Category Archives: South African News

News24.com | Recommendations made for 2 crucial judicial positions

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Midrand – Commissioner Thoko Didiza and Carel Fourie of the JSC announced their recommendations for two crucial judicial positions on Monday night at the office of the Chief Justice in Midrand, Johannesburg.

The interviews which were conducted by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) began on Monday and took just over nine hours to finalise, with the Commission hearing from two potential candidates who had both been nominated by President Jacob Zuma.

The Commission deliberated and finally recommended Raymond Zondo for the position of Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. Mandisa Maya was recommended for the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

Maya – who became a judge at the age of 35 – is also the first female Deputy-President of the SCA. If appointed following the recommendation, she will become the first female head of the appellate division (AD). She described herself as able and competent, experienced, independent-minded and a person who abided by the Constitution.

Zondo was described as ‘well-qualified and experienced’ having handed down a whopping 15 judgments in 2016. Zondo was appointed Judge President of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court in 2000. He has since made efforts towards advancing gender transformation in both courts, as well advancing the rights of workers in some of his judgments.

Both candidates were described as suitable. The final decision on whether the candidates may fill the vacancies lies with Zuma.

Both nominees were quizzed on their role in transforming the legal sphere and developing the country using their judgments, their thoughts on how the legal system could be more inclusive of women, and the importance of South African languages and customary law.

Commissioner Didiza was also announced as the co-spokesperson of the Commission.

“I wish to congratulate her and wish her well,” said Fourie.

Fourie also thanked Dumisa Ntsebeza SC for a “job well done”.

News24.com | Couple kidnapped, stoned, set alight after minibus crash

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Johannesburg – A couple involved in an accident with a minibus taxi were kidnapped, the woman was raped, before they were both pelted with stones and set alight, a taxi association said on Monday.

The couple’s car was struck by a speeding minibus taxi on Impala Road, Krugersdorp, in the early hours of Saturday, Dorljota spokesperson Danile Maedi said.

“A group of men then loaded the couple into the car, pretending to take them to hospital. They stopped at an open veld and then raped the woman in front of her man.”

Their assailants threw stones at them and set them alight.   

The woman died on Sunday and the man on Monday.

Eight people, including a minibus driver, were arrested.

The association would help pay for the funeral costs and provide transport for mourners on the day of the funeral, he said.

Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela had no information about the crime.

eNCA | Earth tremor rocks parts of the country

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JOHANNESBURG – A tremor lasting several minutes was felt in parts of the country on Monday night.

People from Johannesburg to Pretoria were left shaken.

No damages have been reported so far.

Reports suggest that a magnitude 6.5 quake struck north of Gaborone in Botswana at a depth of 35 km, the US Geological Survey said.

This is the second tremor to strike the country today.

Another one was felt in Gauteng, the North West and Free State in the early hours of the morning.

READ: Earth tremor shakes Joburg

Social media users reported feeling the tremor from Newtown, Melville, Fourways, Springs, Hartebeespoort, Hatfield in Pretoria and other Gauteng suburbs.

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News24.com | Court rules in Cape Town’s favour in stadium collusion case

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Cape Town – A court has handed down judgment in favour of the City of Cape Town, in its case against construction companies that colluded in the building of Cape Town Stadium, mayor Patricia de Lille said on Sunday.

She said the judgment by the North Gauteng High Court on Friday related to an objection by WBHO that the city could not rely on admissions made by other construction companies to prove its claim against WBHO.

The court dismissed its objection and ordered it to pay the city’s legal costs.

De Lille said this paved the way for the city to recover more than R500m in damages from the construction companies.

She did not agree with the settlement agreements that were made in respect of the collusion.

“We have said before that this ‘Tirisano Trust’ is a slush fund set up by national government for the private sector. Instead of compensating municipalities and ratepayers for the R 112bn loss that they incurred, this R 1.5bn trust has been  set up to help the private sector diversify instead of bringing justice to the residents of those municipalities.”

She said this was why the city decided to pursue the matter independently instead of relying on national government for proper recourse.

News24.com | Outspoken ANC top 6 members ‘ill disciplined’ – Mpumalanga chair Mabuza

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Mpumalanga – Members of the ANC’s top 6 who have spoken out against the cabinet reshuffle are “ill disciplined”, Mpumalanga ANC chairperson, David Mabuza, said on Sunday.

He was referring to President Jacob Zuma’s dramatic cabinet reshuffle which included the firing of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

Zuma’s decision has been met with outrage, with some members of the party’s top 6 openly admitting that there was no agreement over the firing of some ministers.

The ANC secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, said the president’s list of new appointments seem to have come from “elsewhere”.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa called Zuma’s decision “totally unacceptable”, while ANC treasurer general, Zweli Mkhize, said the briefing by Zuma left an impression that “the party was no longer at the centre”. 

Mabuza, addressing journalists in Bushbuck Ridge on Sunday after welcoming former ANC members back in the party, said Mhize and Ramaphosa, “must remember they are not the president. There is only one president.

“I don’t know if they want to exercise the same powers that the president has. It is quite ill disciplined that people will go out and say they differ with the president. That is ill disciplined,” said Mabuza.

He said, “To hire people, to hire ministers is the prerogative of the president. To hire MECs is my prerogative as premier”.

Zuma, said Mabuza, could decide to outsource that prerogative and “give it to other people to assist him in making a decision on who to appoint”.  

“To me the deployment of people is not the most important thing in the ANC because we don’t own these positions. I was not born to be a premier. You can remove me tomorrow and to be honest I won’t have a problem,” he said.

Mabuza said he didn’t want to read a lot into what the president has done, “exercising his prerogative”.

He said the president had the responsibility to run the country and that he could not fail the people of the country.

“You can’t hang your dirty linen out there. What are you trying to do, whom are you trying to appease?” asked Mabuza. 

“We are working very hard on the ground to unite the ANC but they are doing their best to divide it,”  he said.

eNCA | Arsenal fight back twice to draw with City

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LONDON – Arsenal earned beleaguered manager Arsene Wenger a measure of respite by twice hitting back to hold Manchester City to a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola twice saw his City side go ahead, through Leroy Sane and then Sergio Aguero, but Arsenal twice responded with goals from Theo Walcott and Shkodran Mustafi.

Victory would have been a welcome tonic for Wenger, who has come in for heavy criticism from Arsenal’s fans, but after four defeats in five Premier League games, the point was welcome.

His side remain seven points below City, who occupy the fourth and final Champions League berth, in sixth place, but they retain a game in hand on them.

City were prevented from reclaiming third place from Liverpool and eating into Chelsea’s advantage following the leaders’ shock 2-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace.

But City, who have now drawn their last three league games, will have an opportunity to close to within eight points of the summit when they travel to Chelsea on Wednesday.

Wenger again faced protests from some Arsenal fans, this time in the form of an advertising van parked outside the ground and leaflets about the launch of a #NoNewContract social media campaign.

READ: Wenger wants to stay on at Arsenal – reports

City’s team featured the novelty of Jesus Navas at right-back, but there was nothing new about the huge boulevards of space they found between the members of Arsenal’s back four.

It took City less than five minutes to draw blood as Kevin De Bruyne’s hopeful pass from deep inside his own half sent Sane scampering clear.

The Germany winger outpaced Hector Bellerin and skipped past David Ospina — deputising in goal for the injured Petr Cech — before rolling in his eighth City goal.

When De Bruyne bent a low shot against the post and David Silva forced Ospina to parry with the rebound, Arsenal looked set for a long afternoon.

 Koscielny injury 

They worked a foothold, however, with Mesut Ozil putting a tame shot straight at Willy Caballero, Nacho Monreal lashing over from a corner and Alexis Sanchez curling centimetres wide.

It took a last-ditch sliding challenge from Fernandinho, meanwhile, to prevent Sanchez applying the finishing touch to Ozil’s flick.

Wenger’s men equalised in the 40th minute when Gael Clichy played Walcott onside from Mustafi’s header and the England man bundled a shot past Caballero.

But in testament to Arsenal’s recent travails, parity would exist for just 131 seconds.

READ: Jesus saves Man City with late winner winner

De Bruyne’s dart into the box was halted by the sliding Laurent Koscielny, but Silva collected the loose ball and laid it off to Aguero, who crashed a low, angled drive beneath Ospina.

Koscielny was forced off by injury at the break, with Gabriel taking his place, while Guardiola tightened things up by introducing Yaya Toure for Raheem Sterling and moving De Bruyne out to the right.

Arsenal had threatened in first-half stoppage time, Walcott stabbing over from Sanchez’s pass, and eight minutes into the second half they levelled when Mustafi rose to head in Ozil’s corner.

While Wenger sent on Olivier Giroud and Alex Iwobi for Walcott and Danny Welbeck in search of a third goal, it was City who came closest to finding a winner.

Ospina was obliged to save from a booming Fernandinho drive and a header by Aguero, who had also headed wide from Navas’s cross moments before Walcott’s equaliser.

City wanted a penalty in stoppage time after the ball brushed Monreal’s arm as he attempted a stooping header, but referee Andre Marriner said no.

 

AFP