Category Archives: South African News

News24.com | Pretoria man falls 5 floors to his death while trying to escape fire

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A Pretoria man has died after falling from a building, reportedly in an attempt to escape a fire.

A Pretoria man has died after falling from a building, reportedly in an attempt to escape a fire.

Supplied by Netcare 911

A man has died after falling from a building in Pretoria, Gauteng, reportedly in an attempt to escape a fire.

Paramedics responded to the scene in Maltzan Street on Friday morning, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst, where a man had fallen from the fifth floor.

“Reports from the scene allege that an adult male had fallen from the fifth floor of a block of flats while trying to escape a building fire,” said Herbst.

Medics arrived to find the man on the ground and in a critical condition. Despite attempts to resuscitate the man, he died at the scene.

“The patient was resuscitated on the scene by a Netcare 911 emergency care practitioner. However, his condition rapidly deteriorated and he was sadly declared deceased on the scene,” says Herbst.

News24.com | JUST IN | 5 dead, 30 arrested in Gauteng church hostage drama

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Thirty people were arrested in a church hostage drama that claimed five lives on Saturday morning.

Thirty people were arrested in a church hostage drama that claimed five lives on Saturday morning.

Supplied by SAPS

A church hostage drama has left five people dead and 30 arrested in Zuurbekom, Gauteng, in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

According to police, the incident took place at the International Pentecost Holiness Church. Police responded to reports of a hostage situation and shooting at around 03:00. 

Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said more than 25 firearms had been seized.

“The scene is still active with SAPS hostage negotiators,” Peters said. 

In November 2018, two factions from the church confronted each other outside the church’s headquarters in Silo, Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg, News24 reported. 

The clash took place when a convoy of vehicles carrying worshippers arrived and parked outside the church. 

Former Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo at the time said: “As they were about to enter the church premises, another group which was inside the church charged at them. They confronted each other. During their confrontation, firearms were pulled out and three people were injured.

READ | Police visibility beefed up as 2 rival church groups clash in Joburg

“One was shot in his shoulder. The three injured men were taken to hospital. We managed to seize loaded firearms.”

About 12 cars belonging to church members were badly damaged in the skirmish. Items from inside the damaged vehicles were strewn on the street.

Clashes over the leadership of the church have led to several court battles, following the death of the church’s leader Glayton Modise. The church has over 3 million worshipers from South Africa and neighbouring countries.

This is a developing story. 

News24.com | Hawks ‘interrogated, threatened’ SARS officials to depose affidavits in ‘rogue unit’ investigation

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  • SARS officials broke silence to an internal panel, revealing alleged intimidation at the hands of Hawks officials probing allegations of illegal spying.
  • Tax officials claim they were “threatened with prosecution” if they did not depose to affidavits.
  • The internal SARS report recommends Hawks officials be investigated for possible abuse of power.

An internal SARS report has recommended that the actions of Hawks officers, who “interrogated” and threatened tax officials, be investigated as their conduct potentially constitutes an abuse of power.

The report, a March 2020 document obtained by News24 and handed to SARS boss Edward Kieswetter, reveals details of interviews an executive panel, tasked by Kieswetter, held with 31 SARS employees, who were negatively affected by the “rogue unit” narrative.

Other employees interviewed included some who were summarily suspended without due process or moved to superfluous positions within the tax agency. Some were left to languish in a boardroom for more than two years, with no official duties.

The report, which SARS told News24 this week was not final, makes several recommendations, including that a formal apology be extended to each of the employees and that SARS request advocate Muzi Sikhakhane and audit firm KPMG to fully withdraw their respective reports, which found an unlawful covert intelligence unit had operated at SARS between 2007 and 2015.

Both KPMG and Sikhakhane confirmed on Wednesday they had not been approached by SARS.

The panel was led by SARS’ group executive for compliance risk and investigation, William Mpye. Former acting commissioner Mark Kingon also served on the panel, together with attorneys from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.

It was set up in November 2019 in response to one of several recommendations by the Nugent Commission, which probed a lapse in governance at SARS during the Tom Moyane era.

Nugent recommended that SARS review processes followed in the suspension and demotions of SARS officials.

The report also notes that several of the employees, who were interviewed in March and February this year, stated they had been “summoned” to the Hawks offices in Pretoria.

READ | Internal report recommends SARS withdraw key ‘rogue unit’ reports, must apologise to employees

News24 understands the summons came from members of the Crimes Against the State Unit, led by Brigadier Nyameka Xaba, who was one of the officers investigating the SARS unit.  

The staff members, predominantly officials associated with the High-Risk Investigations Unit (HRIU), or the “rogue unit”, as it was labelled by the Sunday Times newspapers, told the panel “they were subjected to extended interviews which often took the form of interrogations.”

“They were threatened with prosecution if they failed to depose to an affidavit as demanded by the Hawks,” the Mpye report notes.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi on Thursday evening denied this.

“No witness was interrogated, intimidated or threatened with prosecution as it is being alleged,” he said.

“It must also be noted that the majority of the witnesses requested and opted to utilise their own legal representatives or SARS legal advisors to prepare their own statements,” Mulaudzi added.

He said some opted to have statements taken from them at the Hawks offices in Pretoria, while others submitted statements.

“The Hawks did not receive the alleged report by the SARS internal committee, or any complaint of abuse of power from SARS, or witnesses,” Mulaudzi said.

News24 understands the affidavits in question relate directly to the so-called Operation Sunday Evenings, which involved the planting of electronic bugs in the offices of the erstwhile Scorpions in Pretoria.

Former SARS executives Ivan Pillay, Johann van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg were charged with alleged crimes related to Sunday Evenings, following the Hawks investigation.

In February this year, the national director of public prosecutions, advocate Shamila Batohi, announced she had decided to withdraw the charges against the three men.

They had made several court appearances amid a well-publicised battle for access to the full docket – the infamous Brooklyn CAS 427/2015.

“The Brooklyn docket has not been received back from the NPA with reasons to withdraw the charges,” Mulaudzi said in response to questions over whether the Hawks were satisfied with Batohi’s decision.

The case was first opened by axed SARS Commissioner Moyane in 2015, and the docket was used as the basis to target Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, and later to charge the SARS three.

Gordhan was SARS commissioner at the time the HRIU, then known as the Special Projects Unit, and later the National Research Group, was established.

READ | SARS and the ‘rogue’ unit: The ultimate guide

At the time, the unit was intended to be housed within the State Security Agency (SSA) and was intended to provide SARS with access to intelligence gathering capabilities.

But the SSA, or the National Intelligence Agency as it was then known, inexplicably withdrew from the arrangement.

Hedged

News24 revealed the existence of the report on Wednesday.

The report recommends that apologies be offered to 31 employees interviewed in January and February this year, but cautions that the apologies must be “crafted” in such a way “so that it does not further expose SARS to civil or employment litigation”.

None of the key actors, who were central to the controversy at SARS in 2014 and 2015, were interviewed, with no mention of individuals like Pillay (former deputy commissioner), Van Loggerenberg (former head of the HRIU) or Adrian Lackay (former spokesperson).

A SARS spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed a report was finalised in March, but Mpye is not in charge of the process anymore. He handed the draft version of the report to head of employment relations Sobantu Ndlangalavu in mid-June for completion.

“Commissioner Kieswetter, in ensuring further transparency, independence and technical integrity of the ongoing review process, has appointed legal advisors to advise on a number of people-related matters, including the matter under discussion.

“Moreover, he has appointed Mr Fezekile Tshiqi, an independent specialist advisor on people-related matters in the Office of the Commissioner, to, among others, finalise the internal review.

“Mr Tshiqi is urgently and confidentially engaging the parties concerned and will be making final recommendations to the Commissioner towards the end of July 2020,” the spokesperson said.

Tshiqi served on the panel, led by Trevor Manuel, that interviewed candidates and ultimately recommended that Kieswetter be appointed SARS commissioner to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in early 2019.

Although the committee was tasked to act on recommendations by the Nugent commission that reparations to affected employees be considered, the report seems to explore every possible avenue to prevent said reparations from being financial in nature and to protect SARS from further liability.

Interviewed employees detailed various instances of irregular and unfair suspensions and dismissals, victimisation, irregular disciplinary procedures, demotions, loss of income and other benefits and “interrogation” by certain state institutions. This was all related to the period of state capture under then-commissioner Moyane and an internal environment found by Nugent to be one of “fear and victimisation”.

The committee, however, regularly cites an October 2019 legal opinion, which states that aggrieved employees had legal recourse to the Centre for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) at the time, and that “there is good reason not to pay reparation to this category of employees because they had a legal remedy. Reparations are not intended for persons with a legal remedy.”

News24.com | LIVE | Mkhize back-pedals on medical scooters; and Africa could have Covid-19 vaccine by early 2021

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AmaRharhabe Kingdom Queen Noloyiso Sandile dies of Covid-19

AmaRharhabe Kingdom Queen Regent Noloyiso Sandile has died of Covid-19 at the age of 56.

Her spokesperson, Prince Zolile Burns Ncamashe, confirmed her death to News24 on Wednesday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his sadness and described the queen as “a bastion of traditional values and an inspiring and principled leader of her people”.

Covid-19 storm is approaching – Mkhize

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that the Covid-19 storm, which the government had consistently warned South Africans of, “is now arriving”.

He said, as of Tuesday, South Africa had 10 144 new cases, which brought the cumulative confirmed cases to 215 855.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde tests positive for Covid-19

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde is self-isolating at home for the next 14 days after confirming he tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

“I received a positive test result for Covid-19 this morning, and I am in self-isolation at home for 14 days,” Winde said in a statement on Wednesday.

Science and innovation dept to research traditional medicine for Covid-19 fight

The Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation has reassigned R15 million from existing indigenous knowledge projects to support Covid-19 interventions, Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande said in a briefing on Wednesday.

“We are in the process of implementing multiple interventions including the use of African medicines as immune modulators and anti-coronavirus therapeutics,” he said.

North West Premier Job Mokgoro checks into hospital for voluntary self-quarantine

North West Premier Job Mokgoro has chosen to go into voluntary self-quarantine on Wednesday after testing positive for Covid-19.

According to his spokesperson, Vuyisile Ngesi, Mokgoro “is in good spirits”, but has taken the decision to limit his staff’s exposure to Covid-19 by going into quarantine at a hospital facility.

Life Healthcare sends in more nurses as it battles spike in Covid-19 admissions

Hospital group Life Healthcare is recruiting staff and beefing up its equipment supplies, having been faced with a shortage of nurses as its hospital admissions for Covid-19 increased sharply.

In a letter to doctors last week, Adam Pyle, Life Healthcare South Africa CEO, said the group now has over 1 000 Covid-19 patients in its hospitals across the country.

News24.com | Covid-19 in Gauteng: Support ramped up for healthcare workers as pressure mounts

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  • Five healthcare workers in Gauteng have died of Covid-19.
  • External and internal counselling services are being offered.
  • Staff who have to self-isolate are provided with support.

As pressure mounts on Gauteng hospitals to cope with the current surge in Covid-19 cases, hospitals in both the public and private sector are offering counselling and other psychosocial support to healthcare workers.

The health department is using an external service provider to offer therapy to healthcare workers in need.

Private hospital groups Netcare, Mediclinic and Life Healthcare are also offering various forms of counselling to healthcare workers and, in some cases, finding ways to ease the workload of, particularly, nursing staff.

READ | Covid-19: Gauteng’s hospitals feeling the strain – but not yet full

At a ceremony recognising Gauteng healthcare workers on Tuesday, Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku said the province had lost five healthcare workers to Covid-19.

On Thursday, the Gauteng health department will launch a “chaplaincy” programme, in conjunction with various faith-based organisations, to provide support to healthcare workers, said Kwara Kekana, Masuku’s spokesperson.

“The department has a service provider that renders psychological counselling and therapeutic interventions to the health workers and their families,” Kekana told News24.

“This is done face-to-face and remotely or even through home visits where possible. The service provider is Careway and this is a transversal GPG (Gauteng provincial government) wide service.”

She said the department also has “employee assistant services” in all its facilities to look after the mental and emotional health of employees.

“This renders services in-house for managing the psychosocial stressors in the workplace.”

Individual and group sessions

Meanwhile, at Mediclinic, individual and group support sessions have been offered to staff.

Dr Stefan Smuts, chief clinical officer of Mediclinic Southern Africa, said the group has also taken steps to help nurses, in particular, cope with their workloads.

“Operational priorities of nursing staff, particularly, have been relooked, with tasks removed that are not core to clinical care delivery. Staffing structures and quotas have also been reviewed to ensure safe staffing,” he said.

Smuts said the group had also launched a wellness website, with resources for staff, and said that staff who are sent home for self-isolation are monitored daily by managers.

READ | Meet those who have struggled with Covid-19 symptoms for more than 100 days

The group also has a volunteer programme in place, which pulls in clinical and non-volunteers to assist in their communities.

“The tasks being performed are diverse, however all ultimately focused on supporting clinical frontline care delivery. We have had an overwhelming response across the country and retired nurses and other community members have arrived for training and orientation to ensure that they are available as and when the hospitals require their assistance,” he said.

In-house counselling

Jacques du Plessis, managing director of Netcare’s hospital division, said the group’s employees have access to a 24/7 free telephonic counselling service from a third-party employee wellness service provider.

Most Netcare hospitals have in-house counselling services as well, he said.

Staff members who need to self-isolate, and those who have tested positive for Covid-19, are being paid in full while absent from work, said Du Plessis.

“Netcare is providing accommodation for staff members, who are unable to self-isolate safely at home, at the company’s cost. It is also important to note that any person required to self-isolate because of exposure at work is being granted ‘special leave’ and the time required to be away will not impact on any other current leave entitlement.

“Staff members in self-isolation are regularly contacted by management team members to monitor their physical and mental well-being.”

Netcare has also provided all staff members with the flu vaccine, at the company’s cost, to protect them against this seasonal health risk, he said.

Confidential

Life Healthcare has an employee wellness programme, offering unlimited complimentary and confidential counselling services to employees, including doctors, as well as their immediate family members, said the group’s general manager for emergency medicine, Dr Charl van Loggerenberg.

This includes emotional support, assistance with financial planning, legal advice and other services, specifically to assist the employees, he said.

Line managers are also in regular contact with staff in quarantine or self-isolation, to monitor their well-being, said Van Loggerenberg.

“Additionally, for those employees who are unable to safely quarantine or isolate at home, the company has made arrangements with a number of B&Bs (or similar) to ensure they can safely and comfortably see out the required isolation period. Meals are also provided for.

“In May 2020, we offered the flu vaccination to all our employees as an additional measure to protect them from the upcoming influenza season,” he said.

News24.com | Ramaphosa mourns death of Queen Noloyiso: ‘An inspiring leader of her people’

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King Mpendulo Zwelonke Sigcawu is enrobed by AmaRharhabe Queen Regent Noloyiso Sandile during his coronation in Nqadu Great Place in Nqadu, Gatyane.

King Mpendulo Zwelonke Sigcawu is enrobed by AmaRharhabe Queen Regent Noloyiso Sandile during his coronation in Nqadu Great Place in Nqadu, Gatyane.

  • President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences after the passing of Queen Noloyiso Sandile on Wednesday.
  • Queen Noloyiso passed away after a short illness. 
  • He described the Queen as “a bastion of traditional values and an inspiring and principled leader of her people”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed “profound sadness” at the passing of Regent of the Royal House of the AmaRharhabe, Her Majesty Queen Noloyiso Sandile, who died on Wednesday after a short illness.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ramaphosa described the queen as “a bastion of traditional values and an inspiring and principled leader of her people”.

He extended his condolences to the Royal Household AmaRharhabe and the broader traditional communities.

“Queen Noloyiso played a significant role in the affirmation of traditional values and leadership in South African society at large, and in the development of her kingdom and the Eastern Cape more broadly,” Ramaphosa said.

READ | AmaRharhabe Kingdom Queen Noloyiso Sandile dies of Covid-19

He added: “Under her able leadership, the AmaRharhabe firmly grasped the nettle of change and adapted to the demands of modern society, all the while holding proudly to their history, traditions and identity.”

He said Queen Noloyiso was a champion of rural women, who challenged patriarchy in her community and gave a voice to female constituents.

“At a time when we face a grave public health emergency in the form of coronavirus, Queen Noloyiso actively mobilised support for the national effort to combat the pandemic, including calling on communities to halt traditional initiations.

“The united stand taken by the seven kingdoms in this regard was a critical intervention to save lives, and we owe a debt to the Queen for the role she played,” Ramaphosa said.

READ | Ricardo Mthembu, ANC KZN spokesperson, dies of Covid-19

“We join the Great Place of Mngqesha and AmaRharhabe in mourning her passing; at the same time, we pay tribute to her for her deep and unwavering commitment to the upliftment of her people and to her country. May her soul rest in peace.”

He explained that the AmaRharhabe had been an independent sovereign kingship since the 18th century, with its status affirmed in 2016 by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

News24.com | North West Premier Job Mokgoro tests positive for Covid-19

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North West premier Job Mokgoro.

North West premier Job Mokgoro.

Thapelo Morebudi/Sunday Times/Gallo Images/Getty

  • North West Premier Job Mokgoro has tested positive for Covid-19, his office announced.
  • He is currently in self-isolation, but is still able to perform his duties.
  • This follows the death of Cogta MEC Gordon Kegakilwe on Monday after also testing positive for Covid-19.

North West Premier Job Mokgoro has tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Vuyisile Ngesi, on Tuesday.

Mokgoro will be in self-isolation, Ngesi said.

He took the test on Monday, following the death of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC, Gordon Kegakilwe, on the same day.

“Premier Mokgoro took the Covid-19 test yesterday following the passing on of the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, the late Mr Mothibi Gordon Kegakilwe, and he received results today, confirming that he has tested positive for the virus,” Ngesi said.

READ | Tributes pour in for North West MEC Kegakilwe who died due to Covid-19 complications

He added that Mokgoro, 72, only has a cough, despite testing positive and will continue to work while in isolation.

Duties

“The premier will therefore continue to discharge his duties, albeit remotely, and has instructed members of the premier’s support staff, who have worked with him closely in the last two weeks to test, while taking the necessary precautions,” Ngesi said.

He added that tracing the premier’s contacts is currently under way.

News24 previously reported that North West MEC for Public Works and Roads, Saliva Molapisi, also tested positive for Covid-19 after Kegakilwe’s passing.

ALSO READ | Wife of Paul Mashatile dies a week after he buried his mother

Ngesi said she would also be able to perform her duties while in self-isolation.

Kegakilwe’s funeral

Ngesi said the executive council has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, requesting that Kegakilwe’s funeral be categorised as a Provincial Official Funeral Category 1 in light of the disaster regulations.

“… and as soon as the president has responded to the request, more information regarding the date and venue of the funeral will be made public,” he said.

News24.com | JUST IN | Back to school: Here is when the other grades will return

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Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

  • Learners in grades R, 6, 7, 11 and 12 have already returned to school.
  • Minister Angie Motshekga has now revealed when pupils in other grades would also be returning.
  • Schools closed when the country went into a hard lockdown in an attempt to flatten the curve of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has gazetted amended regulations on the dates when children in grades still learning from home will return to school, and join Grades R, 6, 7, 11 and 12. 

On Tuesday, Motshekga amended the regulations which form part of the Disaster Management Act.

Pupils in grades R, 6, 7, 11 and 12 have already returned to their classrooms.

Schools were closed when the country was placed on Level 5 lockdown in March.

READ | Eastern Cape postpones return of Grades R, 6 and 11 as Covid-19 cases rise

Grade 7 and 12 pupils were the first to return, followed by children in grades R, 6 and 11 on Monday. 

The amendments follow a decision by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) which decided last Thursday that only grades R, 6 and 11 would be returning as of Monday, leaving pupils in grades 1, 2, 3, and 10 to continue their schooling from home.

According to the amended regulations grades 3 and 10 are expected back on 20 July, while pupils in grades 1 and 2 will return to school a week later on 27 July.

Grade 4 and 9 children will go back on 17 August.

The final cohort of pupils to return to schools will be those in grades 5 and 8 on 31 August.

The staggered return is to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 among pupils, teachers and staff at schools. 

– More to follow.

Information notice on the official gold and foreign exchange reserves of the South African Reserve Bank as at 30 June 2020

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Publish Date: 2020-07-07
Category: Information Notice
Author: Financial Markets

​This notice provides detail of the US dollar equivalent of the level of the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) official gold and foreign exchange reserves, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and foreign currency deposits received from customers published today in the SARB’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 30 June 2020.

Attachments: