Two former intelligence ministers Siyabonga Cwele and Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba have been denied top security clearances by the State Security Agency (SSA), according to a Sunday media report.

According to the Sunday Times, Cwele and Letsatsi-Duba failed vetting and could not get the clearance, which is required for them to be sent abroad as ambassadors.

President Cyril Ramaphosa nominated Cwele to be SA’s top diplomat in Beijing, while Letsatsi-Duba was due to be SA’s ambassador in Ankara, Turkey.

Sources told the publication that the head of the SSA domestic branch, Mahlodi Muofhe, wrote to the director-general of international relations Kgabo Mahoai informing him of his decision not to grant Cwele and Letsatsi-Duba clearance.

This is due to what the SSA flagged as Letsatsi-Duba not disclosing a “business relationship with former president Jacob Zuma”.

According to the publication, Letsatsi-Duba allegedly lied about a “business relationship” with Zuma, dating back to 2005 when she was an MEC in Limpopo and Zuma was deputy president of the ANC.

She was also accused of under-declaring her financial position. She denies the claim.

Cwele’s time as state security minister was placed under the lens at the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture in November last year, when it was heard that he allegedly halted a probe into the controversial Gupta family, News24 reported.

READ: Shaik: Ex-state security minister’s bid to stop SSA probe of Guptas ‘was illegal’

The publication reports that the former ministers’ credentials had already been sent to the respective missions ahead of their arrival. Four months of diplomatic training at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) as well as courses have already been completed.

SSA spokesperson Mava Scott told the Sunday Times that vetting is a confidential exercise and “the process was not political”.

The Presidency said it did not comment on vetting matters.

Cwele and Letsatsi-Duba could not be reached for comment.

Both parties are said to be appealing the decision to State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo.

News24 reported in August last year that Muofhe had been appointed as the new head of the SSA’s domestic branch on a short-term contract.

His appointment was in line with Ramaphosa’s announcement that year to re-establish the two arms of the intelligence service – one focusing on domestic and the other on foreign intelligence.

A high level review panel appointed by the president recommended splitting the agency in two. The panel’s report detailed the abuse of the country’s intelligence services for political and personal interests.

Muofhe and Dlodlo however have reportedly not seen eye-to-eye during his short stint and have butted heads over acting appointments, News24 reported.

Muofhe’s contract was meant to expire in March this year as the mooted reconfiguration of the National Intelligence Agency takes place, and it was unclear whether Dlodlo would give Muofhe a recommendation for the full time gig, City Press said.

– Compiled by Canny Maphanga

As March approaches, the City of Tshwane will officially have no leadership after a special council meeting to extend acting city manager Augustine Makgata’s period of service never materialised.

The special council meeting meant to be held on Friday afternoon did not come to fruition as members of the ANC and EFF failed attend the sitting. According to ANC Tshwane chairperson Dr Kgosi Maepa, only 54 DA councillors were present in the council.

The only item on the agenda, which was postponed because there was no quorum, was Makgata’s period of service which comes to an end at midnight on Saturday.

READ| Still no mayor for Tshwane after EFF and ANC walk out of council meeting

The failed council meeting now leaves Pretoria without any leadership as Steven Mokgalapa’s tenure as mayor ended on Wednesday following his resignation. It also automatically dissolved the mayoral committee.

On Thursday, the council meeting to elect a new Tshwane mayor collapsed after the ANC and EFF staged a walkout.

Both parties vowed they would not participate in the special council meeting until speaker Katlego Mathebe resigned from her position, News24 previously reported.

“You are not going to chair this meeting. We will ensure that when we come back next time, you are not sitting there. We are not going to continue with this meeting the way you want it to continue,” said ANC councillor Johnny Mohlala.

EFF councillor Moafrika Mobogoane called on Mathebe to immediately resign before a new mayor could be elected.

READ| Maile concerned about governance after another Tshwane council meeting collapses

“If you resign now, we are willing to participate and elect a new mayor. You denied us an opportunity in January to engage on the matter.”

Mathebe denied these requests, telling the council she had no intention of resigning and that if parties wanted to remove her, they should follow the correct processes.

“I am the duly elected speaker of this council. I will be here until I am legally removed. I was not born a speaker,” she said.

Following the collapse of the meeting, Gauteng CoGTA MEC Lebogang Maile announced he was looking at various options to restore stability in the embattled City of Tshwane.

Among the options Maile said he was considering, was placing the municipality under administration.

READ| Union concerned about Tshwane workers, service delivery after council meeting collapses again

Since the start of the year, not a single council meeting has dealt with their respective agendas or concluded business, raising questions of service delivery in the capital.

“As the provincial government, we are very concerned about the state of affairs in Tshwane, particularly in relation to the continued collapse of council sittings. This shows a flagrant disregard for the interests of the public,” Maile said.

“This is deplorable. Tshwane has several service delivery challenges to address as a matter of urgency. Council sittings are meant to discuss and find solutions to those challenges. It can’t be business as usual.”

Friday’s special council meeting was adjourned.

The South African government is planning to repatriate all South Africans from the Chinese city of Wuhan where the deadly coronavirus originated.

Also called COVID-19, the virus was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, in November 2019.

“The Cabinet has decided on this course of action after due consideration of the circumstances and following several requests from the families of South Africans in the city,” the Presidency said in a statement on Thursday.

It is estimated that there were 199 South Africans in Wuhan, according to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco).

“At this stage, 132 of them have expressed the desire to be repatriated.”

The Presidency said none of the individuals had been diagnosed with the virus or exhibited any symptoms.

“Upon arrival in South Africa, they will be placed in quarantine for 21 days as an additional precautionary measure.” 

READ | Virus hits more countries as health official warns world ‘not ready’

The departments of health and defence will deploy healthcare personnel and supporting staff to provide assistance during the repatriation and quarantine processes.

Dirco would provide consular assistance, while the Department of Home Affairs would provide immigration services.

The social development department would offer trauma counselling and support.

Ramaphosa thanked the Chinese government and people for their assistance and support, reiterating South Africa’s confidence in China’s ability to control the outbreak of the virus “as evidenced by, among others, the commendable progress made to date”.

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A senior government official with direct knowledge of high-level meetings that took place on Wednesday confirmed there were serious concerns about the plan, saying they were worried about the security risks associated with the hotel where the group would be quarantined.

Once staff have been exposed to the returnees, they will have to remain at the hotel for the entire quarantine period. 

According to the official, the military plane would land at a small airstrip a short distance from the hotel. Military personnel would be called on to conduct the quarantine. 

The official said residents of the area in question were also up in arms following consultations.

“They can leave the hotel at any time,” the official said. “It’s a hotel, it’s not like there are burglar bars on the windows.”

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Police officers were allegedly too scared to search a property pointed out as a potential hiding place of Moyhdian Pangarker when he was sought for the disappearance of Tazne van Wyk, her grieving mother told Police Minister Bheki Cele on Wednesday.

Carmen van Wyk said that after eight-year-old Tazne disappeared on February, 7, one of the people searching for her reported a sighting of Pangarker. At the time, he was thought to have been the last person seen with Tazne at the tuck shop just outside their home.

Unsuccessful phone calls were made to police at first. When nobody answered, residents went to the police station to inform them that they might know where Pangarker was.

The mother said police sent just one van to the property where there had been a sighting of Pangarkar and the child.

“When they got in front of that house in that same street, the police told them: ‘I’m sorry, we’re not going in here because we were thrown with stones.’ Can it be that a policeman can refuse to go in where there was a possible lead?” asked Tazne’s mother, Carmen.

As tears welled in her eyes, she maintained an angry strength and told Cele what her family had been through.

‘One simple army van’

With Cele squeezed on the couch between her and Tazne’s dad, Terence, Carmen said police officers should have brought back-up, or at the very least “one simple army van” to check out the house.

This was a reference to the army vehicles patrolling parts of the Cape Flats to assist police action against gangs.

She said after they complained about not getting enough information on the search for Pangarker and Tazne, the police became more active.

She added the family felt as if the police were relying on them for new information.

As they spoke, their voices were drowned out every few minutes by passenger jets flying metres above their corrugated iron roof, on their final descent to Cape Town International Airport.

Their home was hot from the summer sun, and behind the couch Tazne’s award for outstanding achievement in Grade 2 Mathematics hung on the wall. Home-crafted framed collages of family photographs filled the wall space, with inspirational quotes taking up the available shelf space.

Cele listened as the parents said that some people even accused them of being linked to their child’s disappearance.

He was stunned to see how close the front door of the family’s home was to the shop where Tazne was last seen.

The Van Wyks were upset that the media knew before them that Pangarker had been arrested in Cradock in the Eastern Cape, and that a body had been found on the side of the road near Worcester.

“Why does the media have to hear about everything that’s happening and afterwards they [police] come to us when we have already seen it on the phone in the news and heard about it in voice notes?” asked Carmen.

News24 asked Carmen for permission to report on their conversation with Cele, and she agreed.

In a short public address after his visit with the family, Cele said the “first prize” is to keep children safe; the “second prize” is to keep them alive; and, the “third prize” is to know what happened.

WATCH |‘We are not protected as you are Mr President – our children are doing the dying’

He said a task team, which included the Department of Justice and Correctional Services, will examine all aspects of Tazne’s murder, including how Pangarker absconded from parole and why he was released, given his long list of convictions.

“I have listened to the family. They have raised some few issues and these are issues that are going to be pursued and a report will go to the president,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola and Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, also visited the family on Tuesday.

Call for death sentence

Amid calls outside the house by some neighbours for the death sentence, Cele said South Africa’s Constitution forbids it.

He said he had been on the phone daily during the search “pushing” police to find Tazne.

“Besides the few things that they might have done incorrectly, they [the police] put in a lot of effort.” 

He would not use the word “happy” to describe his response to the investigation.

“Happy? I can’t be happy with a dead child. If the child was alive, I would be very, very happy. Unfortunately, our best has become the worst when we find a dead kid.”