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Daily news update: Zuma court case, new level 1 regulations and Magashule appeal dismissed
Here is your daily news update. Click on the links below for the full story or visit our home page for the latest news.
Picture File: Former President Jacob Zuma addresses his supporters outside his house on 4 July 2021 in Nkandla, South Africa. Photo: Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw
Here is your daily news update. Click on the links below for the full story or visit our home page for the latest news.
Daily news update 01 February
Procedure followed in Zuma’s leave to appeal application is ‘irregular’, court told
Former president Jacob Zuma’s legal team on Monday argued that the procedure adopted by the Pietermaritzburg High Court in Zuma’s leave to appeal application was irregular.
Advocate Dali Mpofu, acting on behalf of the former president, argued that the high court committed an irregularity when it directed the state to submit an answering affidavit in Zuma’s application for leave to appeal.
Mpofu contended that no statute or rule of court made provision for such an affidavit, including the directive that Zuma’s legal team should submit a replying affidavit.
Cabinet approves changes to level 1 Covid-19 regulations
Cabinet has approved changes to adjusted alert level 1 Covid-19 regulations, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele has announced.
According to Gungubele, the changes were approved on Monday following meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC) which received updates on the management of Covid-19 in South Africa.
“The information gathered through the system used by the Department of Health has reported that South Africa has exited the fourth wave nationally,” said Gungubele.
Suspended Magashule in the cold as appeal bid fails
Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s bid to have his suspension overturned in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has failed.
The appeal court dismissed the application with costs.
In July, the full bench of the Johannesburg High Court dismissed Magashule’s application to overturn his suspension from the ANC. That application was dismissed with costs, with the court finding that his suspension was consistent with the ANC’s and the country’s constitution.
Herman Mashaba resigns as City of Joburg councillor
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has confirmed his resignation as councillor in the City of Johannesburg.
Mashaba issued his letter of resignation on Sunday, and will be stepping back from 28 February.
He said following the formation of coalition governments in Gauteng after the 2021 local government elections, he wanted to oversee getting ActionSA set in the council.
“Now that ActionSA’s caucus is settled and our MMCs are actively pursuing programmes of service delivery in Johannesburg, it is time for me to step back and allow someone else the opportunity to gain this critical local government experience,” Mashaba said.
Next chief justice: The four candidates vying for the top job
Four candidates shortlisted by President Cyril Ramaphosa are set to be grilled for the chief justice post this week.
Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo and Supreme Court of Appeal President Mandisa Maya were shortlisted by the president.
The four were picked from an initial list of eight candidates nominated through a public process.
Non-government organisation Judges Matter said Ramaphosa’s decision to break away from the tradition of directly appointing the head of the judiciary and opting for a wider public process should be applauded.
Winde confirms Fritz was suspended over ‘serious’ sexual misconduct allegations
After keeping mum on the reasons behind the suspension of Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz, Premier Alan Winde on Sunday officially confirmed that he suspended the MEC over “serious allegations” of sexual misconduct.
When the premier first announced Fritz’s suspension on 23 January, Winde said it was due to “serious allegations” of misconduct and did not divulge any further details.
But in a statement on Sunday, he finally confirmed the sexual misconduct claims after it emerged through media reports that the allegations were of a sexual nature.
Out of SA’s largest metros, Joburgers pay the least for water
At low or medium levels of water usage, the City of Johannesburg has the cheapest water tariffs among the five largest metros in South Africa.
It is only from 25 kilolitres and upwards that prices start to rise significantly.
But even at a fairly high amount of usage (30kl per month), its charges are in line with Cape Town’s and still significantly lower than Durban’s.
Like the other metros, the tariffs in Joburg are block incline in nature, with a higher charge per kilolitre in each band of usage.
