South Africa Vision

Johannesburg has a new Executive Mayor after Jolidee Matongo was elected to lead the city unopposed during an extra-ordinary council meeting on Tuesday.

The City of Johannesburg has been without an Executive Mayor since Geoff Makhubo succumbed to COVID-19 complications in July.

Matongo is expected to announce the members of his mayoral committee during the next council meeting.

The 269 councillors in the metro did not submit any other names and, as per the Municipal Structures Act, therefore in the case that there is only one nominee that person automatically assumes the position.

Matongo’s name was the most preferred by the ANC in the province after the selection of three names, including Salphina Mulaudzi and Mpho Moerane, for mayoral candidate.

The 46-year-old is a Soweto-born former student activist. He served as the MMC for Finance under Makhubo.

He had risen through the ranks, from serving as a member of the Soweto Student Congress and the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) before moving on to serve as the regional head of Communications in the ANC for eight years.

Matongo holds various qualifications from different institutions, including a Diploma in Public Management, a Post Graduate Degree in Public Management from Unisa, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Milpark Business School and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Management with Mancosa.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) Chairperson Jerome Maake has recently received an approval from the Houses of Parliament to embark on an inquiry into allegations of intelligence failures by the intelligence services.

Maake said that following the outbreak of the events of violence and looting that took place in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces in July, which some South Africans attributed to the intelligence failure, the JSCI engaged with the intelligence services on 15 and 16 July 2021 to perform its oversight role, as outlined in the Constitution and the law.

“At these meetings the need for the inquiry emerged after the committee received full briefings on the July unrests from the intelligence services. The inquiry will only be confined to the mandate of the JSCI as contained in the Constitution, the applicable legislation and Joint Rules of Parliament,” Maake said.

Maake added that unlike other Parliamentary committees, the JSCI conducts its activities in closed sessions, as guided by the Intelligence Services Oversight Act 1994, (Act No. 40 of 1994), and “not all information pertaining to the work of the committee may be disclosed to the public”.

However, he said some information will be contained in the Annual Report of the JSCI to be published soon. The High-Level Review Panel (HLRP) report reflects the challenges in the intelligence services and what needs to be done.

Maake said the Legacy Report of the Fifth Parliament also indicates the same challenges. However, the JSCI is concerned with the slow implementation of the recommendations, and has expressed its position to the appropriate implementing authorities.

“It is for this reason that several special meetings were held in Pretoria with the Minister of State Security and the State Security Agency (SSA), even at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic as reflected in the Annual Report of the JSCI which is going to be published. The committee continues to urge the SSA to implement the recommendations without delay and to continue reporting on a quarterly basis,” Maake said.

With regards to the proceedings at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector, including Organs of State, the chairperson said the JSCI is following and awaits the report of the Commission.

In the meantime, he said, oversight continues which includes probing some of the matters ventilated at the Commission.

Maake has also expressed his appreciation to Advocate Mahlodi Sam Muofhe for his tenure as the Director: Domestic Branch at the SSA until his retirement on 31 July 2021.

“The committee is grateful that Advocate Muofhe steered the ship in the Domestic Branch through a difficult period in the SSA that was plagued by instability at senior management level and other challenges. We are grateful for his service and wish him well on his retirement and future endeavours,” Maake said.

Relocation of SSA in line with international best practices

Meanwhile, Maake has commended the relocation of SSA to the Presidency, noting that this is in line with international best practices where the most advanced intelligence agencies report directly to the head of State.

“Locating the SSA in the Presidency will enable refocusing of both the Domestic and Foreign Branches to ensure the production of intelligible intelligence products to protect the territorial integrity of the Republic,” Maake said.

The JSCI has also welcomed the appointment of Zizi Kodwa as the Deputy Minister in the Presidency to oversee the SSA, as well as the appointment of Dr Sydney Mufamadi as the National Security Advisor.

Maake said the appointment of Mufamadi, who chaired the HLRP on the SSA in 2018, and the relocation of the SSA to the Presidency will accelerate the implementation of the HLRP report recommendations, which has been an ongoing concern for the JSCI.

Source: South African Government News Agency

International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, will participate in the inaugural South Africa-Kenya Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC), which gets underway today in Kenya.

“The JCC will seek to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two countries. It is also expected that the JCC will provide a platform to explore areas of cooperation to strengthen economic ties.

Furthermore, it is expected that the JCC will activate engagements between government departments in both countries to expand cooperation within the various sectors,” said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on Tuesday.

Pandor has been invited to the two-day session in Nairobi by her counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, Ambassador Raychelle Omamo.

South Africa and Kenya enjoy strong bilateral relations with several bilateral agreements in place, six of which were signed during the State Visit to Kenya in 2016.

“Since the signing of the agreements, co-operation between the public and private sectors of South Africa and Kenya has remained vigorous and sustained.”

The Departments of Trade and Industry and Competition, Home Affairs, Tourism, Transport, Correctional Services, Defence, Basic Education and Public Enterprises, among others, continue to engage in sharing best practices in projects and hosting reciprocal technical visits.

DIRCO said South Africa and the East African nation share a long history of friendship, mutual respect, common values and solidarity on not only issues of bilateral concern, but also the vision for the African continent.

“Both our countries are proponents of Pan-Africanism and hold a common vision for the development and Renaissance of Africa as encapsulated in Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.”

While in Nairobi, Pandor will deliver an invitation from President Cyril Ramaphosa to President Uhuru Kenyatta on a State Visit to South Africa at the end of 2021.

The JCC provides an opportunity to finalise negotiations of agreements at high level for signature during the much-anticipated incoming State Visit of President Kenyatta.

Meetings of senior officials from Kenya and South Africa on 9-10 August 2021 preceded the Minister’s visit.

Source: South African Government News Agency

An explosion at the Medupi Power Station’s Unit 4 generator on Sunday night has resulted in extensive damage, says Eskom.

The incident occurred at around 22:50 on Sunday night.

“The incident occurred during the activity to displace hydrogen with carbon dioxide and air respectively, for the purposes of finding an external leak. Following the power station preliminary investigation, it appears that while performing this activity air was introduced into the generator at a point where hydrogen was still present in the generator at sufficient quantities to create an explosive mixture, which ignited and resulted in the explosion.

“It also appears that there was a deviation from the procedure for carrying out this activity,” said Eskom.

Those employees who were responsible for managing and executing this work have been placed under precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of the major event investigation.

“No injuries have been reported and all employees and contractors have been accounted for. Emergency services attended to seven colleagues requiring treatment for shock. Eskom will continue to provide support to the employees who might have been affected by the incident through its employee assistance programme,” Eskom said on Monday.

Unit 4 was on a short-term outage when the incident occurred, and all work on the unit was suspended with immediate effect.

This included the suspension of all permits to work on the plant until further notice.

Preparation for the return to service of Medupi Unit 5 is currently in progress.

Investigations are underway into the cause of the incident and Eskom will update the public on developments, as well as to what extent this incident will impact the national electricity grid.

Source: South African Government News Agency