Category Archives: South African News

eNCA | WATCH: Ugandan MPs in presidential age-limit brawl

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KAMPALA – Lawmakers brawled in Uganda’s parliament on Tuesday over long-serving ruler Yoweri Museveni’s attempt to stay in power by removing presidential age-limits.

Members of Parliament (MPs) shouted, shoved, threw punches and lobbed documents in a fight between ruling party politicians and those from the opposition.

At least one MP brandished a chair and attempted to hit his opponent over the head.

Tensions were high over a plan backed by members of Museveni’s party to table a constitutional amendment scrapping age limits, which would clear the way for the 73-year-old to run for a sixth consecutive term in 2021.

READ: The top 10 longest-serving African leaders

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga struggled to control the brawl, which broke out after one of the MPs from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) – many of whom were wearing red headbands to protest the proposed amendment – accused a government legislator of threatening him and of sneaking a gun into the chamber.

The behaviour was no more decorous outside parliament, where police fought running battles with students angry at the proposed amendment.

Hundreds of students at the country’s main Makerere University once again defied a blanket ban on protests and marched around campus wearing the red ribbons that have become a symbol of defiance.

READ: Protests, teargas in Uganda as Museveni seeks to extend rule

Some demonstrators lit barricades and erected makeshift roadblocks as they faced volleys of tear gas from armed officers backed by military police.

Student leader Colins Tumukunde said the constitution was “the soul and character” of Uganda, and they must fight to protect it.

“Our constitution is not written in pencil, it cannot be amended just like that,” he said.

AFP

Working Paper– WP/17/01: The Quarterly Projection Model of the SARB

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Publish Date: 2017-09-26
Category: Working Papers
Author: Byron Botha, Shaun de Jager, Franz Ruch and Rudi Steinbach

​The macroeconomic modelling and forecasting process at the South African Reserve Bank makes use of a suite of models. This paper provides an update of the Quarterly Projection Model (QPM) – a so-called gap model – which has played an integral role in the suite since 2007. Details of the structure and functioning of the QPM model, with particular focus on the four most important gaps – the output gap, real exchange rate gap, real interest rate gap, and inflation gap (or inflation from target) – are provided. The model is then used to decompose these four gaps in order to tell a coherent story of South Africa’s macroeconomic dynamics since the inception of inflation targeting. From the perspective of the policy maker, the QPM provides a tool that quantifies the consequences of its actions on the economy, while adequately highlighting the trade-offs that are faced in the process.

Attachments:

News24.com | Gang crossfire ‘war zone’ as anti-gang Cape grouping resurfaces

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Cape Town – About 35 shots were fired in Kensington, Cape Town, on Monday evening as members of People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) held an anti-gang motorcade in the area, community police forum chairperson Mogamat Nordien said. 

“The situation is very volatile. We don’t know who is shooting, but I gave an instruction that no resident should go onto the roads,” Nordien told News24. 

“Kensington has not experienced this type of shooting in many years,” he claimed.

Nordien said he is aware of one house damaged by crossfire, but is not aware of any injuries. 

“Residents should stay in their houses for their own safety,” he reiterated. 

Sources with close ties to police told News24 that members of Pagad clashed with alleged gangsters, causing the surge in shootings.

Kensington residents took to Facebook to express their concern after hearing multiple gunshots in the area. One said it sounded like a “war zone”.

Western Cape police could not be reached for comment.

On Monday afternoon, on its official Facebook page, Pagad shared a post saying it will be in Kensington.

The post called for an end in all areas of on-going violence, shootings and killings.

“It will only stop if everyone joins together and says enough is enough! Join the motorcade.”

Pagad was formed in the 1990s to combat gangsterism on the Cape Flats. 

In 2003, the BBC reported that the once peaceful organisation deviated toward vigilantism. 

At the time, several Pagad members were awaiting trial on a range of charges including possessing explosives.

In 1996, the murder of Hard Livings gang leader Rashaad Staggie at the hands of Pagad members made national headlines.

His brother Rashied Staggie survives him. 

In 2016 Staggie and three other suspects faced charges of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, as well as suspected stolen property.

Staggie, serving prison time for another crime, was subsequently released on full parole.

