Latest news with #WouterBasson
News24
17-06-2025
- Politics
- News24
Zuma hits out at ex-SGs; More City Power ‘wastage' exposed: Today's top 7 stories in 7 minutes
News24 brings you the top 7 stories of the day. News24 brings you the top stories of the day, summarised into neat little packages. Read through quickly or listen to the articles via our customised text-to-speech feature. 'We don't beg them': Zuma slams former secretaries-general after Shivambu's axing - Floyd Shivambu was removed as MKP secretary-general after visiting Shepherd Bushiri's church, violating party policy. - Jacob Zuma emphasised that no one is indispensable in the MKP, referencing Shivambu's removal and previous leadership changes. - Zuma warned against protesting Shivambu's axing, stating the party won't beg anyone and those unhappy should start their own party. 'Accountability not subject to expiry': Doctors say Wouter 'Dr Death' Basson must go - SAMA supports the HPCSA's renewed proceedings against Dr Wouter Basson and maintains he should be removed from the medical register due to ethical and human rights violations related to Project Coast. - Basson has launched a court application for a permanent stay of proceedings, arguing unreasonable delay by the HPCSA, as the initial complaints were filed over 20 years ago. - The EFF demands Basson's immediate suspension pending the inquiry's outcome, citing concerns about public trust and the need for accountability for apartheid-era crimes. POWER CONNECTIONS | City Power splurges R55m outsourcing work amid multibillion-rand losses - City Power in Johannesburg is under scrutiny for paying millions to a consultancy for tasks that its own high-earning executives should be performing, despite facing financial strain. - Internal documents reveal payments to Masego Consulting for services like developing business strategies and organising events, while the utility is burdened with a R16.3 billion negative bank balance. - Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero is accused of concealing City Power's financial difficulties, and the Auditor-General found a lack of financial controls and compliance within the entity. Ataques Feroz/TikTok No, a lion did not walk into an SA supermarket and head straight to the meat aisle - A viral video claiming to show a lion in a South African grocery store is fake and AI-generated, highlighting how easily misinformation spreads. - The video's success is attributed to its convincing visuals, CCTV-style angles, and exploitation of stereotypes about Africa, wildlife, and danger. - The incident underscores the need for critical evaluation of online content, as AI-generated videos become more convincing and the line between spectacle and disinformation blurs. Blow to Reserve Bank over Absa chair saga, Pityana slams 'cosy' relationships - Sipho Pityana won his court case against the SA Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority and Absa, with the court ruling that the authority acted unlawfully in objecting to his Absa chairperson nomination in 2021. - The court found the Prudential Authority acted unlawfully by informally objecting to Pityana's nomination before the formal process, denying him the right to contest the objections. - The Gauteng High Court ordered Absa and the Prudential Authority to pay Pityana's court costs, with Pityana claiming his reputation has been Burnard | Don't forget the unsung hero of the Proteas' championship rise - Enoch Nkwe, South Africa's director of Cricket, deserves recognition for his role in the Proteas' World Test Championship success. - Nkwe navigated tumultuous conditions, including the SJN hearings and replacing Graeme Smith, to create a stable environment for the team. - His strategic decisions, such as appointing separate coaches for Test and white-ball cricket, contributed significantly to the Proteas' achievements. 'We've both grown apart': RHOD alum Nonku Williams addresses Jojo Robinson friendship split - Nonku Williams revealed her friendship with Jojo Robinson ended due to diverging paths as Williams deepened her faith, which Robinson struggled to understand. - Williams emphasised that their five-year friendship was genuine but acknowledged that some relationships have a season, and she's now focusing on her purpose and relationship with God. - Robinson downplayed the split, stating there are more important global issues to focus on, and Williams is moving forward with new TV opportunities that align with her values.
Daily Maverick
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Ethiopia and SA — Shared struggles in transitional justice
The key lesson is that transitional justice is not an event but an ongoing process that ends only when its goals are met. A little over a year after Ethiopia adopted its landmark Transitional Justice Policy, the country is grappling with how to proceed while battling ongoing unresolved tensions. In this moment of uncertainty, Ethiopia can draw lessons from other contexts such as South Africa. For both countries, reckoning with the past is foundational to their longer-term aspirations. South Africa's three-decades-long transition offers useful lessons on what to do (and what not to do), how to sequence the process, and which components are vital to success. In March, a delegation of Ethiopian officials, legal experts and civil society representatives visited South Africa to draw insights from one of the most prominent historical examples of national reconciliation. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is often touted as central to the country's efforts towards truth-seeking, justice and reconciliation. The TRC prioritised truth-seeking and conditional amnesty as preconditions for reconciliation, while keeping the door open for criminal accountability. That decision was shaped by the realities of South Africa's political transition – a process in which elite negotiations necessitated compromises favouring political stability over criminal accountability. Ethiopia now faces a similar dilemma. The country initially sought to implement a holistic process with elements of dialogue, criminal accountability, institutional reform, truth-seeking and reparations as interdependent pillars running concurrently rather than sequentially. This aligned with public consultations and survey data confirming that Ethiopians reject processes excluding any of these elements. Yet, tough decisions may need to be made to sequence the process. In implementing its policy, Ethiopia will have to tackle difficulties that may be more complex than those South Africa faced. One prominent shared challenge is the risk of political interference. In South Africa, the TRC's final report highlighted the obligation to prosecute perpetrators, referring 300 cases to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for