quick on the draw - 17 June
Thousands of South African firearm owners who have legally disposed of their firearms could be on the wrong side of the law due to no fault of their own by next month, a hunting body said on Monday. Confederation of Hunters Associations of South Africa (Chasa) spokesperson Neil Jones said many of its members and members of the public who were under the impression they had "legally disposed of" their firearms could face the possibility of arrest next month. - IOL website

See also : North Gauteng High Court. Gun law challenged in court

'Arms Deal'

Why the arms deal is rotten : Terry Crawford-Browne - 22 June
The arms deal - reference 7/7/1-T CRAWFORD-BROWNE
Activist's letter of advice to South African president Jacob Zuma, June 22 2009
Politicsweb website

Arts and Culture

Dispute over Zulu queen's grave - 19 June
The South African Heritage Resources Agency and the KZN heritage agency Amafa are embroiled in a turf war over the status of the grave site of Queen Nandi, mother of Zulu king Shaka. Zulu history shows that Queen Nandi, who was a military adviser to her son, was buried in September 1827 in a simple grave at Melmoth near KwaBulawayo, King Shaka's capital at the time. SAHRA was reacting to accusations by Amafa that it had "tampered illegally" with her grave site. This followed allegations that Amafa had recently "vandalised the site with bulldozers" and moved the grave to a site in Ulundi. - Sowetan website

Top Star is losing the battle - 10 June
The reclamation of the Top Star Drive-in mine dump continues, despite a charge of unlawful demolition having been laid with the police. "Fifteen percent of the dump [has been] mined; we have reached the point of no return," says James Duncan, the spokesperson for the owners of the mine dump, DRD Gold Limited. The mining or reclamation of the 110-year-old dump by DRD Gold began in August 2008. Duncan is not aware of the charge, laid by officials of the Provincial Heritage Resources Agency of Gauteng (Phrag) on Monday, 1 June. The charge is one of unlawful demolition, without the necessary permit, which must be obtained from Phrag, for the demolition of any structure older than 60 years. - City of Johannesburg website

Black Economic Empowerment

Liquid fuels charter progress 'not impressive' : Energy Minister - 12 June
The South African government said on Thursday that the implementation of Liquid Fuels Charter, aimed at increasing black participation in the petroleum industry, was unsatisfactory. Speaking at the third African Energy and Mineral Forum, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said that the work that has been done in the actual implementation of the charter i"s not very impressive, to say the least". - Creamer Media's Engineering News website
Keyphrase :
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003

Govt tightens BEE verification laws - 18 June
From the first of August, only organisations approved by the South African National Accreditation System (Sanas) will be allowed to issue BEE verification certificates and self-assessments will no longer be accepted as proof of BEE procurement. - Mail & Guardian website

Communications

Appointment of SABC's chair unlawful - 10 June
Parliament’s communications chairperson Ishmael Vadi says the appointment of Ashwin Trikamjee as interim chairperson of the SABC was unlawful, the broadcaster reported on Wednesday. This comes after the board appointed Trikamjee following the resignation of its board chairperson Khanyi Mkhonza last Thursday. Only President Jacob Zuma can appoint the interim board chairperson, Vadi said. - The Times website

Company Law

Ombud calls for legislation to stop cross border fraud - 4 June
While an increasing number of African countries are liberalising their markets to encourage honest investment and insurance opportunities, there is need to guard against toxic financial products, scams and pyramid schemes that masquerade as the real McCoy, says the Ombud for Financial Service Providers, Charles Pillai. Only the setting up of legislative framework within the SADC region that affords the protection of a speedy and enforceable complaints resolution process like the Office of the Ombud for Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services can put the brakes on cross-border fraudulent activities, he said. - Moneyweb website

SA companies fall prey to world's biggest illegal money-spinner - 10 June
Nearly three-quarters of SA companies are victims of business crime. Fraud is the leading illegal money-spinner in the world, exceeding drug running. According to AIG South Africa, which insures many of the largest companies in SA, it is South Africa's number one financial crime and employee fraud accounts for about three-quarters of this figure. - Moneyweb website

Copyright

Icasa will not get involved in disputes over copyright - 25 June
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) will not intervene in copyright laws in favour of the independent TV production sector, according to a position paper it released recently. A key issue for independent producers is that copyright vests with the broadcaster who has commissioned the work, rather than the creators of the programme. Icasa had released the position paper last Friday, it said yesterday. In the paper, Icasa says that while it has noted the problem of full ownership of copyright in broadcasting, this position can be negotiated in individual contracts. It says the Department of Trade and Industry and the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office should be approached if parties are unhappy with the copyright laws. - Business Day website

See :
23 June 2009
Icasa publishes draft regulations on the commissioning of independently produced South African programming
SA Government Information website

Courts

See also : South Africa and Rwanda call for African court

Education

Varsities must fight racism : Nzimande - 11 June
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has told university managers to respond to findings that racism is rife on campuses. Nzimande has also asked the chairs of university councils - their highest decision-making bodies - to evaluate the state of transformation on their campuses. - The Times website

Blade Runner : is free education the answer? - 13 June
For a minute it helped that newly appointed Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande was new to his job. He had a clean slate and little incentive to make excuses for the old way of doing things. But for South Africa's education system - already staggering from the body blow of the department's desultory 2004 institutional restructuring effort - Nzimande's opening gambit to introduce free undergraduate tuition comes like the second half of a one-two punch KO. - Leader website

'No free tertiary education for all' - 10 June
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande on Wednesday dismissed media reports that he had advocated free tertiary education for all as a "deliberate misrepresentation" of what he said. Briefing the media at Parliament, Nzimande said he had in fact suggested free first tertiary education for "poor students". In this regard, it would be necessary to look at the critical issues, such as "what is poor; who is poor", he said. - The Times website

Zuma must pay for our support : Malema - 17 June
ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema yesterday told President Jacob Zuma it was time he "paid back" the youth for their support in his march to power. At a Youth Day rally in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, Malema said the youth vote in the April 22 election was "not cheap". "We are saying to President Zuma that our vote is not cheap, our vote is very expensive and therefore Zuma must pay us by giving us free education", he told thousands of supporters gathered at the Huntersfield stadium to honour those who died in the June 16 1976 student uprisings. - The Times website

Environment

SA to reinstate specialised courts to deal with environmental crimes : Sonjica - 22 June
The Department of Environmental and Water Affairs would reinstate specialised courts focusing specifically on individuals who trespass South Africa's environmental laws, Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Monday. Speaking at a media briefing, she said that the courts were likely to be up and running within eight months. She noted that while current legislation made room for prosecuting trespassers, environmental legislation was not the core function of the current Justice Department. "As a result, the courts will not prioritise crimes related to environment. For that reason then, we have decided to bring back the specialised courts". The newly established Environmental and Water Affairs department would also look at combining the efforts of the Green and Blue Scorpions, to create a single task team to enforce environmental legislation. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Sonjica says work on draft climate change policy continuing - 5 June
As World Environment Day was observed on Friday, South Africa's Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica said that work on the country's draft climate change policy continued. Work on the draft policy began in March this year, following intense deliberations at the Climate Change summit, and laid the foundation for a policy white paper on Climate Change by 2010, and the translation of this policy into a legislative and regulatory fiscal package by 2012. It was envisaged that this draft document would inform South Africa's position at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Toxic mercury report imminent - 12 June
South African scientists have almost completed the first nationwide survey of soils and water polluted with mercury, the Mercury newspaper reported today. The study aims to identify the most polluted mercury hotspots around the country and provide a clearer picture of the overall level of this toxic heavy metal that can cause brain damage and other serious health problems. - The Times website

SA activist Kumi Naidoo to head up Greenpeace - 20 June
Durban-educated activist and one-time Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) official, Kumi Naidoo, has been nominated to head the international environmental action group Greenpeace. He will take over as executive director of the Amsterdam-based organisation on November 15 when present encumbent Gerd Leipold, who has been in this position for the past nine years, steps down. - IOL website

Family Law

Mom's 18-year secret - 25 May
For the past 18 years Matlaletsa Makhunoane has prided himself on being the father of a bright daughter. But he got the shock of his life after DNA tests recently proved he could not have fathered the child he has maintained for almost two decades. Now 38-year-old Makhunoane wants to sue his childhood lover, Mampole Mofokeng, for her subterfuge. He wants her to return about R60 000 he spent on the upkeep of the girl, who is now in Matric. - Sowetan website

Father fears he'll never see his children - 10 June
Steve Swanepoel hasn't seen his two small children since they were abducted to France two years ago - and now he fears that even if he gets them back, they will no longer speak the same language. The South African government is trying diplomatic channels to get the children back, as the French authorities have ignored three orders by their own courts to return the children to SA immediately. The orders were made in terms of the international Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Both South Africa and France signed the convention. Countries that sign the agreement must set up a central authority, which must trace the children and arrange their return. In South Africa, the central authority is the chief family advocate. "On April 21, 2008 the High Court of France ordered the immediate return of the children to SA, but this did not happen", said Swanepoel. "Instead it was taken to the Appeal Court in France and on July 15, 2008, the Appeal Court upheld the high court ruling . . . again this order was not adhered to". On February 29 this year, the Court of Cassation, the French Supreme Court, also ordered the immediate return of the children to SA. They are still in France. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice said the French Central Authority had several times promised to return the children. "Regardless of all these three orders, the French authorities still have not returned the children," said department spokesperson Zolile Nqqayi. "We are seeking a diplomatic intervention to help resolve this matter". - IOL website

Foreign Policy

NGOs reject Zuma's stance on Zim report - 19 June
NGOs have taken further steps to force the Presidency to publish a report by retired army generals into state-sanctioned violence in Zimbabwe, the South African History Archive (Saha) said on Friday. They had submitted an internal appeal to President Jacob Zuma's office in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, disputing his claim that the document does not exist. The Saha, the South African Litigation Centre and the Southern African Centre for Survivors of Torture last month invoked the Act to get the report - which was commissioned by former president Thabo Mbeki - into the public domain a year after the generals conducted two fact-finding missions in Zimbabwe. - Mail & Guardian website

See also : Presidency Denies Existence of Generals Report on 2008 Zimbabwean Election Violence
[InfoUpdate 11 of 2009]

Gender Issues

Quarter of men in South Africa admit rape, survey finds - 17 June
One in four men in South Africa have admitted to rape and many confess to attacking more than one victim, according to a study that exposes the country's endemic culture of sexual violence. Three out of four rapists first attacked while still in their teens, the study found. One in 20 men said they had raped a woman or girl in the last year. The study into rape and HIV, by the country's Medical Research Council (MRC), asked men to tap their answers into a Palm Pilot device to guarantee anonymity. The method appears to have produced some unusually frank responses. - Guardian [UK] website

NMMU law professor no academic activist - 9 June
Determined to use the law to fight human rights abuses and gender disparity across Africa, a Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University law professor has become a mouthpiece for women who cannot speak for themselves. Prof Narnia Bohler-Muller fulfils many roles. Besides lecturing public law at NMMU, she is a philosopher and a social activist who believes in research that changes lives. One of the main focuses of her work is looking at how the African value of ubuntu can give people a clearer understanding of human rights and gender equality. - Weekend Post website

Government

New ministries bring budget headaches - 18 June
The creation of new ministries in President Jacob Zuma's government looks set to have Treasury's finance boffins scratching their heads well into next year. Briefing the media on Thursday, following Cabinet's fortnightly meeting the day before, government spokesman Themba Maseko said changing the various budget allocations - defined in the Appropriations Bill tabled in February this year - was a "very technical and very complex process". In the case of most new ministries, it would only finally be sorted out in next year's Budget. "The Appropriations Bill was tabled at the time the [2009] Budget was tabled, but . . . Parliament ran out of time and the bill was not finalised". - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Ministers to sign on the line for Zuma - 25 June
President Jacob Zuma plans to sign performance contracts with his Cabinet ministers to make the government more productive. Minister of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation Collins Chabane yesterday told Parliament that the performance contracts "will primarily outline the required performance in two to three policy outcome areas and indicate per outcome the measurement of success". He was speaking yesterday in the National Assembly. Zuma's closest ministers, Chabane and Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, outlined how the revamped presidency will work. - The Times website

24 June 2009
Address by the Minister for Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Collins Chabane on the Budget Vote for The Presidency for the 2009/2010 financial year
Presidency website

See also : National Planning Commission

SA likely to step up regulation in some industries - 24 June
South Africa would step up regulation in a number of industries, particularly where national monopolies existed, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said on Wednesday. Speaking at the African Ports and Harbours congress, DPE DDG for transport Dr Andrew Shaw said that regulation had emerged as an important element in the way government's processes take place. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website
Keyphrases :
National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA)
National Ports Act
National Ports Regulator

Health

Who's going to pay for Zuma's new health plan? : YOU! - 5 June
The government has finally admitted that the National Health Insurance would hit hard on taxpayers and members of medical aid schemes. In simpler terms, it means that those who are working will pay more tax and their medical aid contributions will be raised, although it is still not clear by how much. Deputy Health Minister Molefi Sefularo said that "general tax revenues will form the core of the resources required to fund NHI". - Sowetan website

Panic stations - 9 June
Why you should be worried about the secretive national health insurance programme. Some elements in the ANC are trying to force a universal healthcare system proposal that will cost South Africa's already heavily burdened taxpayers around R100bn through Parliament, despite the fact that the proposal has not been exposed to a consultation process. - Moneyweb website

Why SA should not nationalise its private health care - 9 June
Private financers and suppliers of health care products and services have been under siege since the adoption of the plan for a national health system; a system that appears to have as its end goal the nationalisation of private health care. Is this really what South Africans want? Do we want a system that allows no choice in health care ; that offers no alternatives to taxpayer-funded and government-provided health care and where government officials decide who will get what, when and how – if at all? - Moneyweb website

