Month: April 2024

The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Zizi Kodwa, has welcomed the high court judgment which threw out an application of the National Professional Boxing Promoters’ Association (NPBPA) to declare that the appointment of the Boxing South Africa (BSA) Accounting Authority is irregular and invalid.

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday delivered a judgment dismissing with costs the NPBPA’s application based on lack of legal standing.

According to the SABC, the application was also seeking an order to stop BSA from sanctioning boxing tournaments until a legitimate board was appointed.

In December, the promoters successfully interdicted the BSA board appointed by Kodwa. The Minister then appointed Mandla Ntlanganiso in February as the Acting CEO and Accounting Authority, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, to temporarily replace the board.

Tuesday’s ruling means Ntlanganiso will remain in his position until May 2024, when a full-time board will be appointed.

‘The judgement marks a
salutary corrective measure on the path to restoring stability and ethical governance at Boxing SA. For too long, Boxing SA has been bleeding as an institution, with athletes losing match time, and promoters and trainers losing their market share,’ Kodwa said on Wednesday.

The Minister believes the court’s decision is an opportunity for all stakeholders in South African boxing to link and focus on the roadmap to reset and revitalise the sport in the country.

‘I have repeatedly said that let’s box in the ring and not in the courts.’

‘Let us focus, engage, and work together to build this sporting code that lies close to the hearts of millions of South Africans. Let us work together to revive South African boxing,’ the Minister pleaded.

Reports state that the NPBPA was ordered to pay the respondents’ costs, including those of the Ministers of Sport, Arts and Culture and Finance, BSA, and Ntlanganiso.

They were also ordered to pay the costs of two counsels, including the Senior Counsel.

Source: South Afric
an Government News Agency

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Thembi Nkadimeng, will be handing over the Van Schalkwyk Road in Eatonside Sebokeng Unit 6 under the Emfuleni Local Municipality, which is situated within the Sedibeng District in Gauteng.

This event will take place on Thursday and the Gauteng MEC of CoGTA Mzikayifane Khumalo, the Sedibeng Executive Mayor Lerato Maloka, as well as the leadership from the Emfuleni Local Municipality will join the Minister.

The department explained that before the project was implemented, the gravel road often flooded during rainy seasons.

It also experienced sewer spillages, which hindered residents’ access to schools, clinics, and other destinations.

Furthermore, the uneven surface posed challenges for motorists, and stormwater accumulation made crossing the roads difficult.

The Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), an entity of the Department of Cooperative Governance, provided funding for the construction of the Van Schalkwyk Road through
the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG).

According to the department, the road covers 3.46 kilometres by 6 metres wide tarred road.

This project resulted in the construction of a tarred road that is complete with concrete-paved sidewalks and efficient stormwater channels.

The project also benefitted a total number of 4 899 households.

Additionally, the construction of the road created work opportunities for 23 residents and enhanced connectivity and safety for all.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has launched a state-of-the-art Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) in Stellenbosch.

TCCs are a one stop facility for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) where they are able to receive psycho-social support, medical treatment, and legal services.

These centres are also aimed at removing incidents of secondary victimisation and create a platform for building successful cases.

Speaking at the launch of the TCC, NPA National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Advocate Shamila Batohi, explained that the site became operational in February this year.

‘It enables the victims of GBV in Stellenbosch and surrounding communities to access and receive world class GBV services. The TCC model is an international best practice. This model works because it is victim centred [and] court directed which is really important because we need to ensure justice for the victims.

‘One of the NPA’s innovative interventions to give effect to these commitments [on the response to GBV] ha
s been the introduction of the TCC model. But now, it is not just an NPA initiative, it is a collaborative initiative by various government departments,’ Batohi said.

Reflecting on the statistics of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in South Africa, the NDPP called on all of society to join hands to fight it.

‘Sadly, as we all know, GBV is a scourge in South Africa. The 2023 World Population Review Report notes that South Africa is amongst 10 countries with the highest levels of rape worldwide.

‘It is therefore not unexpected that a December 2022 Afrobarometer survey found that South Africans – both men and women – see GBV as the most important women’s human rights issue that government and society must address as a collective.

‘The rape and killing of our women is in fact reflective of the society that is devoid of a sense of humanity. It requires that a whole of society approach be adopted in particular by men that we declare war on GBVF,’ she said.

Batohi highlighted that in Sexual Offences Co
urts around the country, the NPA has a conviction rate of at least 70%.

However, she bemoaned the fact that this drops ‘dramatically’ when unreported cases are included.

‘If included; the unreported matters; the conviction drops dramatically to under 10%. So, under 10% of victims actually get justice. It’s something that we really need to look at. SAPS have done presentations…where they say that over 50% of these offences are committed by people known to the victim.

‘So the question is if over 50% of these offences are committed by people known to the victim, why do we not have at least 50% of cases reported ultimately convicted?

‘Children are very often abused because there are not enough care facilities for mothers working and so they leave the young children, with a neighbour [or] family member and very often, these young children are actually then violated by people that are known to the family. So, we really need to look at why that detection rate is still this low,’ she explained.

Batohi said that
through the more than 60 TCC units across the country, more victims are reporting.

‘Besides providing better services to victims of GBV, a larger footprint of TCCs translates into improved reporting. We had 29 593 matters reported in 2020/21 at the 60 TCCs. This increased to 36813 reported in 22/23 at 62 TCCs. In this past eight years combined, TCCs have dealt with 266 593 matters reported at these sites.

‘More TCCs means more reporting, more confidence in the system. We also have an increase in convictions rates in cases that are finalised through the TCC process. They have steadily increased from about 60% …to now sitting around 75, 76%,’ she said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Deputy President Paul Mashatile will lead the official launch of Phase 2 of the South Africa Connect project on Friday, 19 April 2024.

The project is a flagship programme aimed at bridging the digital divide by providing Wi-Fi access to communities and ensuring universal access to the internet.

The SA Connect Phase 2 launch event is organised by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and will take place at the Ephraim Mogale Stadium, Modimolle Local Municipality, Waterberg District, in Limpopo.

The project aligns with the government’s commitment to achieving the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 goals related to technology.

The programme also aims to create an inclusive information society and enable the government to provide broadband to communities.

By playing an enabling role in the provision of broadband, the Presidency said, government will be better positioned to meet the needs of its citizens.

‘It also galvanises the capability, resources, and energy of public and private s
ectors towards realising a bold vision to reach 80% connectivity by 2024,’ the statement read.

Deputy President Mashatile is launching Phase 2 which is expected to connect more than 42 000 government facilities, including schools, health facilities, post offices, police stations, and government offices, to broadband services.

The project will cover eight rural district municipalities.

So far, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has successfully confirmed that more than 751 232 households and about 4 366 community Wi-Fi hotspots are connected in 11 district municipalities.

These include Mount Ayliff in the Eastern Cape and Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, with other districts to follow.

The Deputy President will also take the opportunity to interact with members of the surrounding communities to witness progress achieved by government in providing core access to network infrastructure to enable broadband connectivity to community Wi-Fi hotspots that connect households.

The Minister of Comm
unications and Digital Technologies, Mondli Gungubele, Members of the Limpopo Provincial Executive Council, District and Local Mayors, as well as senior government officials will support Deputy President Mashatile.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Consumer inflation has marginally dipped from 5.6% in February to 5.3% in March, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index was 0.8% in March down from 1% in February.

‘The categories with the highest annual price changes in March were miscellaneous goods and services up 8.5%, education up 6.3%, health up 6.0% and housing and utilities up 5.9%.

‘Education fees are surveyed once a year in March. Overall, education was 6.3% more expensive in 2024 than it was in 2023. This exceeds the 5.7% annual increase in 2023 and is the highest since 2020 when the rate was 6.4%,’ Stats SA said.

Stats SA said food inflation in South Africa is now at ‘at a three-and-a-half-year low’.

‘Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed to 5.1% in March from 6.1% in February. This is down from its recent peak of 14.0% in March 2023, and is the lowest annual increase since September 2020 when the rate was 3.8%.

‘Bread and cereals registered a softer annual print of 5.0% from February’
s 6.1%. The rate is substantially lower than the recent high of 21.8% in January 2023. Bread flour, pasta, rusks, maize meal, ready-mix flour and white bread are cheaper than a year ago.

‘Meat inflation also cooled in March on the back of lower beef and mutton prices. The annual rate for meat in March was 0.8%, significantly lower than the recent peak of 11.4% in February 2023.

‘Annual inflation for sugar, sweets and desserts has remained above the 15.0% level since June 2023. The rate in March 2024 was 17.8%. Products with the most significant annual price increases include brown sugar up 22.0%, white sugar up 20.1%, chocolate slabs up 17.9% and chocolate bars up 15.9%,’ the institution said.

According to Stats SA, the increase in excise taxes has fuelled inflation growth for alcohol and tobacco while housing and transport also rose.

‘The index increased by a monthly 1.9% in March. This is the highest monthly rise since March last year when excise tax increases led to a 2.2% monthly rise. Prices increase
d by 4.5% overall in the 12 months to March.

‘Housing rents were surveyed in March, rising by 0.8%. The transport index rose by 2.0% between February and March, mainly due to a monthly rise of 5.3% in fuel prices. On average, petrol increased by 5.2% and diesel by 5.3%,’ Stats SA said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The case against nine suspects facing charges relating to the R47 million Soccer World Cup police accommodation fraud and corruption investigation has been postponed in the Durban High Court.

The case was postponed to allow for pre-trial conferencing.

The accused in the case include former high ranking police officials including:

Former KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner General Mmamonnye Ngobeni

Colonel Navin Madhoe

Former police captain Aswin Narainpershad

The other accused are:

Businessman, Toshan Panday

Panday’s mother, Arevenda Panday

His wife, Privisha Panday

His sister, Kajal Ishwarkumar

Panday’s brother-in-law, Seveesh Maharaj Ishwarkumar

Panday’s personal assistant, Tasleem Rahiman

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Investigating Directorate spokesperson Henry Mamothame explained that the nine face at least 275 charges of racketeering offences and fraud, corruption, money laundering and forgery.

‘[These were] allegedly committed between March 2009 and April 2010, wherein the prescript
s of the Public Finance Management Act were allegedly ignored in procuring accommodation for members of the South African Police Service during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

‘The state alleges Panday’s family [were] party to a common purpose with Toshan and others to defraud SAPS, through their association with entities which were used to score lucrative contracts from SAPS. The policemen who are accused in this matter face accusations of colluding with Panday to receive contracts from the KZN police for an amount of over R47.3 million in fraudulent and irregular tender procedures.

‘Judgment on an application for disclosure of certain information is still reserved for a date that will be provided by the court. The state has strongly argued against this application,’ he said.

The case is expected back in court on 25 July 2024.

Source: South African Government News Agency