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

You Need Posted on 15/01/2021 by vrapto15/01/2021

  • 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. 

Posted in South African News

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

You Need Posted on 15/01/2021 by vrapto15/01/2021
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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Posted in South African News

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

You Need Posted on 14/01/2021 by vrapto14/01/2021
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

Posted in South African News

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

You Need Posted on 14/01/2021 by vrapto14/01/2021

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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Posted in South African News

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

You Need Posted on 13/01/2021 by vrapto13/01/2021
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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Posted in South African News

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

You Need Posted on 13/01/2021 by vrapto13/01/2021

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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Posted in South African News

News24.com | ‘If we have to sleep here we will’ – scores of beneficiaries in Pietermaritzburg queue to renew grants

You Need Posted on 12/01/2021 by vrapto12/01/2021
Beneficiaries have been sleeping outside the Sassa office in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg hoping to get a place close to the front of the queue to renew their lapsed disability grants.

Beneficiaries have been sleeping outside the Sassa office in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg hoping to get a place close to the front of the queue to renew their lapsed disability grants.

PHOTO: Nompendulo Ngubane/GroundUp

  • Many, mostly elderly beneficiaries have been sleeping outside the gates
    of the Sassa office in Raisethorpe, Pietermaritzburg to renew their lapsed
    disability grants.
  • Others say they arrive before sunrise, but the line is already snaking
    by then.
  • Sassa says the Raisethorpe office has staff shortages due to Covid-19.

Scores of social grant beneficiaries have been sleeping outside the
South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) office in Raisethorpe,
Pietermaritzburg for nearly two weeks, hoping to get a place close to the front
of the queue, GroundUp reported.

Most of the people seen outside the office on Monday were elderly and
had blankets wrapped around them after spending the night outside.

At about 11:00, a group started complaining that despite their long
wait, they had still not been assisted because a restricted number of people
were being allowed into the facility at a time.

Ntombemhlophe Ndlovu from Howick said she slept with other beneficiaries
outside the offices on cardboard boxes on Sunday night.

The 58-year-old said she has stage four cancer, but despite being the
closest to the front of the queue, she was told officials would not assist her
because she did not have an ID.

She said:

I’m wearing a nappy and have a pipe that helps me when I have to relieve myself. I have to renew my grant after it lapsed in January. My ID got lost and I had hoped that when I came with a certified ID copy they would assist me. Now I have to borrow money so that I can get a temporary ID. In my condition, I don’t know if I will manage another queue at Home Affairs offices.

The Raisethorpe office services people from Woodlands, Northdale,
Allandale, Copesville, Swapo A and B and other surrounding areas.

‘No money for transport or food’

Hlengiwe Mkhize from Cinderella Park said she joined the queue at 05:30,
and by noon was hungry and tired.

Mkhize said:

By the time I arrived, the queue was already long. I’m here to renew my disability grant which lapsed in November. I’m diabetic and on medication. People that have been called inside take forever to come out. There’s still many of us who are waiting to just get a date to come back and see the doctor for the renewal of the grants.

Johannes Mthandazi from Swapo B said he was at the offices to enquire
about his grant money that he had not received for two months last year. He
said he arrived at the offices at 04:00.

Mthandazi said:

There are no chairs or toilets here and we are tired and hungry. Other people have gone home because it is clear that they won’t get help today. Some of us have to wait, if we have to sleep here we will do so. We have no money for transport or food. All we have to do is wait.

Sassa provincial spokesperson Sandy Godlwana said the department was
aware of the influx of beneficiaries to its offices. She said it was largely
due to staff shortages and strict Covid-19 restrictions.

Godlwana said only six people were on duty at Raisethorpe.

“The office is working on a schedule because some staff members are
sick. The department has also made announcements using different media
platforms to inform beneficiaries on dates of renewal for different grants.
Sassa has been affected by the pandemic, but we are trying to keep our offices
accessible to the people,” said Godlwana.

