First Take SA

Former Free State Human Settlements MEC Mosebenzi Zwane has denied that he had a hand in selecting contractors for the province's 2010 1billion rands Housing Project. Zwane who was testifying for the second time at the State Capture Commission explained how it came to pass that over 300 contractors bid for the project, some of whom had been disqualified from an earlier disputed open tender process...

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula says the March by Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) in Gauteng, is retaliation for his actions in cleaning the rot at PRASA. In a statement, Mbalula said this was with particular reference to the termination of security contracts that have achieved the opposite of what they were meant to deliver. The association marched in Johannesburg on Mond...

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has stopped payments of personal protective equipment to service providers in the Free State. This amid SIU's investigation on PPE scandal in the province.

Former Eskom Board Member, Venete Klein, has told the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture that she recalls that former Eskom board member, Ben Ngubane, was persistently on the phone with the former Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, before a decision was made to include Eskom's former Financial Director, Tsholofelo Molefe, on the list of executives who would be suspended in 2015. Ot...

Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, says illegal schools will be shut down and those operating them will be held to account. YESTERDAY (thursday 8 October), Lesufi and the police closed down the Wisdom private school in Ivory Park, east of Johannesburg. According to the department, the school is not registered, is operating illegally and is employing undocumented foreign nationals as teachers.

The ANC's KwaZulu-Natal Integrity Commission has begun its work, summoning party members implicated in various crimes to appear before it. The commission is headed by a team of well-respected veterans, among them Sipho Magwaza, who chairs the commission in the province. Magwaza says those members who have already appeared before the commission have been co-operative.

Former Chief Financial Officer of the now-defunct VBS Mutual bank - Phillip Truter - has spent his first night in jail after he was sentenced yesterday to an effective 7 years imprisonment by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Court on Gauteng's East Rand. Truter entered into a plea agreement with the state where he pleaded guilty to all six charges against him, incl...

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) wants the Special Tribunal, sitting at the Booysens Magistrates Court, to freeze the assets of contractors involved in the multi million rand Beitbridge Border fence contract. This relates to an advance payment of 21-point-8 million rand by the Public Works Department to two contractors. The contract was for the erection of the 40 kilometer Beitbridge border fe...

The head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Shamila Batohi, says time for impunity is over. Batohi briefed Parliament on the NPA 2019/20 and first quarter of 2020/21 Annual Report. She informed MPs that additional funding has enabled the biggest recruit drive in the history of the organisation, but cautioned that a reduction in resources could seriously hamper the fight against corruption goin...

One person has been arrested following a violent protest outside the Senekal magistrate's court on Tuesday (6 October). A group of farmers went on the rampage after two men appeared briefly in court in connection with the alleged murder of farm manager Brendin Horner last week. The police were overpowered by the group which stormed the building hours after the case was postponed.

Eighteen year old South African Climate Justice Activist Ayakha Melithafa says no one is going to survive climate change is actions is not taken now. Melithafa is one of the speakers who will participate in the 10th Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture today. Today also marks the 89th Birthday of Tutu.

Court proceedings at the Senekal Magistrate's Court in the Free State were yesterday disrupted by angry farmers, who overturned and burnt a police vehicle. The group also stormed the court building and damaged some property. The farmers were baying for the blood of two suspects -- who appeared in court in connection with the murder of farm manager -- Brandon Horner

Former Independent Consultant at Eskom, Nicholas Linnell revealed that he was appointed by former SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni to head an inquiry into challenges facing Eskom which also included loadshedding. Linnell says on the 8th of March 2015 Myeni invited him to former President Jacob Zuma's official residence in Durban to discuss the details of the investigation into Eskom's affairs. Lin...

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has lauded the recent work done by different law enforcement agencies. Recently the Hawks embarked on a countrywide swoop arresting some of those involved in corruption including senior ANC members. Those arrested include among others former ANC MP Vincent Smith and former Mangaung Executive Mayor Olly Mlamleli as well as several business people. Speaking at the end o...

ActionSA has announced that it will contest the local government elections in all parts of the country, next year. This is after the party had initially said it will only focus on Gauteng - in the hope of winning the Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Johannesburg Metro Municipalities. Party leader, Herman Mashaba, says the appointment of John Moodey as Gauteng Leader, Doctor Makhosi Khosa as KZN Leader, and...

President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday launched one of the biggest residential infrastructure projects in the country's history. The 33-billion-rand Mooikloof Mega Residential City project in Pretoria will provide affordable housing through the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy programme that the Human Settlements Department has initiated. The project, one of 62 similar projects to be undertaken, is...

Free State residents have expressed their anger over the poor conditions they are living in after the provincial government spent 25- million rand on an asbestos roof audit project that did not benefit them. Last week, seven people accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court after the Hawks arrested them in the Free State, Gauteng and KwaZulu-N...

Former ANC MP Vincent Smith will be back in court again in a fortnight, after he was granted 30-thousand rand bail in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court yesterday. He will be facing fraud and corruption charges emanating from his relations with executives of African Global Operations formerly BOSASA. At the heart of his charge sheet is an amount of over 600-thousand rand which was paid into his com...

Public sector unions will today announce how they plan to tackle their wage impasse with the government. Government refuses to increase salaries of civil servants by seven per cent this year, in line with a three-year public sector wage agreement, signed in 2018.

More than 660-thousand people have lost their jobs in Gauteng since the beginning of the national COVID-19 lockdown. Premier David Makhura revealed this at yesterday's weekly briefing on the province's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Premier says moving to alert level 1 of the lockdown gives government an opportunity to continue with its economic development plans, and he hopes there won...

South African borders are officially open to international travellers, subject to some restrictions. Government says only people with a valid PCR test certificate which is not older than 72 hours from the time of departure from the country of origin will be allowed into the country. Those entering the country will also be screened upon entry and may be asked questions about their contacts.

The long-awaited Vrede Dairy Project probe has been completed. Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane says the investigation has identified all implicated parties and they have been served with notices. The Vrede Dairy Project was established in 2012, on the Krynaauwslust farm in the Free State. An earlier investigation by former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela revealed that no payments were made...

The Hawks and the Special investigating Unit are still searching for two suspects they believe are linked to the Free State asbestos tender saga, currently under the spotlight at the State Capture Commission in Johannesburg. Six suspects were arrested YESTERDAY (wednesday 30 September), three in the Free Sate and three in Gauteng. Among those arrested are ousted Mangaung Metro Mayor, Olly Mlamleli...

Labour unions say the latest unemployment figures are unacceptable and a disaster, despite a decrease in the numbers. Stats SA yesterday reported that official unemployment decreased to 23-point-three per cent in the second quarter from 30-point-one per cent in the first quarter of the year. The country also lost 2-point- 2 million jobs in the second quarter. However, the expanded definition of th...

Residents of Diepsloot extension 13, north of Johannesburg, are angry at Eskom for cutting off illegal electricity connections in their area yesterday. The power utility's energy management and losses campaign is targetting those tapping into the grid illegally. Eskom says illegal connections in Gauteng cost the company 2.5-billion rand annually and are a leading cause of network overloading and r...