President of Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) and former deputy minister of defence and military veterans Kebby Maphatsoe is returning to Parliament.

This time Maphatsoe is not going back to Cape Town as an executive member but, as a back-bencher.

Maphatsoe will replace the longest serving member of the ANC in Parliament, Jeff Radebe, who had led many departments since his initial appointment to Cabinet in 1994. 

READ: Seven ministries and five parliaments later, Jeff Radebe bows out of Cabinet

ANC Women’s League president and former Social Development minister and minister in the Presidency, Bathabile Dlamini, will be replaced by Zanele Nkomo.

Former Tourism minister, Derek Hanekom, will be replaced by Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen.

The vacant position left by former minister of Labour, Mildred Oliphant, will be taken over by former Rustenburg mayor, Matthew Wolmarans. 

Alexandra Beukes will replace Siyabonga Cwele, who also occupied several cabinet positions previously.

ANC Chief Whip, Pemmy Majodina, said in a statement on Saturday that the five will take up seats in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“The ANC in Parliament welcomes these new members and we have full confidence that they will serve the people of South Africa with absolute distinction,” she said.

“We also extend our gratitude to the comrades who resigned from Parliament for their diligent service to the ANC and to the people of South Africa. We look forward to working with them in the future as they have indicated their willingness to continue serving the ANC and the country in other capacities. We wish them well,” she said.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new MPs will take place on Tuesday, June 18 2019, at 15:00 in Parliament.

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The Gugulethu fire station has been temporarily closed following an attack on firefighters on Thursday evening, the City of Cape Town’s safety and security department announced on Friday.

Firefighters were attacked after extinguishing a fire at nearby municipal offices.

It is believed that a car and a carport at the Fezeka municipal office, next to the fire station, were set alight.

“Firefighters extinguished the fire, but soon became targets themselves when the group started hurling stones at their building, causing damage to the bay doors,” said mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith.   

The City’s chief fire officer has suspended operations at the Gugulethu fire station as a result.

Smith said firefighters at the Gugulethu station have had to be deployed to other fire stations in the meantime, amid safety concerns and until the situation in the area calms down.

Smith condemned the attack, saying the relocation of staff to other stations means that firefighting efforts in Gugulethu and surrounding areas would take longer, “as there are no resources operating from the local fire station until further notice”.   

The City has called on Gugulethu residents to help identify the suspects behind the attack. 

The first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the 6th Parliament will be a much more subdued affair, with a number of cost-saving measures announced by Parliament’s presiding officers.

One of them is that no imbongi (or praise singer) will usher President Cyril Ramaphosa into the chamber ahead of his address this year.

Parliament has budgeted around R2m for the address, well below the R9.2m spent on the SONA five years ago.

National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise said “we have budgeted just over R2m. That is the budget. That does not mean we want to expend all the money. I’m hoping that it does go down to below [R2m].”

“While various features that have traditionally characterised both the preparations and the actual SONA ceremonies have been modified for this address, the occasion will still preserve the decorum and solemnity of a key state event of this magnitude,” said National Assembly Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli on Thursday.

He said the modifications were made with the prevailing economic hardships that face most South Africans in mind, as well as expected unfavourable weather conditions.

Tsenoli added that they were mindful that the “ceremony takes place against the backdrop of a recent slump in our economy in the first three months of 2019, which Stats SA observed is the biggest quarterly fall in economic activity since the first quarter of 2009″. 

Fin24 previously reported that, if South Africa’s economy contracts again in the next quarter of 2019, the country will enter a recession.

“Appropriate cost-cutting measures are thus necessary.”

Full ceremonial parade by SANDF

Some of the cost containment and cutting measures that Parliament has undertaken include limiting certain aspects of public participation and doing away with the post-address dinner for MPs. There has also been a “drastic” reduction in the event marketing and advertising budget.  

Tsenoli confirmed that “…the junior guard and the civil guard who form a guard of honour for the state procession, the eminent persons, who are usually selected from provinces on the basis of their outstanding achievements in their respective fields, will also not be part of the ceremony”.

Following discussion with Ramaphosa, Parliament also decided to withdraw the imbongi which usually ushers presidents into the chamber ahead of the address.