DA calls on govt to lift the lid on health insurance - 10 June
The Democratic Alliance (DA) demanded on Wednesday that the government unveil its plans for a National Health Insurance (NHI), saying secrecy would lead to a flawed system that made health care more expensive but no better. The party said leaked details of the plan suggested it would cost the taxpayer R100-million a year, but would do nothing to improve the state of hospitals or address the shortage of doctors and nurses. - Mail & Guardian website

Extradition sought over medical records - 21 June
Police and prosecuting authorities want to extradite a South African nurse working in New Zealand and arrest her for the alleged theft of former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's medical records. The records contained information that Tshabalala-Msimang had drunk alcohol during her hospital stay at Medi-Clinic four years ago and that her liver transplant was related to alcohol abuse, contrary to the official explanation. Moves are under way by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to apply for the extradition of the medical employee - who authorities say is not willing to return on her own accord. - IOL website

See also : Labour Issues. Doctors weigh up new offer

Home Affairs

Home Affairs was warned of visa requirements - 22 June
The United Kingdom did not want to impose visa requirements on South African passport holders, a British High Commission official has said. "We wanted to continue the visa-free arrangement, but we felt we could not with the problems that had been identified," said Ed Bossley, regional manager for South Africa visa services based at the High Commission in Pretoria. "We had a good dialogue with the Department of Home Affairs about the problems as well as about corruption at OR Tambo International Airport," he said. "It was a major ongoing problem. But we did not get the response we had hoped for," he said. - IOL website

Human Rights

Xenophobia 'excluded from dialogue on racism' - 18 June
Racism against black foreigners from African countries is often excluded from discourse about racism in South Africa, the First Apartheid Archive Conference heard on Thursday. - Mail & Guardian website

SA mulls prostitution law ahead of 2010 - 22 June
With hundreds of thousands of tourists expected in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, a new debate has erupted over legalising prostitution in a country with the world's largest Aids epidemic. Legal experts have already suggested proposals to legalise prostitution, saying police would be freed to focus on serious crime instead of petty vice - a position that has won support among some police officials. - Mail & Guardian website
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup

Alarming trafficking stats questioned - 23 June
A small but growing number of researchers are questioning the "alarmism" and dubious statistics surrounding human trafficking in South Africa, according to a newly-released report. The report, by Johannesburg-based NGO the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in SA (Cormsa), said the image most commonly associated with trafficking was of young women lured by crime syndicates into prostitution in other countries. Current debate in South Africa on trafficking was based mainly on two pieces of research: one done by Cape Town-based NGO Molo Songololo in 2000, and another by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in 2003. - The Times website

22 June 2009
Communicating human trafficking workshops for media professionals
SA Government Information website

See also : International. Human Trafficking

Insolvencies and Liquidations

A good paper trail is vital if you do not have a proper loan contract - 23 June
In the first four months of 2009 the number of businesses liquidated has soared by 45, 3% compared to the same period of 2008 according to StatsSA. The number of individuals that have faced sequestration has also escalated with insolvencies recorded for the first quarter of 2009 rising by 10, 5% compared with the first quarter of 2008. With these figures in mind anyone who has loaned goods, sold goods on instalment sale or placed goods in storage should ensure that the transaction is properly recorded in writing, says Nick Theunissen, a partner in Shepstone & Wylie's Corporate and Commercial Department. - Moneyweb website

Judicial Service Commission, and, Judiciary

Judicial Service Commission Media announcement : Judicial Vacancies - [15 June 2009] Meeting of the Judicial Service Commission 05 September 2009 The Judicial Service Commission invites nominations to fill vacancies as Judges in the following Courts : (1) Constitutional Court (Four vacancies) Nominations must be accompanied by the nominee's written consent and the standard questionnaire completed and signed by the nominee. If any judicial vacancy arises between the date of this notice and the dates on which candidates are interviewed, the Judicial Service Commission may, after the interviews, fill such vacancy if it considers that suitable candidates are available. This is to avoid the situation which has arisen in the past when, despite the availability of suitable candidates, no appointments could be made to vacancies which had occurred subsequent to the notice calling for nominations. Consequently, in making nominations, regard should be had to the possibility that more judicial vacancies may occur than have been advertised. I wish to emphasize the following points : 1. Interviews with short listed candidates will be conducted in public, ie members of the public and the media will be entitled to be present. 2. It is open to persons or bodies nominating candidates to motivate their nominations by referring the Commission to the candidate’s qualifications and general fitness for appointment. 3. The questionnaire must be accompanied by the standardised "clearance certificate" which the candidate is required to obtain from his/her professional body regarding the candidate’s professional status within that body, his or her suitability for appointment to the Bench and the nature of any disciplinary proceedings completed or pending in respect of the relevant candidate. d) Nominations must be addressed to and reach the Secretary of the Commission not later than Wednesday 15 July 2009. The meeting of the Judicial Service Commission and the interviewing of candidates has been scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on 05 September 2009. Please also note the new address of the Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission : Constitutional Court Private Bag X1 Constitution Hill Braamfontein Johannesburg 2017 Telephone : 011-359 7570/7537 Fax : 011-403 5964 Fax2Email : 086-649 0944 P N Langa Chief Justice of South Africa Chairperson : Judicial Service Commission

Selection of four new judges will test new judicial waters - 4 June
When the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) meets later this year to consider who will replace four titans of the Constitutional Court when their terms expire this October, it will be the first real opportunities to assess where our courts stand after this year's election. The departing judges are Pius Langa, Yvonne Mokgoro, Albie Sachs and Kate O'Regan. - Business Day website

JSC to conduct interviews - 12 June
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) will conduct interviews for new juges next month after the process was delayed earlier this week, its spokesperson said on Friday. "The new dates for the interviews are 19, 20 and 21 July", said Marumo Moerane. At this stage, the same number of candidates wil be interviewed. - iafrica website

Race for Concourt judges - 21 June
The University of Cape Town's Democratic Governance and Rights Unit is working on a study headed by Professor Richard Calland to assist in the determination of possible candidates. The work in progress, which the Mail & Guardian has been privy to, analyses judges' track records since 2005 and highlights 23 likely nominees. Based on the UCT analysis and on opinion in well-informed legal circles, here are the five "favourites". - Mail & Guardian website

Postponement of Judicial Interviews

Minister's request delays JSC interviews for judges - 9 June
In an unprecedented move, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) yesterday postponed all scheduled interviews for judicial appointment after a request from new Justice Minister Jeff Radebe. The interviews, which included three for the Supreme Court of Appeal, will now be held at a rescheduled meeting of the commission towards the end of next month. While the commission said that there were new members on the JSC, confirmed last week by both houses of Parliament, and they needed to familiarise themselves with the procedures of the commission, it nevertheless took about six hours of discussion to reach the decision to postpone. Commission spokesman Marumo Moerane said : "The minister of justice requested a postponement to consider the following : the enhancement of the independence of the judiciary (and) the vital question of the transformation of the judiciary in terms of the constitution with regard to race and gender representivity in order to facilitate meaningful input in the appointment process". - Business Day website

Judicial race row - 9 June
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe yesterday put a stop to interviews for new judges, citing concerns over the lack of transformation in the judiciary. - The Times website

More names for JSC list after Radebe's hold-up - 10 June
The short list of candidates the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is considering for appointment as judges may be extended before the JSC reconvenes to interview candidates on July 19, 20 and 21. - Business Day website

Is Radebe paving way for Zuma appointees? - 13 June
The postponement by the Judicial Service Commission of judges' interviews this week has paved the way for President Jacob Zuma to axe four of its members and replace them with his appointees. The Sunday Times has been told by two independent sources that minister of justice Jeff Radebe's decision to request the postponement of interviews was partly aimed at giving Zuma time to decide on whether to field his appointees for the first judicial interviews to take place under his rein. The present presidential appointees, advocates Kgomotso Moroka SC, George Bizos SC, Seth Nthai SC and John Ernstzen SC are set to be removed from the JSC. - The Times website

President seeks to allay fears on judicial freedom - 10 June
Business Day website

Zuma speaks out on judges - 11 June
President Jacob Zuma has promised to act in South Africa's "best interest" when he appoints judges. He was speaking in Parliament yesterday in a debate on his maiden state of the nation speech last week. - The Times website

Zuma and the Judges - 12 June
There is a sinister undertow to the new regime's approach to the court. Over the past few weeks Jacob Zuma, and his two legal henchmen, have made a series of questionable statements and decisions on the judiciary. Each, on its own, does not amount to much, but together they raise serious questions about the new government's attitude to the courts. The first bad sign was, of course, Zuma's choice of henchmen. First off, he chose Jeff Radebe to replace the well-regarded Enver Surty as Minister of Justice. Despite his legal training in the German Democratic Republic, Radebe's understanding of South African legal principles appears poorly grounded. Moreover, while serving as Minister of Public Enterprises he found himself at the sharp end of an independent judiciary. - Politicsweb website

Zille fears puppet judiciary - 13 June
DA leader Helen Zille has called Justice Minister Jeff Radebe "disingenuous" and "cynical" for meddling in the process of appointing new judges. Writing in her weekly online letter SA Today, Zille said existing fears about the ANC's lack of respect for the independence of the judiciary were compounded this week by Radebe's "strong-arming" of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) into postponing interviews for judicial appointments. - Sunday Tribune website

Transformation of the Judiciary

The face of legal change - 12 June Newly appointed Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe has said controversial legislation to accelerate transformation of the judiciary will be fast-tracked this year. The Bills in question caused an uproar after they were gazetted in December 2005, coming under fire from figures such as advocate George Bizos and former chief justice Arthur Chaskalson. Bizos described the Bills as a "first step towards another epic battle" between the legislature and the judiciary. Although insisting that the Bills will be adopted in 2009, Radebe said he could be persuaded on some of the details. Another Bill seeks to create one regulatory body for attorneys and advocates. - Mail & Guardian website Keyphrases : 14th Constitutional Amendment Bill Legal Practice Bill Superior Court Bill Radebe pushes for transformation bill - 24 June Justice Minister Jeff Radebe intends re-introducing a controversial Mbeki-era bill aimed at transforming the judiciary and notably the administration of courts before year's end. - The Times website Keyphrase : Draft Equality Bill Superior Courts Bill Transformation of judiciary a constitutional imperative - 25 June Budget vote speech by Mr Jeff Radebe, MP Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development National Assembly, Parliament Politicsweb website Keyphrases : Access to Justice Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) Courts - Distribution Courts - Language Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill Directorate of Organised Crime Equality Courts Judicial Code of Conduct Judicial Service Commission Amendment Act, 2008 Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act 31 of 2008 Legal Practice Bill Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 South African Judicial Education Institute Act Superior Courts Bill See also : Legal Profession. South Africa. Attorney/advocate distinction to be abolished

Tackling transformation of the judiciary - 12 June
The Mail & Guardian's Sello S Alcock speaks to Justice Minister Jeff Radebe about transformation in the judiciary, the John Hlophe matter and selection of judges. - Mail & Guardian website

On Zuma, Hlophe and the judiciary - 12 June
Article by Thula Bopela on the Politicsweb website

Helen Zille on the withering of the judiciary : full text - 12 June
Without an independent judiciary, the doctrine of the separation of powers becomes a dead letter, the rule of law disintegrates, and democracy dies. - The Times website

SA needs more women on the bench : Judge O'Regan - 24 June
South Africa needs to break "old-boy" barriers and appoint more women on the bench, one of the country's respected legal minds and Constitutional Court Judge, Kate O'Regan said on Tuesday. In a wide ranging interview with BuaNews, Justice O'Regan, who will be retiring from the court in October after 15 long years, believes there is more work to be done to address the issue of gender balance in South Africa's courts. - BuaNews Online website

The problem with female judges - 9 June
Nobody believes Minister Radebe when he says the judiciary must transform to reflect the racial, gender and demographic reality of the country. Everybody thinks this is about making sure the ANC never has to go through another Zuma-Shaik fiasco. But the ANC says this impending transformation is in fact about reflecting the racial, gender and demographic reality of our country. This means there will be black judges, female judges, young judges, differentially-abled judges, unionised judges, judges who are also BBBEE company directors, judges who are lactose intolerant and judges who are culturally allergic to curry and sorghum beer - just so that all the demographic groups in SA are represented. - Article by Avishkar Govender on the Thought Leader blog

Judge Hlophe

Judge Hlophe seeks to destroy from within - 6 June
I'm beginning to get the feeling that Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and his outriders have become home-grown vandalisers of our constitution. If I'm wrong, then the imputation is even more serious. Because according to Judge Hlophe, the entire Constitutional Court, the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and the leadership of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) are, variously, "liars", "biased" and serial violators of the fundamental rights they have sworn to uphold. - Article by Tony Leon on The Times website

Hlophe is not Zuma, end it now - 7 June
The ongoing war of attrition by Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe is getting uglier by the week. So much so in fact that in the Sunday Times this week former Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon suggests that Hlophe is some sort of fifth columnist who is destroying our justice system from within. - Article by Michael Trapido on the Thought Leader website

Radebe says no to Hlophe mediation - 11 June
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has adopted a hands-off approach to the battle between Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and the justices of the Constitutional Court and will not try to mediate a settlement. In an interview on Tuesday, Radebe acknowledged he was concerned about the dispute playing out in the courts and before the Judicial Service Commission and said it was unfortunate that the issue had not been "resolved expeditiously in the interests of justice and the judiciary as a whole". - IOL website

