Category Archives: South African News

News24.com | Cape Town school redesigns ‘colonial’ crest, principal tells radio station

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Pinelands High School has redesigned its crest and motto to remove colonial symbols.

Pinelands High School has redesigned its crest and motto to remove colonial symbols.

PHOTO: Pinelands High School/YouTube

  • A Cape Town school has redesigned its crest to
    remove offensive symbols.
  • The former crest of Pinelands High School featured
    three gold circles based on Jan van Riebeeck’s family coat of arms.
  • The new crest, created with the input of staff and
    pupils, features non-political symbols.

A Cape Town school has redesigned its crest and
motto to remove colonial symbols.

Pinelands High School introduced the new school
crest and motto after three years of consultations about a reimagined design,
principal Dave Campbell told radio station CapeTalk on
Tuesday.

The original crest had been created almost 70 years
ago when the school was first established.

Created around the 300-year anniversary of Jan van
Riebeeck’s landing in Cape Town, the previous coat of arms incorporated three
gold circles based on Van Riebeeck’s family coat of arms. This link to
colonialism was considered offensive, Campbell said.

Along with the three gold circles, the former coat
of arms also included a red chevron. As this symbol often denotes military
rank, it was considered inappropriate for a school setting, the principal said.

Engagement on a new crest started in 2017, after
staff and pupils approached the school management. The school undertook a
comprehensive consultation process through a review committee and governing
body participation, before requesting submissions for new designs.

‘Not trying to erase history’

The top three were selected and the school
community was given an opportunity to give feedback before the design was
finalised with the help of a design agency.

While the design process was under way, pupils were
permitted to cover up the areas of the crest they felt were offensive.

The new crest is made up of politically neutral
symbols which capture the values and spirit of the school, Campbell reportedly
said. It now features a book, a protea, Table Mountain and a sunburst.

Campbell added:

We all have a responsibility to do what we can to recognise history. We’re not trying to erase history. We need to recognise that there is a certain man in the past and we need to be sensitive to that.

In 2019, the school formerly known as Hoërskool HF Verwoerd was
officially unveiled as the renamed Rietondale Secondary School.

Several weeks after unveiling the school name, it was
vandalised.

News24.com | German prosecutors set to announce charges against former top Steinhoff executives

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  • The first criminal charges against former Steinhoff officials are expected to be announced later this week in Germany.
  • German authorities have been probing balance sheet manipulation at the Stellenbosch-headquartered conglomerate since 2015. 
  • The German probe is separate from an ongoing investigation into Steinhoff which is being undertaken by the Hawks. 

German prosecutors are set to make an announcement about their multiyear probe into accounting fraud at Steinhoff this week, which will include charges against three former top officials at the global furniture and household goods company.

The criminal probe into Steinhoff has been running since 2015, when the furniture and household goods conglomerate moved its primary listing from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

It is separate from a probe taking place in South Africa that is being lead by the Hawks. Both probes are understood to be focusing on balance sheet manipulation, although investigators in Europe and South Africa have been playing their cards close to their chests.

This comes after Manager Magazine, a leading financial news publication, reported on Tuesday that the public prosecutor’s office in Oldenburg, a city in the state of Lower Saxony, had brought charges against three people closely connected to the Steinhoff Group, as well as one additional person. Oldenburg is near the town of Westerstede, where Steinhoff was founded.

The charges, according to the publication, relate to balance sheet manipulation, which can lead to a maximum sentence of up to three years imprisonment.

While the magazine did not name the three people who had been charged, it noted that the group’s former CEO Markus Jooste, and its former finance chief for Europe, Dirk Schreiber, had been “in the sights of investigators” for some time, without citing sources.

Martin Rüppell, chief public prosecutor and press officer at the Oldenburg public prosecutor’s office, said in an email that an announcement relating to the Steinhoff probe would be made on Thursday, without providing further details.

Jooste’s legal representative in Germany, Bernd Groß, is quoted in the manager magazine article as saying said he was confident he would be able to resist the charges. Groß did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Fin24. 

While Jooste has been keeping a low profile since resigning from his position, he in 2018 denied any wrongdoing related to Steinhoff when he appeared before Parliament.  His lawyer, Callie Albertyn, previously told Fin24 that his client does not intend to comment. 

A Steinhoff spokesperson referred Fin24 to a statement by the group’s board in its recent annual report, which said the group was co-operating with prosecution authorities and was “eager that those responsible for past failings are brought to book”.

Accounting scandal 

Steinhoff’s share price plunged in December of 2017 following Jooste’s abrupt resignation.

A subsequent PwC probe found that, between 2009 and 2017 a clique of top Steinhoff executives used “fictitious” transactions” to inflate the group’s profits and assets by about €6.5 billion.

While Steinhoff views the report as subject to legal privilege and confidential – it did publish an 11-page overview of key findings in March 2019.

The overview did not provide the names of the clique. But at a subsequent Parliamentary briefing, Steinhoff’s leadership confirmed that the names included Jooste and Schreiber, together with six other people. 

Steinhoff International Holdings, the group’s holding company based in Amsterdam, is now saddled with debt of almost €10 billion and has offered €943 million to litigants to settle lawsuits stemming from the share price debacle.

Manager Magazine is credited with being one of the first publications to report on accounting fraud at Steinhoff back in August 2017, four months before Jooste stepped down.

At the time it reported that German prosecutors were investigating Jooste and some other senior managers at the furniture retailer in connection with suspected accounting fraud.

Steinhoff at the time attempted to downplay the article, stating that the facts were “wrong and misleading”.

“The company rejects the allegations of dishonesty contained in the statements. In particular substantial facts and allegation are wrong or misleading,” it said at the time. 

But just four months later Jooste abruptly resigned.

For Stefan Wenzel, a German politician who has been asking questions of the probes into Steinhoff, the case has clear similarities to that of Wirecard, the German payments processor which has been declared insolvent. 

“In both cases, investors who trusted the companies were seriously harmed,” he told Fin24.

“In both cases, off-balance sheet vehicles were apparently used in tax havens to smuggle money out of the company. In both cases, in my opinion, it is still unclear whether it will be possible to get back the misappropriated funds.”

News24.com | ENCA journalist apologises for the disrespect caused by masks debacle

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Reporter Lindsay Dentlinger was conducting interviews during the Budget Speech at the time of the incident.

Reporter Lindsay Dentlinger was conducting interviews during the Budget Speech at the time of the incident.

Lubabalo Lesolle/Gallo Images

  • eNCA reporter Lindsay Dentlinger has apologised for the masks debacle.
  • She claimed she was not a racist as many were claiming.
  • Dentlinger promised to give eNCA space to conclude its investigation.

eNCA reporter Lindsay Dentlinger has apologised for the disrespect caused by the masks furore.

Dentlinger has been in the news after being accused of being a racist.

She was accused of interviewing white people without masks while asking black people to wear one.

Dentlinger has disputed the claims.

“I totally acknowledge the outrage and I apologise for the disrespect it has caused to people who don’t deserve to be drawn into this.”

She said she would give her employer space to conclude the investigation into the matter.

She said:

This debate has been on a premise that I am white because it is perceived that I am white. Does my apology need to change anyway if we correct the facts before I can make an apology?

“I felt awful from how this is perceived and what the country believes to be a true reflection of who I am as a journalist. I do acknowledge how it is portrayed. I am being portrayed as to not speaking to any black unless he is wearing a mask.”

READ | eNCA says Lindsay Dentlinger’s failure to ask interviewee to don a mask was not racist

Dentlinger claimed the incidents were not isolated and said this happened between October 2020 and last week, in different locations.

“People don’t want to hear that it was an oversight for me not to ask [FF Plus leader Pieter] Groenewald not to wear a mask. He was my first interviewee. Things are working differently in this time of Covid-19.

“Normally, I would have producers with me who would grab interviewees and make sure they are prepared for broadcast. Groenewald didn’t have a mask on [him in person] before I started interviewing him.

“My gut instinct is to ask precise question and get answers viewers want to hear. My first instinct was not check or to think that he was not wearing his mask,” she said. 

“Did I err in not following company policy in that moment? Yes, I did. When I turned around [UDM MP Nqabayomzi] Kwankwa was coming down the steps wearing his mask and that triggered me to ask him to [keep on] wearing his mask. I was acting as a journalist first.”

Dentlinger added she did not ask Kwankwa to wear a mask because of the colour of his skin.

