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09 November 2021
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If Coalition Governments Cannot Be Formed, The ANC Is Open To ‘Rerunning’ Elections
A record number of 66 municipalities had no outright winner after the votes were cast in the 2021 Local Municipal Elections on 1 November. This begs the question, what happens if political parties cannot agree to form a coalition or minority government? In exceptional cases, South Africans would have to head to the voting booth once again. WHAT IF GOVERNMENTS CANNOT BE FORMED? South Africa’s political parties are locked in negotiations now because the deadline for the municipal council meeting – which must be held within 14 days after the election result was declared – is imminent. Constitutional Law expert Professor Pierre De Vos explains that political parties must attempt to elect a speaker and a mayor at this meeting even if no coalition agreements have been made in hung councils – councillors can spoil their votes if decide not to elect a candidate. Political parties may also abscond from the meeting if they so choose. However, according to the rules the votes in the meeting are determined by the majority of councillors present and not the total number of council seats. If parties cannot agree on forming a coalition government there is still the possibility of
forming a minority government, which is notoriously tricky to manage. “In such a case the speaker and mayor will be elected by a majority of those present at the first meeting, with some of the parties who voted for the speaker and mayor doing so without agreeing to go into a coalition with the party of the executive mayor,” said De Vos. He explained that the country’s laws are geared towards ensuring that a government is formed at the first municipal meeting but if this doesn’t happen there may be at least one more meeting before the provincial government intervenes. ANC OPEN TO BY-ELECTIONS Jeff Radebe, who is leading the ANC’s coalition negotiations, said on Monday, 8 November, that the party has not ruled out “a rerun of elections” in hung municipalities. The party stressed that it is not desperate to form a coalition government. This comes after the DA, ActionSA and FF+ said they would not collaborate with the ruling party. “We are not desperate, what is important for us is that we are not just willing to just have coalitions at all cost,” said Radebe. “Legislation is very clear; if it’s impossible to have the council meeting then the provincial government will take over that municipality through the provincial department of Cogta and
within 90 days they will be forced to have a rerun of the elections in those municipalities,” said Radebe. According to De Vos’ explanation, Radebe is skipping over a few steps. If no government can be formed – coalition or minority – the provincial MEC for local government can intervene in terms of section 139 of the Constitution, which allows intervention from provincial government if the municipality “cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of the Constitution.” Skipping a few steps for brevity’s sake, the MEC can only dissolve the council after issuing the council with a directive that describes its failure and offering it the steps for a way to resolve the issue – having another meeting to elect a mayor or speaker, for example. Assuming that a government cannot be formed after all of this, the MEC may dissolve the council and appoint an administrator to govern the municipality. A by-election must be held within 90 days from the day the council was dissolved. “To stress the point: this could only occur in exceptional circumstances, which would be when a majority of those present at the first and subsequent council meetings fail to vote for one or other candidate as mayor and speaker,” said
De Vos. WHAT IS A BY-ELECTION? According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), a by-election is an election that takes place in a ward in a municipality between the traditional general Local Government Elections that are held every five years. As previously mentioned, a by-election must be held if a council is dissolved. Other circumstances that necessitate a by-election, include the IEC not declaring the results of a municipal council or ward election within a specified period; a court ruling setting aside the election and a vacancy because of resignation, death or expulsion of a ward councillor. All residents that are registered to vote may cast their ballots in the election, which is usually held on a Wednesday. All registered voters may stand for election as a ward councillor in the municipality that they are registered in. In the case of independent candidates, they must be nominated by a registered voter in the municipality and have their nomination form signed by at least 50 other registered voters in the ward. “On average, some 150 by-elections are held each year in South Africa,” according to the IEC.
