October 25, 2021 – Page 2 – South Africa Vision

October 25, 2021

Zikalala demands swift arrest of suspects in Mlaba murder

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has called for the swift arrest of the perpetrators involved in the brutal murder of former Regent and Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature, Zibuse Mlaba.

Mlaba was murdered following a shooting incident in Camperdown last Thursday.

According to a police report, Mlaba was attacked by two gunmen in his office and succumbed to his injuries.

Expressing shock and outrage, Zikalala said Mlaba’s passing marks one of the saddest periods in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Mlaba represents the crop of dedicated leaders, who distinguished himself by addressing the grassroots, and bread and butter issues of the local communities of the Mkhambathini area. Mlaba played a crucial role in quelling tensions at the height of political violence in the province.

“Through his tragic passing, we are again reminded that the spectre of violence persists in our province, and that more efforts need to be dedicated to the eradication of this aspect of our lives. Nothing justifies violence in resolving conflict,” Zikalala said.

Paying tribute to Mlaba, Zikalala said the province has lost one of its foremost pioneers for peace, who did not just usher in peripheral changes but “genuinely made social and political transformation a reality of our democracy”.

“Born into royalty, Mlaba followed the example of his father when he resisted attempts by the apartheid machinery over generations, to politicise the Ximba Chieftaincy, and indeed the institution of traditional leadership in KZN in general.

“In this manner, Mlaba crafted and cemented his legacy as one of the architects who popularised and legitimised the institution of traditional leadership and by so doing, preserved its dignity among all the people of KZN, regardless of political affiliation,” the Premier said.

Zikalala said Mlaba never regarded the opposition as his enemy, but he identified the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality as standing in the way of human dignity for all.

In this regard, he said, Mlaba identified community development as the route through which the lives of citizens could be improved.

“He chose to work with Induna Mdluli of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)-controlled Nyavu to ensure access to clean water and electricity, and external support for development that enabled them to build schools, a community hall and a clinic.

“In Mlaba’s death, we have lost a true visionary, an advocate for democracy, development, peace, human rights and a human being who was prepared to stand for the truth at all costs.

“On behalf of government and people of KwaZulu-Natal, we bow our heads to the quiet revolutionary of our liberation movement, a life-long protector and true leader of the masses, and hero of our struggle for true democracy,” Zikalala said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

October 25, 2021

Law enforcement ready for Local Government Elections

Law enforcement agencies are operationally ready to ensure a safe and secure environment for all to participate in free and fair local government elections, says the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS).

On 1 November, South Africans will cast their votes in the Local Government Elections to elect municipal leaders and representatives.

Addressing the media on behalf of her JCPS cluster colleagues on Monday, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise said the NatJOINTS would continue to meet to analyse the safety and security situation in the country.

“NatJOINTS has also put in place measures to protect all citizens as they get ready to exercise their constitutional right to vote. We can confidently say today that all safety and security measures have been put in place to ensure that we have free and fair elections, starting on the 30th and 31 of October from 8am to 5pm, where we will be having special votes and on the 1st we will have the normal elections for local governments.”

She said all relevant security aligned departments across government had worked tirelessly in a continuous and coordinated manner to deliver successful local elections, assuring the public that all areas would be accessible.

Modise said the NatJOINTS had put together a plan to secure the elections.

“This plan is managed by national, district and local NatJOINTS. This plan is to ensure that there is sufficient police visibility in and around the voting stations around the country to prevent crime and/or intimidation of voters and any role player. Furthermore, [the] South African Police Service (SAPS) will be deployed at all results centres to ensure the integrity of the finalisation of the results,” she said.

The deployment of SAPS, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and other law enforcement agencies would be determined and guided by a structured threat analysis, she said.

Accordingly, the structure identified hotspots and ranked these into low, medium and high-risk categories. “We will be deploying accordingly,” said the Minister.

She warned that all forms of criminality would not be tolerated before, during and after the elections.

“The incitement of violence is also a criminal offence. Interfering with the work of the Electoral Commission (IEC) – interfering or threatening IEC officers – is also a transgression that is punishable by law.

During the election, law enforcement agencies would be posted at every voting station.

KwaZulu-Natal

The JCPS said it was encouraged by the continuous monitoring and evaluation by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on political killings in KwaZulu-Natal. In 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa tasked the IMC with ending the political violence in the province.

The IMC has established a task team to investigate political murders dated from May 2018. The task team had since made significant inroads, arresting suspects and securing convictions with hefty sentences.

Modise said there was no doubt that the task team had prevented further bloodshed in the province.