In 2003 he was jailed for 15 years for his role in the kidnapping and rape of a teenage girl.

The following year he was sentenced to 13 years in jail for stealing firearms from a police armoury.

The sentences ran concurrently and Staggie served 11 years in prison.

News24.com | Couple, aged 19, dies after vehicle plunges into dam

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Polokwane – A young couple died on Sunday morning when the car they were driving in plunged into the Chuniespoort Dam along the R37 outside Polokwane, Limpopo police said on Monday. 

A fisherman on a boat alerted police to the scene when he saw a Toyota Tazz drive into the water at a high speed, Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe’ Ngoepe said in a statement. 

Ngoepe said the bodies of Thabang Tladi and Kate Ramoshaba, both aged 19, from Lebowakgomo Township has been retrieved from the vehicle. 

The motive behind this incident is unknown but domestic violence is not ruled out, he said. 

Ngoepe said when police tried to pull the vehicle out of the dam, a cable snapped which resulted in the vehicle drifting deeper below the water.

“We are now calling in specialised resources to help us,” Ngoepe told News24. 

A search for the vehicle will continue on Tuesday. 

eNCA | WATCH: Buthelezi on polygamy in Zulu culture

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DURBAN – Inkatha Freedom Party leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi is one of the longest-serving members of Parliament in South Africa.

He has a history in South African political and public life that goes back nearly seventy years.

WATCH: IFP leader Buthelezi ready to step aside

eNCA’s Siphmandla Goge sat down with Buthelezi as he reflected on his life and spoke about the kind of values that could bind South Africans together to bring about more unity and cohesion.

Buthelezi, who has been married to his wife for several decades, also spoke about the practice of polygamy in Zulu culture.

eNCA

eNCA | ‘The United States’ has ‘declared war on our country’: North Korea

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WASHINGTON – North Korea’s foreign minister said on Monday that President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US strategic bombers even if they are not in the country’s airspace.

“The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country,” Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in New York.

“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country.”

READ: North Korea’s Kim vows to make ‘deranged’ Trump pay

Trump had warned the North Korean leader in his UN address last week Tuesday that the United States, f threatened, would “totally destroy” the country of 26 million people and mocked Kim as a “rocket man” on a suicide mission.

It was the US president’s most direct reference to military action so far against the North, which conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on September 3.

In addition to the nuclear test, North Korea has launched dozens of missiles since Kim came to power in 2011. Two recent ballistic missiles flew over Japan as Pyongyang advanced toward its goal of creating nuclear warhead-tipped missiles that can hit the United States.

Reuters

News24.com | King Shaka one of history’s greatest military strategists, says Buthelezi

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KwaZulu-Natal – King Shaka kaSenzangakhona remains one of history’s greatest military strategists, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said at a Shaka Day commemoration held in honour of the Zulu king on Sunday.

“The regiments he created were able to systematically conquer opponents. But rather than destroy those whom he had defeated, King Shaka employed the strategy of integrating them into one social structure, drawing together a fragmented people to forge a unified and powerful nation,” he said at the gathering at the Stanger High sports grounds.

Buthelezi said King Shaka designed a society in which every individual has value and everyone has a contribution to make.

“The Zulu social structure was designed to crate stability, unity and security for every member. Thus our traditions and values reflect that design. 

“It can be seen when we honour our young maidens through the Reed Dance, in the way we care for our elders in our courtship ceremonies and even in the beadwork of our crafts.”

His own identity, said Buthelezi, was forged in the history of the Zulu nation.

“I understand that I am part of something much bigger, and that I am one link in a chain of individuals who are united outside of time,” he said.

“I feel connected to my great-great-grandfather Nqengelelo Buthelezi who served in the Royal Court of King Senzangakhona. He tutored the royal children, among whom was the young Prince Shaka. There are of course many roles he played even when it came to warfare strategies.”

Shaka Day was somewhat marred by the loss of two princes, Prince Mthokozisi and Prince Sipho, who were killed in a car accident on their way to KwaDukuza to honour the founder of the Zulu nation.

Prince Mthokozisi often directed the programmes at functions and Prince Sipho – from the Ntembeni royal family – had “always honoured our King”, Buthelezi said.

