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Daily news update: New Expropriation Bill, Police bust at Blackdoor club, Covid-19 stats
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Fikile Ntshangase, a vocal opponent of plans to extend the Somkhele coal mine, was murdered in her home on Thursday night. Photo supplied
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COVID19 Statistics 25 October 2020: 1 622 new cases and 24 New Covid-19 deaths reported
As of Sunday 25 October 2020, South Africa has recorded a total number of 715 868 positive cases of Covid-19, with 1 622 new cases reported, the health department has announced.
The country has recorded 24 new Covid-19 deaths, bringing the total number to 18 968. Of the 24 deaths reported, 5 occurred in the past 48 hour
What to expect from the controversial, revised Expropriation Bill
The most controversial feature in the Bill is that it entitles the State to expropriate property without compensating the owner.
The controversial Expropriation Bill has been extensively opposed since its introduction in 2015. In consequence, it has been subject to various amendments culminating in the Expropriation Bill, 2020 (the bill).
The Bill has received the Chief Legal Advisor’s stamp of approval from a Constitutional perspective and was published in the Government Gazette on 9 October 2020. It will now be subject to Parliament’s process of consideration, debate and public consultation before it may be enacted into law by the President.
Jan van der Bank looks at some of the cut down trees on his farm in Hammanskraal, 16 September 2020. Jan’s farm is slowly being taken over by illegal intruders that he is unable to prevent from entering his land. The intruders illegaly cut down his trees and sells it as firewood. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Woman who opposed mine extension in KZN shot dead in her home
A vocal opponent of plans to extend Somkhele coal mine, one of South Africa’s largest open coal mines, situated on the border of iMfolozi-Hluhluwe Game Park in northern KwaZulu-Natal, was murdered on Thursday night.
65-year-old Fikile Ntshangase was a leading member of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation, (MCEJO), which is involved in two increasingly complex and protracted legal battles, one of which is to halt all mining at Somkhele until its owners, Tendele Coal (Pty) Ltd, comply with all the required environmental and other laws.
Fikile Ntshangase, a vocal opponent of plans to extend the Somkhele coal mine, was murdered in her home on Thursday night. Photo supplied
WATCH: Police bust Blackdoor club patrons partying past curfew with no masks
In the early hours of Sunday morning, police minister Bheki Cele and members of the SAPS and JMPD busted a club in Sandton, Johannesburg called Blackdoor, for contravening the Disaster Management Act.
In addition to reportedly having no liquor license or manager on duty, the club was packed beyond capacity, practiced no social distancing, and no patrons wore masks. It was also open well beyond the 12am curfew.
SAPS members at Blackdoor, a nightclub in Sandton which was busted for illegally operating past curfew during Level 1 lockdown. Photo: Twitter/@FaithMazibukoSA
Thousands of Cape fur seal pups and adults found dead in Namibia
Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) has launched a funding campaign to get answers to the mysterious deaths of thousands of seal pups and adults.
The organisation, along with the Namibian Dolphin project, released a statement in October, explaining that mid-November and early December is breeding season for Cape fur seals, but that thousands of female seals this year aborted their foetuses.
According to OCN’s Naudé Dreyer, the first pre-term pups were found at the Pelican Point colony in Namibia in late August to mid-September.
A young grey seal gestures as it lies on a beach on the North Sea island of Helgoland, Germany, on January 5, 2020. Hundreds of Grey Seals use the island to give birth to their pups, usually between the months of November and January. The pups, after 3 weeks of nursing, are then left to fend for themselves. 524 grey seal births have been recorded in the period from November 13 to December 26, 2019. Picture: AFP / John MACDOUGALL
Beresford Williams, four others resign from their positions at CSA
Cricket South Africas non-independent directors finally got back in step with the rest of the Members Council when they handed in their resignations on Sunday, leaving just four members of the usually 12-strong board remaining.
Acting president Beresford Williams, Angelo Carolissen of Boland, Eastern Province’s Donovan May, Limpopo’s John Mogodi and Northerns Cricket Union president Tebogo Siko all announced their resignations on Sunday, following the Members Council urging the board to step down in response to sports minister Nathi Mthethwa’s promptings to allow Sascoc to set up an interim board.
Cricket South Africa acting president Beresford Williams has resigned from his position. Picture: Gallo Images
Fuming Fourie: It’s unacceptable that Cheetahs were told so late that Lions game was off!
It is totally unacceptable that they were only informed at the eleventh hour that their game against the Lions at Ellis Park in the Super Rugby Unlocked series on Saturday had been called off due to Covid-19 protocols, said perplexed Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie.
Having already made the five hour bus trip from Bloemfontein on Friday, Fourie said it was very disappointing news, and stressed proper protocol should be put in place.
Cheetahs scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar has been called as close to the perfect rugby player as you can get by his coach, Hawies Fourie. Picture: Getty Images
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