investigation and possible prosecution. But most of these cases were left inactive for decades, mainly owing to political interference that enabled impunity under the guise of national reconciliation. While there were some prosecutions in the early 2000s (such as against Wouter Basson), it wasn't until 2021 that the NPA advanced some of these cases. A recent High Court decision paves the way for more. The NPA's susceptibility to political pressure may have contributed to the delays, but institutional separation alone does not ensure prosecutorial independence, as Ethiopia's experience shows. Despite establishing a Special Prosecutor's Office in 1992 – distinct from the regular prosecutorial system – the office lacked autonomy, and its work was criticised as victor's justice. This underscores the need for robust safeguards ensuring functional independence and insulation from political influence. Another key feature of transitional justice is reparations, which redress past wrongs and restore some measure of dignity to the aggrieved. Despite incorporating reparations, South Africa still struggles to effectively address the needs of apartheid victims. The TRC offered direct financial reparations only to those participating in its hearings. Another lesson relates to the role of the courts. Although South Africa benefits from an independent judiciary with a supreme Constitutional Court, its judiciary is still transforming and includes some judges who enforced apartheid-era laws. This tension reveals the difficulty of transitions, which must balance judicial continuity with legitimacy and fairness. Ethiopia faces a similar challenge. Less than a third of the population trusts judges or investigative systems. While mass purges of the judiciary could destabilise the legal system, failing to vet judges appointed during repressive regimes risks further eroding public confidence. A phased, transparent vetting process like that envisaged in the draft vetting law may enable Ethiopia to build judicial credibility without undermining institutional stability. Another lesson relates to missing persons. Unlike Ethiopia, where mass grave exhumations post-1991 were conducted primarily for criminal trials, South Africa's Missing Persons Task Team goes beyond forensic investigations. It serves a symbolic and cultural function, offering dignity and closure that is not merely legal, but spiritual and communal. Still, this dimension of South Africa's process remains incomplete. The success of the task team relied on the cooperation of perpetrators willing to disclose burial sites as part of their amnesty applications. In cases where perpetrators remain silent or did not apply for amnesty, families are left without answers. Many cases are unresolved due to the lack of a national strategy, inadequate resources and weak institutional follow-through. In South Africa, civil society organisations (CSOs) play a vital role in the country's transitional justice process. They fill the void created by the government's institutional limitations by documenting abuses, providing psychosocial support, advocating for victim-centred reforms and litigating when the state fails to act. Some commentators note that civil society kept transitional justice alive after the state moved on. Indeed, some of the ongoing cases related to apartheid-era crimes have been spearheaded by CSOs supporting victims' families and communities. Ethiopia's Transitional Justice Policy recognises CSOs as key stakeholders. As in South Africa, the outreach, documentation, legal aid and monitoring roles of Ethiopian CSOs will be indispensable. This engagement should be substantive throughout both the design and implementation phases. Without meaningful civil society engagement, transitional justice can become a top-down exercise disconnected from the communities it aims to serve. Also, vital and often uncomfortable questions essential for guiding the process are unlikely to be raised. Perhaps the most enduring lesson from South Africa is that transitional justice is not an event but a process whose business remains unfinished until all its aims are met. It unfolds over decades, often inconsistently, requiring sustained political will, institutional endurance and public engagement. Transitional justice must be seen as iterative: policies set the stage but must be refined through continuous learning and adaptation. In Ethiopia, transitional justice should be rooted in the country's legal traditions, historical grievances and societal aspirations. The government and citizens must acknowledge that securing society-wide endorsement and legitimacy will take time, as will effective implementation. DM
News24
11-06-2025
- Health
- News24
The Lead: Wouter Basson vs HPCSA round two, with Tammy Petersen
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) continues in 2025 to push for some form of historical accountability from 'Dr Death' Wouter Basson's involvement in the apartheid government's secret chemical and biological warfare programme, 'Project Coast'. But as News24's Cape Town journalist Tammy Petersen reports in this edition of The Lead, the Durbanville-based cardiologist has, at the age of 74, turned to the High Court to get the HPCSA off his back once and for all: 'Dr Basson argues in his court papers that this new bid by the HPCSA is nothing but persecution,' says Petersen. Later in the show, we learn that a former Transnet official is wanted by the police for the mistaken hit on a Vereeniging engineer whose company blew the whistle on procurement corruption. Finally, attorneys for disgraced R&B singer R Kelly claim he's in danger behind bars and argue that he should be put under house arrest. Listen on YouTube: Listen on Apple Podcasts:
IOL News
15-05-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Cornal Hendricks was cleared to play rugby by 'Dr Death', Wouter Basson
According to reports, Cornal Hendricks, who died on Wednesday from a suspected heart attack, was cleared to resume his rugby career by Wouter Basson. Blue Bulls executive Edgar Rathbone has revealed that the late Cornal Hendricks had been cleared to resume his rugby career by controversial cardiologist, Dr Wouter Basson. The former Springbok died from a suspected heart attack on Wednesday evening, nine years after being diagnosed with a heart condition that brought an abrupt halt to his rugby career. In 2019, Hendricks resumed his career after being cleared to play by his doctor, now revealed to have been Basson, according to a News24 report. 'Dr Death', as Basson was known, was alleged to have been involved in the killing of 200 prisoners during Apartheid. 'I need to state this categorically that, at that stage, we got medical advice from Dr Wouter Basson and got that on a yearly basis to get him cleared,' Bulls' boss Rathbone was quoted by the publication.