02
09 November 2021
Long-Term Load Shedding Fears As Fully Vaccinated South Africans Can Travel To The US From Today Contractor Downs Tools At Kusile
The United States (US) reopened to fully vaccinated South African travellers on Monday, with specific rules on pre-flight testing and exemptions for children. Travel between South Africa and the US has been limited throughout the pandemic. An outright ban was imposed on travellers from South Africa at the start of 2021, with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) citing the Beta variant, first detected in the Eastern Cape, as the main cause for concern. South Africa wasn’t alone on the US’ travel ban list. Travellers from the European Union, Britain and China, India, and Brazil were also restricted, save for some very specific exemptions under the US’ National Interest Exception (NIE) programme. A new Presidential Proclamation issued at the end of October scrapped country-based restrictions and, instead, put the emphasis on vaccination. The order came into effect on Monday, allowing fully vaccinated travellers, regardless of their departure point, entry into the US. Travellers are considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the last dose of their twodose course, like the Pfizer jab, or single-dose, like the one produced by Johnson & Johnson (J&J). Both vaccines, currently in use in South Africa, are authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Proof of Covid-19 vaccination will also need to be
provided. South Africa’s recently launched digital Covid-19 vaccination certificate is accepted as a digital record issued by a “public health agency, government agency, or other authorised vaccine provider.” Physical vaccination cards will also be accepted as proof and must contain personal identifiers, the name of the official source issuing the record, the vaccine manufacturer, and date of vaccination. Fully vaccinated travellers are still required to show a negative Covid-19 viral test, like a RTPCR, result on a sample taken no more than 3 days before the flight’s departure. Children under 18 years of age don’t need to be fully vaccinated to enter the US but will need to provide a negative Covid-19 test result taken within 24-hours of departure. These children will, additionally, be retested 3 to 5 days after arriving in the US and are required to self-quarantine for a week. Other travellers exempt from the vaccination rule include persons on diplomatic or official foreign government travel and those with documented medical contraindications to receiving a Covid-19 vaccine. South Africans looking for the quickest way to the US can fly directly from Johannesburg to Newark, New Jersey, with United Airlines. Delta Air Lines also offers direct flights between OR Tambo International Airport and Atlanta, with flight frequencies expected to increase in midDecember
Tenova’s managing director Albert Rathbone said the company “firmly denies that it walked away from the Kusile contract. The legitimate exercise by TMMSA of suspension rights under one of the three contracts on the Kusile project does not detract from TMMSA’s commitment to providing ongoing cooperation and support to the authorities/SIU and Eskom; with their investigation into all dealings related to Eskom’s Kusile project”. Since the outcome of this investigation is pending, we are unable to provide further commentary. However, we trust that the situation will be resolved amicably, Rathbone said. The Eskom executive said officials are frustrated by Tenova’s refusal to give the power utility access to documents that will help it determine the quantum of overpayments paid to the company. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which is investigating allegations of corruption at Kusile, has appointed HKA International, a firm of forensic quantity surveyors, to help investigators determine the quantum of overpayments Eskom made to Tenova, Stefanutti Stocks, General Electric, ABB, and other companies. The overpayments are estimated to be worth more than R4 billion. Mantshantsha said officials have given Tenova until the end of November to give Eskom access to the documents or face a civil suit to recover the overpayments. The flow of information has been slow but forthcoming, he said.
Contractual disputes between Eskom and Tenova Mining and Minerals SA have resulted in halting critical work at Kusile’s units five and six, raising fears that their commercial operation could delay by several months. Tenova, which is building the coal conveyor belts at Kusile’s units five and six, stopped work about two weeks ago following a contractual dispute with Eskom. The stoppage, which comes as Eskom battles unplanned power outages, has raised fears that the two units will not be ready in time, increasing the prospects of more load shedding. According to a presentation Eskom made in Parliament in April, unit five will be synchronised to the grid in August next year, while unit six is due for connection in March 2023. A senior Eskom executive said that Tenova stopped working after the power utility stopped paying the company, opting to offset against overpayments Eskom made to the entity over the years. As part of the Eskom Files coverage, in August, it was reported that Eskom had overpaid Tenova by R500 million in the last decade. The executive said: “They owe us a lot of money, and we decided not to pay them and offset against the overpayments. They owe us hundreds of millions.” Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said: “Tenova has only suspended work on unit five. Currently, Eskom has been offsetting overpayments.”
