Category Archives: South African News

eNCA | WATCH: Nelson Mandela one of SA’s greatest sons: President Zuma

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CAPE TOWN – President Zuma told the ANCYL’s Dullah Omar Region on Monday that Nelson Mandela was one of South Africa’s greatest sons.

He was addressing their inaugural Nelson Mandela Memorial Lecture. The address, which was expected to begin at 4pm, eventually kicked off at 8pm.

The president said that young people can learn and be inspired by Madiba’s life.

“Indeed Madiba was one of the greatest sons of our country and our continent, from whose life we must continue to draw lessons and inspiration. His entire adult life was dedicated to the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. In him we see what we seek in ourselves,” said President Zuma.

“As South Africans we are truly proud to have produced this remarkable international statesman.  South Africa will join the world tomorrow to celebrate Mandela Day in his honour.

“Madiba directed us, all of us to do something good on this day. And contribute to making the world a better place for all of us.”

President Zuma said it was high time the country tackled issues around land and the economy.

“Should we remain landless forever? Should we remain in an economy that is dominated by a few? Those are the tasks that face us today.

“And if we talk about that you are turned almost to an abnormal person because we are told you shouldn’t say so. If you say that you are messing up things,” said President Zuma.

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eNCA | Sassa CEO Magwaza removed after accepting exit package

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JOHANNESBURG – South African  Social Security Agency (Sassa) CEO Thokozani Magwaza has been removed from his position after accepting an exit package.

Magwaza has been receiving a number of death threats, relating to his work to end Sassa’s contract with Cash Paymaster Services.

Earlier today, Parliament’s watchdog committee Scopa condemned the death threats, saying it was an orchestrated campaign to remove Magwaza from office.

READ: Magwaza, Dlamini blame each other for Sassa mess

Dlamini’s office said the department had not received any official complaints from Sassa or Magwaza.

In a short statement, Dlamini confirmed that she and Magwaza had agreed to terminate his contract. She thanked him for the role he had played at Sassa, and wished him well in his future endeavours.

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Press conference to announce the Monetary Policy Committee decision

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Publish Date: 2017-07-17
Category: Media Advisories

​The press conference to announce the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee will be held on Thursday, 20 July 2017. 

The announcement will be broadcast live on SABC3, ENCA, ANN7, BDTV and CNBC Africa from 15:00.  The press conference can also be accessed via webcast on http://results.antfarm.co.za/sarb/mpc2017/index.asp.

 
Members of the media who would like to attend should please contact Leisel Radebe on 012 313 4754 / Media@resbank.co.za.

News24.com | Newborn baby found alive in rubbish bin in Centurion

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Centurion – He lay helplessly, battling to breath in a rubbish bin in Olievenhoutbosch, Centurion. 

Netcare911 spokesperson Nick Dollman said on Sunday that a newborn baby boy was found in a rubbish bin by a passerby around 10:00 on Saturday. 

Dollman said the little baby boy had been dumped some time during Friday evening. 

He was still attached to the placenta. 

Dollman said the man took the baby to a nearby church, where he was wrapped in a blanket and taken to the local police station. 

Paramedics were called to the police station when the baby experienced difficulty breathing. 

Dollman said he was attended to by an Advanced Life Support paramedic and treated for hypothermia.

He was stabilised at the scene, before being transported by Netcare911 to hospital.

eNCA | SACP’s Mapaila takes legal actions against Zuma over cabinet reshuffle

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JOHANNESBURG – The SACP’s second deputy general secretary, Solly Mapaila is taking legal steps against President Jacob Zuma over his controversial cabinet reshuffle at the end of March.

Speaking in a panel discussion on corruption at Lilliesleaf Farm on Sunday night, Mapaila said Zuma lied to his alliance partner when he fired Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. According to Mapaila, he has deposed an affidavit against Zuma. 

READ – Zuma reshuffles cabinet

“You can’t be in the revolutionary movement and not be honest. I have noticed    many lies being told by the President. That’s why i can say now in public for the first time that I’ve deposed an affidavit…. he lied to us, or how could he tell us the truth and lie to the public. So i had to take that step which i felt is important that we bring him to the commitment of our movement,” said Mapaila. 

On … the SACP announced that it would contest future elections independently. This was said at the end of their 14th Congress in Boksburg. 

READ – SACP vague on ‘fluid’ election plans

On the Gupta family’s relationship with the President, SACP leader Blade Nzimande said the party is clear.

“One thing is the relationship with these Guptas. It’s embarrassing, it’s infuriating to have this immigrant family come here. That is why we have lost faith in the President.”

ANC MP Makhosi Khosa was speaking at the same event on Sunday. 

READ – ANC MP supporting #SecretBallot’s life threatened

According to Khosa, the police have shown little enthusiasm in investigating a series of death threats against her and other senior political figures.

Khoza says it’s shocking that police haven’t made any break-through, despite having been provided with evidence.

“Clearly this is not just about Makhosi Khoza. It’s about quite a number of people. There’s a lot of intimidation, i mean some of you might have heard that those who will be voting for the vote of no confidence are synonymous with suicide bombers and we’ve been threatened with dismissal and I’m one of those people who’ve been accused of extreme ill-discipline and i may be charged,” said Khosa. 