“I acknowledge the outraged and I called Kwankwa and [IFP MP Mkhuleko] Hlengwa and apologised to them. I didn’t mean to disrespect them. I have been called out to acknowledge my unconscious bias. What about the unconscious bias of people who have based this entire furore on the fact that they perceived me to [be] white and therefore I was acting in a racist manner.

“The bias goes all ways. I totally acknowledge it is outrageous and the outrage it has caused and what it looked like,” she said. 

eNCA’s managing director, Norman Munzhelele, said the company did not exist in a vacuum, but existed in a society and had to contribute towards building this country.

“We had to look at all the facts and be able to make a determination. We are not being defensive. We are accountable to the people and accountable to our audience. The statement [issued earlier] could have been better. We could have finalised our investigation quicker and be able to issue a statement.

“I take accountability. It is a lesson and we will do better next time. It is unfortunate that Sanef has not called me to deal with this issue. I will reach out to Sanef and will have a discussion about what happened and take it from there,” Munzhelele added.

Meanwhile, the UDM is taking the matter to the SA Human Rights Commission and the IFP has refused to being interviewed by eNCA and has escalated the matter to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA.

ANC members are expected to protest outside eNCA offices on Wednesday. 

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News24.com | NDZ granted leave to appeal High Court judgment that tore into her tobacco ban

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Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Nkosazana has been granted leave to appeal the Western Cape High Court's ruling on tobacco sales ban.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Nkosazana has been granted leave to appeal the Western Cape High Court’s ruling on tobacco sales ban.

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has been granted leave to appeal the Western Cape High Court’s ruling that said her decision to ban the sale of tobacco for five months during the hard lockdown was unnecessary and unconstitutional, the Mail & Guardian reported on Monday.

The ban was put in place to curb the spread of the Covid-19 and thus reduce the occupation of intensive care unit (ICU) beds by smokers. The government argued then that smoking increased the risk of getting Covid-19 in a more severe form.

Although the ban was lifted months ago, it seems that the legal tussle around it cannot be put to bed.

Represented by Dlamini-Zuma and President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council, applied for leave to appeal the ruling in January even though the issue of the sales ban was no longer relevant at that stage and neither was government looking to reintroduce the sales ban.

The Council and British American Tobacco South Africa’s (BATSA) respective arguments for and against the appeal were heard virtually in mid-February.

The Western Cape High Court’s ruling was arguably humiliating to Dlamini-Zuma who had scored a victory over an earlier challenge of the ban brought by Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita).

Fin24 previously reported that even though the government’s legal challenge was not motivated by any plans to reintroduce a cigarette ban, there were “certain constitutional issues” raised in the BATSA ruling that needed to be addressed and clarified by a higher court.

The government believed that there was a reasonable prospect that if the appeal was allowed, the Supreme Court of Appeal would clear the conflicts between certain aspects in the Fita case that was dismissed by the High Court in Pretoria and the BATSA case which was upheld by the Western Cape High Court.

Tobacco giant the BATSA, which took the COGTA to Court in May and eventually scored a victory in December, said it will publish a statement on Tuesday to respond to the latest development.

News24.com | Covid-19: ‘Over 67 000 health workers vaccinated in the past 10 days’, says Ramaphosa

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  • Government has secured 11 million Johnson and Johnson doses of the vaccine to be administered in phases.
  • An additional 20 million doses from Pfizer are expected to arrive in the country later this year.
  • In the past 10 days, over 67 000 health workers have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

Over 67 000 health workers have been vaccinated in the past 10 days, with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

A new batch of 80 000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrived in the country on Saturday.

Government has signed an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to secure 11 million doses.

Once the vaccination of healthcare workers has been completed, the second phase would begin in late April or early May.

Phase two would include the elderly, essential workers, persons living or working in institutional settings and those with co-morbidities.

“For this phase, we will be activating many more sites for vaccination in the public and private healthcare sector so that we can reach as many people in the shortest possible time.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said of the 11 million secured doses, 2.8 million doses would be delivered in the second quarter and the rest spread throughout the year.

 

The country has also secured an additional 20 million doses from Pfizer, which would be delivered from the second quarter.

“Additionally, we have secured 12 million vaccine doses from the COVAX facility and are in the process of finalising our dose allocation from the African Union. We are in constant contact with various other vaccine manufacturers to ensure that we have the necessary quantities of vaccines when we need them,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa claimed that the dramatic decline in cases over eight weeks was due to a combination of the public health measures introduced, changes in behaviour and accumulating immunity in those who became infected in our communities.