News24.com | Bailing out SAA with pension funds is unethical – DA

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Cape Town – It’s unethical to use citizens’ hard-earned pension funds to rescue the failing SAA once again, the DA said on Sunday.

This followed a report in Business Times that SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni has asked the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) for a R6bn bailout for the airline, which DA deputy spokesperson on finance Alf Lees said she had “basically run into the ground”.

“While the PIC reportedly refused these requests, this is yet another reason, to add to the mountain of reasons to remove Myeni. She now appears to be involved in the planned raid on pensioners’ money to prop up SAA and other bankrupt State-Owned Enterprises,” Lees said in a statement.

“PIC boss, Dan Matjila, apparently had to answer to allegations against him that were mysteriously apparently leaked after he turned down Myeni’s request. It’s concerning that Matjila is apparently unable to do his job without political interference.”

Matjila told Business Times Myeni was “reportedly furious” after he declined the loan.

He told the newspaper that “politically connected people” had made a number of requests for transactions that didn’t meet PIC’s investment conditions.

Lees argued that Myeni’s presence on the SAA board was not prudent or a legal requirement, saying it is “downright irrational and completely irresponsible” of Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba to “try to find technical means to retain” her.

Gigaba told Parliament’s standing committee on finance that Myeni’s contract is legal, after the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) said her extended tenure in September was not, according to its laws.

R10bn funding crisis

“SAA has been in constant need of rescuing, facing a R10 billion funding crisis in a few days’ time. The setbacks for SAA continue to pile up – Citibank has reportedly refused to extend their R1.8 billion loan beyond the 30th of September 2017; the balance of the lenders of the R6.8 billion due for payment by the 30th of September 2017 has apparently indicated their reluctance to extend their loans particularly if Myeni remains on the SAA board; the international ratings agencies are watching how Gigaba handles the SAA crisis very closely; and there is no time left for any special appropriation bill to be passed by Parliament before the 30th of September 2017.”

Lees said with Matjila facing an internal audit for “doing his job”, it was “difficult to have faith in the PIC when the politically connected seek access to the R1.9 trillion of pension money that Matjila manages to further enrich themselves”.

“It’s unethical to use the citizens’ hard-earned pension funds to rescue the failing SAA, once again.

“Despite all this, Gigaba is prepared to put the economic future of South Africa, and the 9.3 million unemployed South Africans, at risk in order to comply with the wishes of President Jacob Zuma to keep his close friend Dudu Myeni on the SAA board,” Lees claimed.
 

eNCA | Banyana Banyana lift COSAFA Cup title in Bulawayo

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JOHANNESBURG – Banyana Banyana recorded their fourth Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) Championship title, as they beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in the final of the 2017 edition of the showpiece competition, at the Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, on Sunday afternoon.

The experienced Leandra Smeda was the star of the show for the South Africans in setting up the first goal before grabbing the winner in the 91st minute from a pass from Chantelle Esau.

The South Africans, who have represented Africa at the past two Olympic Games opened the scoring in the first minute of referee’s optional time at the end of the first half when Thembi Kgatlana latched onto a pass from Smeda, before out-sprinting her marker to score.

Zimbabwe took the game to the South Africans in the second half and seemed to have sent the match in the direction of a penalty shootout, when Rutendo Mokore headed home from a corner late in the second half, giving Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Andile Dlamini no chance of making a save. The strike was Mokore’s 10th goal of the tournament.

Zimbabwean goalkeeper Chido Dringirai kept her team in the match on several occasions, pulling off several superb saves to keep the Banyana attackers at bay.

The win allows Banyana interim coach Desiree Ellis to experience victory as a coach and player, having been part of the side when South Africa beat Zimbabwe 2-1 to lift the title back in 2002. The triumph comes at an important time in Ellis’ coaching career as SAFA are on the brink of announcing the full-time coach that will lead Banyana through to the 2020 Olympics.

Central defender Bambanani Mbane deservedly collected the ‘Player of the Match’ award, for her efforts in being a tower of strength in the Banyana rear-guard. Former SA goal-getter Noko Matlou, who these days plays a key role in the South African defence, made several timely tackles during the match.

For many of the Banyana players, the victory was sweet revenge for the disappointment of 2011, when Zimbabwe beat the South Africans 1-0 in the final of the tournament played in Harare. 

African News Agency