Harare – Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe was ousted by a “military coup” that forced his resignation, former cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo said in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Thursday.

Moyo, a former higher education minister under the last president and an ardent Mugabe loyalist, said Zimbabwe’s new President Emmerson Mnangagwa stole power and was leading an “illegal regime”.

“Mnangagwa and (Vice President Constantino) Chiwenga, they know only too well that they have come into power via the bullet and not the ballot,” Moyo, who is in self-imposed exile, told the BBC’s Hard Talk programme.

It was unclear where he gave the interview.

“We have a… constitution that the people of Zimbabwe made for themselves and it has been broken and it has been broken via a coup,” he said.

Illegal regime 

“The constitution of the country has been subverted and there has to be a return to constitutionalism.”

Moyo said the army acted unconstitutionally when it briefly took power from the government in November.

“The army deployed itself in Zimbabwe when the constitution says only the president can deploy it,” he said.

The commanders involved in the campaign to seize power and ease Mugabe from power, which included then-general Chiwenga, insisted they were targeting criminals around Mugabe.

That was widely seen as a reference to Mugabe’s wife Grace and supporters of her apparent desire to succeed the 93-year-old statesman – efforts that riled many in the military establishment.

Moyo also said that the new government under Mnangagwa was an “illegal regime” that had struggled to assert its legitimacy.

Elections 

He pointed to Mnangagwa’s visit last week to ailing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as evidence of the new president’s efforts to assert himself politically.

“We know that when Mnangagwa and Chiwenga went to Morgan Tsvangirai‘s house they pretended that they were concerned about his health but we know they wanted to negotiate with him to postpone elections for at least three years,” he alleged.

“They are afraid of elections. They do not want to have free and fair elections let alone credible elections.”

He accused Mnangagwa and Chiwenga of involvement in the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s that claimed the lives of around 20 000 regime opponents, including children and women, in the country’s southwest.

“Right now the cabinet of the Republic of Zimbabwe is led by the most feared people in the history of this country. They are feared because they associated with every atrocity that has happened,” he said.

JOHANNESBURG – The South African Communist Party has lambasted Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane after she called on President Jacob Zuma not to limit the state capture inquiry’s terms of reference to issues identified in her predecessor’s report.

READ: State capture inquiry: PP available to compile terms of reference

“Busisiwe Mkhwebane must desist from temptations to use the authority of the public protector to propagate populist and factional politics. Instead of being seen protecting the public, her actions reflect an embedded if not captured person using the authority of the public protector to advocate such sectarian politics with the potential effect of bringing the image of the office into disrepute.

“Mkhwebane’s utterances regarding the terms of reference of the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture are a latest case in point,” the SACP said in a statement released on Thursday.

WATCH: Zuma’s state capture court bid in quotes

The state capture inquiry was established by Zuma on Tuesday, a year after the then Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released the report titled ‘The State of Capture’.

Zuma, his son, Duduzane Zuma and the Gupta family were fingured in the report.

Madonsela had recommended that the commission of inquiry complete its task and present the report to the president within 180 days.

eNCA

Cape Town – A draft impeachment procedure drawn up in April 2016 and a comparative study about impeachment proceedings in seven other countries will be among the documents MPs will work through on Wednesday when the National Assembly’s subcommittee on the review of rules meets to deliberate on a draft procedure to remove the president in terms of section 89 of the Constitution.

“This follows the Constitutional Court’s judgment handed down on 29 December 2017 that the National Assembly had failed to put in place proper rules regulating a procedure for section 89(1) of the Constitution,” reads a statement from Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo.  

“The Constitutional Court ordered the National Assembly to make such rules without delay to initiate a process under section 89(1), in terms of the newly developed rules.”

-Read: What the impeachment ruling means for Zuma and Parliament

He said MPs serving on the subcommittee had been supplied with documents to be considered there, including a draft procedure drawn up in April 2016, but not finalised, and a comparative study compiled in 2015 about impeachment proceedings of seven other parliaments on the removal of a head of state.

