On this day in 1990, the late statesman Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in the Western Cape, after 27 years behind bars for his fight against Apartheid.
Provincial ANC secretary Faiez Jacobs said February 11, 1990 was the day that South Africa changed forever.
“Comrade Mandela’s release was achieved through our struggles that had pushed the apartheid regime into a corner where they were forced to negotiate their way out of power,” he said.
“Mandela’s freedom from his prison cell was also brought about because of unrelenting pressure by our international allies.”
Marking the anniversary of the release, and with elections just a few months away, Jacobs said it was time for South Africa and the Western Cape to “return to Mandela’s vision”.
“His struggle, as well as that of those pioneers who shoulder-to-shoulder with him took on the might of apartheid was to establish a non-racial, united, non-sexist and fully democratic state. Those were the ideals he was prepared to die for,” he said.
“We are eternally grateful that he had lived to enter a new country. Here in the Western Cape we pledge to continue Mandela’s fight for a just society.”
Jacobs said they were optimistic of doing well enough in May’s general elections to have a say in how the province will be governed.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said on Sunday it “has no intention” of governing the Western Cape in a coalition. “It will be a regression”.
Addressing the media after the last meeting of the party’s federal council, Maimane said the council confirmed their targets of winning Gauteng and the Northern Cape, and retaining the Western Cape and growing their share of the vote nationally.
On Sunday, it was announced that former Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille would lead Good’s fight for the Western Cape.
She launched the party in December 2018 and recently unveiled its manifesto. Good’s Western Cape campaign launch takes place on Saturday, February 16.
Redress is a pillar of the DA, and race is a proxy for disadvantage, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said, after the DA’s federal council “unanimously” adopted the DA manifesto’s position on redress and empowerment – an ideological battleground within the DA.
Addressing the media in Cape Town on Sunday morning, a visibly buoyant Maimane said the DA’s Federal Council unanimously adopted the party’s manifesto which will officially be launched on February 23 at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg.
“At the manifesto’s core is a compelling offer to build one South Africa for all where there’s a job in every home, our communities and streets are safe, our borders are secure, basic services are delivered to all, and corruption is eliminated,” Maimane said.
He said the manifesto is clear on the matter of redress and empowerment.
“We believe race is a proxy for disadvantage and an accurate reflection of who is still excluded from opportunity. The party has not decided to move away from race-based redress policies, however we unequivocally reject the ANC’s version of redress which operates to enrich and re-enrich the connected elite. Our offer is truly broad-based in that it seeks to break down the wall that exists been the haves and the have-nots,” he said.
“The current model of the ANC has been captured by clever people who run businesses and who want to keep an inside track on the matter. Why are we not considering increasing pension funds of black South Africans? Because if we don’t do that, how do we transfer wealth from one generation to another?
“Our model says, educate, rather than give shares to Mmusi Maimane in your business.”
‘Educate people’
Later, he pointed out that he never was given any shares in a business, tongue in cheek.
“Give equity to employees, educate people, develop enterprise and ultimately broaden inclusion,” he said, summarising the DA’s position on empowerment.
He said the DA supports the principle that where there is equal competence, a black South African should get a position.
He said the ANC’s model of BBBEE “delegitimises” black businesses. “If you’re not connected to the ANC, you’re not going to benefit from BBBEE.”
DA deputy federal chairperson Ivan Meyer said Maimane got an ovation from the council after he spoke on the matter.
The council taking this position in its manifesto can be seen as a victory for Maimane in the party’s internal ideological tug-of-war.
Tension between the party’s traditional liberal ideologues and the purveyors of realpolitik in the party is nothing new, with the former arguing that race shouldn’t be taken into consideration when dealing with empowerment or redress. It came to the fore ahead of the party’s federal congress in April last year, as the “diversity clause” was debated.
‘Diversity clause’
DA MP Michael Cardo and former MP Gavin Davis sent a letter to party delegates ahead of the party’s federal congress in April last year, urging them not to not adopt a proposed “diversity clause” proposed by Maimane, that, in their view, could lead to the replication of racial quotas.
Rather, the party should adopt a diversity clause that represents diversity of thought, where members are treated as individuals, they argued.
The neo-liberal view won the debate at the party’s federal congress, and it adopted a diversity clause in the constitution and a clause that explicitly rejected quotas of any kind.
Last year August, the DA’s then head of policy Gwen Ngwenya said the party decided to ditch BEE. The chairperson of the DA’s federal council James Selfe disputed this.
Last month, Ngwenya resigned her position as head of policy, claiming in a scathing letter to Maimane that the party doesn’t take policy seriously and didn’t capacitate her to do her job.
However, News24 has learned that her position was tenuous, given concerns that the policy positions wouldn’t be delivered in time for the manifesto and given her neo-liberal views versus the party’s commitment to redress given the realities in South Africa.
