Read more
Daily news update: Sona budget, Vodacom vs Makate and Bushiri extradition
Here is your daily news update. Click on the links below for the full story or visit our home page for the latest news.
Cape Town City Hall, which will be the official Parliament precinct after a fire gutted Parliament on 2 January 2022. Photo for illustration: iStock
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 09 February
Sona 2022: R1.9 million set aside for this year’s event
Parliament has set aside R1.9 million for the State of the Nation Address (Sona) to be held at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday.
Acting Secretary of Parliament Baby Tyawa said a total of R4 million has been budgeted to include the post Sona events, such as the debate by MPs and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response.
The city hall needed to be kitted out for Sona, Tyawa said.
“Additional costs such as branding, IT, catering, furniture, and interpretation facilities in the hall had to be installed. For the day itself, we put aside R1.9 million, but like I said this is a budget, once we reconcile our expenditure, it could be more, taking into consideration that we had to relocate and invest in the new venue,” she said during a briefing on Tuesday.
High court orders Vodacom to pay ‘Please Call Me’ inventor 5% of revenue
‘Please Call Me’ inventor Nkosana Makate is entitled to 5% of telecommunication giant Vodacom’s revenue generated from his invention for the past 20 years, the Pretoria High Court ruled on Tuesday.
Makate first laid a claim in court in 2015 for millions of rands from Vodacom for the successful service that the company introduced in 2001, which allows cellphone users to send a free message to another user requesting that they be called back.
The Constitutional Court in 2016 ordered Vodacom to pay their former accountant for coming up with the concept. Protracted negotiations ensued between the two parties, but failed to reach a settlement.
Makate rejected Vodacom’s offer of R47 million in 2019.
Bushiri ‘delighted’ with ruling on extradition case
The Malawi High Court has ruled that the extradition committal proceedings against Enlightened Christian Gathering church leader Shepherd Bushiri and wife Mary should continue.
High Court judge Redson Kapindu also said it was the discretion of the lower court to allow virtual court proceedings, adding that virtual proceedings should be allowed where satisfactory reasons have been provided, reports Newzroom Afrika.
The state had approached the high court in an attempt to overturn the lower court’s ruling, arguing that proceedings should be held virtually due to Covid-19, among other issues.
One suspect arrested after Blue Train coach set alight, two more on the run
One suspect has been arrested while two others are on the run after a coach of the luxurious Blue Train was set alight on Tuesday morning.
According to Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi, the train was in for repairs at the company’s engineering facility in Koedoespoort.
“Three people were seen fleeing the scene. One person was apprehended by Transnet security personnel and handed over to the police. Two other people are still at large,” said Shezi in a statement on Tuesday.
Transnet is investigating the cause of the fire.
Rhino poachers now targeting private properties, latest stats show
Despite a reported decrease in rhino poaching in 2021, compared to the pre-Covid period in 2019, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has noted an uptick in private reserve poaching.
This was revealed by the department in the latest rhino poaching statistics released on Tuesday.
A total of 451 rhino were poached in South Africa last year – 327 within government reserves, and 124 on private property.
A total of 209 rhino were poached in the Kruger National Park, the only national park to be hit by the syndicate.
West Coast seismic survey halted after successful urgent interdict
Another stunning victory for the environment and local fishing communities saw a seismic survey taking place along the West Coast halted, after a successful urgent interdict was instituted.
On Monday, the Western Cape High Court ordered Australian multinational Searcher Seismic to cease all seismic survey operations, Richard Spoor Attorneys’ Johan Lorenzen confirmed.
The 2D and 3D survey was taking place in the Western Cape, with plans to move from the Namibian border, past Cape Town and as far as Cape Agulhas, covering an area of 22,000km and 10,000km² respectively.
