Category Archives: South African News

News24.com | Senekal unrest: High court grants André Pienaar bail

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André Pienaar, the man accused of inciting violence at the Senekal Magistrate’s Court following the appearance of two men charged in connection with the murder of Brendin Horner, has been granted bail. 

Pienaar, a local from Senekal was granted R15 000 bail by the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein. 

ADRIAAN BASSON | Can we please stop calling every white protester in khaki a ‘farmer’?

The judgment was handed down on Monday following an appeal that Pienaar lodged after the Senekal Magistrate’s Court, which dismissed his bail application last week. 

Magistrate Buti Mlangeni previously found that Pienaar, if released on bail, would likely interfere with witnesses and would jeopardise the administration of justice, and that his release would cause public outcry. 

However, Pienaar argued that the lower court erred in making pronouncements about his guilt.

READ | SAHRC wants to mediate in Senekal amid protests over farms attacks

The 51-year-old faces charges of incitement of violence, public violence and attempted murder, following the unrest at the Senekal Magistrate’s Court on 6 October. 

Pienaar and a small group of protesters allegedly stormed the court buildings in an alleged attempt to get to the men accused of murdering Horner, whose body was found on a farm in Paul Roux in the Free State on 2 October. 

During the fracas, a police vehicle was overturned and allegedly set alight. 

It is further alleged that protesters tried to set the holding cells alight. 

Two gunshots were also fired as the protesters entered the court buildings but there is no evidence to show who fired the shots. 

This is a developing story.

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News24.com | Businessman who allegedly defrauded the City of Joburg of R7.5m back in court in November

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  • Businessman Deon Pillay made a brief appearance in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
  • He is accused of defrauding the City of Johannesburg of just over R7.5 million
  • The matter was postponed for pre-trial.

The State’s case against a businessman who allegedly defrauded the City of Johannesburg of just over R7.5 million has been postponed for pre-trial. 

Deon Pillay made a brief appearance before the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday. 

Pillay – the sole director of Esizwe Technology (Pty) Ltd – stands accused of not delivering 570 desktops after he was paid R7 529 244 by the City of Johannesburg (COJ), News24 previously reported.

News24 further reported that when Pillay failed to deliver the desktops, the municipality suffered a financial loss. 

READ | Businessman who allegedly defrauded the City of Joburg of more than R7m out on bail

The businessman faces charges of fraud, theft and for the contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act. 

Pillay, out on R50 000 bail, is due back in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on 10 November.

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News24.com | Covid-19: 1 928 new cases take SA’s total to 702 131, with recovery rate at 90%

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A health worker in safety gear.

A health worker in safety gear.

Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images

  • There have been 38 more Covid-19 deaths, as well as another five reported in the last 24 to 48 hours.
  • The health department explained that the difference in reporting was due to data being verified, and records updated. 
  • A total of 1 928 new cases were identified since the last report.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in his daily briefing that there had been 38 more deaths linked to Covid-19, and there had also been another five fatalities reported in the past 24 to 48 hours.

The health department has previously explained that the differences in reporting is due to data being verified, and records being compared with Home Affairs data as deaths linked to Covid-19 are confirmed.

“Regrettably, we report 38 more Covid-19 related deaths,” Mkhize said. 

Of these, 10 were from Eastern Cape, 10 from the Free State, 17 from Gauteng and one from Mpumalanga. 

Of the five deaths reported in the past 24 to 48 hours, one person died in the Eastern Cape, one in the Free State and three in Gauteng.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 18 408. 

A total of 1 928 new cases had been identified since the last report, a slight decline from 2 019 reported on Friday. 

The total number of cases is 702 131.

Recoveries stand at 630 436 – a recovery rate of 90%.

Covid

(Supplied by the Department of Health)

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred

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News24.com | Court freezes some of top lawyer Barnabas Xulu’s bank accounts in long-running legal fees dispute

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  • Lawyer Barnabas Xulu had his bank accounts frozen by a court order.
  • A settlement agreement is the subject of a dispute between Xulu and the Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Department.
  • The department secured an order that his bank accounts be frozen, and a house and Porsche secured until the matter is resolved.

Some of well-known lawyer Barnabas Xulu’s bank accounts were ordered frozen by the Western Cape High Court in a long-running battle with the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries over legal fees paid by the department.

Xulu has done legal work for the department, but the validity of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and a settlement agreement has been the subject of a long-running dispute and internal battles, which have spilled into the high court.

It included fees for handling a complex 7.5 million US dollars restitution payment agreement between US authorities, foreign banking institutions and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) by a convicted lobster smuggler. 

Xulu’s services were to be terminated in August 2018, except for the US case, but the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (before the department was separated into Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries), and Treasury, agreed to settle for an amount of R20 million.

The troubles then escalated over whether the agreement was valid or not.