Three Children, Including 4-Month-Old Baby Die After Eating Noodles
According to police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu, SAPS Motherwell detectives are investigating an inquest following the death of three children aged
11, 7, and a 4-month-old baby boy. “It is alleged that on Saturday, the three children accompanied their grandparents on a visit to relatives in New Brighton. “They stayed over, and on Sunday, the 11-year-old girl went to the shop and bought a packet of 2-minute noodles. “She then cooked it, and the three
children ate it before leaving to go back to Motherwell. “When they arrived home in Motherwell, the 11-year-old complained of nausea. “Her grandmother gave her some water to drink. “The 7-year-old also complained of stomach cramps and nausea.
“While being driven with private transport to the Motherwell clinic, they passed away. “Shortly after the two children left for hospital, the baby also passed away while en route to hospital in another vehicle.” Naidu said a post-mortem would be conducted to establish the exact cause of their deaths.
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Police have opened an inquest after three children died after eating two-minute noodles in Gqeberha.
09 November 2021
03
Department Of Correctional Services To Prepare Reeva’s Family For Oscar’s Parole Oscar Pistorius is now being considered for parole and the Correctional Services Department will start preparing Reeva Steenkamp’s family to participate in a forum called “victim-offender dialogue”. Pistorius has served half of his sentence in the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre, west of Pretoria for the murder of his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day in 2013. This “victim-offender dialogue” platform will allow Pistorius to either reconcile with Steenkamp’s family or offer an apology. This emotional process will be facilitated by a specialist from the Correctional Services Department. The department’s Singabakho Nxumalo said that this process could take months or even years. “In both cases, victims would have questions to ask and during the court session you don’t
get an opportunity to ask questions but we want to take it beyond that where then all parties can then start to live in harmony. Yes,
it can be very emotional and tense but we do believe that once emotions calm down they can find one another, so it’s not a once-off process.
Empty Blue Train Derailed At Union Station The luxurious Blue Train derailed at Union Station in Germiston, Gauteng.
According to reports on Sunday, the train derailed overnight and had no passengers on board. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) confirmed to Citizen that it was investigating the cause after 19 empty coaches of one of the Blue Trains derailed at the Union Station in Germiston, just after midnight on Sunday. “This was a staged (unmanned) train with no passengers on board. No injuries were reported on-site,” Transnet was quoted as saying. TimesLive reported that TFR said it would apply remedial action where necessary but said there would be no cancellations and it’s freight operations were not impacted. In May, the Blue Train said that it was starting to see an increase in the number of international guests travelling for leisure. “Since returning to operations, we have had the great fortune of overwhelming support
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from local guests. We kicked off with fully booked trains as per new capacity dictates well into the first quarter of 2021, and we continue with that winning streak,” Transnet’s
executive manager of tourism, hospitality and heritage, Nomasonto Ndlovu, said at the time. “Worth mentioning is the increasing number of international guests from the United State and European countries , that we have been hosting on board The Blue Train over the last few weeks.”
No Increased Covid-19 Lockdown Restrictions For Now
The Health Department has assured South Africans that there were no indications yet that further COVID-19 lockdown restrictions would be necessary now that the local government elections were over. However, there are worries that a fourth wave could be sparked by a new variant and the department has to be prepared for anything. The department has modeling experts who track various scenarios, look at the public’s behaviour, vaccine uptake and also possible new variants. The Health Department’s acting Director-General Nicholas Crisp said that they were working with various other departments, the private sector, and business entities to get the economy going again and avoid further lockdown restrictions. He said that there were no signs to back up such a move for now. “We are not in a hurry to introduce any further restrictions. There are no indications at the moment that this will be necessary or even valuable to implement any form of restrictions right now,” said Crisp. But what about a fourth wave? Is that a possibility? Crisp said that the likelihood was always there and hopefully it wouldn’t be a new variant. “There are completely different variants. We have no way of predicting when there will suddenly be a mutation of the virus and we will get something different and how that new variant might behave,” he said. If it is a new variant, Crisp said that the department would simply have to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
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Springboks must be ready for anything against Scotland 09 November 2021
The fact that Scotland beat Australia at the weekend will sure add some spice to their Test against the Springboks at Murrayfield on Saturday.