In 2013, the issue of BEE caused a row between then party leader Helen Zille and the DA’s former parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko. Zille accused Mazibuko of getting the party’s policy on BEE wrong in supporting BEE-legislation proposed by the ANC, while Mazibuko feared the party’s resultant flip-flop could cost it at the 2014 elections.
A debate is raging over a proposed amendment to the Child Care Act that would outlaw charging fees for adoption services. The amendment is expected to be passed by the end of the year, as part of a number of changes to the Act, GroundUp reports.
Adoption is currently overseen by the Department of Social Development. Social workers in the department process adoptions. The department also accredits adoption organisations and private social workers.
Lumka Oliphant, spokesperson for the department, said that it has accredited 102 organisations and 59 social workers.
She told GroundUp that the department supports the amendment because adoption “is not a business but a child protection measure”.
But adoption organisations and social workers say the removal of fees will worsen adoption, or even stop it altogether.
Katinka Pieterse, chairperson of the National Adoption Coalition of South Africa, an umbrella organisation with over 100 members, says “We are asking [the department] to simply talk about [the implications of the amendment and provide a] clear rationale for the decision.”
While the national department does subsidise some adoption organisations, Pieterse says most funding ”is not comprehensive” and a no-fee situation will force some of the organisations close and cut social workers.
Julie Todd, director of the Child and Family Welfare Society of Pietermaritzburg, says that adoption charges are often on a sliding scale and are not a “revenue generator” but rather there to cover the costs of a “complex process”.
But Oliphant told GroundUp that adoption numbers will not fall because besides accredited adoption organisations the department itself has social workers providing adoption services.
Western Cape Minister of Social Development Albert Fritz has written two articles criticising the amendment, posted on 22 January and 25 January. Fritz wrote that the removal of fees will result in a “total shutdown of all adoptions in South Africa”.
But Oliphant says the amendment does not make adoption services the sole responsibility of the department. Organisations “may render services the same way like all other areas in the Children’s Act where their services are required for free”.
How the clause was introduced is controversial. Both Pieterse and Todd said that the amendment was only introduced in the gazetted version of the Child Care Act, giving them very little time to respond.
But Oliphant says the clause was discussed at length at the National Child Care and Protection Forum (NCCPF) which was held on in November.
Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has issued an apology following an altercation with journalists when they were covering a protest action during the ANC provincial rally in Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape on Saturday.
“I would like to offer my sincere apology for an earlier altercation with some members of the media during the ANC provincial rally in Mount Frere whilst trying to stop the singing comrades,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said in a statement posted on her official Twitter account.
“I wish to assure the media and South Africans at large of my unreserved commitment to media freedom. I sincerely regret the incident,” she added.
According to the Citizen, a group of people wearing ANC regalia disrupted the party’s treasurer Paul Mashatile during his speech at the election manifesto launch.
The publication reported that the group sang struggle songs while raising placards about poor service delivery.
Ndabeni-Abrahams was quoted as saying: “Why would you give coverage to people who are out of order?”
The SABC reported that Ndabeni-Abrahams approached its video journalist who was trying to take visuals of the protesters.
The minister allegedly put her hands in front of the camera telling the journalist not to take footage.
Meanwhile, the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) has condemned Ndabeni-Abrahams’ actions.
“SANEF has seen the video footage which was also broadcast on television stations showing the minister preventing the journalists from covering the protest and ordering them to cover what they came for and not give coverage to ‘people that are out of order’,” it said in a statement.
“While we note the minister has apologised for the incident, we are concerned that she refers to her actions as an ‘altercation’.
“Given the minister’s high-profile portfolio relating in particular to the SABC, we would like to have an urgent meeting with her to discuss the matter and our concerns.”
SANEF said it was concerned that attacks on journalists were escalating. The forum has called on political parties and those elected to lead not to “use journalists as pawns in their political infighting and/ or to cover up corruption”.
“Should any person, organisation or political party feel genuinely aggrieved by a story or any actions taken by the media, they should follow the correct channels to address their grievances,” it said.
Police arrested seven alleged cash-in-transit robbers after a shootout which left a bystander wounded in in Lombardy East in Johannesburg on Friday afternoon.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters, the seven people took an undisclosed amount of cash from an unmarked Toyota Hilux SUV belonging to a private cash-in-transit company based in Sebenza.
The police pursued them and cornered them in Byron Street, Lombardy East.
A shootout ensued.
“Two victims were shot during the crossfire, one being a security officer and the other a female bystander. Both victims have been taken to hospital for medical attention,” Peters said in a statement.
Police arrested seven people and seized three R5s, one AK-47, one 9mm pistol and live ammunition. Four vehicles – a BMW X5 riddled with bullet holes, a BMW sedan, a VW Polo and a Toyota Yaris – were also seized.