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Posted in South African News

News24.com | Zondo commission warns Jacob Zuma to show up for next week’s hearing – or face the consequences

You Need Posted on 12/01/2021 by vrapto12/01/2021

Former president Jacob Zuma leaves the Zondo commission.

Former president Jacob Zuma leaves the Zondo commission.

PHOTO: Gallo Images/Sowetan/Thulani Mbele

  • The Zondo commission of inquiry has warned Zuma to show up for next week’s hearing – or face the consequences.
  • The Constitutional Court has reserved judgment on the commission’s urgent bid to compel Zuma to appear and answer questions.
  • The inquiry has told Zuma he must still honour the subpoena issued for him to appear from 18 to 22 January, even if the ConCourt has not ruled.

The judicial commission of inquiry into state capture has warned former president Jacob Zuma that he must appear before it next week, regardless of whether the Constitutional Court has ruled on its urgent bid to compel him to answer questions about his nine years in office.

“The commission wishes to make it clear to you that, even if the court has not handed down its judgment by 18 January 2021, you are obliged to comply with the summons and appear before it because the summons remains valid and binding on you since it has not been withdrawn, set aside or suspended,” the commission’s secretary, Itumeleng Mosala, wrote to Zuma on Monday.

Mosala wrote: 

Therefore, the commission wishes to make it clear to you that any failure on your part, without sufficient cause, to appear before it [from] 18 to 22 January 2021 will constitute a criminal offence.

Zuma’s lawyers have yet to comment on the commission’s letter.

It is also unclear, given that the Constitutional Court was asked to rule on the former president’s right to silence, if and how the hearing can proceed without it having delivered its judgment.

The commission of inquiry has also asked the country’s highest court to rule that Zuma had a constitutional obligation to account for his nine-year leadership of South Africa. It wants it to find that Zuma’s walkout at the commission on 19 November 2020, after Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo denied his application for his recusal, was unlawful.

While the commission of inquiry had asked the Constitutional Court to deliver its decision by 10 January, it has since indicated that it could still secure two weeks of Zuma’s evidence if that ruling was delivered by the end of January.

This is a developing story.


Posted in South African News

News24.com | 10 caught in Northern Cape for possession of endangered plants worth R400K

You Need Posted on 10/01/2021 by vrapto10/01/2021
Conophytum sp. (Photo: WWF)

Conophytum sp. (Photo: WWF)

Ten people were arrested in Upington, Northern Cape, on Sunday after they were found in possession of protected plants valued at R400 000.

They were arrested by members of the Springbok Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit for being in contravention of the Nature Conservation Act.

They were found with over 8 000 species of the Conophytum plant, an endangered succulent found in parts of South Africa and Namibia.  

“Two vehicles, a Chevrolet bakkie and a Toyota Corolla, were confiscated by police as they were used in the commission of the crime,” said SAPS provincial spokesperson Brigadier Mohale Ramatseba.

The group will appear in the Upington Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

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Posted in South African News

News24.com | Police confirm: Army patrolling streets of Cape Town, Garden Route to help enforce lockdown rules

You Need Posted on 10/01/2021 by vrapto10/01/2021

File

File

Photo by Gallo Images/ER Lombard

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has, since Tuesday, been deployed to parts of the Western Cape to support local law enforcement in identified hotspots. 

In response to a query from News24, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said a contingent of SANDF members had started operations in the Cape Town metro on Tuesday and in the Garden Route on Saturday. 

“The areas the deployments already covered include, among others, Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Delft, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Lentegeur, Samora Machel and Philippi East. In addition, the deployments focused on the Disaster Management Act regulations in relation to enforcing the curfew between 21:00 and 06:00,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa.

On Wednesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed the SANDF had been roped in to assist the police to keep bathers away from beaches along the Garden Route in the Western Cape.

The province is also receiving military assistance in its hospitals, having approached the military for staffing assistance. 

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred

In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can
trust. For only R75 per month, you have access to
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Posted in South African News

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