The parties have been in a battle over who owes who, and whether he should pay the money back.

An order in favour of both departments, dated 12 October, gave notice that Xulu and the company – Barnabus Xulu & Partners Incorporated – should give reasons why he should not pay R20 242 272. 90. 

In the meantime, Incovision (Pty) Ltd, Setlacorp (Pty) Ltd and Xulu were ordered not to allow the transfer, dissipation or withdrawal of funds from their accounts. 

READ | Top lawyer Barnabas Xulu ordered to pay back R20m in legal fees to fisheries department

This includes money received, or to be received in future without leave of the department. Also, First National Bank and Investec Bank were also interdicted from allowing transfer, dissipation or withdrawal of funds from the three accounts, or any entity Xulu has control over. 

Incovision and Xulu were interdicted over a property in Sheffield Beach in KwaZulu-Natal. An inventory of assets at the property must be taken, and no assets may be removed from it.  

The Sheriff in the area was instructed to enter the property for the inventory, taking a locksmith, if necessary, or by force, and the services of Tracker were to be used to trace and secure the Porsche. 

Xulu indicated to News24 that it involves the restitution payment and services rendered to get the money back to the South African government, to make up for the loss of the country’s marine resources in the lobster case.

This agreement also involved a carefully brokered settlement with the accused parties in the US, and banks in other countries. 

“[The] question is, does it have to be done for free or [does] the state have to pay for this sweat,” Xulu told News24 in a WhatsApp message when asked for comment. 

“Bxi (Xulu) is being paraded as a criminal not to be arrested, but victimised,” he said.

First National Bank and Investec Bank must also give the department bank statements held by Incovision, Setlacorp and Xulu between 1 July 2019 and the date of the order.

The order stands until the matter of the R20 million is heard in full.

Xulu had been ordered in January to pay the money back by April. 

This also comes after an application by the department on 6 October, in which Xulu was to have paid interest by the close of business on 5 October of R3.4 million and R380 000. 

A subsequent order on 15 October also prevented the transfer of shares relating to the Sheffield property’s ownership.  

The orders were handed down in the Western Cape High Court, where Xulu, coincidentally, has also represented Judge President John Hlophe on matters running at the Judicial Service Commission. 

News24.com | Ad hoc committee on section 25 heads to Limpopo and the Northern Cape

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Chairperson of the ad hoc committee tasked with amending Section 25 of the Constitution, Mathole Motshekga. (Jan Gerber, News24)

Chairperson of the ad hoc committee tasked with amending Section 25 of the Constitution, Mathole Motshekga. (Jan Gerber, News24)

  • The ad hoc committee amending Section 25 of the Constitution will visit Limpopo and the Northern Cape next week.
  • The DA is concerned about the time allowed to do something as serious as amending the Constitution.
  • “We cannot afford to mess it up,” committee chairperson Mathole Motshekga said.

Amid deadline pressure, the Ad Hoc Committee to Initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution to allow expropriation without compensation will head to Limpopo and the Northern Cape next week.

The committee met on Friday to finalise its programme for the public hearings and received a legal opinion on how it should handle people with co-morbidities in terms of public participation.

The legal opinion requires reasonableness in the logistical arrangement.

MPs required time to study the legal opinion before it comes to a decision in consultation with the committee staff.

The committee also resolved to add a district to its Northern Cape itinerary to cater for the vast area of the province and because, as committee chairperson Mathole Motshekga put it, “the people of the area are centrally affected”.  

Next week, the committee will split into two groups. Group A will go to Limpopo, where it will have its first public hearing on Thursday in Vhembe. The following day it will be in the Greater Letaba District.

On Saturday, it will be in Sekhukhune and conclude in Polokwane on Sunday.

Group B’s first hearing will be in De Aar on Thursday, Kimberley on Friday, Upington on Saturday and Springbok on Sunday.

The Western Cape will be the committee’s final destination for public hearings in the last week of October, while it will consider reports in Parliament in early November.

When the committee was re-established by the National Assembly in June, it was given a deadline of 31 December to finish its work. The date of 19 November is set down for consideration of the final draft bill.

DA MP Werner Horn expressed concern about the timelines of the programme, saying he did not think they could finish something as serious as amending the Constitution within that timeline.

“We are under serious pressure to conclude this process,” Motshekga agreed. “We cannot afford to mess it up.”

He said they must meet the deadline.

News24.com | Zuma vs Zondo: ‘I have had enough’, says Zuma as he ‘draws the line’ over claim to probe children’s bank accounts

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Former President Jacob Zuma before the Zondo Commission in 2019 (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Former President Jacob Zuma before the Zondo Commission in 2019 (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Felix Dlangamandla

  • Former president Jacob Zuma has described reported attempts to probe his children’s bank accounts as “cowardice”.
  • Zuma was referring to a Sunday Times report which stated the Zondo commission had subpoenaed at least 20 accounts linked to the Zuma family. 
  • The former president said he “drew the line” at his children and would fight back with all he had.