“A Mercedes Benz was also recovered at Sebenza, and is believed to have been used in the commission of the robbery this morning. The Mercedes Benz has since been confirmed stolen in Pretoria Central.”
Peters added that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) would take over the investigation.
Recently appointed Gauteng police commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, commended all the teams that were part of the intelligence-driven operation which led to the arrest of the suspects.
“[Cash-in-transit heists] continue to be a priority area as police continue to put in concerted efforts in addressing serious and violent crimes”, said Mawela.
A 50-year-old man who was waiting to transport school children on Friday afternoon was shot and killed in a parking lot outside a KwaZulu-Natal school, police said.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said two armed men approached the man outside Isnembe Secondary School in Upper Tongaat.
“They fired shots towards him and he sustained a gunshot wound to the neck.”
Mbele said the assailants also took the victim’s firearm before fleeing the scene on foot.
IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Paul Herbst said he was later declared dead.
The start of classes and daily administration operations were delayed at the University of the Witwatersrand on Thursday, after the student representative council (SRC) continued with protest action.
Students were unimpressed after protesters disrupted classes and forced them to leave their desks. Police intervened and the protesters fled.
The SRC is calling on the institution to listen to their demands which relate to accommodation, registration fees and financial exclusion.
Earlier, there was increased tension after protesters tried to fight private security guards who blocked the entrance gate leading to Empire Road. Stones were scattered at the Yale Road entrance.
Rubbish from emptied dustbins could be seen across the campus.
Entrances leading to Wits University admin block have been closed and students are only allowed to use the Great Hall entrance. Earlier Gates on Yale Road were blocked with dustbins & stones and dustbins around campus were have been emptied. @TeamNews24#WitsHungerStrikepic.twitter.com/WdU5vbeOm2
All entrances leading to Solomon Mahlangu House have also been closed and students have been told to only use the entrance from the Great Hall.
Students who wish to enter are required to show their student cards to private security guards, who are stationed outside the hall entrances.
[ATTENTION] staff and students are required to report to their workstations and classes even if they are slightly delayed. CPS is clearing roads and securing lecture theaters so that University activities can continue. Carry your student and staff cards with you. Report incidents
Meanwhile, the university issued an advisory to staff and students on its Twitter page, saying they were required to report to their workstations and classes so that the day’s activities could get under way.
“CPS is clearing roads and securing lecture theatres to that university activities can continue. Carry your student and staff cards with you. Report incidents,” the post said.
On Wednesday, all entrances to the institution were closed to avoid EFF-aligned students, believed to be from the University of Johannesburg (UJ), who were protesting on campus.
A group of students, clad in red, marched along Kingsway Avenue to UJ’s Kingsway Campus in Auckland Park where they threw stones and bricks at security guards who retaliated. One protester was injured.
Although there have been engagements with Wits management, students have vowed to continue protesting until their demands are recorded on paper and implemented.
On Tuesday, the institution’s vice-principal Professor Andrew Crouch told News24 that Wits was unable to meet all demands from the SRC as it would lead to a financial crisis and would increase the university’s bad debt, which was already at its peak.
The death toll at the Gloria coal mine in Mpumalanga, where an unknown number of illegal miners have been trapped since Monday, has risen to five, Mpumalanga police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi told News24 on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, one man, believed to be an illegal miner, died after an explosion at the shuttered mine.
Hlathi said four more bodies were brought to the surface in the early hours of Thursday morning.
He could not say how many more people were still trapped underground.
Hlathi on Wednesday said another man had been retrieved and was well.
On Wednesday, The Citizen reported that a group of 22 people, believed to be Lesotho nationals, were trapped underground at the mine, some 36km from Middelburg.
The publication quoted the Middelburg Observer, which reported that a group of 42 Lesotho nationals had allegedly gone underground in an attempt to steal cables, when a gas explosion took place.
According to the publication, 20 members of the group managed to reach safety, leaving the remaining 22 trapped underground.
The Mine Rescue Services will be taking gas samples to test methane levels. All cables supplying power to ventilation fans at the mine have been stolen therefore making rescue operations more difficult. Ventilation must be connected again to ensure the rescue proceeds safely.
The group that managed to surface reportedly sought help from local ANC ward councillor Andile Magwane.
A search-and-rescue operation was reportedly under way at the shaft.
The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on Wednesday said it was aware of the incident.
On Thursday, the DMR tweeted: “The Mine Rescue Services will be taking gas samples to test methane levels. All cables supplying power to ventilation fans at the mine have been stolen therefore making rescue operations more difficult. Ventilation must be connected again to ensure the rescue proceeds safely.”
DMR spokesperson Ayanda Shezi could not provide an update when contacted by News24 on Thursday.
This notice provides detail of the US dollar equivalent of the level of the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) official gold and foreign exchange reserves, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and foreign currency deposits received from customers published today in the SARB’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 January 2019.