City Press reported that the draft from 2016 outlines the proposed procedure on the tabling and processing of a motion to remove a president, stating that such a motion should be based on a recommendation to that effect by a committee of the National Assembly appointed to consider any relevant charges against a president.

This would be an ad hoc committee appointed by the National Assembly or the Speaker.

“A member may by motion propose that the assembly initiate proceedings in accordance with these rules to remove the president from office in terms of section 89 of the Constitution,” it says.

-Read more: Parliament finalises rules for impeachment

Two-thirds supporting vote needed

The Speaker may disallow a proposed motion to initiate proceedings only if it does not comply with the specified criteria and if a proposed motion is disallowed.

The committee will also meet on Thursday, and the draft procedure, once finalised by the subcommittee, would need to be adopted by the National Assembly as part of its rules. 

The South African Constitution does not specifically use the word impeachment, but section 89 of the Constitution describes a mechanism similar to what is called impeachment elsewhere. 

The Constitution says the National Assembly must adopt, with a two-thirds supporting vote, a resolution to remove the president from office, only on the grounds of a serious violation of the Constitution or the law, serious misconduct or an inability to perform the functions of the office.

If the president is removed through this method for the first two reasons mentioned above, he may not receive any benefits of that office, and may not serve in any public office.

The subcommittee will have to flesh out how this will work.

Previous DA motion rejected

Even though there wasn’t a prescribed process, DA leader Mmusi Maimane brought a so-called impeachment motion to the National Assembly in April 2016, after the Constitutional Court ruled that President Jacob Zuma failed to uphold the Constitution due to his handling of the Public Protector’s recommendations relating to the Nkandla matter.

In his motion, Maimane asked that Parliament appoints an ad hoc committee to investigate whether Zuma should be removed. This committee would then have reported back to the National Assembly which will then decide whether he should be removed or not. The ANC voted against this motion and, subsequently, the ad hoc committee never was appointed.

In 1998 former US president Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstructing the ends of justice in the wake of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, but it was decided not to remove him from office.

In 1974 impeachment proceedings were instituted against Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal, but he resigned before proceedings got underway.

Last year South Korea removed Park Geun-hye following her impeachment after her aide Choi Soon-sil used her position to seek donations from businesses and influence Park’s work. 

In 2016 Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff was removed from office after she was impeached over allegations of corruption. 

READ: A list of world leaders ousted for legal reasons

EAST LONDON – ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa was out and about in East London on Wednesday morning.

He was seen walking along the beach ahead of the NEC meeting.

Ramaphosa took selfies with joggers and interacted with fans before going back to his hotel.

I have just seen #ANC106 President #Ramaphosa taking a morning walk at the East London beachfront, creating some excitement among morning joggers, and he generously took selfies with them. I also joined in the fun. @eNCA pic.twitter.com/fmHfdA82ms

— Thami Dickson (@Thami_D) January 10, 2018

#ANC106 President #Ramaphosa tells this excited local resident at the East London beachfront, who just couldnt believe seeing him in shorts jogging this morning, that he is working on his belly so that it doesn’t reach the levels of the new ANC Chairperson, Mantashe lol @eNCA pic.twitter.com/4hFIQlC1lS

— Thami Dickson (@Thami_D) January 10, 2018

And if you’re wondering about the socks…

Yes he is wearing Ronald McDonald socks

— DanielPadiachy (@DanielPadiachy) January 10, 2018

The red and white striped socks were sold to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

eNCA

Cape Town – The education department’s Central Applications Clearing House (CACH) online system was running full steam on Monday with thousands of prospective students hoping to secure a last-minute place.

“The numbers are showing that the students are using it,” said Joel Ramatshape, director for the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) central application service, which finds places for matriculants to study.

The government online application portal searches the data bases of institutions of higher education to find where there are still places available and which courses are still available.

Universities and colleges are hoping the tool will be used and that there will be no mass walk-ins by student activists. Threats of mass walk-ins already have some authorities on tenterhooks.