“The measures we had to put in place in December were necessary to contain infections and prevent our health facilities from being overwhelmed. They were necessary to save lives.”

READ | 16 sites on 17 February: 8 things you should know about SA’s J&J vaccine rollout

Ramphosa said the government undertook strict measures knowing that they placed restrictions on the daily lives of everyone in this country.

“Our approach has always been that such restrictions should not remain in place longer than is absolutely necessary to contain the disease. Due to the decline in infections, the country can now ease some of the restrictions on movement and activity,” Ramaphosa said.

Meanwhile, the curfew for lockdown Level 1 will be from 00:00 to 04:00.

Religious, social, political and cultural gatherings would be permitted, subject to limitations on size, adherence to social distancing and other health protocols.

The maximum number of people allowed at any gathering is 100 people indoors or 250 people outdoors.

Ramphosa said night vigils or other gatherings before or after funerals were still not permitted and nightclubs would also remain closed.

News24.com | All alcohol sales back to normal, except for curfew hours, Ramaphosa announces

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President Cyril Ramaphosa (Image: GCIS)

President Cyril Ramaphosa (Image: GCIS)

  • With the move to Level 1 of the lockdown, alcohol can now be sold according to normal liquor license provisions. 
  • The only exception for sales is during new curfew hours of midnight to 04:00.
  • President Cyril Ramaphosa said the move meant that most of the remaining restrictions on economic activity have been removed.

The sale of alcohol will be back to normal, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday night, after announcing that SA has moved to Level 1 of the Covid-19 lockdown. 

“The sale of alcohol will be permitted, according to normal licence provisions. However, no alcohol may be sold during the hours of curfew,” he said. 

Ramaphosa announced in his address to the nation that the new curfew hours are from midnight to 04:00.

When the third ban was lifted at the beginning of February, the sale of alcohol was allowed only for off-site consumption from Mondays to Thursdays, from 10:00 to 18:00.

The bans, which began with the hard lockdown last year, have been a source of contention for consumers, producers and traders. Government justified its decision to halt alcohol sales as a means to prevent an influx of trauma cases at hospitals and to have beds available for Covid-19 patients.

Fin24 previously reported that a report by advisory firm FTI Consulting estimated that the industry lost R36.3 billion in retail sales revenues in the on-again-off-again liquor bans. It is also estimated to have resulted in job losses for 200 000 people across the formal and informal sectors. 

All energy towards economic growth

Ramaphosa said the move to Level 1 meant most of the remaining restrictions on economic activity have been removed. 

“We expect this to lead to higher consumption spending, bolstered by the steady recovery in employment. We expect businesses to implement the plans they may have put on hold.”

He said all energy and effort must now go to towards economic growth.

“We must do this to restore our country… and get people back into work,” he said. “Even as economic activity returns, even as we roll out our employment stimulus and infrastructure investment programmes, even as we undertake economic reforms with greater urgency, many businesses are still struggling.” 

He said the easing of restrictions should not be viewed as a reason to abandon precautions.

“The threat of a third wave is constantly present, as is the threat of yet more new variants.” 

News24.com | PICS | Library gutted in Cape Town fire

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Southern Strand library.

Southern Strand library.

Neo Mkwane -City of Cape Town

  • A fire gutted the Southern Strand library in Cape Town on Saturday.  
  • All that remained were pieces of mangled metal, glass and a carpet of blackened remains of books.  
  • The roof was also destroyed.  

A fire gutted the Southern Strand library in Cape Town on Saturday, destroying rows of books which students and residents rely on.  

All that remained were pieces of mangled metal, glass and a carpet of blackened remains of the library’s collection.

The skeletons of chairs lay askew in the thick pile of destroyed books. 

“The damage to the facility is devastating and will leave hundreds of regular users of the facility stranded, while we urgently look to initiate the process of having services restored,” said City of Cape Town councillor Zahid Badroodien after a site visit, in a statement on Twitter.  

“The cause of the fire is still unknown at this stage as investigations are ongoing. The City urges any individual with information to report it immediately to law enforcement authorities.” 

The library posted on Facebook: “It is with great sadness to inform our patrons that our library burnt down this morning. Books can be returned to any library in the area.”