South Africa secured a historic win against Wales in Cardiff this past weekend, defeating the hosts 23-18 and celebrating in the Welsh capital for the first time since 2013. Scotland, then, bagged a controversial 15-13 win over the Australians - who beat the Boks twice in the Rugby Championship - ending their winning streak. Addressing the media yesterday, Bok assistant coach Deon Davids says they should be ready for anything when they face Scotland in their second end-of-year-tour clash. “If you look at Scotland’s performance, they put up a very good scrummaging performance. We know the capabilities of Pieter de Villiers, he is a very good coach and you can see it in what they achieve at the scrums,” Davids said. “In saying that, I need to commend Daan (Human) for the work he has put in with our guys. We are going to need to be prepared for this weekend. “Part of their style of play is to keep ball in hand and to use the width of the
field, and I think having been successful this past weekend, that is probably the scenario we will face this weekend and something we will have to be ready for. We need to prepare for that and we will make sure that we will be ready. “Scotland are a well-coached side – they are good on attack and they are good on defence, so I think we will need to be expecting anything to be ready for that.” Meanwhile, Davids confirmed that Damian Willemse sustained a concussion early on against Wales, while adding that Sbu Nkosi, who was unavailable for selection at the weekend due to passport and visa issues which have since been resolved, has rejoined the Bok squad. Willemse went off in the first quarter for a head injury assessment and was replaced by Frans Steyn, who was one of the standout performers for the Boks. Davids also said that other than the concussion to Willemse, the rest of the group have a clean bill of health. “At this stage Damian Willemse – he came off the field with a concussion – may be in doubt for this weekend as he has to go through the sevenday protocol. Other than him, everybody is fine and ready for training today,” Davids said.
“Part of the plan coming into this tour was looking at giving guys an opportunity to gain experience … and it was Damian’s chance. Unfortunately, it did not work out for him as he got injured, but we know he is a talented guy and hopefully things will work out for him going
forward. “Sbu joined us yesterday, so he is part of the squad. He is going to train from today on. We are going to look at the squad and make some decisions around that (whether he will feature against Scotland).”
I am greedy when it comes to goals - Manqoba Mngqithi
AA ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING
Board tripping? No power? No hot water?
Despite being in dominating form
successive clean sheets to 11, beating
but is highly-respected,” said Mngqithi.
and most recently thrashing Marumo
the previous record of 10 which was
The
Gallants 4-0 in the DSTV Premiership,
held by the now-defunct Bidvest Wits.
Masandawana from the now-defunct
Mamelodi
Meanwhile, Mngqithi also hailed the
Bloemfontein Celtic prior to the start of
Manqoba Mngqithi wants even more
heroics of Neo Maema.
the season. He has proven to be one of
from his troops.
The attacking midfielder has been in
the best signings ahead of this season
top form recently and won a second
so far along with Kaizer Chiefs’ Keagan
“I am greedy when it comes to goals
consecutive man of the match award
Dolly who returned to South Africa
and we are a few behind our target for
following his performance against
following a four-year spell in France
this stage of the league campaign,” said
Gallants.
with Montpellier.
Mngqithi.
“In Neo Maema, we know what he is
“Maema is a player with goals, with a
Sundowns remain on top of the
capable of.
cross that dribbles with a clinical pass
standings with five points separating
What is more encouraging for us is
and those are very important qualities,”
them from second place surprise
when a young player like Neo presents
added Mngqithi.
package Stellenbosch FC and having
himself as a player that has got a goal in
Sundowns will now have a break to
won eight out of their nine league
him, a player that has assists.
recharge their batteries and reflect due
fixtures to date.
He is a player that improves his
to the international break.
They have yet to concede in the league
goalscoring, that improves his assists
They return to action in an away clash
this season and have now also played 22
and that is what we want with players
against Cape Town City after the
away league games without conceding
that are offensive players because
international break.
defeat, having beaten Kaizer Chiefs
it’s easy in South Africa to have an
Eric Tinkler’s side will be eyeing
record of 21 which was set between
offensive player that does not take
revenge after Masandawana recently
January and December 2005.
many shots at goal, that does not have
beat them on penalties to win the MTN
Sundowns have also set the record for
an assist and that can’t put in a cross
8 title.
Sundowns
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co-coach
25-year-old
Maema
joined
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