READ: No walk-in registrations will be accepted – Wits, UJ and Stellenbosch warn

The online system covers universities, Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) colleges, Sector Education and Training Authorities (Seta’s) and registered private higher institutions.

Ramatshape had counted 8 021 SMSes since the CACH opened on Friday, 394 voice messages requesting assistance, and 90 requests for call backs, he said.

Between Friday and Monday morning, 4 671 students had registered themselves on the CACH system.

Private individuals are also putting word out to offer students, who have no internet access, the use of their computers so that that they can get their applications in. This is part of the greater community support for students, after President Jacob Zuma’s unexpected fee-free education announcement on December 16.

Treasury must still say where the money will come from, but full bursaries for tuition and study materials to qualifying South African students will be provided at public TVET colleges and universities, as well as subsidised accommodation or transport, capped at specific levels for those who qualify, starting with students who enter in 2018.

READ: Government mum on money for free higher education

National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) packages already allocated to returning or existing students in 2018 will be converted from loans to bursaries, provided that they meet academic progression requirements.

CACH does not guarantee a place, but it does match applicants’ exam results and study preferences with places that need to be filled.

A mother, Gloria Sekwena, was killed and 17 other people were injured in the crush of people trying to secure a place at the institution.

Plea to use CACH

Universities South Africa (USAf) reiterated the no walk-ins rule on January 1, urging prospective students to use CACH.

The representative body said Zuma’s announcement on fee-free education on December 16 caught them by surprise and increased the potential for late applications.

“However, we understood clearly that there are first year students who didn’t previously qualify for financial aid but who now do, under the new NSFAS dispensation,” USAf said in a statement.

USAf met with the DHET and the NSFAS to discuss the implications.

“A clearly defined pathway should be established for such potential candidates. At that meeting it was decided that such students, whether they had applied to NSFAS or not, must submit their details online to the DHET’s CACH,” said USAf CEO Professor Ahmed Bawa.

This system can assist with the placement of students, who did not apply to any university because of funding, but who now qualify and wish to be considered for an academic space.

Meeting on the cards

A further meeting with education authorities on the issue was reportedly set for Monday, but further information was not immediately available.

In the meantime, Cape Peninsula University of Technology spokesperson Lauren Kansley said their focus was on the acceptance of students who applied on time.

They would then move to the waiting list if there was space left.

“And that’s a big if,” cautioned Kansley. “But that is still many weeks from now.”

University of Western Cape (UWC) spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said they were looking forward to welcoming more than 4 300 first years for 2018.

Applicants have received their final acceptance letters and online registration has started for senior students.

Assisted registration will begin on January 18.

Orientation for first year students starts on January 29 and the academic year will commence on February 5 at UWC.

Working with NSFAS

He added: “The financial aid office is working closely with NSFAS to implement the changes announced by [the] government.

Matriculants who did well but have not yet applied should also use the CACH.

“Unfortunately, the university will not be able to assist walk-ins due to infrastructural limitations and teaching capacity.”

University of Stellenbosch spokesperson Martin Viljoen said they had not had walk-ins yet.

The University of Cape Town said it would also not accept walk-in applications and echoed the call that matriculants use the CACH system to put in a late application.

UCT expects to enrol approximately 29 000 students in 2018, with 4 200 places available for undergraduate study in 2018.

Registration begins on January 29 and continues until February 14 for returning students and those who have already received offers of study from the university. 

Students who meet relevant criteria have the option of registering remotely in January, however, the majority of registration is done on campus.

Students who have the required matric qualifications, who have not been offered a place or who are looking for a place, can register with CACH at https://cach.dhet.gov.za/Applicant/SignUp, or:

An SMS will be sent containing username and password details and the recipient can go ahead and register online for a place when one becomes available.

The call centre service is open from Monday to Friday between 8:00 and 18:00 and on Saturday between 8:00 to 14:00. It is closed on Sundays.