Badroodien told News24 the emergency call was received at 05:37 on Saturday.

Southern Strand library

Southern Strand library.

Neo Mkwane

Southern Strand library

Southern Strand library gutted in a fire.

Neo Mkwane

Councillor Zahid Badroodien

Councillor Zahid Badroodien on a grim visit to what is left of the Southern Strand library.

News24 Neo Mkwane

Southern Strand library

Librarian Elise du Plessis and councillor Zahid Badroodien survey the damage.

News24 Neo Mkwane

 

Fire crews from Strand, Somerset West and Sir Lowry’s Pass were dispatched.

“The first arriving officer informed control that the building was well alight,” he said. 

The fierce fire was extinguished at 08:02.The South African Police Service was also present.

Libraries have become a refuge for students and schoolchildren in search of a quiet place to study, to use books for projects without paying for it, and to copy notes.

During lockdown, people had to extend their loans of books.

Libraries eventually opened, but with a restricted number of people allowed inside.

News24.com | I won’t be giving eNCA interviews until it revises ‘mask’ statement – IFP MP Hlengwa

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IFP MP, Mkhuleko Hlengwa.

IFP MP, Mkhuleko Hlengwa.

Jan Gerber

  • IFP MP Hlengwa says he was also asked by journalist Lindsey Dentlinger to keep his mask on during a Budget speech interview, while a white colleague was had no mask on.
  • Hlengwa said he had accepted eNCA reporter Lindsey Dentlinger’s apology to him and that the two would hold a meeting soon.
  • However, he said he would not give interviews to eNCA/eTV until meeting with its management.

Inkatha Freedom Party MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa says he will not be giving interviews to news channels eNCA or eTV until management meets with him and revises its statement on the conduct of its journalist Lindsey Dentlinger.

Hlengwa said Dentlinger had apologised to him after insisting he kept his mask on during a Budget speech interview, although DA leader John Steenhuisen, who she had finished interviewing, wasn’t wearing a mask.

He said he and Dentlinger had a constructive and cordial discussion.

READ | eNCA says reporter’s failure to ask interviewee to wear a mask is not racist

“In the spirit of nation building, I have accepted her apology and also agreed to meet with her next week. In that meeting, I intend to continue our conversation and point out to her the racial biases which characterised events around myself, [MPs] Advocate Bongo and Mr Nkwankwa,” Hlengwa said in an open letter to eNCA managing director Norman Munzhulele and eNCA managing editor John Bailey.

There was a public outcry earlier this week after Dentlinger had also asked UDM’s Nqabayomzi Kwankwa to keep his mask on while Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald had no mask on when she interviewed him before that.

eNCA has stood by its reporter, and on Friday said that her “alleged inconsistent behaviour” to Covid-19 protocols “was not racially motivated or with malicious intent”.

It said that Dentlinger was a seasoned journalist who had more than 21 years of experience, including nine with eNCA.

Hlengwa said the statement “fell short of the reconciliatory spirit which has been the idealistic mainstay of our democratic discourse since 1994”. He added that it was riddled with “selectiveness and obfuscation”, granting further credit to the view of eNCA as “deliberately racist or sheepishly ignorant of its racism”.

Leaders

He said he had informed his party leaders about his decision not to be interviewed by eNCA as IFP spokesperson and chairperson of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

Furthermore, he requested a meeting with the news channel to discuss the mask issue, as failure to do so would be a “dereliction of duty” from both parties.

Meanwhile, the UDM said on Friday that it had laid a complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa and the South African Human Rights Commission.

“The fact that Mr Kwankwa was asked to do so [wear a mask] is not the crux of the matter, as South Africa deals with Covid-19, and the regulations must be obeyed. However, the UDM believes the racist double standard is, and as such, Mr Kwankwa was unfairly discriminated against, directly or indirectly, on the grounds of race, which is one of the most important tenets of the Constitution of this great country,” UDM president Bantu Holomisa said.

News24.com | Covid-19: First wave antibodies much less effective against 501Y.V2 – professor

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A health worker process for Covid-19 antibodies after getting blood from a patient.

A health worker process for Covid-19 antibodies after getting blood from a patient.