Now Hlophe 'in the running for Chief Justice' - 16 June
It is "100 percent certain" that Cape Judge President John Hlophe will be nominated for a position on the Constitutional Court bench and for Chief Justice, says UCT deputy registrar of legal services Paul Ngobeni. The Judicial Service Commission, the body which interviews prospective justices and advises the president on its recommendations for the Bench, on Monday opened the nominations process for four vacancies. - IOL website

See also : Judicial Service Commission. Judicial Vacancies media release

A nomination in print - 17 June
The stakes in the forthcoming Constitutional Court succession race are phenomenally high. President Jacob Zuma will soon appoint four judges, including a chief justice, to fill vacancies in the Concourt. - Comment by Paul Ngobeni on the Mail & Guardian website

Hlophe case should be resolved before his nomination - 17 June
If what UCT's deputy registrar of legal services, Paul Ngobeni, said on Monday is to be believed, there is a real likelihood that Cape Judge President John Hlophe will soon be a member of the very court that accused him of unethical conduct. - The Times website

UCT law faculty's 'group of gangsters' - 21 June
UCT's law faculty is beset by a racist "group of gangsters" on its staff bent on entrenching white domination of the bench, says its deputy registrar of legal services Paul Ngobeni. This follows a spat between UCT's newly appointed chair of constitutional governance Pierre de Vos and Ngobeni following a recent radio debate on SAFM. - IOL website

A lowering of the bar - 21 June
In supporting the appointment of Judge John Hlophe as chief justice, Paul Ngobeni accuses me of any number of prejudices and failings ("A nomination in print", June 12). - Response by Hugh Corder on the Mail & Guardian website

Is Hlophe a victim of racism or is he a loose cannon? - 9 April
Article by Hugh Corder on the Business Day website

UCT, Hlophe ally part ways - 22 June
Hlophe ally Paul Ngobeni and the University of Cape Town have parted ways following a university decision to abandon disciplinary charges against him. - News24 website

UCT vice-chancellor a hypocrite, says Ngobeni - 23 June
A day after his departure from the University of Cape Town was announced, Paul Ngobeni has singled out its vice-chancellor, Max Price, as a hypocrite. This, said the outgoing deputy registrar of legal services, was because Price had led a march to Parliament in February to "defend democracy" while he was being disciplined for expressing an opinion. - IOL website

Ngobeni is a wanted man - 22 June
Paul Ngobeni appears on an American website for wanted fugitives in the American state of Connecticut for his refusal to "take care of his legal obligations" in that country. BailCo Connecticut Bail Bonds lists Ngobeni, along with nine others, on its website's list of "wanted fugitives" for "failing to appear at a scheduled court date". The website said Ngobeni had been disbarred from practising law in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, and from the Federal Court System. The website lists the charges against Ngobeni as forgery, larceny and failure to appear. - IOL website

Retired Chief Justice Chaskalson speaks - 25 June
Retired Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson has published a good article today on the unprecedented campaign by a certain individual to have Judge President John Hlophe appointed Chief Justice. In it the Chief Justice tries to address - in a rational manner - on this campaign and concludes . . . - Pierre de Vos on the Constitutionally Speaking blog
[Includes plenty of comments under the post]

Zuma opposes Hlophe move, to avoid 'constitutional crisis' - 26 June
While President Jacob Zuma is to oppose Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe's application for 10 of the Constitutional Court's 11 judges to recuse themselves from hearing his appeal, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has changed his mind about opposing it, saying he would "abide" by the decision of the court. Hlophe is appealing against a judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal. The appeal court set aside a high court judgment that Hlophe's rights to equality and dignity had been infringed on by the way the Constitutional Court judges had complained to the Judicial Service Commission last May. The consequence of Hlophe's appeal is that all, bar one, of the judges now sitting on the Constitutional Court bench are party to a case that Hlophe is trying to appeal against. Hlophe's solution to this unprecedented situation is that the judges should recuse themselves and that the president should appoint acting judges to decide whether leave to appeal should be granted. For that reason, Hlophe cited Zuma and Radebe as parties in his recusal application. But on June 6, Zuma and Radebe notified the court that they would oppose Hlophe's recusal application, but did not give their reasons. On Tuesday, Radebe withdrew his decision to oppose. - Business Day website

Hlophe : SA needs accessible judgments - 15 June Wwestern Cape Judge President John Hlophe has criticised what he called the "complex and scholarly" way in which the justices of the Constitutional Court write their judgments. Hlophe said the country's highest court had a responsibility to write simple, accessible judgments that could be understood by ordinary people. Speaking about the transformation of the judiciary at a Goedgedacht Forum for Social Reflection this weekend, Hlophe pointed to the writing of complex judgments as one of several factors that hampered access to justice. He said the judges were aware of the shortcomings. - The Times website

See also :
South Gauteng High Court. Hlophe

Opinion

YCL want popular vote on judges - 2 June
The Young Communist League wants Constitutional Court judges and all judges-president to be directly elected to their posts by the public. YCL national secretary Buti Manamela and chairman David Masondo said yesterday that senior members of the judiciary should be subject to "a popular electoral system" because "they can make law as a result of their judgments". Manamela said the league would soon be approaching President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe with the proposal. - The Times website

Distracted by proxy wars - 17 June
What if we were all getting it wrong? The strident defenders of Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and his anxious detractors ; the critics who rail against the judges of the Constitutional Court and their supporters? - Mail & Guardian website

Justice Department

Heath 'to be Radebe's adviser' - 17 June
Former judge Willem Heath is set to be appointed Justice Minister Jeff Radebe's special adviser, The Star reported on Wednesday. Radebe's spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the appointment was expected to be formally sealed "in a matter of days". - News24 website

KwaZulu-Natal

Think-tank unveils million-job vision for KZN - 12 June
Independent policy research and advocacy organisation the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), in partnership with corporate association Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), has released a set of recommendations on how to tackle South Africa's high unemployment rate. This was accompanied by a case study of KwaZulu-Natal's employment situation and a set of strategies intended to help the province create as many as one-million more jobs in five years. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Labour Issues

SA labour policies guide the world - 12 June
South Africa's "social partnership" policy on labour was viewed as a good way to curb job cuts due to the financial crisis by countries attending the International Labour Conference in Switzerland, the labour department said on Friday. - Business Report website

Taxi driver minimum wage increased - 24 June
The government-specified minimum wage for taxi drivers has been increased to R1933.72 per month, the labour department said today. - The Times website

11% increase for taxi drivers - 24 June
The government-specified minimum wage for taxi drivers has been increased to R1,933.72 per month. It becomes effective from July 1, Labour Department spokesman Page Boikanyo said. This increase also applies to administration workers in the industry. - Sowetan website

10 June 2009
Govt, trade unions meet to discuss wage dispute
BuaNews Online website

Doctors weigh up new offer - 25 June
Doctors will continue to strike while the South African Medical Association studies a revised salary offer from the health department - and there is no guarantee it will be accepted. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi yesterday announced salary increases of between 18 percent and 60 percent for doctors in the public sector. Health department spokesman Fidel Hadebe said the new offer, worth more than R1-billion, did not represent the "ultimate offer" because negotiations were to continue. Doctors, meanwhile, vowed to continue their stayaway until they were given a 50 percent salary increase across the board. - The Times website

24 June 2009
Statement by the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi
SA Government Information website

'State Doctors earn more than we know' and will get R300k to R1.2m from July 1 - 24 June
The Health Ministry has put a R1 billion offer to the South African Medical Association to try to end the dispute that has brought a number of hospitals to as grinding halt, notably in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. - Sowetan website

Doctors scorn 'mickey mouse' wage offer - 26 June
After so much euphoria about the revised salary offer for public service doctors, unions representing them have rejected it. They have labelled the new proposal a "Mickey Mouse offer". Doctors have also indicated that a mass strike is now on the cards and is likely to happen on Monday. - Sowetan website

MEC issues ultimatum to striking doctors  - 26 June
KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has issued an ultimatum to striking doctors, calling on them to return to work on Friday or face the music. Addressing the media in Durban on Friday, Dhlomo said notices had been sent to all hospitals calling on all striking doctors, dentists and pharmacists to resume their duties no later than 8am. The department was also preparing a court interdict to force the striking health professionals to end the strike, he said. - IOL website

Changing conditions of employment - 5 June
Nampak Metal Packaging Limited (Bevcan) vs Numsa and others (JR 1949/08 : 19 December 2008). - DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr website

Cash-in-transit guards fired through SMS - 4 June
About 40 workers at Fidelity Security Services in Limpopo are now without jobs after the company allegedly fired them by SMS. The message was allegedly sent to a representative of the workers' union. The workers were fired after they demanded a salary increase to put them on par with their counterparts in other provinces rendering cash-in-transit services. They were told to stop working on Friday last week. Of concern is the fact that the company has allegedly employed Angolan nationals to take over their jobs. It is not known how much the new employees will be paid. - Sowetan website

'Give me my cash' : former cop still waiting for compensation - 8 June
More than six months ago Johannesburg Metro Police officer Thandiwe Radebe was awarded compensation after she was dismissed from work for laying a sexual harassment charge against a senior colleague. But she has not seen a cent of the R104 400, which amounts to 12 months of her salary. Having had enough of waiting, her lawyers approached the sheriff, who on Wednesday attached property at the JMPD offices in Johannesburg. The sheriff attached movable property such as chairs, desks, computers and couches. Attorney Cherith Sanger said : "We begged them to pay her but they failed. She needs the money. What they did was terrible and disgusting. We have had enough and cannot wait any longer. The property will be sold and she will get her money". - Sowetan website

Disciplinary Matters

Suspensions and the right to be heard - 3 June
Employers suspend employees from duty either as a form of quarantine (pending an investigation and/or disciplinary enquiry) or as a form of disciplinary sanction. The Labour Court recently had to consider whether employers may unilaterally suspend an employee without a pre-suspension hearing. - DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr website 
Keyphrase :
SAPO Ltd v Jansen Van Vuuren NO [2008] 8 BLLR 798 (LC)

Retrenchment and Unemployment

The retrenched employee - more confusion - 1 June
In 2007 the Labour Court ruled that individual employees are unable to challenge the procedural unfairness of their retrenchments at the CCMA. In 2008 the Court handed down a converse ruling. Employees are now confused as a result of this legal wrangling. - DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr website 
Keyphrases :
Labour Relations Act, 1995
Rand Water v Bracks NO & Others [2007] JOL 2009 1 (LC)
Scheme Data Services (Pty) Ltd v Myhill NO & Others [2008] ZALC 149

Job losses and government's plans to re-skill and not retrench - 4 June
What happens to labour relations at times like these, when there's a recession and a lot of layoffs and a lot of pressure? "One of the things, picking up on the speech yesterday, that I thought was interesting was the discussion of training layoffs. Now I have heard a lot about this in the US. For example, some law firms were giving their lawyers a year off on a fraction of the pay, just trying to retain the talent". - Interview with Andrew Levy, labour consultant and Felicity Duncan on the Moneyweb website

Retrenchment : seven things an employee ought to know! - 10 May
It is important that both employers and employees understand the requirements of the Labour Relations Act and how employees' rights are protected. All employees (and their employers) involved in a retrenchment should at least be aware of the following seven things. - Article by Brian Patterson of Deneys Reitz attorneys on the Moneyweb website

Increase in claims 'threat to UIF existence' - 17 June
The Government is determined to increase the period that retrenched workers can claim unemployment benefits by four months. Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana has confirmed that the government intended to allow unemployed workers to claim benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) for a year after they lost their jobs - a four-month increase from the current eight-month claims period. - IOL website

UIF for a year : big promise from Minister - 19 June
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana is promising to increase unemployment benefits and to prolong the period for which the jobless receive payments to one year. Mdladlana said 2008 saw unemployment benefit payments increased by 31.7% in "a clear reflection of the impact of the current economic crisis" on South Africa. He said job losses continued to mount after 200 000 were shed between the last quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year. "To respond to this challenge, we intend to increase the period of benefits from 8 to 12 months whilst also increasing the monetary benefits", he told MPs during Parliament’s debate on the labour budget. - Sowetan website

See also : Manuel calls business 'cowards'

Land Affairs

Deeds Office figures on property sales - 19 June
House sales continue to drop and from a legal point of view, the volumes of deeds lodged at the Pretoria Deeds Office have already dropped from approximately 6 000 a month to 1 800 a month. - Michael di Broglio's Legal Blog

Move to use farmland as a graveyard outrages residents - 3 June
Residents of Moime village in Maake, outside Tzaneen, are angered that the local municipality has converted their farming land into a graveyard for the Lenyenye community without consultation. They said they were surprised to see a bulldozer from a private company contracted by the Tzaneen municipality to clear their farming land for use as a graveyard without their knowledge. Residents spokesperson Choshi Ramodike said when they made enquiries at the Bakgaga ba Maake Traditional Authority, most of its members did not know anything about an agreement reached with the area's queen on the use of the land. - Sowetan website

Development

Golden corridor's agonising wait - 24 June
Some view the Howick-Durban corridor as a potentially abundant source of future economic growth and job creation. However, its successful development as a prime logistics hub will rest largely on the commitment of financial and human resources from the two major municipalities that stand to gain the most out of this vision - Msunduzi and eThekwini. - Witness website

New residential property : more pain looms - 18 June
Builders, interior decorators and other suppliers of goods and services in the new residential property arena can expect the tough times to continue. The number of building plans passed by local government officials is down dramatically on recent years, latest statistics show. In a note released by Absa Home Loans, senior property analyst Jacques du Toit said residential building activity is expected to remain depressed for the rest of the year. This was in response to the release of data on residential building activity by Statistics South Africa up to April 2009, which "indicate that the planning and construction phases of the housing sector remain depressed against the background of tough economic conditions". - Moneyweb website

