ANC slams DA National Dialogue boycott
Spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri says the DA needs to decide whether they are part of the GNU, or an opposition party within the executive.
The DA has been outraged by President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to fire Deputy Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Andrew Whitfield.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa says he exercised his constitutional prerogative and responsibility when he fired Whitfield.
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IOL News
2 hours ago
- IOL News
Political violence in KwaZulu-Natal: Why Moerane Commission recommendations remain unimplemented
Sibusiso Ncengwa will be sentenced next Monday for participating in the killing of Sindiso Magaqa, the former ANCYL secretary-general. Image: Bongani Hans The recommendations of the Moerane Commission, which investigated the spate of political killings in KwaZulu-Natal, are gathering dust without being implemented seven years after they were released, while the killings continued unabated. Former premier Willies Mchunu said one of the recommendations was the establishment of an independent panel, which was to forge peace within and among political parties. Mchunu established the Advocate Marumo Moerane SC-led commission in October 2016 during the peak of political killings, which at the time exceeded 150, to identify their root cause and how they could be eliminated. He said Moerane suggested that the panel should help politicians, who would normally kill each other for tenders and positions. However, the establishment of the panel would require funding. 'Only the government, which keeps taxes, should be doing this,' he said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Premier Thami Ntuli and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the province had not yet responded to requests for comment. Mchunu, who was the premier between 2016 and 2019, said he could not establish this panel because his term of office was running out. The issue of political killings after the commission's recommendation was topical at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday when the NPA and defence lawyers debated it during Sibusiso Ncengwa's mitigation of sentence. Ncengwa will be sentenced next Monday after he confessed to the killing of the former ANC Youth League secretary-general, Sindiso Magaqa, who was an ANC councillor at the Mzimkhulu Municipality when he was gunned down in 2017. In his affidavit, Ncengwa confessed that he and his fellow hitmen were hired by the former mayor of the Mzimkhulu Municipality, Mluleki Ndobe, who was also ANC's Harry Gwala Region chairperson, and other senior officials, including a municipal manager, to eliminate Magaqa. Magaqa's sin was that he was about to spill the beans on the corrupt-riddled tender to build a local memorial hall. He was executed in broad daylight at a car wash on July 13, 2017. Other councillors who were with him survived with bullet wounds. The assassins were paid a total of R620,000 and also promised a R1 million tender. The State and the defence had agreed to a jail sentence of less than life on condition that Ncengwa would soon testify against the people his affidavit implicated. Ndobe committed suicide on November 6, 2020, while the assassin, Jabulani Mdunge, who allegedly shot Magaqa with an AK-47 obtained from a crime intelligence officer, was later killed in a shootout with police. Mchunu said the political killings in the province would not end as long as there are political parties' elective conferences, and general, local government, and by-elections, because politicians were greedy for power and material benefits. 'For those things (power and benefits), they will continue to fight one another to the extent of even killing one another. 'That is why there should be an independent programme to teach those who are participants in politics about how to conduct themselves civilly.' Mchunu said the provincial government should consult Moerane and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) for advice on how to establish the peace-making body. During the court proceeding on Monday, NPA's Advocate Elvis Gcweku and Ncengwa's advocate, Andrew Matlamela, spoke about the political killings continuing after the Moerane Commission. People who testified at the commission about Magaqa's murder were lined up as witnesses in the murder trial. 'When I perused the commission's report, there was an opening quotation that says, 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark'. 'That commission was clearly describing the state of KwaZulu-Natal in respect of the political killings,' said Ngcweku. He said the commission concluded that Magaqa's killing was linked to the corruption in Mzimkhulu Municipality, whose hall's construction took a long time than expected to be completed, while money had already been spent. Magaqa demanded progress in the construction and also proposed forensic investigations, and that the matter be debated at the council. 'What is common about the killing of politicians in KwaZulu-Natal is the issue of tenders and corruption within the municipalities,' said Ngcweku. He cited the killing of Sduduzo Magwaza, an ANC chairperson in Ward 102, north of Durban, as an example that, after Moerane had concluded his work, killings continued. Magwaza's murder in November 2021 was also connected to tenders. 'Similarities between this case (Magaqa) and that case (Magwaza) are that the comrades kill other comrades using hitmen,' Ngcweku said. Matlamela said the ANC was rotten when it came to political killings, which the party has refuted.
TimesLIVE
3 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Groenewald calls for corporal punishment for those who can't afford bail
Correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald has suggested the revival of corporal punishment for individuals unable to afford bail for minor offences to alleviate overcrowding in prisons. Groenewald was briefing parliament on the 2025 budget vote and one year of the government of national unity (GNU). He highlighted there are more than 104,000 inmates in correctional services facilities with limited beds. He said about 60,000 remand detainees are awaiting trial, with about 2,500 unable to afford bail amounts of R1,000 or less. 'If you look at our criminal justice system, we must start a debate to say shouldn't we bring back corporal punishment?' Groenewald said. 'A young person who steals 10 loaves of bread sits in prison and waits about three years for sentencing. Think about whether we should bring back corporal punishment.'
IOL News
3 hours ago
- IOL News
ANC expected to sack KwaDukuza Mayor Ali Ngidi amid governance concerns
The KwaDukuza Municipality is expected to have a new mayor by the end of Wednesday. Image: Facebook In what would be a major decision since appointed in February, Jeff Radebe's KwaZulu-Natal provincial task team (PTT) is expected to announce the sacking of KwaDukuza Local Municipality Mayor Ali Ngidi. The announcement is expected to be made by the PTT coordinator, Mike Mabuyakhulu, in a meeting with the municipality leadership and the newly appointed regional task team on Wednesday afternoon. The party did not specify Mabuyakhulu's visit to the troubled north coast municipality in a media invitation, except to say the critical meeting is convened to address pressing governance-related matters affecting the municipality. The statement added that the ANC is deeply concerned about developments that threaten the stability and integrity of the municipality. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ However, reliable sources within the municipality said Mabuyakhulu will table the recommendations by the team that the party appointed to investigate allegations of maladministration, particularly the vehicle and security scandals involving the mayor. The source said the party has made a decision to fire both the mayor and his deputy. In February, the mayor was accused of using the municipality's vehicle to transport his children to school. The said vehicle was reported to be the one that the mayor had refused to use, citing its mechanical fault. His refusal to use the vehicle forced the municipality to hire a car for his official use. The source said the last straw was when, in April, the ANC discovered that the municipality was paying R173,000 for the mayor's home security without a known threat assessment and approval by the council. The party has appointed a team to investigate all the allegations against the mayor. Ngidi was appointed in November after the removal of Lindiwe Nhanca, who had been appointed in 2021. She fell out with the disbanded Siboniso Duma and Bheki Mtolo-led provincial executive and was fired. If Ngidi is removed, the R3.2 billion-budget municipality will have the third mayor within a five-year term. ANC provincial spokesperson Fanle Sibisi said the ANC will respond to the question on whether the mayor has been fired during a media briefing in the afternoon.