Valerie Macon, AFP

  • Studies of the blood of 44 people who had Covid-19 in the first wave show, that their antibodies are much less effective against 501Y.V2.
  • Studies suggest those individuals might be susceptible to re-infection.
  • The variant was first discovered in South Africa in 2020.

Studies of blood taken from 44 people who previously had Covid-19, show that their antibodies are much less effective against 501Y.V2.

This was what was said in a presentation on Thursday by Professor Penny Moore, the South African Research Chairs Initiative (Sarchi) chairperson of viral host dynamics (virology) at the University of the Witwatersrand.

“The question is whether [the antibodies of] people who were infected with the original variant…are able to recognise 501Y.V2,” she said.

This will have implications on their ability to  resist reinfection, Moore said.

“The question is whether people who were infected with the original variant’s… antibodies are able to recognise 501Y.V2,” she said.

She was speaking during a webinar on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and the impact of the variant.

READ | Asked and answered: Six things you need to know about the new Covid variant in South Africa

The 501Y.V2 variant was first discovered in South Africa in 2020 by a geonomics team led by the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (Krisp) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. 

News24 earlier reported that since the end of September, they noticed the rapid spread of the new variant , which had between 10 and 20 new mutations.

ALSO READ |  Why scientists are concerned about SA’s ‘unusual’ new coronavirus variant

Moore said that they took samples from 44 convalescent donors who had Covid-19 during the first wave of infections in the country.

“So they had been infected with the original variant. We took all of these 44 samples and we tested their ability to neutralise the new variant, 501Y.V2,” she said.

It was found that all of these 44 individuals had antibodies that were able to neutralise the original virus but 48% of them showed no activity whatsoever against 501Y.V2.

What does this suggest?

“Those 48% [at least] might be susceptible to reinfection of 501Y.V2.”

Moore said that the notion that SARS-CoV-2 would be eradicated was probably not realistic.

“It may turn into a situation where we have to update our vaccines periodically,” she said.

This comes after a question was raised about whether people would need to be vaccinated every year.

“I think it is very possible that we are looking at a situation where we will have to update the vaccines as new variants emerge.

“I think if we can get the number of infections down worldwide, then few of those variants will emerge – but they are always going to emerge,” Moore warned.

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News24.com | UPDATE | It was a political gimmick – ANC MP Bongani Bongo after corruption case dismissed

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  • ANC MP Bongani Bongo has been acquitted of corruption charges.
  • The charges emanated from an accusation that Bongo had tried to bribe a parliamentary official to collapse a 2017 inquiry into Eskom.
  • The National Prosecuting Authority says it will study the judgment before deciding on a way forward.

ANC MP Bongani Bongo has succeeded in having the corruption case against him dismissed in the Western Cape High Court.

In reaction, Bongo said it was a political “gimmick” from the start.

On Friday, Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe granted Bongo’s Section 174 application to have the case dismissed based on evidence presented, and acquitted him of the charges.

Bongo maintained his innocence and denied an accusation that he had tried to disrupt a parliamentary inquiry into state capture at Eskom on 10 October 2017 by allegedly trying to bribe Ntuthuzelo Vanara, evidence leader at the Eskom inquiry.

In his initial affidavit, Vanara claimed Bongo had asked him to fake an illness and take sick leave because the inquiry would not have proceeded in his absence.

Hlophe said Vanara, the State’s star witness, was not credible in “some respects”.

“The evidence does not corroborate. There are serious contradictions. The application cannot be refused hoping that the accused [Bongo] will incriminate himself. [Other witnesses] can only attest to what Mr Vanara had told them. His credibility has been placed in question as witness testimonies are clashing,” Hlophe said.

ALSO READ | Bongani Bongo says evidence presented in his corruption trial is ‘threadbare thin’

In 2017, former president Jacob Zuma announced an inquiry into the power utility following several allegations of corruption.

In his initial affidavit, Vanara claimed Bongo had offered him a cash bribe. All Vanara allegedly had to do was “name the price” and explain to Bongo how he would help to stop the inquiry. Bongo would, in turn, go back to the “Eskom people” and explain Vanara’s plan to stop the inquiry and the price they would have to pay for his (Vanara’s) assistance.

Money would then be given to Bongo, who would hand it over to Vanara, the State alleged.

On Wednesday, the court heard a Section 174 application to dismiss the case, based on the evidence presented so far.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it took note of the decision and would study the judgment before considering its options.