Land Claims and Expropriation

17 June 2009
Govt must set pace and price of land reform
Speech by Stone Sizani, ANC MP and chairperson of the portfolio committee on rural development and land reform, national assembly, parliament, Cape Town, June 17 2009
Politicsweb website

Minister calls for a new look at land reform - 5 June
In a briefing document circulated to members of the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on rural development and land reform, Nkwinti called for a review of all the major land reform products implemented in the past decade. The 1997 white paper on land reform, on which the products are based, states that land reform must reverse racially skewed ownership patterns inherited from apartheid that prevented black South Africans from using natural resources to accumulate wealth. Nkwinti's briefing document calls for the drafting of a new white paper that will focus on turning land reforms into a catalyst for rural economic development. This may require drafting new enabling legislation, the document says. - Business Day website

20 June 2009
Willing buyer, willing seller model doesn't work
Speech by Rural Development and Land Reform Minister, Gugile Nkwinti, on his departmental budget vote, national assembly, parliament, Cape Town, June 17 2009
Politicsweb website

Keep land for S Africans - 17 June
Significant changes are to be made to the willing buyer-willing seller model of land restitution, Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti said on Wednesday. Less costly models would be investigated, he told MPs in the National Assembly during debate on his department's budget vote. Nkwinti said both landless people and the ANC, at its last convention, had noted the willing seller-willing buyer model did not work. The department would now seek a different formula for land redistribution. - News24 website

S Africa farmers' union critices land reform plans - 19 June
South Africa's biggest farmers' union on Friday criticised the government's plans to scrap a voluntary system of buying land from white farmers to give to poor blacks. Johannes Moller, president of farmers union AgriSA said the move to scrap the willing-buyer, willing-seller model, under which the government negotiates with owners to buy land, would be unconstitutional unless the system were replaced with a similar one. - Reuters website

Govt won't seize white farms, says minister - 16 June
South Africa's new Agriculture Minister, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, said on Tuesday the continent's biggest maize producer would not seize white farms to redistribute to black South Africans as this would harm its economy. - Mail & Guardian website

See also : Agriculture

South African farmers claim for mine rights, Business Day says - 4 June
South African farmers are submitting claims for damages incurred during the expropriation of their mineral rights, Business Day reported, citing AgriSA, a farmers association. Farmers are being advised to submit details of their claims to the association as soon as possible, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said, citing Nic Opperman, AgriSA's natural resources director. - Bloomberg website
Keyphrase :
Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act

Land claims : government staff don't agree - 8 June
Chief land claims commissioner Andrew Mphela says the government must offer land owners market value for their property – but his staff are ignoring him. Mphela has been in a flurry of meetings with Agri SA and other stakeholders recently, and last month emphatically told reporters it is not government policy to offer landowners less than market value for properties earmarked for restitution. Mphela was attempting to calm persistent fears over rumours that willing sellers were suffering financial losses, resulting from government purchase offers being "significantly lower" than actual property values. - Citizen website

Chief and developer clash over land - 20 June
Fed up with the slow pace of a land claim lodged a decade ago, a KwaZulu-Natal induna is dishing out chunks of privately owned land to villagers in return for a "calabash full of Zulu beer". This has pitted headman Muzikawu-tshingwa Msane against the land's shocked owner, Richards Bay hotelier Freddy Schoonhoven, who said he knew nothing of the claim until the land's illegal occupation. Msane, who says he'll ask King Goodwill Zwelithini to intervene, said he had lodged the claim because the property in the Ogwadleni area was ancestral land. Local community leader, Chris Mkhize, said land in a traditional authority area was communally owned and neither a chief nor his headman had the authority to sell it. KwaZulu-Natal Land Claims Commission spokesman, Nokuthokoza Ndlela, said the commission was still investigating the claim's validity. She said nobody was allowed to sell or develop land once there was a claim on the property. - The Times website

Anger over RDPs - 18 May
Left to solve the problems that besieged his predecessors, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka had to visit Finetown informal settlement in Enerdale, south of Johannesburg, yesterday to calm down angry residents. The community had gone on rampage on Saturday after a report- back meeting by local councillor Freedom Sotshantsha, who told them that the council would not be able to build RDP houses on the piece of land they were staying in because it was dolomitic. - Sowetan website

Eviction case may sow seeds of reform - 11 June
The decision by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to try to evict emerging farmer Veronica Moos again is probably a blessing in disguise. Moos herself, of course, is devastated. After winning a court order to be restored to her farm, she set about securing production credit with the backing of the Gauteng branch of farmers' union AgriSA, and is being assigned a mentor to provide her with technical and marketing guidance. To be told she's still in breach of the department's controversial "use it or lose it" policy and faces fresh eviction proceedings therefore came as a nasty shock. The department's decision has, however, prompted Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) to prepare a case on behalf of Moos against the government's Proactive Land Acquisition (Plas) policy. - allAfrica website

Property Law

Tardy councils face financial paralysis - 26 June
Many municipalities could face financial paralysis after Tuesday when the deadline for the creation of new property valuation rolls expires. The Municipal Property Rates Act, which became law in July 2005, specified that all municipalities had to revalue all properties in their areas for the purposes of levying rates. The act gave them four years to comply. Those that did not cannot legally levy rates. Thus their major source of revenue for payment of salaries and provision of services will be stalled, deepening the crisis faced by dozens of municipalities. - allAfrica website

Master's Office

Flaming shame - 13 June
A huge blaze gutted Pietermaritzburg’s iconic 109-year-old Colonial Building in the CBD yesterday. The extent and financial cost of the damage is unknown at this stage. - Witness website

Fire guts iconic building - 14 June
The exact extent of the damage caused to Pietermaritzburg's historic, old Magistrate's Court in Church Street, is yet to be determined. The iconic building, which was in the process of being restored, was gutted in a fire that began mid-morning on Friday. Almost 20 percent of the building was destroyed. - IOL website

See also :
Pta court proceedings on hold - 12 May
Operations at the Master's of the High Court buildings in Pretoria will be temporarily affected due to a fire on Tuesday, the department of justice and constitutional development said. - News24 website
[InfoUpdate 10 of 2009]

Media

So what if our newspapers fail? - 19 June
Over the past few weeks two of our most foremost media commentators, Anton Harber and Guy Berger, have looked at the calamitous state of the United States newspaper industry (or what is left of it) and asked - is it going to happen in South Africa and what can be done about it? - Article by James Myburgh on the Moneyweb website

Minerals and Energy

Liquidators open bids for Pamodzi's East Rand assets, to name winning Free State bidder - 8 June
The provisional liquidators for struggling gold company Pamodzi Gold will allow parties to submit bids for the firm's East Rand operations until June 19. The closing date for bids for the junior miner's two other operations – the Free State assets and Orkney mine – closed on Wednesday, and Friday, respectively. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Liquidator blamed for Simmers' withdrawal - 25 June
Provisional liquidator Enver Motala has been blamed by both Solidarity and UASA trade unions for the delay in the sale of Pamodzi Gold's Orkney mine. On Wednesday, UASA said in a statement that Motala apparently "lacked understanding of mining industry dynamics". - Moneyweb website

Pamodzi Gold liquidators hit back at 'defamatory' delay allegations - 25 June
The provisional liquidators of Pamodzi Gold have hit back at the delay allegations that labour unions Solidarity and UASA have levelled against them, condemning the allegations as "derogatory, defamatory and factually incorrect". Provisional liquidators Enver Motala, Allan Pellow and Deon Botha said, in a joint statement released to the South African Press Agency, that the Standard Bank, on finding Simmer & Jack Mines' (Simmers) R110-million bid for the Orkney gold mine to be "audaciously low", had not been able to persuade the gold miner to consider raising it. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Harmony selected as preferred Pamodzi bidder - 26 June
Harmony Gold has been selected as the preferred bidder for Pamodzi Gold's Free State operations, the joint provisional liquidators said on Friday. This was subject to formal approval from the major secured creditor, the Industrial Development Corporation and the major trade unions. It was also subject to the signing of the relevant agreements and fulfilment of all conditions, the joint liquidators said in a statement. "We also take this opportunity to thank Harmony Gold for the professional manner, in which it negotiated with the joint provisional liquidators", Enver Motala of SBT Trust, one of the provisional liquidators, said. Pamodzi's Free State operations offer synergies with Harmony Gold's existing operations in the area.  - Mail & Guardian website

SA looking to implement legislation to criminalise illegal mining - 10 June
A South African Parliamentary committee on Wednesday proposed that the country's mining laws be improved to include legislation that governs illegal mining. There was currently no legislation that criminalised illegal mining. Illegal miners were charged with trespassing, which is a minor offence compared with the seriousness of the practice, Parliament's select committee on economic development said. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Transnet will not seek direct funding from State for R12,6bn pipeline - 24 June
State-owned freight logistics group Transnet would seek neither guarantees nor a loan injection from government to help it fund a new R12,6-billion fuel pipeline from Durban to Gauteng, despite the material financing challenge created by the energy regulator's recent rejection of its request for a 74% tariff increase. The utility also stressed on Wednesday that the construction of the project, viewed as important to ensuring inland fuel-supply security, was proceeding in line with licence conditions, which stipulated that it be operational by the end of 2011. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Eskom's late tariff submission creates legal problems for municipalities - 9 June
A "chaotic and incoherent" approach to tariff increase applications seemed to have become the norm for the electricity sector, the South African Local Government Association (Salga) infrastructure services executive director Mthobeli Kolisa asserted on Tuesday. Salga joined a chorus of associations and labour unions which were criticising Eskom for its late submission for a 34% interim tariff increase. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Minister opposed to Eskom price increase application - 23 June
Minister of Energy Dipuo Peters is opposed to Eskom's application for she calls "a large tariff increase" as it's expected to negatively impact on the poor, especially during the current difficult economic times. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is to announce its decision this week on Eskom's application for an interim price increase of 34 percent. - allAfrica website

Regulator grants Eskom 31,3% tariff increase - 25 June
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on Thursday granted electricity utility Eskom a 31,3% power tariff increase, which includes an environmental levy, and warned consumers that future tariff increases would occur. State-owned Eskom, which submitted a delayed application in May, had asked for a 34% interim tariff hike. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

SA regulator to probe power utility’s primary energy costs - 25 June
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) would conduct an investigation into Eskom's primary energy costs, and specifically the cost of coal, to establish the "prudence of the costs", chairperson Collin Matjila reported on Thursday. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Nuclear-1 a certainty? - 25 May
Eskom appears to be kickstarting its massive nuclear energy plans again. The utility, which halted its nuclear bidding programme for Nuclear-1 in December last year, has now revised its application to the environmental authorities, asking to be allowed to combine authorisations to develop Nuclear-1, Nuclear-2 and Nuclear-3 power stations at all three coastal sites earmarked for the nuclear programme. The three sites are Bantamsklip near Pearly Beach in the Overstrand, Thyspunt near Oyster Bay in the Eastern Cape and the Koeberg site of Dynefontein 30km north of Cape Town. - IOL website

SA sees first pebble nuclear reactor by 2018 - 23 June
South African nuclear technology firm PBMR plans to have its first 80 megawatt (MW) power and heat processing plant based on its pebble-fuel technology by 2018, a company official said. Tom Ferreira, a spokesman for Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), said the timeline for the launch of the plant had been delayed after the company decided to change its designs to attract more investments and bridge a funding gap. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

See also : Competition Commission, Tribunal and Appeal Court. Xstrata / Anglo American

Municipal Management and Procedure

P9114 - Financial Census of Municipalities, June 2008
Publication date and time : 17 June  2009
StatsSA website

Municipalities' poor form - 10 June
Many of South Afriac's 283 municipalities were in a "state of paralysis and dysfunction", Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka said on Wednesday. "In terms of the new mandate, the department has committed to provide provincialised hands-on support to provincial and local government to ensure that they are in a better position to execute their mandates". - iafrica website

10 June 2009
Address by the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, at the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) National Members Assembly (NMA)
SA Government Information website

Motlanthe warns municipalities about economic meltdown - 10 June
The economic crisis has the potential to affect the revenue and tax base of municipalities, which may hamper delivery, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Wednesday. "As local government we need to devise means to lessen the adverse effects of the current economic crisis on the viability of our programmes. - Mail & Guardian website

Economic meltdown may affect municipalities : Motlanthe - 11 June
The current economic crisis has the potential to affect the revenue and tax base of municipalities, which may hamper delivery, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said today (June 10). "As local government we need to devise means to lessen the adverse effects of the current economic crisis on the viability of our programmes. Certainly, this crisis has the potential to affect revenue and tax base of municipalities", Motlanthe said at the South African Local Government Association (Salga) national members' assembly in East London. - Weekend Post website

Cape Town

City endorses draft policy to guide future urban planning - 23 June
The City of Cape Town has endorsed a draft policy that will guide the way in which the space available for urban growth is used in future. This draft policy will soon be open for public discussion and comment. Known as the Cape Town Spatial Development Framework (SDF), it will supersede the guide plans and spatial plans now used to reach land use decisions. - City of Cape Town website

R10-million to stop city land invasions - 8 June
The City of Cape Town is spending R10-million in the current financial year to fund its Anti-Land Invasion Unit (ALIU) in an effort to safeguard housing projects it says "are being threatened by systematically planned and executed land invasions". But anti-eviction organisations have slammed the unit, saying the money could be better spent elsewhere and that it is leading to "war" between communities and the city. - allAfrica website

See also : Constitutional Court. Residents of Joe Slovo Community, Western Cape v Thubelisha Homes and Others

New air pollution by-law - 10 June
The City of Cape Town will host an information session for industrialists, councillors and air quality role players on the proposed changes to its Air Pollution By-law tomorrow. The City of Cape Town's Specialised Health Department has drafted a strengthened air pollution by-law. Several control mechanisms have been implemented, such as ensuring compliance, enforcement and licensing of listed activities and the appointment of environmental management inspectors at local government level. - Cape Business News website

Air pollution bylaw targets tyre burning - 12 June
The tough new anti-air pollution draft bylaw has come up with a way to curb the widespread practice of burning old vehicle tyres by making it an offence to possess any of the recovered metal. That means that scrap metal dealers, who buy the metal from burned tyres, will be targeted by the new law and could face jail sentences of up to two years. This comes after the City of Cape Town has battled in vain for decades to stamp out tyre burning, which has been so bad on the Cape Flats at times that the palls of black smoke have temporarily prevented aircraft from landing at Cape Town airport. - IOL website

ANC threatens Cape Town - 24 June
The ANC has threatened to refer the city of Cape Town to the public protector after it pulled its funding of Cape Town routes unlimited. The ANC's spokesperson on economic development and tourism, Garth Strachan, said the decision and the appointment of a parallel body to market the city went against a provincial tourism law. Strachan, who is the former MEC for economic development and tourism, said legal opinion he had received while he was MEC was that the City of Cape Town's withdrawal from the CTRU was in breach of the Western Cape Tourism Act. In May 2008, the City of Cape Town withdrew its annual R24-million funding to CTRU and withdrew its two directors from the body. The city's contribution accounted for almost half of the organisation's annual operating expenditure. The city first gave notice of its intention to withdraw the funding in May 2007. The ANC's threats come as the City of Cape Town and the provincial government have agreed to develop jointly a "sustainable solution" to marketing Cape Town and the Western Cape as a globally competitive tourism destination. - allAfrica website

See also : Western Cape High Court

eThekwini

Press Release Regarding Durban Transport Issued By The Mayor This press release was emailed out at : 19 June, 2009 13:28 1. ANNOUNCEMENT BY REMANT ALTON Remant Alton have informed the City that the current contract is financially unsustainable and that they will have to cease operations as from 30 June 2009. A notice of termination  was received by the City and the Executive Committee having deliberated on this matter has resolved to accept the Notice. 2. EFFECT ON THE COMMUTERS It must be stated that the City deeply regrets the impact that this announcement will have on the commuters who are dependent on public transport. We appeal for a level of understanding of the complex nature of this problem and give the assurance that everything possible will be done to get a new service back on track with a minimum of delay. We will make  endeavour as a city to impress upon Metro Rail and other the Public Transport operators to come to the assistance of our commuters. 3. CITY HAS TRIED ITS BEST The City has tried its very best to do what it can to keep the service running for the benefit of the commuters. However in terms of the contract, all funds due to Remant Alton have been paid, and there is nothing more that can be done to improve the financial viability of the current contract. 4. FUNDING HAS BEEN AND STILL IS A PROBLEM One of the biggest problems with this contract from day one in October 2003 has been the lack of adequate funding from the National Department of Transport. In spite of countless appeals, the only relief has been of a short term nature and as from 01 April 2009 the subsidy funding has been reduced by R1,7 million per month. 5. GAP IN SERVICE An unfortunate reality is that there will be disruption of  services in order to allow for the necessary process to get a new service in place. However, everything will be done restore the service in the shortest possible period. 6. WAY FORWARD The eThekwini Transport Authority has for several months now been working on options for the way forward. These options have now to be workshopped with roleplayers from all three spheres of Government with the view to presenting a recommendation to EXCO at its next meeting. Issued by the Mayor of eThekwini Municipality Cllr Obed Mlaba

 

City Manager's Newsletter : Response to Academics around Warwick Developments - 4 June A few days ago a former employee, now academic, Glen Robbins wrote to me requesting assistance in addressing the state of urban policy and research at the University. He bemoaned the fact that UKZN was losing ground in research in the area of urban policy. He asked if we could develop a more collaborative relationship between eThekwini and UKZN. Whilst I am still discussing the matter with my colleagues I personally share his sentiments. Interestingly, having worked at UKZN and now at eThekwini I have come to realize that the municipality has an outstanding group of researchers, teachers and practitioners in urban policy who have made and continue to make significant contributions to redressing the terrible effects of the apartheid city. Academia is about research, teaching and outreach. In all these endeavours, enquiry and engagement are critical to developing arguments and coming to conclusions. Sadly, none of the academics listed has taken the time to do their job, before drawing their conclusions. Some have worked in the area and some get paid to write about the poor of Warwick. In spite of it being one of the most researched areas in our city, very little has been done to make Warwick serve the interests of its commuters, giving them access to safer environments, more public spaces and better retail opportunities. Certainly none of these academics has really applied their mind to our proposals and that of the developer. The reality of Warwick is that it is a classically designed apartheid transport hub. Formerly Indian areas were the buffer between the commuter hubs used by African South Africans and the white CBD. The Early Morning Market has 600 leaseholders, over 95% of whom were formerly classified as Indian, and some have now illegally sublet their leases. The street traders who have emerged in the area post-1990 are dominantly African. For most of the day the area is dirty, there are far too few ablutions and commuters are very vulnerable, with this being the most dangerous set of intersections in South Africa. There are no banks, post offices and sufficient public services in the area to serve the number of people who deserve access. Since the demise of apartheid, sub-nodes have emerged organically as space becomes available, with a whole set of inefficiencies. Just walk behind mothers and children who take taxis from their homes into and out of our city through Warwick and you will realize how vulnerable they are. Taxis going to the South of the city are located in the north, taxis from the north are located in the south, some areas are crime ridden, many pedestrians are forced to walk on the street because traders have taken over many sidewalks. The academics have no sense of the geographic scale of Warwick and confuse the overall precinct with the private sector investment of some R400million. The precinct is huge and much less than half comprises the transport hub. Within that transport hub, only a very small portion is made up of the area in which we will be developing the taxi and retail space (only some 20000 square metres of shopping) and the Early Morning Market is a very small component of the business occurring in the area. Our many motivations to national government for assistance to reconfigure the transport hub to serve the needs of commuters finally bore fruit because of the 2010-related investments. Our plan aims to improve public transportation systems to enhance accessibility, mobility and safety ; reduce unnecessary traffic congestion; create economic opportunities for both informal and formal trade ; and make development culturally responsive and unique to enhance the tourist potential of the area. The first step in turning Warwick into a public transport hub was to take the Western Freeway traffic out of the area. Hundreds of commuters have died or been seriously injured because of vehicles coming off the freeway. We are therefore building two overpasses feeding into and coming out of the Western Freeway. The second step was to integrate the various ranks and mini-hubs so that commuters would have a seamless transition from one mode to another. Taxis parking all over the area meant that there was little room for manoevre. Our solution was to deck the southern part of the Berea station so that taxis could be relocated there, but the cost of over R300 million to do so was far too prohibitive. The next best option was to create a taxi garage on the site of the Early Morning Market. Thirdly, our Inner City People Mover needed space to integrate into that area. Finally, we needed to improve the area so that commuters were not so vulnerable. Dangerous conflict. Given that we simply did not receive enough funding from national government, and as we were going to build a taxi facility on the site of the Early Morning Market, the developers who had been appointed to regenerate the Berea Road Station approached us with a proposal. They had the air rights to address the taxi configuration and suggested that instead of in effect a parking garage, that they build a retail centre on the site taking into account the transport, commuter and trading needs that the city identified. This was a win-win solution, not costing the municipality any more than what is on budget. Importantly it is the first time ever we have had a R380 million development in Warwick and is the first time in the city that informal traders will be allocated space in the retail centre and also be given better opportunities to trade on the pavement next to the Mall under improved trading conditions. We care about what the commuters need. They require a seamless integration between trains, taxis and buses. This flow can now easily be achieved. Taxis are able to be located on the second floor of the building (built by the developer) and the city has rights to develop a third floor if required. The also want better public facilities and open spaces and they will get these. They also want a range of shopping opportunities in the area. An independent study on retail needs in the areas and based on surveys of commuters shows they are very dissatisfied with the range and mix of available opportunities. A study late last year showed that over 75% of the commuters wanted a range of retail opportunities other than those available right now, from grocery stores to music to clothing to cell phones and the like. They wanted banks and a post office and wanted facilities such as ablutions. And the city would also want any such development to have a strong empowerment content. Whilst the developers presently have over 25% of their investors being people of African origin, we have set as a condition that within 5 years this should be over 50%. It is unacceptable that even 15 years after a democratic government is established that people formerly classified as African South Africans are not in the mainstream of retail developments and this Warwick development will help to redress that. It should also be noted that the retail side of the Warwick development is not a Mall. It is just over 20 000 square metres in size, slightly smaller than the Berea shopping centre! The development will affect three groups of traders and we are doing everything we can to accommodate all within the area. The first group, who have come to be called the Bovine Head Cookers have been relocated into the English Market literally over the road from where they presently are located. They have agreed completely with the city and are happy to relocate. The second group are the street traders. All will be accommodated within the new development in far better conditions than they presently occupy, but they will still pay the same tariff as they do presently. Importantly, there are graduation possibilities to allow these traders to move into situations where they become SMMEs. All of these traders have agreed with the development and are happy with the process. The third group are the Early Morning Market traders. This is the group which has continually stood in opposition to the development. We presently have around 600 such traders who have leases with the city. Their reality is that they presently owe the city almost R20 million in outstanding rentals and in fact many of the lessees have illegally sublet their leases to other traders. Our own work shows that there is massive exploitation occurring in this sector. We have proposed that these traders be moved from the northern side of the freeway to the southern side (some 200 metres) and while we work with them on how we can ensure more sustainable livelihoods for them and their employees. Importantly, they have previously agreed that the existing market is simply not viable and all we are now doing is to engage with them and identify much more viable opportunities. Unfortunately, they have refused to engage with us. It is strange that the academics are now gathering in opposition around this group, not interested in the conditions under which 400 000 or more commuters operate in the area every single day. I am not sure if it is race or self-interest or opposition to the democratic majority that brings these academics together, but it is certainly not as a result of them practicing their craft. I am sure in days to come an academic will study the nature and form of this interesting social group of academics now characterized as being against the Warwick developments. If they had done a little research or done some thinking I am certain they would not have penned such opposition. As a society we are encouraging more and more users of public transport, but I haven't heard the academics tell us about how to deal with the squalor these commuters face. And today there are thousands of children travelling alone on public transport through the Warwick area and quite frankly they are incredibly vulnerable. These are the people we are planning for. We would be delighted to engage with these academics to encourage them to unpick the apartheid city and create a new city in which we do something to ensure the lives of the working classes are improved and the poor don't remain poor forever. With or without these academics, though, I am certain that the lives of the commuters in the area will be improved in Warwick and we will continue to focus on that. Dr Michael Sutcliffe City Manager : eThekwini Keyphrase : 2010 FIFA World Cup

 

City Manager's Newsletter : Warwick Development : Response to Robbins and Skinner - 12 June The request for public debate around Warwick developments is welcome, but I am not sure that Glen Robbins and Caroline Skinner have drawn on any basic research to substantiate their claims. Let me elaborate. They begin by agreeing with me that our focus should be on improving the lives of the 400 000 or so commuters who visit Warwick on a daily basis. But Robbins and Skinner provide no analysis of who the commuters are and what we should be doing to respond to their needs.  We have that analysis and have used it to start improving the area. What we know is that these commuters are working class people, with some 94% being of working age. 70% of these commuters earn between R2 500 and R7 000 per month, showing that many have disposable income. Whilst they are happy with being able to buy fresh produce, they have overwhelmingly indicated that the range of available products in the area are inadequate. Hence the need for retail centres providing such opportunities, of which the Warwick development will be one. Many of the 6% who are not of working age include children as young as 7 years old who catch the train by themselves, from KwaMashu and other parts of our city to attend schools in the CBD like Addington Primary School next door to where I live. They must surely have a safe and seamless link between the various modes of transport. As parents, surely we don’t want children walking huge distances along busy and unsafe streets? Over 90% of those surveyed make use of taxi's, buses and trains as their main mode of transport, but 60% of them spend at least one hour and over 25% spending over 2 hours in Warwick on a daily basis. This time is presently spent walking between transport modes or simply waiting in queues with sun and rain bearing down on them. Surely, this is enough reason for us to get more and better facilities in the area. Only 5% of all the people surveyed actually enjoyed the area. This goes against the romanticism of the academics who seem to think Warwick is a nice, vibey place. It may be so if you are a visitor and want to see the poor and working classes, but if you are a commuter it is close to hell. In terms of the crime issue, it is absurd to think that we would not expect the developers to implement security of the highest standards. They would do that anyway to protect their investment, the investment of the Tenants and the informal traders that will form part of this development. And we will have integrated into that a far better CCTV coverage of the precinct as a whole. It is true that some architects met my colleagues and I and one of the things they claimed was that such a retail centre may well increase rather than decrease crime. We asked them to provide such evidence as I would never knowingly allow that to be the case. They could not provide it at the meeting, but agreed in my presence to meet the developer to take such matters forward. They were invited to do so, but unfortunately later refused to meet and instead said they would fight the issue through the media. Surely, the architecture fraternity is being poorly served by leaders who show scant disregard for honestly made requests by the city to provide evidence supporting such claims? We have consulted extensively with all other stakeholders. Both the central and south bound taxi associations will make use of the rank in the retail centre. And over 270 traders will be part of the shopping complex and Masigiye Square and they will continue to ensure prices are kept competitive. Finally, Robbins and Skinner have clearly not even looked at the designs of the new centre and yet they make bold and uninformed comments. The facts are that all walk ways within the mall are 10 meters wide, compared to the 8 meters found in Gateway. This allows us to address 'the large volumes of commuters that will link the trains, buses and taxis. Currently, there are no facilities that can accommodate the handicapped, but once complete, all the levels will be accessible to the handicapped via the installation of lifts. Pedestrians will be far safer in the centre and on the pedestrianised Julius Nyerere street.  The shopping centre is only in the region of 21 000 sqm (smaller than the Berea Centre) and yet has four different entrances in order not to restrict any flow of commuter movement between the various transport nodes. These walk ways will remain open and secure 24 hours a day. All the street traders for the first time will have lockable facilities, dedicated delivery areas and an area that will be continuously monitored by the centre management in terms of security, cleanliness etc. I would urge Robbins, Skinner and their colleagues to go back to the basics, do some research and draw conclusions which will better the lives of the poor. I look forward to engaging with them around finding real solutions and if they need some assistance in research methods, I will  again make myself available to teach such at UKZN. Dr Michael Sutcliffe City Manager : eThekwini

Rubber bullets fly at Durban market - 15 June
The situation is extremely volatile this hour at the Early Morning Market in Durban’s Warwick Junction. A short while ago, police opened fire on traders with rubber bullets, wounding a number of them. This was apparently after traders tried to break down the gates to the market. - East Coast Radio blog

Press Release Early Morning Market Traders : Responding to the Misinformation This press release was emailed out at : 16 June, 2009 21:40 Over the past few days the Early Morning Market traders have approached the courts to obtain court orders after which they have misled the media and the public about these matters. On Saturday morning the Early Morning Market Traders Association approached the courts to obtain a rule ordering eThekwini Municipality to restore their members possession and occupation of their stalls. Having obtained this order, they then refused to provide the municipality with a copy of their order until Monday morning. On Saturday they pronounced that this was a significant victory for them, but when finally we read the order we realized it was of academic value only as the municipality has never barred traders with leases from access to their stalls. The fact these traders are not trading is simply that they have willingly decided not to trade but to stand in sympathy with persons who have no rights to trade in the Early Morning Market. In his own affidavit, Mr Haripersad Ramlal agreed with the city that those traders who occupy stalls leased to them by the city should have access to their stalls and we have always agreed. The problem is that most of the persons who have such leases are not occupying the stall but appear to have illegally sublet them to other persons. These persons have no right to trade in the Early Morning Market. Having realized this, on Monday the Early Morning Market Traders Association again approached the courts to try and broaden the list of traders who should have access to the market. The court however, told them they should look at the citys official list and if they disagreed with that list then they should go back to court to explain why they disagreed. Attorneys from the city and from the Traders Association met today and agreed that the citys [sic] list is the one that should be used to determine who has the right to trade in the Early Morning Market. In the interests of transparency I have enclosed the list of persons who are on that list. Our own survey on 4 June indicated that from this list, only 239 stalls were occupied by legal tenants, some 332 stalls were occupied illegally by subtenants who submitted affidavits indicating that they had no agreements with us and there were 105 stalls vacant. For the record, then the city has not ever been in contempt of court. It is important that the media report properly on these matters and not be led by people who claim easy victories, but who pursue a path of confrontation. The city has all along wished that Early Morning Market Traders take up our offer that they be temporarily relocated whilst we work with them in finding a more sustainable future. Dr Michael Sutcliffe City Manager : eThekwini Names of persons with leases/permits/kiosks : ABDULLA A ABDULLAH S B ABOOBAKER A ABOOBAKER & BEE S ADAM F ADAM H B ADHIAMMA & MUNIAN AHAD  A AMDUTT H AMMAYEE ANJALAI ARJOON L ARRAN M BAATHYAMMA S BACHOO N BEE S BHANMATI BHIKHA G BHIKHA G & BHIKHA A G BHIKHA G & BHIKHA A G BHOODOO I BHOODOO D BIBI A H BISNATH BISNATH BRAJ O BUDHU S BUDHU S & BOODHOO M BUDREE G BUSOWAT C CASSIM A M CHANDERAL C CHANDERAL C CHANNAH M L CHETTY CHETTY S K CHETTY C D CHETTY D CHETTY G CHETTY G CHETTY G C R CHETTY J CHETTY K CHETTY K CHETTY L CHETTY M CHETTY M CHETTY M CHETTY S CHETTY S CHETTY C CHETTY J CHETTY L CHETTY L CHETTY R CHETTY R CHETTY R CHETTY R CHILIZA F B CHUNDERMAL DAYAL D H DAYAL H D & D D DAYANAND R DAYANAND B DAYANAR D DEVANAI DEVI S DHUSRATH L DIANATHEVIAMAL ELLAMMA ELLAMMA & GOVENDER V FAKIR E GANGADI GAREEB B GOOBIAH D GOUNDEN C & GOVENDER M GOUNDEN G GOVENDER G G GOVENDER I P GOVENDER J GOVENDER K GOVENDER K GOVENDER K GOVENDER L GOVENDER M GOVENDER N GOVENDER P GOVENDER P GOVENDER P S GOVENDER R GOVENDER S GOVENDER T GOVENDER V GOVENDER V GOVENDER V GOVENDER V GOVENDER A & NAIDOO T GOVENDER G GOVENDER M GOVENDER N GOVENDER P GOVENDER P & GOVENDER V GOVENDER P & GOVENDER R GOVENDER R GOVENDER S GOVENDER T GOVENDER Y GOVENDER S & CUPISAMI K GOVENDER S & CUPISAMI R GOVINDAMMA GOVINDHRAJULU GURUVEN S G HALUMAN R HANEEF M HANEEF M HANEEF M HARICHUND HARICHUND D HARIKRISHNA K HARINARIAN HARIPERSAD S HARISANKER HASSEN HIRALALL J HIRALALL R HIRAMAN ANIL HIRAMAN V HLENGWA D W HOOSEN A B HOOSEN I HOOSEN I HOOSEN M N HOOSEN R INDERJEETH ISAIAH C ISAIAH C ISAIAH C ISAIAH C ISMAIL A M ISMAIL H ISREAL M JACKPERSAD R JAGARNATH B JAGGERNATH JOORAVAN  L JUDGEO R JUGGERNATH JUGNANAN P KAMATCHI KAMATTCHI KANDHIALALL P KASHAYALIE S & RAMCHARAN V KASHAYALIE S & RAMCHARAN V KASHAYALIE S & RAMCHARAN V KAULA J & RAMLUCKEN H M KAULA J & RAMLUCKEN H M KEMWATHY & NARRIAN M KHAN A KHAN I G KHANYILE J K KHOZA B KULLAMMA KUMARIDEVI LAKSHMIBAI LECHMI M LOGABATHY LOGAMBAL & SWIMINATHAN LOGANATHAN M LOGATHASEN LUTCHMAMMA LUTCHMEE LUTCHMEE LUTCHMEE LUTCHNYANARIAN M MABEKEKE G V MABHENGU M N MAGHRAJ A M MAHABEER P MAHABEER P & CHANDDIKA C MAHABIR M MAHABIR M MAHABIR M MAHADEO K MAHADEO S MAHADEO S MAHARAJ MAHARAJ MAHARAJ A MAHARAJ S MAHARAJ S D MAHARAJ A Y MAHARAJ D Y MAHARAJ D Y MAHARAJ H MAHARAJ K MAHARAJ P & RAMPERSAD S MAHARAJ S D MAHARAJ S K MAHARAJ V MAHARAJ A MAHARAJ B P MAHARAJ D S MAHARAJ D S MAHARAJ N MAHARAJ R MAIN M G MAISTRY D MAISTRY P MAISTRY M MANDLEVU S MANDRI O MANDRI O MANDRI S MANDRI M MANILALL & PANDAY G MANOGARAN & INDRANI MANQELE Q J MARIAMMA & MOGANARUNGAN MARIAMMA & SAROJINI MBHELE G MBHELE J MCHUNU S C MDLETSHE Z T MIAJEE M & MIAJEE G MKHIZE B MKHIZE S G MOGANARUNGAN MOHABIR B B MOHAMED A B MOHAMED G MOHAMED J B MOHAN & PALAD MOODLEY K S MOODLEY K S MOODLEY P MOODLEY P MOODLEY R MOODLEY V MOODLEY V MOODLEY K S MOODLEY R & MOODLEY D MOODLEY C & MOODLEY G G MOOIDEN MOONIAMAH MOONIAMAH MOONSAMY MSILANI G N MSWELI A M MTHEMBU B E MTULI B K MUNIAM L MUNIAMAH C MUNIAMMAL MUNIANNAL MUNISAMI MUNISAMI S & PARANDAN O H MUNNIAMAH MUNSAMY M MUTHAMMA MUTHAMMA MUTHAMMA NAICKER S NAICKER M NAICKER S NAICKER A NAICKER V NAICKER P NAIDOO NAIDOO S K D NAIDOO C NAIDOO J NAIDOO L NAIDOO L NAIDOO N NAIDOO S NAIDOO S NAIDOO S NAIDOO A NAIDOO B C NAIDOO D NAIDOO D NAIDOO L NAIDOO R NAIDOO R NAIDOO K NAIDU P NALA S I NANDKUMAR NANDRAJ R NARADU P NARAINSAMY NDABA F A NDABA S J NDABA Z NDIMANDE S N NEELAMBAY NENE T S NORVEY M NTOMBELA S M NTULI T H NUNDKISSOR A NUNDKUMAR NUNKUMAR D NZIMANDE T E OSMAN S E OSMAN I OSMAN I PADAYACHEE M PADAYACHEE V R PALE R PANDAY S PARATHMEN P PARSOTHAM C & M PATEL C S PATEL S PATEL C S PATHAMVATHI PATHER G V PEERIMAL M R PEERUMAL L PEERUMAL L PERSAD N PHEHLUKWAYO K M PHEHLUKWAYO K M PHEHLUKWAYO N C PILLAI S R PILLAY G PILLAY N & LUTCHMEE PILLAY R PILLAY R PILLAY S M PILLAY S V PILLAY R PILLAY S PILLAY S PILLAY S PILLAY V PILLAY V PILLAY G PITCHIAH POLAMMA & VASUDEVAN POOMONEY & GOVENDER R PREMLALL PUSKARANANDH RADHA RAJBARAN S RAJCOOMAR N & BASDEO RAJPAL V RAJPAL V RAKIM A B RAKIM A B RAKIM A H RAMABALI RAMAN C RAMAN C RAMAN C RAMATUAR N RAMATUAR R RAMBALI V RAMBALI V RAMBARUTH C RAMCHARAN V RAMCHURAN N RAMDAW N RAMJEE N RAMJEE U B RAMKISSON R K RAMKISSON R K RAMKISSON R K RAMLALL H RAMLALL H RAMLALL G RAMLALL H RAMLALL H RAMLALL R RAMLALL R R RAMLALL R R RAMNATH S D RAMPERSHAD RAMPERSHAD N RAMSUMAIR RANCHOD P RANCHOD P RANI D & MOONSAMY D RANMATH RAPITI R A RAZAK A REDDY G REDDY K M REDDY P R REDDY P R REDDY L REDDY L REDDY L REDDY Y ROOKMONEY ROOKMONEY RUTHMANI SAIMEN R SAMDEVI SAMPATH B SAMY D SANJITH SANNAH G SARNAR M SARWAR G H SATHIATH M SATHIATH M SAVANDALIAI SAVATHIRI SELVATHURAY V & NAGAN E S SELVATHURAY V & NAGAN E S SEWNANDAN A SEWNARAIN SEWNARAN R SHADEO SHAIK A S SHAIK A S SHAIN M SHEZI B P SHUNMUGAN SHUNMUGAN S SINGH A SINGH A SINGH B SINGH B SINGH J SINGH J SINGH R SINGH R SINGH S SINGH V SITHAMMA SOMANATHAN & MUNIAMMA SRIKISSON SUBBAMMA SUBBAMMA D H SUMINTHRA SUNDER R & MAHABEER P R SUNDERLALL P SUNITHRA SUNMUKHLAL SURESH THAMBIRAN A THAMBIRAN P THANRDAZIE G THUSINI T TININI M TSHAKA X VALLABH H D VALLABH H D VALLABH R VALLIE S M VARATHRAJUL VEERAMMA VEERON R VEERSAMY G VENKATASU A VENKATASU J VENKATASU R VENKATASU E B VENKETAMMA VIJIALUTCHMEE XOLO S N XUTYELO N YAGALINGUM YEGABARAM J YOUNUS R ZAMA S L

Durban market clash raises a historic echo - 17 June
History has a way of repeating itself. The conflict over plans to build a 20 000m2 shopping centre and taxi rank at the site of the Early Morning Market, on the fringes of the Durban city centre, echoes a struggle that began in the late 1800s. So far it has not been an easy ride for city manager Mike Sutcliffe. Rising tensions over the mall have made the developer, Isolenu, edgy. The KwaZulu-Natal heritage agency Amafa has declined an application to alter the site, due to the historical nature of some parts of the building, particularly the gates. Now the Durban High Court has ruled that traders can continue operating from the site until Friday. Moving location this time could result in the market closing for good. - Business Report website

Durban council's trader fees stretch legal boundary - 19 June
The Durban city council may be flouting competition laws with a surcharge it levies on traders at the Early Morning Market at Warwick Junction, where a controversial mall development is planned. The Competition Act says it is prohibited for a dominant firm to require or induce a supplier or customer to not deal with a competitor. But a city official said the surcharge would be up for review when a feasibility study was done later this year on restructuring Durban markets. - Business Report website

Thousands of livelihoods jeopardized to make way for a shopping mall for FIFA 2010 - 23 June
Traders from the Warwick Junction Market of eThekwini (Durban), South Africa are enduring police harassment, including being shot with rubber bullets, in a bid to defend their livelihoods. For these traders, their income is vital to the survival of their families. Even during the economic downturn, the city is prioritizing building a shopping mall for the upcoming FIFA 2010 World Cup over the survival of thousands of traders and their families. - Wired PR News website
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup

Traders, cops clash at Durban market - 24 June
Angry traders have clashed with Durban Metro Police this morning as their fresh produce and goods were being confiscated from the Early Morning Market in Warwick Junction. Traders were yesterday given a guarantee by Durban city mayor Obed Mlaba that he would be at the market at 5am to see that all traders were allowed to open their shops but were caught unexpectedly by police, who acting on the orders of the city's market manager, began seizing their goods. Early Morning Market Association chairman Harry Ramlall said he was shocked that the city was continuing its clampdown on traders when a task team, led by Economic Affairs MEC Mike Mabuyakulu, yesterday agreed that the traders could operate while the KwaZulu-Natal High Court made a decision on the legality of all traders. - The Times website

See also : KwaZulu-Natal High Court : Durban

National Planning Commission

'Green Paper' on role of planning commission soon : Manuel - 1 June
A "Green Paper" would be presented to Parliament within the next few weeks outlining how South Africa's new National Planning Commission, headed by the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Trevor Manuel, would fit into the government system. Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Manuel indicated that the document would outline the role of the planning function, the linkages required and the thematic areas to be covered. He promised a "distinctly South African approach", but indicated that he had been studying the operations and successes of planning commissions in countries as diverse as South Korea, India, Turkey, Brazil and Chile. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

24 June 2009
Address by the Minister in The Presidency : National Planning Commission, Trevor A Manuel, MP on the Presidency's Budget Vote debate
Presidency website

Manuel promises planning 'nerve centre', not gatekeeper - 24 June
The Green Paper detailing the "precise role and function" of the Planning Ministry and National Planning Commission, headed by former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, would be released for discussion by the end of July. Addressing the National Assembly on Wednesday, Manuel said the planning function would primarily coordinate the process through which government developed its long-term vision and plans. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Parly to help decide Planning Ministries' functions - 25 June
All stakeholders will have an opportunity to input into the process of deciding what functions the National Planning Commission and Planning Ministry will have and how they will be performed. - BuaNews Online website

See also : Government

Manuel warns of looming risks to economic recovery - 5 June
Despite some "green" and "brown" shoots of economic recovery, major risks loomed "perilously large", South Africa's Minister in The Presidency responsible for Planning, Trevor Manuel, said on Friday. Speaking in Parliament during a debate on President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address, Manuel acknowledged that there had been some indicators of stabilisation over recent weeks. But he also listed several risks, including : high levels of indebtedness of households and the rising interest burden of governments ; the negative effects of governments having to reduce their debt burdens ; and the fact that employment might continue to fall for some time even after economic output recovers. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Manuel calls business 'cowards' - 12 June
Trevor Manuel, the minister of national planning in President Jacob Zuma's office, has called business cowardly for crumbling too easily to labour and castigated trade unions for abusing the right to strike over social issues. In strongly worded comments at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, Manuel said South Africans needed to redevelop the sort of trust that got them through the constitutional negotiations and led to democracy in order to progress. - The Times website

Manuel gets it in the neck - 13 June
Trevor Manuel has provoked a furious response from unions and a sharp rebuke from business for his attack on both of them this week. Former finance minister Manuel, now head of the National Planning Commission in the Presidency, accused unions of abusing their right to call socio-economic strikes under Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act and told business leaders they were "cowardly" for not standing up to unions more. - IOL website

Trevor the clever revver - 18 June
Last week Trevor scored a double whammy that even made me envious. With one comment he managed to upset both the unions and big business. At the close of the World Economic Forum in Cape Town the newly appointed Minister of National Planning criticised business's reluctance to stand up to the unions. All Trevor Manuel did by making that comment was to announce that there is a new world order and if we want to compete we need to understand what is going on. It is not government's job to lobby for pay increases or to take the side of management. Trevor Manuel's comments have nothing to do with the class struggle or bashing the unions. Better than most, Manuel knows that we need to be globally competitive - Article by David Bullard on the Moneyweb website

Manuel and the battle over economic policy - 22 June
Trevor Manuel, the Minister in the Presidency, was quite right.  South Africa's business leaders, he told the World Economic Forum, have been acting like cowards in failing to provide an effective counter-weight to organized labour and that employers were giving in too readily to workers' wage demands. Nor are BUSA and the SACCI speaking out loud and clear in support of free speech, individual enterprise, capitalism, market solutions and private ownership. Yet those bedrock principles of democratic society are now under attack every day by the SACP and Cosatu, members of the ANC Alliance, as they jockey for power.  When BUSA and the SACCI do make public statements they behave like deer caught in the headlights. - Moneyweb website

Manuel takes over responsibility for Stats SA - 18 June
National Planning Commission Minister Trevor Manuel is to take over responsibility for Stats SA, Business Day reported on Thursday. The organisation will also have its role expanded to supply information needed for government's strategic planning, statistician-general Pali Lehohla said on Wednesday. "There will be drastic changes in relation to the information we are collecting because planning information is very detailed". - Moneyweb website

Stats SA to broaden its scope of data - 18 June
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is to broaden the scope of data and information it collects in order to respond to the new planning needs of government, says Statistician General Pali Lehohla. Reporting to Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Lehohla said : "We need to dispassionately look at what is produced by Stats SA and how it relates to the new mandate and trajectory of the country". He said this meant going beyond statistics that respond to business cycles and statistics that respond to economic structure, monitoring and evaluation to a statistical system that also looked at input and planning. - BuaNews Online website

National Prosecuting Authority

'Motlanthe distorted report' - 18 June
Axed national prosecutions director Vusi Pikoli argues that former president Kgalema Motlanthe distorted and manipulated a report on whether he was fit to hold office. This occurred when Motlanthe recommended Pikoli's dismissal, according to the latest exchange of legal papers in his challenge to being fired. In the papers, released by Pikoli's lawyers on Thursday, it is argued that Motlanthe's citing of what he calls the "two week one week" conversation as a reason to fire him, was incorrect. - News24 website

NPA report on 'meddling' - 8 June
The two main players in the spy-tapes saga might still be brought to account for allegedly "meddling" in the state's corruption case against Jacob Zuma, who is now president. Two months after announcing the decision not to pursue the case against Zuma, based on intercepted phone calls between former Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy and former NPA head Bulelani Ngcuka, the NPA said it is now preparing a report on the action it believes should be taken against the two. NPA spokesman Tlali Tlali said acting national director of public prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe will, in the next few weeks, present Justice Minister Jeff Radebe with a report and recommendations on the issue. Radebe will then be expected to decide whether a criminal investigation should be launched into McCarthy and Ngcuka's actions. - The Times website

Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) (formerly Scorpions)

Scorpions seek legal advice - 7 June
About 300 former Scorpions members have, through their union, sought legal advice on the impending move to their new home. The investigators are "fearful" that the offer made to them by the police to join the new Directorate for Priority Crimes might violate their rights. This week, Manie de Clercq, general manager of the Public Servants’ Association of SA, said they had appointed a lawyer to write to the acting national police chief, Commissioner Tim Williams, to voice their concerns. Some members are unhappy that their pension contribution might decrease. - The Times website

10 June 2009
New anti-crime unit ready to crush criminals
BuaNews Online website

Parliament

Parly at the click of a mouse - 22 June The library of Parliament in Cape Town is on a mission to make every debate or speech recorded in its halls since 1857 digitally available to the public. Albert Ntunja, the library and information unit manager, said the digitisation process would begin when funding has been secured. The library aims to follow examples from Britain, the US and Scandinavian countries where parliamentary archives can be accessed on websites. - My Broadband website

Pension Funds

The right to withhold pension funds - 2 June
Does a pension fund have the authority to withhold payment of pension benefits due to an employee, pending the outcome of any action instituted by the employer against the employee where the fund's own rules do not provides for this? - DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr website
Keyphrase :
Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation Ltd v Oosthuizen (2008) JOL 22846 (SCA)

Presidency

New DG announced - 5 June
Former secret service head Vusi Mavimbela has been appointed as the new director general in the presidency, the government said on Friday. Mavimbela was seen as a close ally of former president Thabo Mbeki and served as his political adviser from 1994 to 1998. He became director general of the National Intelligence Agency in 1999. He replaces Frank Chikane. - IOL website

Privacy

Sex pests will be named and shamed : this will help screen job seekers - 18 June
People who have been convicted of sex crimes against children will find their names in a public register by the end of the month. Justice department director-general Menzi Simelane told Parliament yesterday that the sexual offenders register will be introduced from July 1. "We have gone a long way to establishing the register. In fact, it is ready", Simelane said. The register comes about as a result of the new Sexual Offences Act, passed last year. - Sowetan website

Provincial Government

23 June 2009
Address by the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, honourable Sicelo Shiceka, on the occasion of the Budget Vote in Parliament
SA Government Information website

Provinces may be scrapped : Shiceka - 23 June
Changes to provincial and local government structures were being studied and a decision would be made by March next year whether SA needed provinces at all, Co-operative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka said yesterday. The possibility of changes in the number of provinces has long been a subject for debate but this is the first time that there has been a suggestion that provinces could be abandoned completely. - Business Day website

Zille slams Shiceka's 'do we need provinces?' statement - 23 June
The DA condemns in the strongest possible terms the acknowledgement yesterday by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, that the ruling party may try to scrap the provinces and that it is forging ahead with the Constitution 17th Amendment Bill. I have written to President Zuma requesting an urgent meeting to state my objections to these measures. - Politicsweb website

Hands off three-tier system, DA tells govt - 24 June
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille has issued a strong call to government to reject any plan to do away with provinces or to reduce their self-governing powers. - Citizen website

ANC handling of local government 'a failure' - 24 June
Despite some successes, the ANC government's management of provincial and local government in the past 15 years had been a failure, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka said yesterday. His assessment, as he introduced his budget vote in the National Assembly, is the most brutal yet from a minister. Shiceka said that unless something was done, the state would fail to deal with service delivery backlogs, let alone make progress. - Business Day website

What now for provinces? - 26 June
Does this mean that provinces will be abolished? I seriously doubt that it would. First, it would require a major re-engineering of the Constitution. The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will have to be scrapped along with the whole section of the Constitution dealing with provincial government. Chapter 3 – dealing with co-operative government – will also have to be amended. Whether the present crop of ANC leaders has the will and expertise to take on this momentous task is unclear. - Pierre de Vos on the Constitutionally Speaking website

See also : InfoUpdate 11 of 2009. South Africa. Provincial Government

Public Enterprises

Embattled state firms could be sold off : Hogan - 10 June
Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan yesterday warned unprofitable state-owned enterprises that the new administration might be prepared to sell them if they continued to underperform as the state could not afford to bail them out indefinitely. She conceded, however, that selling any of the businesses in today’s economic environment would be extremely difficult, not to mention the stiff political resistance that such a move would encounter. - Business Day website

Storm breaks out over Hogan's privatisation utterances - 11 June
South Africa's newly installed Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan came under intense fire on Thursday for her suggestion earlier in the week that unprofitable State-owned businesses should possibly be privatised. Both the chair of Parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises, Mabel Mentor, and the general secretary of one of the country's most powerful trade unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Frans Baleni, indicated that Hogan had overstepped the mark. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

11 June 2009
Committee chairperson’s response to the Minister’s statement on selling under-performing Public Enterprises
SA Government Information website

Parastatals must help housing : HDA - 12 June
State-owned enterprises should be obliged to sell property for housing projects for no more than its historical cost, the head of the new Housing Development Agency (HDA) said on Friday. Briefing Parliament's human settlements committee, Taffy Adler said a policy should be adopted that companies like Transnet and Denel forego the market price for assets when these are well-suited for social housing. He cited the example of the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg, which Transnet bought from Anglo American for R33-million in 1999 and has been trying to sell for a reported R600-million in recent years. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Road Accident Fund

Survey results - 24 June
There was a quick and fairly good response to the Road Accident Fund survey.  The first question was whether or not members thought that Jacob Modise would try to implement direct payments again and 77% said yes and 23% of you said no.  Amongst those who said no, the reasons given as contained on the comments on lawblog.co.za included the fact that these pronouncements were made, and in the mind of members, simply for face-saving efforts. - Michael di Broglio's Legal Blog

South African Revenue Service and National Treasury

Gordhan warns of spending limitations as tax revenues decline - 5 June
South Africa's new Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan emphasised the need for continued fiscal prudence in an address to the National Assembly on Friday, asserting that there "will be limitations to what we can spend", owing both to the effects of the global economic crisis and the fact that the country had descended into its first recession in 17 years. Tax revenues were expected to decline, Gordhan said, and government would, therefore, have to separate urgent expenditure from programmes that could await more favourable conditions. The country's ability to borrow from the capital markets was also limited by higher borrowing costs. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

New Treasury unit to probe public-procurement corruption - 5 June
The National Treasury would establish a unit to monitor and investigate corruption in public procurement processes, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced on Friday. Speaking in Cape Town, Gordhan said that the unit would focus on both government employees and private-sector involvement in such crimes. "It is imperative that we deal with all forms of leakage from the State, especially at a time when every cent needs to be properly used for its intended purpose", he said. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Statistics

Millions of S Africans under census radar - 20 June
About six million South Africans - a conservative estimate - might not be counted in the next census because some citizens prefer not to use their physical addresses or do not have a formal place of residence. In some cases, especially in rural areas, people use landmarks rather than physical addresses when giving direction. If municipalities do not work smarter and faster in the next 18 months, a significant number of South Africans will not be counted in the next census, due in 2011. - IOL website

See also : National Planning Commission. Manuel takes over responsibility for Stats SA