“Nine lucky winners of a radio competition selected from each of our provinces to attend the joint sitting have also not been included for this event.”

Though there will be a full ceremonial parade of the South African National Defence Force, consisting of the Army, Navy and Airforce – including a salute flight by the Air Force – these additional costs are external and will be covered by the Department of Defence.

“The defence force might choose to do certain things or to cut down on certain things but it is their budget, it is their programme,” Modise said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa wants to cross-examine DA leader Mmusi Maimane and other witnesses interviewed by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane as part of her investigation into the Bosasa donation saga.  

Maimane laid a complaint with the Public Protector in November last year, alleging the president had misled the National Assembly when he responded to a follow-up question by Maimane over a R500 000 payment from Bosasa, incorrectly believed to have been to Ramaphosa’s son, Andile.

On Tuesday, Mkhwebane – in response to a demand by Maimane that she release the “full and unredacted” investigation report into the Ramaphosa/Bosasa debacle – confirmed that Ramaphosa wanted to cross-examine witnesses she had interviewed.

This includes Maimane.

“Using my discretion in terms of Section 7 (9) of the Public Protector Act, I have requested President Ramaphosa to provide the questions they would want to ask, so that I can determine whether it is justifiable to allow that,” Mkhwebane’s letter reads.

Adverse findings

She also confirms she had issued Ramaphosa with a notice in terms of Section 7 (9) on May 30, 2019, giving him 10 days to respond to what are believed to be adverse findings against him.

Ramaphosa requested an extension to June 28, the letter states.

Mkhwebane said she had granted Ramaphosa an extension to June 21 to respond to the notice, “subsequent to which I can finalise my investigation and issue the report”.

A spokesperson for Maimane, Azola Mboniswa, on Wednesday said it was clear Ramaphosa was embroiled in a corruption scandal, and was employing Jacob Zuma-style tactics of questioning the complainants and whistleblowers, instead of dealing with the issues.

“We would, however, be jumping the gun if we spoke about whether Mr Maimane will submit himself for cross-examination or not. We have received no formal communication requesting this – all we have is an update from the Public Protector. When that finally comes, Mr Maimane will seek legal advice,” Mboniswa said.

A brief history of how the Bosasa/Ramaphosa saga unfolded:

Maimane confronted Ramaphosa with a signed affidavit by Peet Venter, a former auditor of now well-known and corruption-accused facilities management company, Bosasa during a question-and-answer session in Parliament in November 2018.

Venter alleged in the affidavit that he paid R500 000 to the “Andile Ramaphosa Foundation”, on the instruction of Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson, in October 2017, an attached a proof of payment.

Ramaphosa responded that he was made aware of this issue, and had questioned his son Andile “at close range” over the contract he had with Bosasa.

That same afternoon, Andile Ramaphosa told News24 he had never seen a cent of the R500 000, revealing crucially that his father had responded incorrectly to the National Assembly. 

Days later, after News24 discovered the true owner of the bank account on the proof of payment (Sandton law firm, Edelstein Farber Grobler), and sent questions to the law firm in question, Ramaphosa sent a letter to the speaker of Parliament, correcting his oral reply.

The manner in which the donation was made, through a Bosasa front company named Miotto Trading and Advisory Services (owned by Venter’s sister, Margaret Longworth) was also highlighted by News24.

Ramaphosa explained that he had got it wrong.

The R500 000 in question was never for his son, but a donation toward his CR17 ANC presidential campaign.

The EFG account was used to house his campaign donations, and he had only become aware of this when his campaign managers pointed this out to him.  

The Sunday Independent reported over the weekend that a preliminary version of Mkhwebane’s report found Ramaphosa had “inadvertently” misled Parliament and had failed to declare the R500 000 donation to his CR17 campaign by Watson.

According to the report, Mkhwebane had found Ramaphosa violated the Constitution and the Executive Ethics Act.

ALSO READ: Clear and Present Danger – Ramaphosa, Bosasa and the Mkhwebane quandary

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The bail application of a teenager accused of stabbing a Forest High pupil to death in Turffontein, Johannesburg, was postponed last week after Magistrate Basimane Molwana rubbished the State and defence’s affidavits, which were submitted to court. 