News24.com | Woman arrested for trying to steal baby at Mpumalanga hospital

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Johannesburg – A 19-year-old woman has been arrested after she tried to steal a baby at a hospital in Mpumalanga over the weekend, the provincial health department said on Sunday.

Spokesperson Dumisani Malamule said the woman had pretended to be pregnant and in labour, before trying to steal the baby in the maternity ward at the Tonga Hospital.

Security guards at the hospital acted swiftly and caught the woman around 02:00 on Sunday.

Malamule said the woman had tried to hide the newborn baby in her bag.

Police were called to the scene and she was arrested.

eNCA | Newborn baby found alive in rubbish bin in Pretoria

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PRETORIA – A baby was found dumped in a rubbish bin in Olievenhoutbosch near Pretoria, paramedics said on Sunday.

Netcare 911 spokesman Nick Dollman said paramedics were called to the police station to care for the newborn baby that appeared to be experiencing difficulty in breathing on Saturday.

READ: Newborn baby and foetus found dumped in Gauteng

“Reports from the scene indicate that the baby had been found in a rubbish bin by a passer-by. He then took the baby to a nearby church where the baby was wrapped in a blanket and they were driven to the local SA Police Service station. It appeared that the baby had been dumped in the bin some time during the night. The little boy was still attached to the placenta.”

An advanced life-support paramedic attended and treated the baby for hypothermia. The baby was stabilised and then transported to hospital for further assessment and care, he said.

African News Agency

eNCA | WATCH: SACP post-Congress press briefing

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JOHANNESBURG – The South African Communist Party’s (SACP) General Secretary, Blade Nzimande has announced that the party will contest future elections independently of its alliance partner, the African National Congress (ANC). The modalities of how it is to do this is yet to be clarified.

Nzimande broke the news on Saturday at the party’s 14th Congress addressing delegates in his closing speech.

Nzimande was re-elected unopposed at the congress while his deputy, Jeremy Cronin, was unavailable for re-election.

The SACP resolved to hold a special national congress next year.

WATCH – SACP congress draws to a close

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News24.com | SACP resolves to contest elections

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Ekurhuleni – The South African Communist Party has ended its 14th congress by resolving to contest elections.

The party has campaigned with the African National Congress since 1994, but announced that it would effectively stand on its own in future elections.

“We have resolved that, while the SACP will definitely contest elections, the exact modality in which we do so, needs to be determined by a way of concrete analysis of the concrete reality and through the process of  active engagement with worker and progressive formations,” read newly elected 2nd deputy general secretary Chris Mathlako.

This formed part of the declarations adopted from the congress, where delegates had been singing songs about wanting state power.

News24 understands all commissions resolved to contest the elections.

“This is the dominant view, we want state power. The leadership has been reluctant, but its time,” said one delegate.

“We have now resolved on the issue of the SACP and its electoral options by building on the resolutions of the 12th and 13th congresses of our party,” said SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande.

He said the party would still meet with its alliance partners to discuss the resolutions adopted at the congress.

Nzimande also said the alliance remained strategic, but that the “mode” in which it functioned was outdated.

“The alliance mode of operation is incapable of holding together the alliance any further,” he said.

He added that the alliance – which is made of the SACP, Cosatu and Sanco – would disintegrate, with serious consequences.

“[You] can’t come here sing about state power, take a resolution, then go and sit back and not raise funds for the congress,” said Nzimande.

He urged party members to go out and raise funds for the SACP.

“But please do not take any money from the Guptas,” he added.

eNCA | ANC MP supporting #SecretBallot’s life threatened

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JOHANNESBURG – African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament (MP), Makhosi Khoza has received death threats telling her she has 21 days to live. 

Using an app called TrueCaller, the number from which the death threats were sent is identified as belonging to someone called “Blf.”

According to TrueCaller, the data that identifies a person’s name on the app “is crowd-sourced from the millions of users who have downloaded the TrueCaller app on their smart phones. As part of the end user agreement, the TrueCaller app asks the user to allow access to the user’s address book/contacts on the smart phone.” This means either the person using the number in question identified themselves as “Blf”, or someone saved them as a contact under that name. As TrueCaller explains, “everyone who has installed the app has surrendered his phone book.”

The number in question was off on Saturday afternoon when eNCA called it – it does not have a voice message function, although one can send SMS notifications asking the person to return the call. Black First Land First (BLF) president Andile Mngxitama has reportedly denied that a BLF member was behind the threats‚ saying “there must be a white person trying to cause s**t for BLF”.

Khoza has been in the firing line for saying ANC MPs should in fact vote according to their conscience when the debate on the vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma takes places in Parliament on 8 August. She was speaking on the side-lines of the ANC National Policy Conference (NPC), even thought Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said MPs who support the no confidence vote will be disciplined. 

READ – Makhosi Khoza says she will not be ANC’s ‘sacrificial lamb’

In an interview with eNCA, Khoza said: “If upholding the Constitution is synonymous with being a suicide bomber, that statement to me is actually frightening.” Following her statements, ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu accused her of extreme ill-discipline and said the organisation should act against her.

READ – Secret ballot: Mbalula slammed for threat to MPs

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