Taxation Law

Big tax changes you should know about - 9 June
The Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2009 and Draft Taxation Laws Second Amendment Bill, 2009 were published for public comment on June 1 2009. The effective date is from the commencement of the year of assessment ending on or after January 1 2010, except where indicated otherwise. These two Bills will be the only tax amendment legislation passed this year, and cover the amendments contained in the draft Bills released in February this year as well as the other more complex substantive amendments that would otherwise be contained in a Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, including the second round of amendments to convert the Secondary Tax on Companies into a Dividends Tax on shareholders. Here are some of the key legislative changes made in the draft Bills. - Moneyweb website

Tax break looms for property investors - 25 June
David Warneke, a tax specialist and partner at Cameron & Prentice Chartered Accountants, spells out how a new draft law will work in favour of property investors. The Draft 2009 Taxation Laws Amendments contain a proposal that, if enacted, will allow individuals to transfer their domestic residence out of a company or close-corporation, for a period of two years, tax-free. The motivation for the proposal was to allow such entities to avoid the payment of annual duties. - Moneyweb website

Corporate social responsibility now tax deductable - 25 June
For some years there has been doubt concerning the deductibility of corporate social responsibility payments by companies. The decision to make such contributions may be driven by the need to meet the requirements of the Black Economic Empowerment scorecard, in particular, the minimum requirements of the socio-economic development category of the BEE Codes of Good Conduct that business undertakings should expend not less than 1% of their net profit after tax on CSI projects. A binding class ruling was published by Sars on May 15 2009, which deals with the deductibility of CSI expenditure to be incurred in order to meet these minimum requirements by a particular group of taxpayers. - Moneyweb website

Secret VAT deductions - 1 June
Companies have been pressing the South African Revenue Service (Sars) to allow VAT deductions on holding company expenses, corporate finance fees incurred relating to BEE transactions and company reorganisations, investment transactions and the apportionment of dividend income but have had few successes. Victories have, however, been won on holding company expenses. - Moneyweb website

It pays to go on secondment - 19 June
The focus of this article is on another benefit of secondments, namely the concessions granted to both an employer and employee in respect of South African tax and exchange controls when such a secondment takes place. - Article by Caroline Rogers, tax associate, and Hanneke Farrand, a tax director, at ENS on the Moneyweb website

Collective Investment Schemes dividend tax conundrum - 4 June
The implementation of the new dividends tax, which was first mentioned in the Budget speech in February 2007 and ever since has been the subject of much discussion and debate, will remain a hot topic for the months to come. Who should bear the ultimate withholding obligation in the case of intermediate entities is of interest and particularly in the case of Collective Investment Schemes (CIS). - Moneyweb website

See also : 2010 FIFA World Cup above

Trade and Industry

Discord over trade talks with EU sets backdrop for SADC meeting - 19 June
Southern African Development Community (SADC) trade ministers met in Cape Town on Friday against the backdrop of continuing unhappiness and division over the best way to proceed with economic partnership agreement (EPA) negotiations with the European Union (EU). Relations between the so-called "SACD-EPA" group, comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola and South Africa, could be a particular point of strain. This, owing to the fact that Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Mozambique moved ahead in early June to sign "interim EPAs" with the EU, notwithstanding South Africa’s objections. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

New insight into SA's bail-out model - 12 June
Over the past few months, there has been significant uncertainty about what would become of a proposal in the February 19 framework for South Africa's response to the international economic crisis, that sectors and firms in distress receive support. Since that time, several working groups have reportedly been assessing implementation options, with the Department of Trade and Industry indicating in May that the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) had created a specific response programme for clothing and textile firms and that further work was under way for other companies in the automotive and mining sectors. Engineering News has since established that specific companies would only be considered for support if they could show that they had been viable prior to the crisis, or if their maintenance was considered 'strategic' by the State. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

IDC to disburse R70bn over 5 years - 12 June
South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation will provide R70-billion of new funding over the next five years to help local companies hurt by a global downturn, a senior official said on Friday. The government has repeatedly said it would not directly help embattled companies and the IDC, a State-owned financial agency, would be key in supporting struggling industries. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Clothing and Textiles

DTI unveils plan to help textile industry - 21 May
South Africa unveiled a plan on Thursday to help the struggling textile sector, a key employer, to better compete with cheap Chinese imports. The department of trade and industry (DTI) said in a statement it would grant loans with preferential lending rates to textile firms wanting to upgrade equipment and would encourage cost-sharing within the industry. It would also crack down on illegal imports of cheap textiles from Asia, which have already put several South African companies out of business and forced others to cull jobs, and would cut import duties on specialist fabrics. The Southern African Clothing and Textile Union (SACTWU) said the plan to allow local companies to import some fabrics used in clothing and home textile manufacturing duty free will help keep production costs down. - Moneyweb website

DTI says SA not threatening stability of Sacu, regional trade - 8 June
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) affirmed on Monday that South Africa was not seeking to threaten the stability of the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu), or trade in the region in general, by deciding not to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). It stated that the legal requirements to manage the way Sacu functions, would need to be addressed. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

See also : Government Speeches. Zuma confirms possible bail-outs for distressed SA firms

Trade Marks

Brand dilution : can we finally 'laugh it off'? - 4 June
Brand dilution is what happens when someone uses a well known brand in an unrelated field. No-one's confused, yet the brand is still weakened. My view is that the courts have for some time felt that they had to put the brake on some of the outrageous infringement claims that were being made. And, in the process, they have well and truly diluted dilution protection. -  Article by intellectual property legal expert Hans Muhlberg on the Marketingweb website
Keyphrases :
Constitutional Court 
European Court of Justice. 

Transport and Roads

17 June 2009
Minister Ndebele welcomes rail safety agreement
SA Government Information website

Excerpt :
"The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) would within three months from the signing of the agreement investigate the feasibility of the establishment of an insurance policy to cater for all rail commuters injured within the rail environment in South Africa"

Deal puts train safety on track - 20 June
A landmark deal signed by Metrorail, Cosatu and the Rail Commuters Action Group this week includes an operational safety plan and provides an open door for victims of violence to claim financial compensation. A multimillion-rand settlement has also been paid to victims of train violence. - IOL website

See also :
Constitutional Court of South Africa
26 November 2004
CCT 56/03 [2004] ZACC 20 ; 2005 (2) SA 359 (CC) ; 2005 (4) BCLR 301 (CC)
Rail Commuters Action Group v Transnet Ltd trading as Metrorail

Cape Provincial Division
6 February 2003
10968/2001 [2003] ZAWCHC 3
Rail Commuter Action Group and Others v Transnet Ltd trading as Metrorail and Others

Cape Provincial Division
25 July 2006
8232/2005 [2006] ZAWCHC 69
Rail Commuters Action Group and Others v Transnet Ltd trading as Metrorail and Others

11 June 2009
Statement by Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele following the Government and Taxi Industry Meeting, Midrand
SA Government Information website

Taxi industry pleads for rehabilitation - 10 June
Taxi management, which says it is aware that the taxi industry is harbouring criminals, is pleading with the government to assist in cleaning up the industry. Speaking at the launch of the GauRide at Southgate Mall, Seyanka Nnotho, representing the taxi industry, said they are happy with the governments plan to train taxi drivers in customer care and etiquette for the Confederations Cup and World Cup 2010 tournaments ; however, more should be done. - Sowetan website
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup

See also : Taxi driver minimum wage increased

Taxi drivers ask for better working conditions - 25 June
Taxi drivers at the Rosebank Taxi Rank do not seem too enthusiastic about the government's announcement of a 11% increase in their minimum wage to R1 933.72 a month - instead they would like help from the Labour Department to secure improved working conditions. - Sowetan website

Taxis have no rights to routes, say law experts - 25 June
The taxi industry had no claim to ownership of intellectual property in transport routes, legal experts said yesterday. Earlier this week the National Taxi Alliance claimed it should have exclusive ownership of the government's planned bus rapid transit (BRT) system.  "SA's intellectual property laws are clearly defined and range from trademarks through to patents and copyrights. Among these, no provision is made for taxi routes," said Herman Blignaut, a partner at intellectual property law firm Spoor & Fisher. Alpheus Mlalazi, secretary-general of the National Taxi Alliance, said the routes had been used by taxis long before the government "even thought" of the BRT project. - allAfrica website

Taxi drivers threaten to take down the World Cup - 11 June
While South Africa eagerly anticipates playing host to next year's soccer championship, the country's taxi unions are vowing to derail a new transit system that they say will put their members out of business. - Globe and Mail website

All potholes lead to the Adopt-a-Pothole Project - 18 June
The Empowerment Gateway Group announced today that they have received the much-awaited authorization from the Govan Mbeki municipal council in Mpumalanga, to repair potholes in the roads under the jurisdiction of the council. Empowerment Gateway is now inviting the business sector to participate as sponsors and custodians in the Adopt-a-Pothole programme. The programme has been designed as a practical business and enterprise development incubator and it will recruit, train and mentor unemployed individuals as business unit caretakers, admin and support officers, and pothole doctors in the developing social entrepreneurship arena. Currently it is estimated that potholes are costing South African drivers over R20 billion in repair costs per year to repair damages caused by potholes, with the average repair cost, which includes replacement of vehicle parts and labour costs, being around R 5 000 per incident. - Press Releases website

See also : Court grants man R21m

Ancestors' graves found on site of new airport - 7 June
A burial ground for indentured labourers, on land which is part of the new King Shaka International Airport on KwaZulu-Natal's north coast, has been unearthed by a descendent of one of the workers. Retired Tongaat teacher Tholsi Mudly and her uncle, Arumogam "Billy" Govender, discovered the graveyard on Inyaninga Estate in February while trying to trace the burial site of her grandparents and great-grandmother. The land is co-owned by Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and the Dube Tradeport consortium. The pair believe that about 50 indentured labourers were laid to rest at the site, which Acsa and Dube Tradeport bought from sugar company Tongaat-Hulett. The land, which was earmarked for storage and agricultural use, stands a few hundred metres away from the proposed new airport, which is set to open next year. At a meeting between Mudly and a Dube Tradeport environmental impact assessor, she was assured that the burial site would not be desecrated. - The Times website

Miscellaneous

Interview with Albie Sachs on The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law - 2 June
ConCourt justice Albie Sachs' new book, The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law, will be published by OUP in the UK this month, and appear in SA a bit later this year. For the uninitiated, Sachs' writing - which the world first had proper sight of with The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs - is light but strong, intellectually invigorating and at times quite moving.Strange Alchemy is sure to be a real treat. Here's an interview with the author, conducted by Louise Tudor Jones. - Book SA News website

Stem cell couple still await extradition - 21 June
A Cape Town couple, wanted in the US for allegedly exploiting patients with promises of miracle stem cell cures, could have been extradited months ago. Stephen van Rooyen and his American wife Laura Brown, who live in Llandudno, were expected to be arrested by Interpol authorities in January, soon after the Constitutional Court ruled that the extradition agreement between South Africa and the US was valid. The couple are facing a 51-count indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Atlanta in 2006. - IOL website

See also :

Couple in 'stem-cell witch-hunt' - 19 August 2006
News24 website
[InfoUpdate 31 of 2006]

Stem cell accused try to draw Mbeki into case - 6 September 2006
IOL website
Keyphrase :
Transvaal Provincial Division
[InfoUpdate 34 of 2006]

Extraditions thrown into disarray by landmark ruling - 7 March 2008
Legalbrief website
[InfoUpdate 10 of 2008]

Interpol goes into action - 23 January 2009
IOL website
[InfoUpdate 3 of 2009]

Constitutional Court
21 January 2009
CCT 24/08 ; CCT 52/08
The President of the Republic of South Africa and Others v Quagliani ; The President of the Republic of South Africa and Others v Van Rooyen and Brown ; Goodwin v Director General, Department of Justice and Constitutional Development ; with The Speaker of the National Assembly and The Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces intervening
Validity of the Extradition Agreement concluded between South Africa and the United States of America in 1999

Cwele cleared in saga of drug mule emails - 18 June
A senior Hibiscus Municipality official has been cleared of charges relating to the misuse of municipal resources. Sheryl Cwele, the wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, had been investigated in connection with her email correspondence with drug mule Tessa Beetge, who is serving an eight-year sentence in a Brazilian prison. Beetge had been caught trying to smuggle a 3kg block of raw cocaine from that country to South Africa in June last year. The municipality's investigators found that Cwele, the director of health and community services, had used council resources in her correspondence with Beetge, which might have breached municipal policies, but that it had been on too small a scale to require that disciplinary action be taken. Council spokesperson Simon Soboyisa said the investigators had come to their decision because Cwele had not been charged or questioned by the police regarding her relationship with Beetge. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Drug smuggling

See also :
Cwele probe has stalled : Beetge's dad - 3 May
IOL website
[InfoUpdate no.11 of 2009]

Schizophrenic South African drug courier given seven years - 17 June
A South African schizophrenic drug courier has received a seven-year sentence from Judge Frank O’Donnell who said "a message has to go back that bringing drugs here is a big deal". Fioranda Abdelkhir (aged 43) was in a wheelchair with a broken ankle when Customs and Excise officials stopped her at Dublin Airport on suspicion that she had drugs in her luggage. Judge O'Donnell said he was taking an "unusual step" of suspending the last five years of her sentence, which he backdated to January 2008 when she entered custody, acknowledging that Abdelkhir was a vulnerable person open to exploitation. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Drug smuggling

Quick buck is lure for SA drug mules - 22 June
South African drug mules hired to courier drugs from foreign countries face harsh sentences and even the death penalty abroad. At least 668 South Africans are in foreign prisons on drug-related charges, with half of them held in South American prisons. In the past year alone, five South Africans, including three from KwaZulu-Natal, have been arrested for being carriers in international drug operations. - IOL website
Keyphrase :
Drug smuggling

InfoUpdate : an Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society