Mohammed Mwela, 19, is accused of murdering 16-year-old Daniel Bakwela outside the school last Monday. He also faces two charges of attempted murder for allegedly stabbing two other pupils. 

Molwana said the commissioning of the affidavits was not up to standard, stating that he was the one who had to go through a fact-finding process to get clarity on certain issues.

He granted Mwela R5 000 bail on Monday. 

Here are the inconsistencies that Molwana pointed out: 

READ: Forest High School stabbing accused granted bail

1. No one told the court how many times Bakwela was stabbed 

Molwana said the explanations from the State and defence did not give clarity on how many times Bakwela had been stabbed.

The court stated that the matter was a Schedule 5 offence. This means the Mwela’s legal team had to provide the court with evidence to satisfy it that it was in the interest of justice for him to be released on bail.

Molwana said the submission on the number of times the deceased had been stabbed was therefore important in order for the court to be satisfied that it was in the interest of justice that he be granted bail.

“No one told this court, neither the investigative officer nor defence, how many times the deceased had been stabbed. This might have had an impact on determining the schedule.” 

2. No timetable was handed to the court

Mwela’s attorney, Mudi Mavhengani, submitted to the court that he be granted bail to allow him to exercise his constitutional right to education and complete his Grade 11 June examinations. 

Molwana said that there should have been proof, in the form of a timetable, that the accused was writing exams. 

“The deceased [Bakwela] had a constitutional right to life. Equally, the accused [Mwela] has a constitutional right to education and this court is an upper guardian regarding those rights.” 

ALSO READ: Stabbed Forest High pupil was facing armed robbery charges – NPA

3. Stouter Kinders gang not mentioned by State in affidavit

On Friday – during the bail application – Mwela, the investigating officer and education department spokesperson Steve Mabona took to the witness stand to clarify the inconsistencies in the affidavits.

This saw Mwela submitting that there was a gang, which the deceased was part of. When Molwana asked how he knew that there was a gang, Mwela replied: “It is known, and they are called the Stouter Kinders gang.” 

“Evidence was led under oath by the applicant that the deceased belongs to a gang. Such evidence was never placed before the court by the investigation officer,” said Molwana. 

4. Education spokesperson failed to assist court with policy on ages of pupils

Also, in question, on Friday, was the ages of the pupils. Mwela is in Grade 11 and aged 19, while Bakwela was 16 and in Grade 8. Mabona, who was testifying on behalf of the department, could not give an immediate answer to the court.

“The court asks itself this question as the deceased himself was 16 in Grade 8, which translates to him finishing matric, if he was alive and didn’t drop any year of study, at 21 years of age,” said Molwana. 

5. Teachers at Forest High School are teaching adults

The magistrate said because of the ages of both pupils, it appeared there were older pupils in the school and no clarity was given as to what the department’s view was of pupils’ ages.

“It appears that adults are studying at Forest High School. It appears that, at that school, teachers are teaching people who are adults or almost adults,” Molwana said.

He added that the information about what the education policy stated about age was needed. 

‘Interest of justice permits Mwela to be granted bail’

These were some critical inconsistencies that Molwana was not impressed with. He said that after having considered all the contradictions and flawed information, he had to question whether Mwela was innocent and eligible for bail, despite all the contradictions and inconsistencies in the submitted affidavits. 

“The court finds that the interest of justice permits that the accused be released on bail. The accused is to be relocated to a jurisdiction that is known to the court as submitted by the State, investigation officer and defence,” Molwana ruled. 

‘State satisfied that its affidavit was well-commissioned’

In response, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the State was adamant there was nothing wrong with the submitted affidavit. 

“We can safely say, as the NPA, that the affidavit was properly commissioned. Unless there is a misunderstanding of how an affidavit should be commissioned. According to us, it was properly commissioned,” she said.

Mjonondwane added that investigations were ongoing, saying that the NPA was not yet at the stage where it could pronounce that the matter would go to trial.

She said that most of the issues, which the magistrate had focused on, would be aired in court for a decision on whether the case was strong enough to proceed.

The case was postponed to July 10.