“It has been instrumental in bringing simmering tensions under control and, in ensuring that the rule of law is restored,” she said.

Home Affairs

As Election Day edges closer, the Department of Home Affairs had extended its operating hours at 197 offices across the country. This has been put in place since 18 October 2021 and this has given the department the capacity to help those who need their smart IDs and passports.

The intervention was aimed at meeting the demand for services, specifically for the elections.

At the weekend and on Election Day, all Home Affairs offices will open between 7am and 9pm. During the voting period, the department will assist those who have lost or misplaced their IDs to apply for temporary identity certificates.

Meanwhile, there has been a total 370 000 uncollected IDs as of 22 October.

“We call upon people who have applied for their IDs from two weeks ago to visit their Home Affairs offices to collect their documents,” said the Minister.

Electoral Court

In accordance with the Amended Electoral Act, she said a provision had been made for the establishment of an Electoral Court to deal with electoral disputes, complaints and infringements of the Electoral Code of Conduct. The court would also investigate any allegations of misconduct or incompetence of members of the IEC.

These courts will be available in each of the voting districts.

Modise urged political party leaders not to make inflammatory statements that had the potential to incite political violence.

“We would also like to urge all political leaders to adhere to the Electoral Code of Conduct that was signed on 1 October by all political parties contesting the Local Government Elections of 2021.

“Party representatives pledged to abide by the code of conduct and committed themselves to ensure that their candidates, their members and supporters conduct themselves in a manner which is conducive to free and fair elections,” she said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

October 25, 2021

No load shedding expected ahead of Local Government Elections

Eskom Chief Operating Officer (COO), Jan Oberholzer, has assured the country that load shedding is not expected to be implemented during the upcoming Local Government Elections.

He was speaking during the power utility’s state of the system briefing on Monday.

The assurances from the COO come after concerns that the country may face power cuts during this weekend’s elections following two consecutive weekends of load shedding this month.

This as special votes are set to be cast on Saturday and Sunday, ahead of Election Day on Monday, 1 November 2021.

Oberholzer said he expects that the power utility will have enough generation capacity.

“We are confident that the way that we manage the system at this point in time is that we make use of some of the emergency [reserves] during the day but we recover it at night [which] assists us to reduce load shedding to a minimum. We have also had a good look at some of the opportunistic maintenance to see how we can plan that.

“Our distribution colleagues are working closely with the IEC [Electoral Commission] to make sure that electricity will be available. I have spoken to the generation, transmission and distribution colleagues to be on standby as from the end of this week until after the voting has taken place to make sure that wherever we do have challenges, Eskom will assist. We have emergency generators available, which will assist wherever we can. We are extremely committed as Eskom, to make sure that there are no electricity challenges going through the elections that are around the corner,” he said.

Maintenance of assets

Turning to longer-term sustainability, Oberholzer said Eskom is currently carrying out its maintenance plans even though this may add constraint to the power system and risk load shedding in the shorter term.

The utility has doubled the amount of maintenance it has carried out since 2019/2020 and will ramp it up as peak maintenance season hits in the summer. The maintenance plan has managed to reduce the amount of days that load shedding has been implemented.

However, Oberholzer has warned that a slowdown in this plan will impact the long term reliability of Eskom’s assets but that taking all generating units off the grid is not a viable option either.

“[This is] to make sure that what we have available [is in equilibrium to the demand].This is why we have decided – although it has a negative impact on available capacity – we will continue with the reliability programme.

“What makes it extremely difficult is the capacity that we have available on the constrained system and the demand of the country…that’s making it difficult for us to take more units off and maintain them properly,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

October 25, 2021

Cooperation is vital to achieve media and information literacy for all

International cooperation is most urgent to achieve and sustain the goal of media and information literacy for all, says Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.

Motshekga was addressing the opening of the 10th United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Media and Information Literacy Week hosted by South Africa from Monday until 29 October 2021.

This year’s MIL week is hosted under the theme “Media and information literacy for the public good.”

“Together, we must respond to the call of the United Nations (UN) Resolution A/RES/75/267 for media and information literacy to be an urgent and imperative public matter,” Motshekga, who addressed the opening of the literacy week on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa, said.

Motshekga said that South Africa is proud to celebrate this historic moment as the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to host the Global Media and Information Literacy Week.

“Here is an important milestone for promoting the culture of media and information literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa and Africa, in general. We must change the trend of low take-up of media and information literacy in education in African countries.”

She said that media and information literacy can support the strategic approach of building an inclusive and resilient African society and connecting the African continent with the rest of the world.

South Africa stands alongside the global community not only to strengthen the foundations of media and information literacy, but also to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals beyond the global 2030 agenda, the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030) and the Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.

“Media and information literacy and digital skills should be incorporated in the actions connected to the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030) as a driver for human capability and self- empowerment,” she said.

She added that it is fitting that the Nairobi Declaration and Call to Action on Bridging Continental and Global Education Frameworks for Africa recognises the importance of media and information literacy.

“Indeed, media and information literacy can provide the necessary skills, competencies, and attitudes that support digital skills, digital hygiene, critical thinking, and intercultural competencies.”

She called on everyone to build the competencies of African citizenry as agents of change by strengthening media and information literacy in lifelong learning, online, and offline spaces at all levels.

Dealing with global misinformation

Motshekga said that the global threat of misinformation is more pronounced today as the world battles the anti-vax lobby in the face of the devastation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

She has called on the conference to respond thoughtfully to the anti-vax lobby and misinformation entrepreneurs.

“As part of the international community, we are proud of the media and information literacy progress made in recent years. Yet, we are now confronted by a new threat of global misinformation via social networking platforms,” Motshekga said.

She said that it is an insidious threat that requires ingenuity in law-making, public awareness and transatlantic efforts to reverse the emerging trends of the misinformation entrepreneurs gaining the upper hand.

“We must consider new media and information literacy programmes to help people understand the consequences of creating and sharing false and misleading content,” she said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

October 25, 2021

Labour Appeal Court supports decision to place CETA under administration

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has welcomed the decision of the Labour Appeal Court of South Africa to nullify the Labour Court decision setting aside his application to place the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) under administration.

Nzimande said the Labour Appeal Court decision, marks the victory of public interest over personal, selfish and greedy elements within the CETA, including “nefarious” agendas to loot the entity.

The Minister took the decision to place CETA under administration pursuant to section 15 (4) of the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 (‘SDA’).

Prior to taking the decision on 14 December 2019, the Minister addressed correspondence to CETA Chairperson Raymond Cele, indicating his intention to act in terms of s15 (4) of SDA.

“In my letter I raised 10 allegations which illustrated a profound lack of governance in the operations of CETA, including gross financial management, irregular payment of pension benefits and salary increments, and serious lapses of governance in procurement processes,” Nzimande said.

The Minister added that he expressed the view that CETA was on the brink of collapse and it was incumbent upon him to restore good governance to the operations of the entity.

“It is at that time when I requested that CETA Board make representations to me by no later than 10 January 2020; in particular, as to why I should not act in terms of s15 (4) of SDA,” Nzimande said.

Based on inadequate response provided by CETA Board, the Minister decided to order an independent investigation into the operations of CETA.

“I will continue to fight all forms of corruption and maladministration in any of my portfolio departments and all their entities. I will not sit by and observe when government is becoming a source of rot and looting by some within it, acting in cahoots with those who have their private and personal interest within the entities.”

The Minister reiterated that no amount of legal or any other delaying tactics will divert him from getting to the bottom of what seems to be “serious rot in CETA.”

“The intention to have placed CETA under administration was precisely to get to the bottom of these matters, nail the culprits, and in the process, help clear those who are clean but often get wrongly implicated in such matters,” Nzimande said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

October 25, 2021

SADC in support of sustainable solutions in Eswatini

Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Organ on Defence, Politics and Security Cooperation, President Cyril Ramaphosa says the regional body supports the “people and Government of Eswatini towards the achievement of practical and sustainable solutions” to the attainment of peace.

This follows unrelenting protests and unrest which have rocked the country since June.

This after President Ramaphosa deployed former Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe as a special envoy. He was supported by representatives of the Republics of Nambia and Botswana as the incoming and outgoing chair of the Organ respectively, assisted by the SADC Secretariat to engage with His Majesty King Mswati III on the country’s political and security developments.

The special envoy also met with Eswatini members of Cabinet led by Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, members of the Diplomatic Corps, civil society organisations, Members of Parliament, trade unions and members of society in that country.

“During the engagements, all stakeholders agreed that the conduct of a national dialogue should be the appropriate platform to address the current challenges facing the country. In this regard they recognised the need for a peaceful and conducive environment for the dialogue to take place,” Ramaphosa said.

He said the SADC is now calling for calm “on all sides” to enable the process towards the national dialogue to begin.

“In view of the fact that His Majesty King Mswati III has accepted the need for national dialogue, as announced by the INDVUNA YELULUDZIDZINI, on His Majesty’s behalf, it is in this context and development that I appeal for calm, restraint, the respect for the rule of law and human rights on all sides to enable the process to commence,” said Ramaphosa..

Source: South African Government News Agency