Pietermaritzburg – The African National Congress would not confirm reports that it had sacked Mooi Mpofana local municipality mayor Ntombi Mpangase in the wake of protests during the past week.
For more http://www.news24.com

Cape Town – The first sitting of the new parliamentary committee on Nkandla hit a deadlock between the ANC and opposition on Friday, as the latter refused to elect a chairperson until the mandate is reworked to expressly include the public protector’s findings.

Democratic Alliance MP James Selfe said the opposition agreed beforehand to argue that “at the heart of it is the public protector’s report and we need to be absolutely certain that all relevant documentation will be consulted”.

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema made plain opposition parties feared the ANC could not be trusted to uphold Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings against President Jacob Zuma.

Instead, he said after the meeting, the African National Congress would want Zuma’s bitterly contested submission to Parliament on Nkandla – in which he declined to comment on her report – to be accepted as the last word on the controversy that had haunted him for years.

Terms of reference

“I know exactly what the ANC is going to do. They are going to come here and accept the president’s report as an accurate reflection of what happened and say the matter is closed.”

The ANC reluctantly conceded that the first meeting of the committee be adjourned, but afterwards disagreed with the opposition as to what would happen next.

According to DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane, it was understood that the terms of reference of the committee would be referred back to the National Assembly to be elaborated.

But Cedric Frolick, the ANC’s nominee for chairman, said there was no need to do this.

“It simply requires further discussion but the secretary will be called and the Speaker will be called in to discuss it. I have stated the view of the ANC, as far as the proposal is concerned there is definitely a trust deficit and that can be dealt with without taking it back to the National Assembly.

“I think it is unlikely that the ANC will go back and review the resolution that is there. I think it just requires further political interaction between the chief whips of the different parties so they can move from a common understanding.”

A day’s work lost

The office of ANC Chief Whip Stone Sizani subsequently issued a statement accusing the opposition of frustrating the work of the committee.

“The office of the ANC Chief Whip is disappointed by the needless filibustering tactics today [Friday] by the opposition parties in the ad hoc committee.

“Due to this stonewalling by the very same parties who ostensibly support accountability, the committee has lost a day’s work it may never recover.”

The mandate of the committee was debated heatedly in the National Assembly this month when the DA argued unsuccessfully that it was too vague and had to be redrafted to include dealing with the findings of all investigations on Nkandla.

Urge to call Madonsela and Zuma

A motion to this effect was voted down by the ANC, with Sizani saying at the time the opposition should accept assurances that the committee would consider all relevant documents.

With Madonsela’s 450-page report, in which she calls on Zuma to repay some of the R246m cost of the upgrades to his private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal, now the subject of a public row between her and the ruling party, the committee is expected to see more wrangling between the ANC and the opposition.

Malema told reporters he would, like the DA, argue that the committee call not only Madonsela, but also Zuma. Maimane said he saw the task of Parliament as ensuring that the remedial action recommended by Madonsela was implemented.

“The job of the committee is to uphold the remedial steps that the public protector put forward… the question of the committee must simply be ‘why has the president not complied?’,” said Maimane.

In his 20-page submission to Parliament earlier this month, Zuma deferred a decision on whether he should reimburse any of the public spending on Nkandla to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko.

Madonsela, in her subsequent letter to the president, pointed out that her decisions could only be overruled by a court.

– SAPA

Cape Town – EFF leader Julius Malema warned National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete in a letter on Friday that unless she withdrew plans to suspend him from Parliament by Sunday noon, he would launch a court challenge.

“You should expressly withdraw your intentions on or before Sunday 31 August 2014 at 12 noon, failing which I will have no other option but to approach an appropriate forum for an appropriate relief,” he concluded in the five-page letter.

It is Malema’s formal response to a letter from Mbete, sent to all 25 Economic Freedom Fighters MPs in the Assembly, warning that she planned to suspend them ahead of an investigation into their conduct in terms of the Powers and Privileges of Parliament Act.

She asked each EFF MP individually to supply reasons why they should not be barred from the legislature for up to two weeks for disrupting presidential question time.

On 21 August, EFF MPs chanted and sang after Malema asked President Jacob Zuma when he would repay a portion of the public funds spent on upgrading his Nkandla home, in line with the recommendations of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

Malema: Mbete ac ting beyond her powers

Mbete ordered “members of this House who are not serious” to leave the Chamber, and called the sergeant-at-arms to remove them after the EFF refused to leave, remaining in their benches in protest.

In his letter Malema charged that Mbete was acting beyond her powers, as he had breached neither the act, nor the Constitution.

He said he was never asked by name to leave, and the EFF protest occurred after she had adjourned the house – therefore it was false to say that he had interfered with the authority and functions of the legislature by disrupting a sitting.

“It is my conviction that what we were doing was to hold the president as the head of the executive accountable,” he added.

“In performing this task, I was serious, hence your instruction that members of the House who are not serious must leave the House did not apply to me.”

Malema said Mbete had prematurely suspended proceedings, as points of order raised after his question to Zuma fell within the provisions of parliamentary rule 58(2), and there was no threat of violence.

Mbete to make formal request for suspension

The incident has ratcheted up tension between the ANC and the EFF, who this week accused the ruling party of bringing supporters to the parliamentary precinct to attack its members.

Mbete is expected to make a formal request to the National Assembly on Tuesday that she be allowed to suspend the EFF MPs.

Malema said on Thursday the party had briefed lawyers to ask the high court for an urgent interdict, possibly on Monday, to prevent their suspension should Mbete not respond positively to their letters.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – The Boere-Afrikaner Volksraad encountered no negativity from acting President Cyril Ramaphosa when they met to discuss Afrikaner self-determination, the council said on Friday.

“The almost two-hour long meeting at the Union Buildings took place with an open heart and good spirit,” it said.

Ramaphosa met the delegation on Thursday afternoon for a briefing on the group’s aim of self-determination for the “Boere-Afrikaner”.

The organisation said Ramaphosa’s delegation asked many questions on the actual form of an Afrikaner people’s republic, and these were answered.

Ramaphosa in turn made some proposals, which would be discussed at the Boere-Afrikaner Volksraad (Boere-Afrikaner People’s Council).

Boere-Afrikaner Volksraad chairperson Andries Breytenbach told Sapa the Constitution allowed for self-determination for particular groups, but this had to be passed through Parliament. To do this, they would need the support of Parliament.

Ramaphosa said he would discuss the matter with African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe, Breytenbach said.

The ANC, which Ramaphosa is deputy president of, has the majority in Parliament.

In the meantime, the council would approach other Afrikaner groups interested in self-determination to make the process more inclusive, and so that government had to deal only with one forum.

– SAPA

Brits – The overflowing sewerage that has been spilling into the houses of the residents of Mothotlung in Madibeng local municipality will be something of the past following North West MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements, Collen Maine’s intervention.

MEC Maine met with affected ward councillors, Executive Mayor of Madibeng, Jostina Mothibe, leadership of Mothotlung community and community in general of Switch and Thetele, on Thursday, in order to establish the cause of the spilling sewerage that had made the whole area to stink. The residents of Switch acknowledged to deliberately blocking the sewer pipes in an attempt to get attention of municipality to respond to their plea which amongst others, included the construction for an internal road.

In addressing the problem, MEC Maine, requested Madibeng local municipality to deploy the necessary machinery to the area to unblock the system. He will also, in the next two weeks, introduce a contractor who will build the +-2 km road that goes through Switch settlement. “The municipality will have to move swiftly to make sure that the road construction is prioritised. Work will also commence to repair the damaged sewage pipe and the sewerage dam will be emptied”, he said.
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Johannesburg – The Ekurhuleni mayoral committee received a memorandum of demands from residents of the Sophiatown informal settlement in Tembisa on Friday, a spokesperson said.

– Were you there? Send us your eyewitness accounts and photos.

“Member of the mayoral committee Councillor Makhosazana Maluleka met with the community this morning and received a memorandum,” mayoral spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said.

The residents had demanded electricity and flushing toilets.

“The municipality will respond to the community’s demands within 14 days,” said Dlamini.

Protest halted

The residents had called off the protest after the committee engaged them.

“We are very happy that the protest has been brought to a halt,” said Dlamini.

“We are, however, still going to meet the leadership of the community.”

Twelve people were arrested for public violence during the service delivery protest, which began on Friday morning.

“They will probably appear in court on Monday,” said spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago.

Residents burnt tyres and placed rocks on roads.

A main road in the area was also barricaded, but was reopened after 09:00.

Residents of Birch Acres near Kempton Park had also handed over a memorandum to the committee, demanding a school, library, and a clinic.

“The demand to have the school in the area of Birch Acres will be escalated to the provincial department of education,” said Dlamini.

– SAPA

Johannesburg – A 25-year-old woman is recovering in hospital after giving birth to a baby girl on the side of the road in Randburg after allegedly being turned away from a clinic on Thursday.
For more http://www.news24.com

Johannesburg – There are no Ebola cases reported or confirmed in South Africa, the health department said on Friday.

The total number of cases in the current outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone has risen to 3 069 probable and confirmed cases, while there have been 1 552 deaths.

“The outbreak continues to accelerate. More than 40% of the total number of cases have occurred within the past 21 days,” health department spokesperson Popo Maja said.

Concentrated

“However, most cases are concentrated in only a few localities. The overall death rate is 52%. It ranges from 42% in Sierra Leone to 66% in Guinea.”

A separate Ebola outbreak, not related to the one in west Africa, was laboratory confirmed on Tuesday by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It was also detailed in a separate edition of the Disease Outbreak News of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“A detailed analysis by [the] WHO of exactly where transmission is occurring – by district level – and of time trends is ongoing,” Maja said.

“Preliminary results show that cases are still concentrated – 62% of all reported cases since the beginning of the outbreak – in the epicentre of the outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, where cases continue to rise.”

Capital cities were of particular concern, owing to their population density and repercussions for travel and trade.

Monitoring situation

The WHO and its partner organisations were on the ground establishing Ebola treatment centres, and strengthening capacity for laboratory testing, contact tracing, social mobilisation, safe burials, and non-Ebola health care.

“The WHO continues to monitor for reports of rumoured or suspected cases from countries around the world and systematic verification of these cases is ongoing,” Maja said.

“Countries are encouraged to continue engaging in active surveillance and preparedness activities.”

The health department continued to monitor the situation and would keep South African citizens informed, he said.

– SAPA