Category Archives: South African News

News24.com | Another cardboard bed ‘sleepover’ for Sassa temporary disability grant applicants in Cape Town

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Sleepover queues readying for the next round of temporary disability grant applications in Bellville on Tuesday.

Sleepover queues readying for the next round of temporary disability grant applications in Bellville on Tuesday.

PHOTO: Jenni Evans/News24

  • People were sleeping outside Sassa’s Bellville office again in the hopes of being among the first to be served on temporary disability day on Tuesday.
  • They implored the department to start a queue number system to avoid the chaotic scenes of Friday, when a water cannon sprayed people standing too close to each other.
  • On Monday, the agency’s focus was on taking applications for pensioners’ grants, with a smaller queue of people looking for shady spots to wait it out on the pavement.

“Can’t they just start a number system for the queue so that we don’t have to sleep here tonight,” asked a group of people who had slept outside Bellville’s SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) office again.

“We have no money, so look at what we have to eat,” said a woman in between sucking a sour fig from a bag of the wild fruit.

“This is all I have,” she said.

“The people lying here are sick. They can’t lie like this,” said another woman waving at the people napping on shreds of cardboard boxes, using their bags as pillows.

Only one police vehicle was observed, in contrast to the chaos of Friday when police officers sprayed people from a water cannon mounted on an armoured vehicle, for not socially distancing in line with Covid-19 protocols.

Police had been imploring people to stand apart from each other to avoid the crowding that is often blamed for spreading the virus.

This was in between reading out the names of grant applicants who had secured an appointment to return to the office to reapply for their temporary disability grant. Using their public address system, they gave the applicants the date they must return as the applicants move through the process of getting a new medical assessment.

However, the spraying of jets of water at people who would not create spaces between one another, shocked many people.

READ | ‘Shameful disregard for human rights’ – Black Sash slams cops over Sassa water cannon incident

The queue on Monday was a lot smaller, with people standing apart from each other. It was pension application or query day.

“I am here for my father,” said one woman, who did not want to be identified. Looking up from where he sat on the pavement, her elderly father said his pension was stopped at the end of December and he had come to find out what the problem was.

“I am sure we will be seen today,” said his daughter hopefully.

Over 200 000 of these grants countrywide lapsed at the end of December. Around 53 000 of the applicants are in the Western Cape.

They had been extended automatically during the lockdown, but the Minister of Social Development said the department could not afford to simply extend them again. She and Sassa CEO Totsie Memela said increased unemployment because of job losses during the pandemic meant that more people were applying for grants for children, and they had to make the money last.

The people who need the temporary disability grant must have a medical assessment and if the doctors think their condition still warrants it, they can reapply for a grant which the applicant collects either at a pay point, or via their bank account.

Many of the applicants used to go to community halls near where they live for the administrative processes, but these were closed due to Covid-19 regulations, and applicants have congregated at their nearest Sassa office to get back into the system instead.

The people sleeping opposite the office hailed from suburbs that included Elsies River, Bishop Lavis, Delft, and Uitsig.

The DA-run City of Cape Town was blamed by the opposition ANC for the situation, for not letting Sassa use its halls. The City countered that Sassa had rejected many of the venues it offered, and expected the City to lay the infrastructure. It also needed to retain the halls for communal use.

On Friday during a site visit, Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said the Western Cape’s congestion was also due to a shortage of doctors who conduct the assessment for the special disability grant.

The department is meeting with the Department of Social Development in the Western Cape on Monday.

In the meantime, many of the people who had slept in a service area opposite the office on Sunday night said they understood the position that Sassa is in, and seemed resigned to having to wait their turn.

“They have told us once they help us, we won’t have to do this again,” said one woman on Monday.

“Friday was a whole chaos but we can’t actually complain, because they tried. They tried their best,” she said of the Sassa officers.

A “neighbour”, who had slept on the ground, said they were allowed to use Sassa’s bathrooms during the day and they hoped that Tuesday would be their last night of sleeping on the pavement.

The Black Sash was among those who condemned Friday’s events, and called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene.

News24.com | Wage freeze, tax hikes or borrowing – how will Treasury ‘make sure’ there is money for vaccines?

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  • President Cyril Ramaphosa previously said Treasury would ensure that funding is available to secure vaccines.
  • Economists do not foresee dramatic tax hikes to fund vaccines. However, increases to fuel levies and even a wealth tax are on the cards.
  • Treasury says it will announce any tax changes and detailed financing measures on budget day.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has ambitious plans to have 40 million South Africans receive Covid-19 vaccines by the end of the year and Treasury is going to have to foot the bill with state coffers which are already stretched to their limits.

Last week in an interview with EWN, the president said that Treasury would ensure that money is available for vaccines. “There can never be any talk that we don’t have money for the vaccine to save the lives of our people. The money is going to be there and Treasury is going to make sure that the money is there,” he told journalists.

The interview followed the president’s address to the nation earlier last week, where he explained there would be three channels by which vaccines would be acquired. These are – the World Health Organisation’s COVAX facility, the African Union’s vaccine initiative and through direct engagements with vaccine manufacturers. He said 20 million vaccines are to be distributed in the first half 2021.

By comparison, Israel has already provided single doses of vaccines to one in four people, the UAE is tailing with 19% of its population vaccinated, followed by Bahrain and the UK, the Bureau for Economic Research noted in a weekly update. So far, the US has vaccinated just under 4% of its population.

But how exactly will Treasury be funding vaccines – with an already pressured fiscus?

In an emailed response to questions from Fin24, Treasury said that “detailed financing measures”, including tax changes, will be announced on Budget Day, in February. However, citing Treasury’s Director-General Dondo Mogajane, Business Day reported that tax hikes are being considered, along with other measures. Mogajane directed Fin24 to Treasury’s media team for questions. 

In response to the report, opposition party the Democratic Alliance issued a statement labelling any tax hikes by Treasury to fund Covid-19 vaccines as “morally indefensible” and a “bad economic policy”. The DA’s Geordin Hill-Lewis, during a media briefing on Monday, said it would be better for government to reprioritise spending from “wasteful programmes” and cancel “wasteful bailouts.”

Economists however do not think Treasury will be too aggressive with tax hikes this year, especially at such a crucial point where the economy is in recovery.

Difficult choices

Chief economist of the Bureau for Economic Research Hugo Pienaar explained that Treasury could consider a combination of expenditure reprioritisation and raising taxes to fund vaccines. He noted that last year Treasury already had to reprioritise expenditure to fund the Covid-19 fiscal relief package. “In this environment, Treasury should rather reprioritise expenditure even more. It will be difficult, they have already cut back a lot of other expenditure… But that may be the preferred option as opposed to raising taxes.”

Pienaar expects there to be adjustments to fuel levies and even sin taxes. But he does not foresee government raising VAT, which will be hard on consumers who are already battling retrenchments and in some cases salary cuts due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

Other income support measures from government have also lapsed or coming to an end such as the UIF- Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme and social grant top-ups, Pienaar explained. “To increase VAT would be quite a dramatic step for them (Treasury),” said Pienaar. Increasing VAT would also compromise the economic recovery even more, so Treasury would probably be hesitant about that, he added

At the October Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) last year, Treasury had already indicated that it planned to raise a further R5 billion taxes in the 2021/2022 financial year.  Pienaar said that Treasury probably would not want to increase the burden on consumers even more.

Another option for Treasury to take is to breach the expenditure ceiling in order to pay for the vaccines, said Pienaar. This will widen the budget. Government would then have to increase its borrowing – which is also undesirable because the country’s debt to GDP is north of 80% or about R4 trillion.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni warned multiple times last year that the country is at risk of a sovereign debt crisis – which must be avoided.

Momentum Investments economist Sanisha Packirisamy highlighted that revenue raised from the auctioning of spectrum as well as bolstered revenues from mining on the back of improved commodity prices– as outlined in the MTBPS – could possibly aid vaccine funding requirements.

As for generating revenue by raising taxes, Packirisamy said this would be difficult given “sluggish growth and ongoing consumer and business stress” due to the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy. The SA economy is expected to have contracted between 7% and 13% in 2020 – the worst performance in 90 years.

“If we look at the potential sources of revenue, we would see fiscal drag and fuel levies as the most prominent sources of additional revenue generation capacity,” said Packirisamy. Fiscal drag is a concept in which inflation or income growth would move taxpayers to higher tax brackets – essentially they would be paying more taxes without government explicitly raising taxes.

Packirisamy also highlighted that government could raise sin taxes-but recently the alcohol industry has asked for a deferment of excise duties in light of the alcohol sales ban, Fin24 previously reported.

Packirisamy noted that raising wealth taxes is possible and could be addressed as a potential source of revenue, although it is unlikely to be a major source of revenue given the country’s massive inequality. “SA faces extreme wealth inequality and as such the base targeted under a wealth tax would be narrow, limiting collections. Moreover, there is a significant administrative burden to collecting wealth taxes particularly if it is focused as a tax on luxury goods (luxury vehicles, art and jewellery).”

Packirisamy foresees a low likelihood in personal income taxes being raised. This source of government revenue is already negatively impacted by emigration, increasing unemployment, pay cuts and poor economic growth, she said. There is also a low likelihood for corporate income tax rates to be increased. It is already high at 28% compared to the global average of 23.6%, Packirisamy explained.

There could be scope for government to raise savings, through negotiations on salary increases for civil servants. “A moribund economy lowers the bargaining power of the labour unions in our view, with the risk of further job losses looming,” said Packirisamy. 

“The finance ministry is likely to take a tough stance given the financing constraints government faces. Negative real increases in the government wage bill would be a positive for fiscal consolidation, but there is likely to be slippage given the rise in food and oil prices, which the labour unions will raise in their argument for higher wages.”

Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said that the largest savings could be derived from the civil service remunerations. “Aligning the civil service to the private sector from a wage change perspective is vital to allow for the space to spend on necessary items like vaccines, as opposed to luxuries such as above inflation increase in the renumeration of public servants,” said Bishop.

“At R54 a vaccine, they would need about R2.15 billion and these saving can easing be made if the civil service sees a zero percent change in renumeration in 2020 and 2021 as is appropriate in the ongoing state of emergency the country finds itself in,” Bishop added.

News24.com | Police, SA Air Force and NSRI rescue Vanderbijlpark family of 6 trapped in home by flash flood

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A family of six was rescued from a flash flood in Vanderbijlpark by Police Search and Rescue, SA Air Force and NSRI teams.

A family of six was rescued from a flash flood in Vanderbijlpark by Police Search and Rescue, SA Air Force and NSRI teams.

PHOTO: IPSS

  • A Vanderbijlpark family of six was rescued from a
    flash flood at their home.
  • Two of the family members were airlifted to safety.
  • The NSRI, which took part in the rescue operation,
    has warned Vaal residents to be careful of flooding following heavy downpours.

A family of six has been rescued from a flash flood
in Vanderbijlpark.

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) received a
report of the flood at the Riet River on Loch Vaal on Saturday morning, which
had stranded a family in their home.

“Our NSRI rescue vehicle, carrying our NSRI
Croc and towing our NSRI Discovery Rescue Runner, was dispatched. On arrival on
the scene, we were met by Police Search and Rescue who had already managed to
safely rescue four of the six residents from the house by wading them through
the swollen river,” said NSRI Vaal Dam station commander Jake Manten.

However, an elderly couple remained stranded in a
house, with rapidly flowing waters rising.

Airlifted to safety

“We launched our Discovery Rescue Runner,
accompanied by police divers, to attempt to rescue the couple from the house,
but submerged and semi-submerged long farmland grass hampered efforts to reach
them and the couple were unable to wade through the barely accessible flooded
terrain,” Manten said.

Rescue crews requested assistance from the SA Air
Force, and the couple was airlifted to safety.

“They were medically assessed by paramedics
and loaded into an ambulance and we believe they were transported to hospital
as a precaution for treatment for shock. The rescue operation was completed at
13:40,” he said.

The NSRI is appealing to communities along the
rivers and dams in the Vaal area to be vigilant for flash floods during heavy
rainfall.

News24.com | Solly Bux, businessman who helped Raymond Zondo as a student, dies

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Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo at the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture.

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo at the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture.

PHOTO: Deaan Vivier

  • Suleman Bux, the chairperson of the Zondo and Bux Educational Trust, has died.
  • Bux had been lauded for offering assistance to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo when he was a student.
  • Bux chaired the trust, which was established with Zondo in 2018.

Suleman “Solly” Bux, the chairperson of the Zondo and Bux Educational Trust, has died.

The trust confirmed his death in a statement on social media released on Saturday.

“The Zondo and Bux Educational Trust is saddened by the passing away of its chairman Mr Solly Bux and conveys its heartfelt condolences to the Bux family,” the statement said.

Bux has been praised for his role in helping Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo during his youth.

When Zondo was still a student, he approached Bux to arrange a loan that would allow his mother to buy groceries. Bux was the owner of Kwa Moosa Wholesalers in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Ixopo at the time.

South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT) social responsibility co-ordinator Rasheeda Motala previously told News24:

Without batting an eyelid, nor setting anything down on paper, Mr Bux gave him a voucher for his mother to collect groceries from his shop on a monthly basis for the three years during which he was going to be at university.

When he returned to settle the loan, Bux told him to pay it forward.

Zondo recounted this story during his interview for the post of Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.

About 40 years after the act of kindness, they formed the Zondo and Bux Educational Trust.

“The Zondo and Bux Educational Trust was established in 2018, after a dinner held in October 2017 to recognise and pay tribute to Mr Bux for the assistance provided to Judge Zondo some 40 years earlier,” the organisation said in a statement.

“Mr Bux was appointed chairman of the trust since inception and will be missed.”

News24.com | Sassa grants scramble: ‘We should have acted sooner,’ Lindiwe Zulu admits

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  • Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said the department should have acted sooner to prevent the scramble to renew temporary disability grants. 
  • She called for more venues to be opened to deal with the congestion after water cannons were used to enforce social distancing among grant applicants at the Bellville office. 
  • She stood firm on the department‘s stance that it could not afford another automatic extension.  

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said the department should have planned better to avoid the frantic scramble for services seen outside the Bellville Sassa office where police used water cannons on the sick and disabled to enforce social distancing on Friday.

“It shouldn’t even have taken a minister to come here,” she said after an emergency meeting with Sassa CEO Totsi Memela and other officials.

Zulu added many factors had contributed to the “endless queues” at Sassa’s Bellville office, but ultimately it was her department’s responsibility.

WATCH | Grants chaos outside Cape Town Sassa office

Problems included Sassa not being able to use community halls as it did before they were shut due to Covid-19, a shortage of doctors in the Western Cape for medical assessments and an increase in applications for child grants as parents lose their jobs during the pandemic.  

She said Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Social Development had also summoned the department to explain itself.

“I think we should have been able to plan better,” said Zulu. 

On Friday morning, people stood in the rain close to each other as the queue went around the block. 

The police tried to distance themselves from each in line with Covid-19 health advisories, and to keep their masks on. 

Comply

At one point, the police said they would not open if people did not comply with social distancing.  

Sassa’s office manager in Elsie’s River, Munro Jephta, arrived to help, as his office was quieter, and he used the police’s public address system to explain procedures to those standing in line. 

Afterwards, he helped those queuing, taking and checking documents, as police officers and Sassa officials collected bundles of IDs and Sassa cards, which were handed over to officials in the building. 

After a long wait, the police called names from a bundle of forms brought out by Sassa officials, containing dates for people’s medical examinations and dates for when they must come back.

Loadshedding also slowed things down for the already reduced number of staff working due to health and safety regulations.

Just before Zulu arrived at around midday, a number of plastic chairs were found for people leaning on crutches in the rain. The plan was to attend to the disabled people first, so people in wheelchairs and crutches lined up accordingly on the pavement. 

Police tape was wrapped around the overflowing wheelie bins near the entrance to create a vacant space for people to go through the front door.

When Zulu arrived, she walked to look at the end of the queue, while people shouted at her: “We are hungry.” 

Later, she climbed into the police’s water cannon vehicle and used its public address system to implore people to keep their distance from each other.

She went back in to the building for a meeting, but after several warnings to social distance, the police let loose on the sick and disabled with the water cannon.

Afterwards, they carried on helping Sassa officials call out the names of people whose future appointment dates were ready, and monitoring the situation.

Zulu defended the police using water cannons to get people to keep a safe distance from each other, saying the lack of social distancing was a problem.

Condemn

Western Cape Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez issued a statement to express her dismay at events on Friday. 

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the use of water cannons by the South African Police Services against our society’s most vulnerable, who have queued at Sassa offices today.

“These citizens are desperately seeking assistance from Sassa regarding the termination of all Sassa temporary disability grants, and it is not their fault that they have been failed in this way,” she said.

Sassa

People were still waiting outside the Sassa office in Bellville by Friday afternoon.

News24 Jenni Evans, News24

Fernandez added she was supposed to have a meeting with Zulu on Friday to see how the Western Cape government could help, but this was postponed to Monday. 

The ANC in the province blamed the Western Cape government for not making community halls available. 

However, the City of Cape Town said it closed the halls as part of its Covid-19 strategy, and those offered were either rejected by Sassa, or it asked the City to install infrastructure for its systems.

Applicants

Many of the applicants said they used to go to community halls for any Sassa business, and it was more convenient than coming all the way to Bellville. 

Black Sash asked that the temporary disability grant be extended again, after it was extended during the lockdown.

Zulu said that would not be possible.

“If I could, and if the fiscus was not under such pressure … I would definitely be saying ‘no, let’s just extend it’.”

Memela said many of the applicants were already in the system and it should just be a matter of re-verifying their application through the doctors’ appointments they were being given. 

She added the Sassa would work on digitising its systems so that people did not need to come into the office at all.

Those who need immediate assistance can get the social relief of distress grant, if they qualify and if they are previous recipients.

She also called for better cooperation with the Department of Health regarding the medical assessment and access to applicants’ medical records, many of which are already captured in databases. 

News24.com | Govt spent R5 billion on renting private buildings for government departments

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Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille.

News24/file

  • The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has revealed it spent R5 billion on renting private properties for government departments and institutions.
  • Just over 300 landlords have been over-payed to the tune of R66 million, most of which the department has already recouped.
  • The expenditure covers the financial year ending March 2020.

Government has forked out R5 billion on renting private properties for government departments and institutions, but the fight is now on to recoup millions in overpayments to landlords.

This was revealed by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille in her reply to a parliamentary question from EFF MP Annacleta Mathapelo Siwisa.

Siwisa wanted details on the number of buildings the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) were renting from private landlords to house government departments and institutions.

READ | De Lille gets help from Mabuza to help recoup billions from govt departments

She also raised the question of overpayments with rent.

“I was informed by the DPWI that as at March 2020, there were 2 265 properties that the DPWI was renting from private landlords to house government departments and institutions. [The] total payments on those buildings for the financial year ended 31 March 2020 amounted to R5 billion,” De Lille said.

Some of the biggest amounts spent on rental payments were made for buildings occupied by the SAPS.

One company, SKG/Africa Properties, received over R93 million in annual rent for leasing its buildings to police management.

Massive annual rent payments were also made on behalf of departments occupying private buildings.

These include the departments of:

  • Water and Sanitation – R51 million;
  • Defence and Military Veterans – R22 million;
  • National Treasury – R61 million;
  • Correctional Services – R55 million;
  • Home Affairs – R66 million;
  • Human Settlements – R34 million;
  • Transport R86 million; and
  • Higher Education and Training – R48 million

On the question of overpayments on rentals, De Lille said: “I was informed that when the DPWI migrated to [a] new system to accommodate the lease-in functionality, there have been instances where overpayments occurred.  The number of leases affected as a result of the overpayments were 305 with a total value of R66 million. From the R66 million overpayment an amount of R55 million has already been recovered and the balance of R11 million is being recovered.”

ALSO READ | Public works department ‘is a mess’ – Patricia de Lille tells Parliament

In a separate parliamentary reply, De Lille also revealed her department has not referred any cases directly to the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT).

She said the department refers cases directly to police, the Hawks, and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

“Based on their own processes and procedures, these law enforcement agencies make a determination on the cases to be referred to the Anti-Corruption Task Team for further investigation.

“As per the Anti-Corruption Task Team report to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in Parliament on 11 November 2020, a total of 21 cases have been reported in relation to the DPWI. As per the public record, these cases are at various stages of investigation. The Anti-Corruption Task Team provides feedback directly to the law enforcement agencies.”

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News24.com | ‘People wanted me to die’, says Carl Niehaus as he recovers from Covid-19 pneumonia

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uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus.

uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association spokesperson Carl Niehaus.

Felix Dlangamandla/Netwerk24

  • MKMVA spokesperson Carl Niehaus thanked ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule for his support during what he said was a serious Covid-19 pneumonia infection. 
  • He claimed during this time there was an “orchestrated” campaign against him in the media.
  • Niehaus said he was hospitalised, but despite this he still managed to tweet consistently in the past two weeks. 

Covid-19 has exposed serious personal issues between ANC leaders as Carl Niehaus, in a statement, revealed there were some who “even wanted me to die” as he lay ailing.

Niehaus is the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veteran’s (MKMVA) spokesperson but released a statement in his personal capacity to say he was recovering from a serious bout of Covid-19 pneumonia.

He thanked ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule for his “support, friendship and comradeship” – but the same could not be said for his deputy, Jessie Duarte.

Niehaus said he was saddened that she “saw fit to attack me and undermine my long history as a 42-year veteran of the ANC in good standing, as well as my elected position as [a national executive committee] member of MKMVA, and MKMVA national spokesperson”.

He added: “This she did, knowing that when she was doing so, I was gravely ill. It was unnecessary and callous – I am deeply saddened by it.”

READ | Covid-19: Children younger than six now no longer have to wear masks

Duarte’s public “attack” on Niehaus happened during a television interview on eNCA with JJ Tabane on Sunday when she was asked to comment on his utterances.

She responded by saying Niehaus was not an elected official anywhere in the ANC, but a staff member in the secretary-general’s office.

Duarte told News24 she chose not to get involved, but did note she was unaware of Niehaus being ill because he did not tell anyone he was unwell at the time.

‘Fighting for my life’

Niehaus, in a statement on Thursday, claimed he had been “very ill with Covid-19” over the past two weeks, and developed full-blown Covid-19 pneumonia “and had to be urgently hospitalised” in the intensive care unit of Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg “where I was fighting for my life”.

He thanked the doctors and staff there, who, he said, saved his life.

“I was able to experience in person the hard work, at great personal risk and sacrifice, that healthcare workers make every day. They are the true heroes of this terrible pandemic.”

Even during his illness, he took a “deliberate personal decision” not to make it public. “I preferred to deal with my illness in private.”

He said: 

“I did so because I realized that there are those in our society who would in hatred have celebrated my illness, and even wanted me to die. At the time when I was gravely ill I did not want to deal with such viciousness. Now that I am on the road to recovery, I can end my silence.”

Niehaus said it was “sad that some in our society have become so hate-filled, and vicious, that one cannot even hope at a time of grave illness, for support and sympathy”.

He claimed there was a “well-co-ordinated, aggressive propaganda smear” campaign against him in the media during his illness.

In the past two weeks, Niehaus was identified as one of South Africa’s “top miscreants and moegoes of 2020” by the Daily Maverick.

An entry from the book “50 people who f*cked up South Africa”, which also featured Niehaus, was run by the Mail & Guardian during this time.

“These attacks are still continuing unabated,” he said.

Despite his illness, Niehaus has consistently managed to tweet. He spent his 61st birthday on Christmas Day quietly with family in KwaZulu-Natal, he revealed the next day.

Three days later, he said he savoured “how I managed to get under the skin of my haters”. 

On New Year’s Day, he tweeted a picture of the ageing former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, and on 5 January, he tweeted an article by his “comrade and friend”, Dakota Legoete, titled “Ace Magashule charge sheet taints integrity of state institutions”.

READ | Beaches, booze and border posts: Here are 8 takeouts as Ramaphosa keeps SA on Level 3 lockdown

Three days later, Niehaus tweeted it was a disgrace that golfer Gary Player, who he called “just another reactionary white”, had accepted an award from outgoing American president Donald Trump.

By 11 January, he felt well enough to tweet there was a media campaign against him, and by Wednesday, he pushed back against criticism of him. By Thursday, he revealed in a statement he had, in fact, been at death’s door. 

Niehaus promised, however, he would not be silenced even though the pneumonia had damaged his lung capacity and he was still dependent on oxygen.

“I will continue to speak my mind as a loyal member of the ANC, regardless of the personal pain, callousness, and terrible consequences that even some comrades inflict on one.”

He said he was faced with “a prolonged period of convalescence” but was hopeful he would eventually recover fully.

Niehaus told News24 he did not know where he had contracted the virus, which had caused a surge of infections in South Africa and which had also made a number of his fellow party and government leaders ill during and following the festive season.

NOW READ | The fantastical Carl Niehaus rises again

News24.com | No masks, no physical distance, staff shortage and dirty toilets: MPs get glimpse of Lebombo border post chaos

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Home Affairs Portfolio Committee members speak to health care workers testing people at the Lebombo border post.

Home Affairs Portfolio Committee members speak to health care workers testing people at the Lebombo border post.

Alex Mitchley

  • Issues around Covid-19 testing have been identified at the Lebombo border post in Mpumalanga. 
  • The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs conducted an oversight visit at the border post on Thursday. 
  • It was found that two service providers meant to be doing the testing had not pitched up which led to delays in the processing of travellers. 

The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has questioned why there is no political will to implement the regulations as more problems surrounding Covid-19 testing beset the Lebombo border post in Mpumalanga.

The committee conducted an oversight visit on Thursday following the chaotic scenes that unfolded at various borders posts, including Beitbridge and Lebombo, at the start of January. 

During the oversight visit to the border post that connects South Africa and Mozambique, delays in the processing of travellers were observed.

This despite the fact there was not a lot of travellers trying to enter into South Africa. 

Lebombo border post, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Travellers waiting to be tested for Covid-19 at the testing area at the Lebombo border post. (Alex Mitchley, News24)

News24 Alex Mitchley

Several frustrated South Africans and Mozambicans with work permits told the committee they have been waiting to cross into South Africa for almost two days. 

The hold up, they said, was at the Covid-19 testing area, where travellers needed to do a rapid antigen test before being allowed to enter, if the test was negative. 

One traveller said she had been waiting for hours in the queue, where physical distancing was not being practiced or enforced. 

ALSO READ | Ramaphosa closes land borders, keeps curfew and alcohol bans as new Covid-19 variant bites

Another complained there were problems with the speed points to pay for the tests by bank card, and had to now make a plan for cash.

Another traveller said:

“People have been here for two or three days. We are waiting to be tested but there is no testing going on, the lines are stagnant.”

Travellers also complained about the filthy bathrooms, the fact that there was no sanitiser and physical distancing. 

“I am worried that I will get Covid-19 in this line,” one traveller said.

Lebombo border post, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Travellers waiting to be tested for Covid-19 at the testing area at the Lebombo border post. (Alex Mitchley, News24)

News24 Alex Mitchley

EFF committee member Mgcini Tshwaku questioned why physical distancing was not being enforced, why there were delays and if the travellers have been given access to food and water while being made to wait in the hot Mpumalanga sun. 

A port health official told the committee it was private laboratories doing the testing and they were responsible for processing and payment issues. 

At the testing area, where a number of families with children and infants were waiting to be tested, the committee found there were only two people conducting the tests for the National Health Laboratory Service.

One health worker told the committee there was two other service providers contracted to do the testing, but they did not pitch up at the border post on Thursday. 

Committee chairperson Bongani Bongo said a humanitarian crisis was continuing at the Lebombo border post. 

He added Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi would have to take responsibility for the situation and he would be called to account before the committee. 

Bongo said it was clear there was no political will to execute Covid-19 regulations and the Border Management Authority Act.

He added political will was needed from the executive to ensure the implementation of the act and Disaster Management Act regulations at border posts. 

Bongo was unhappy to find a group of Mozambicans, looking to visit South Africa, sitting around the border post on the South African side. 

He asked officials why the group had not been escorted back to Mozambican border side, saying the matter should be attended to with urgency as the group was not physical distancing. 

The committee also pointed out that many people being processed were either not wearing their masks or not doing so properly. 

According to immigration services, 2 154 people arriving and departing South Africa had been processed at Lebombo between 1 and 6 January. 

A total of 18 932 antigen tests were conducted between 1 and 12 January, which detected 348 Covid-19 infections.

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News24.com | Broke Amathole District Municipality hired 900 employees who were ‘not needed’

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An Eastern Cape municipality is broke.

An Eastern Cape municipality is broke.

Gallo Images / Foto24 / Loanna Hoffmann

  • More than 900 people who were not needed were hired by the Amathole District Municipality between 2013 to 2018.
  • The municipality will not be able to pay salaries to its 1 670 workers for the months of February, April, May and June.
  • For the past two years, the broke council has been relying on bank overdrafts to pay its R65m monthly salary bill.

The Amathole District Municipality hired more than 900 people who were not needed from 2013 to 2018, resulting in a bloated organogram and unaffordable salary bill.

Of those, 500 were hired in a single month in 2013 in what the municipality termed mass employment.

The mayor of the profligate municipality, Mkhanyiseli Maneli, and municipal manager, Thandekile Mnyimba, revealed this at a press conference in East London on Wednesday when they explained some of the factors that led to the municipality’s financial crisis.

This week, the municipality announced that it would not pay salaries to 1 670 workers, including councillors and traditional leaders, due to strained financial resources.

For the past two years, the broke council has been relying on bank overdrafts to pay its R65m monthly salary bill.

But it says the exercise is costly and unsustainable in the long run and it is begging the national and provincial government for a bailout.

READ | No pay for workers for 4 months, says bankrupt Eastern Cape municipality

On Wednesday, Mnyimba announced that they asked for an immediate bailout of R180m to pay salaries for February, April, May and June.

March will be covered when the municipality receives its equitable share from the National Treasury. It will not be enough to cover other months.  

The salary freeze bombshell sparked widespread anger with the South African Municipal Workers’ Union, which called for Mnyimba to be sacked over allegations of financial mismanagement. The EFF called for his suspension and a forensic investigation.

Maneli said the people hired did not have the skills for the core business of the municipality.

The district municipality’s mandate is to provide water to six local municipalities.

But all the municipalities – Raymond Mhlaba in Fort Beaufort, Ngqushwa in Peddie, Amahlathi in Stutterheim, Mnquma in Butterworth and Mbhashe in Willowvale – have had to endure an unreliable and interrupted supply of water for the past three years. 

About the bloated organogram, Maneli said: “Those people were not put in strategic positions. It was a wrong decision to take those people and put them in those positions because they were not assisting the institution in terms of the service delivery,” said Maneli.

ALSO READ | No money to pay workers: EFF wants administrator to take over bankrupt Amathole municipality

Asked why they were hired in the first place, Mnyimba said the employees were recruited in the organisation as interns and later absorbed.

This happened before the current administration took over, while Mnyimba was not yet municipal manager. 

“These employees joined the institution as interns and when they were inside the organisation they were then planted across the organisation. They did not form part of the organogram. This has contributed to the situation we find ourselves,” said Mnyimba.

He added that while it was easy to hire the people, offloading people employed on a permanent basis was a tough task.

To fix the issue of a high salary bill, the municipality has asked workers to apply for mutual separation, targeting 33% of those in senior management.

In the red

However, hardly any employees have come forward.

A council document also shows that the municipality is deep in debt and owes creditors an outstanding R322m.

It also owes:

  • the Amatola Water Board an outstanding debt of R173m, and
  • the Department of Water Affairs an outstanding debt of R50m.

The Amathole municipality is also struggling to pay R37m annual rent for their Chiselhurst head offices in East London.

The council document also shows that the management of the municipality fleet costs the municipality R2m per month. 

Eastern Cape ANC regional secretary in Amathole Terris Ntuthu said: “We are calling for the intervention of the national department of Cogta and National Treasury to investigate all the allegations in the district [municipality],including the involvement of the provincial department of Cogta in the chaos we see in the municipality, and also investigate the water blockages to our communities of Amathole.”

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News24.com | Teddy Mafia: Plot thickens as cops seize R130 000 in drugs ‘from family member’s houses’

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Teddy Mafia, alleged Durban drug kingpin.

Teddy Mafia, alleged Durban drug kingpin.

Screengrab

  • Police have discovered about R130 000 worth of drugs at three unoccupied properties belonging to a family member of Teddy Mafia.
  • This includes capsules of Xanax as well as coloured cocaine seen as a trademark of the sellers.
  • One arrest was made.

Police have seized about R130 000 worth of drugs from three houses belonging to a family member of slain alleged Durban drug kingpin Yaganathan Pillay, known as Teddy Mafia.

This includes about 25 000 capsules of the antidepressant Xanax, which is allegedly used as a date-rape drug, as well as colour-tinted cocaine.

On Wednesday morning, police conducted a raid at a house in Shallcross near the home where Mafia lived and was shot dead.

News24 understands one person who was seen fleeing one of the houses has been arrested. The other houses were not occupied – apart from dogs being chained outside in “disgusting” conditions – and are seemingly being used for storage.

Sources described the houses as “cluttered” and added that the cops “may have found more drugs if we took sniffer dogs”.

OPINION | Forget the expensive coffin and charity, this is the real legacy of people like Teddy Mafia

Pillay was shot twice at his house by unknown attackers and died en route to hospital. Shortly after his killing, two people were decapitated nearby.

Mafia was laid to rest in an opulent ceremony and his R300 000 “diamond-encrusted” coffin was escorted by people playing bagpipes.

At the time of his death, he was facing a charge of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. 

He has been described by family members as a generous person who did a lot for his community.

teddy mafia

Packets of colour-tinted cocaine allegedly seized from a home belonging to a family member of Teddy Mafia.

Supplied

teddy mafia

A selection of drugs allegedly seized from a home belonging to a family member of Teddy Mafia.

Supplied

teddy mafia

Bottles of Xanax allegedly seized from a home belonging to a family member of Teddy Mafia.

Supplied

Members of the Hawks in Pietermaritzburg and the police received information about a house in Shallcross allegedly being used for drug dealing, a source said.

READ | Teddy Mafia’s love-hate relationship – the violent past of Shallcross’ ‘go-to guy’

They obtained search warrants for the premises and raided it on Wednesday morning.

They found: 

  • About 25 000 Xanax capsules;
  • 750 mandrax tablets;
  • 3.5kgs of dagga;
  • 1 000 ecstasy tablets;
  • 300 grams of ecstasy powder; and
  • 50 grams cocaine.

News24 has seen photographs of the drugs, including cocaine tinted pink and green that is seen as a trademark of the sellers.

The drugs are estimated to have a street value of R130 000.

READ | Why was ‘Teddy Mafia’ still out there despite being ‘known drug dealer’? Bheki Cele asks

The man allegedly found fleeing the area was allegedly caught with heroin capsules, mandrax, cash and loose coins, a source said.

News24 reached out to the KwaZulu-Natal police for a comment and their response will be added once received.

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