Former president Jacob Zuma has come out with guns blazing, stating he “drew the line” at anyone targeting his children in investigations against him and that harassing them was a “declaration of war” in which he would fight back with all his might.

In a statement released on Friday, Zuma said he noted with concern a report by the Sunday Times alleging the Zondo commission had turned its attention to his children’s bank accounts. 

It reported it had seen subpoenas relating to at least 20 accounts linked to the Zuma family, including a TV production company that produces an SABC1 soapie, Uzalo, which belongs to one of Zuma’s daughters, Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube. 

READ | State Capture Inquiry: ‘I’m giving him an opportunity to come here and clear his name,’ says Zondo

He said while he accepted the commission was “desperate” to hold him to account on his role in state capture, he condemned attempts to target his children by way of “clandestine investigations” in matters they had nothing to do with.

“Indeed, the terms of reference make it clear that I, and not my children, am central to the investigation of the commission. 

“My children live their lives separately and must be treated like any child or person that has not been implicated in any wrongdoing. So far, they have not been served with any notices indicating that they are in any way implicated by any witnesses selected by the commission,” Zuma added.

He said it was disturbing his children became aware of the investigations when they were called by journalists in the week prior to the publication of the story.

Zuma said:

“Clearly we are back to the old methods and times, during which the media were alerted of investigations before the subjects of such investigations were even advised.”

Zuma added his children were not in government and should not be dragged into battles that were “designated to destroy” him, saying if they were identified as part of investigations, they should be notified in the same way others, who were implicated, were so they could exercise their rights too.

The former president said banks should not conspire with “unlawful investigations”, adding not even the apartheid regime conspired with banks to get into the accounts of children of people who were pursued by the state. 

“In a country that subscribes to the rule of law, it should not be the case that our children and family members are targeted and paraded in this fashion. This is selective morality, which protects some from prosecution while tagging others as scapegoats is inconsistent with our declared culture of human rights and equality before the law.”

Zuma appealed to the commission and law enforcement agencies to keep his children out of its investigations as they “do whatever they seek to do to punish” him.

He added:

“My family and I have not known peace under apartheid and yet we remain tagged in post-apartheid South Africa. I have tolerated intense harassment and relentless vilification for 25 years.

“My opponents have now decided to target my children and this is where I draw the line and state that this harassment of my children is a declaration of war… I have had enough.”

He alleged his children were also being harassed by the Sunday Times, saying he would “retaliate” for the sake of his family. 

“I will not stand by when my children have become victims of faceless cowards doing the bidding for their masters from whom they beg for crumbs and leftovers falling off from the dinner table.”

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News24.com | Ramaphosa promises no political interference in corruption clampdown

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ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule with President Cyril Ramaphosa at Parliament in Cape Town.

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule with President Cyril Ramaphosa at Parliament in Cape Town.

Adrian de Kock

  • President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed there will be no political interference in SA law enforcement agencies.
  • Ace Magashule’s supporters have been driving a narrative to discredit law enforcement agencies.
  • Ramaphosa told a joint sitting of Parliament: “Decisive action against crime and corruption is essential to inclusive growth.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged that there will be no interference in South Africa’s law enforcement agencies as the clampdown on corruption continues.

In doing so, the president is offering a counter-narrative to ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s camp, who have been manoeuvring to discredit law enforcement.

He was addressing a joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday on his administration’s economic reconstruction and recovery plan after the devastation of an already-ailing economy by the Covid-19 pandemic.

READ | Ramaphosa’s economic rescue plan: Key announcements

“Decisive action against crime and corruption is essential to inclusive growth,” Ramaphosa stated. 

“Criminal elements in our country have taken to the illegal occupation of construction sites and soliciting protection money from businesses.”

When he referred to “criminal elements”, someone in the DA benches blurted out: “Ace.”

He said to combat the practice of the illegal occupation of construction sites, a Joint Rapid Response Team at a national and provincial level will respond to the problem of violent disruptions at construction sites and other business activities.

READ | Corruption-accused top cop Bonang Mgwenya suspended

News24 understands a senior police officer has been appointed to head this team.

Ramaphosa added that a “well-functioning revenue service is central to our economic recovery programme”.

READ | Hawks know nothing about Magashule’s ‘warrant of arrest’

“The turnaround at the South African Revenue Service has begun in earnest, and significant areas of tax evasion and tax fraud have already been identified.

“SARS is rebuilding its capacity to reverse the decline, improve compliance and recover lost tax revenue.

“We are working to clamp down on the illegal economy and illicit financial flows, including transfer pricing abuse, profit shifting, VAT and customs duty fraud, under-invoicing of manufactured imports, corruption and other illegal schemes.”

Ramaphosa said the “decisive action” taken to prevent, detect and act against Covid-related corruption will strengthen the broader fight against crime.

“The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has made significant progress in probing allegations of criminal conduct in all public entities during the national state of disaster.”

He said the SIU’s work continues and the outcomes of its investigations will be made public once all the due processes have been completed.

“Yes, It will also continue in Parliament if you want,” he said good-humouredly, in apparent response to a remark from a DA MP.

“There’s going to be lots of vacancies,” DA MP Geordin Hill-Lewis chirped.

Strengthened

Ramaphosa said law enforcement agencies were being strengthened and provided with adequate resources to enable the identification and swift prosecution of corruption and fraud. He, however, did not go into any specifics. 

Last week, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi pleaded with Parliament against proposed budget cuts, which would reverse the gains made in the fight against corruption.  

“We wish to assure all South Africans that there will be no political interference with the work of law enforcement agencies,” Ramaphosa said, adding that he will ensure there is no political interference.

READ | Hawks head: ‘We have never taken instructions from anyone’

Magashule has been on law enforcement agencies’ radar due to persistent allegations of his links to corruption in the Free State, where he served as premier from 2009 until 2018, when he took up office in Luthuli House after the ANC’s 2017 Nasrec conference.

Two weeks ago, the Hawks, with the aid of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and SIU, made breakthrough arrests concerning the R255 million asbestos deal in the province. They arrested seven people, including businessman Edwin Sodi and former Mangaung mayor Olly Mlamleli.

Mlamleli is known as a Magashule ally.

Magashule is alleged to have had a hand in the deal.

Similarly, he is allegedly involved in the Estina Dairy Farm corruption scandal, which saw hundreds of millions of rand stolen from state coffers as part of the Guptas’ state capture project.

News24 reported that Magashule and his allies have labelled his alleged imminent arrest as “nothing but political”. 

Last week, Magashule’s supporters allegedly leaked that he will soon be arrested by the Hawks.

The Hawks have denied this.

Then, on the weekend, it emerged that he wrote to the NPA.

“We are instructed that you are planning a media spectacle when you effect the arrest of our client. Our client should not be singled out for an arrest for no reason, as you are planning to do. Nor should he be humiliated, as we understand you are planning to do,” the letter by Magashule’s legal counsel read, as quoted by City Press. 

News24.com | Editorial | A plea for cool heads and rational leadership in Senekal

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Thousands of people gather in Senekal against farm murders where the killers of 21 year old farm manager Brendin Horner appeared in court.

Thousands of people gather in Senekal against farm murders where the killers of 21 year old farm manager Brendin Horner appeared in court.

Photo by Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw

Events leading up to and since the murder of 21-year-old Brendin Horner in the farming district of Paul Roux in the eastern Free State have inflamed tensions in the region and in broader society.

Horner was the victim of violent crime, a social phenomenon which is affecting far too many South Africans of all walks of life. And it again showed up a broken criminal justice system, exposed societal cleavages and gave a golden opportunity to populists and instigators.

Emotions are again at fever pitch ahead of Friday’s second court appearance of Horner’s alleged murderers at the Magistrate’s Court in Senekal.

WATCH | Police van torched as farmers storm holding cells of Brendin Horner murder accused

The town became a national flashpoint last week after violence erupted when protesters, angry about Horner’s murder and frustrated with the criminal justice system, stormed the court and torched a police vehicle.

Friday’s second court appearance promises to be another fraught affair, with the EFF planning to invade the town and AfriForum set to follow suit, while indications are that locals and farmers from the district plan to stay away.

The right to demonstrate and protest in this country is protected by law. And the anger ignited by Horner’s death is legitimate – his murder is emblematic of the lawlessness which affects many communities across South Africa. But no one has the right to violently inflame tension by using race and populism in the interest of short-term political gain. And there are real suspicions that those organisations planning to travel to Senekal are using it as a staging post for their own narrow political ends.

FACT CHECK | What we know and what we don’t know about Brendin Horner’s death

South Africans have a common problem, and one which affects us all, regardless of race or political persuasion: poor governance and a broken criminal justice system.

We should direct our frustration and anger at those who have broken government and the system and at those in charge who can, but don’t, fix it. The answer to our problems does not lie in posturing in Senekal, but in sound and rational leadership seeking solutions, not confrontation.

In court on Friday Horner’s alleged murderers will face justice. But outside court, cool heads must prevail. 

Banking sector money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment

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Publish Date: 2020-10-14
Category: Media Releases

The money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) banking sector risk assessment (SRA) was compiled by the PA to assist it in the furtherance of its understanding of ML and TF risk within the banking sector in South Africa. This SRA thus reflects the ML/TF risks identified within the banking sector during 2018 and 2019. ​

Attachments: