Cape Town —
Update as at 16h30 SAST
Ryanair Scraps Afrikaans Language Test
Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline imposed a controversial requirement for South African travellers to the UK and Ireland to take a test in Afrikaans to prove their nationality. The measure was imposed to prevent the use of fraudulent passports but the action drew criticism as the language is only spoken by a minority of the population.
The airline has now scrapped the test after Ryanair boss Michael O'Learty said the Afrikaans test "doesn't make any sense." The South African government said it was "taken aback" by the policy, calling it a "backward profiling system."
Govt Plan to End Zimbabwean Permits to Be Challenged In Court
The Helen Suzman Foundation will go to court to challenge the decision by home affairs to end exemption permits that allow 178,000 Zimbabweans to live and work in the country. The exemption permits were granted to Zimbabweans who moved to South Africa before 2009.
According to reports, the foundation said that permit holders will face a desperate choice: to remain in South Africa as undocumented migrants with all the vulnerability that attaches to such status or return to a Zimbabwe that, to all intents and purposes, is unchanged from the country they fled."
Ria Ledwaba SAFA Case Thrown Out, Elections to Proceed
Elections for the SAFA presidency will go ahead as planned for June 25, 2022. Vice President Ria Ledwaba - who is standing against incumbent Danny Jordaan and Solly Mohlabeng - filed papers at the Pretoria High Court seeking an interdict of the elective congress. She argued that the timing of the conference was off as Jordaan had an unfair advantage as she and Mohlabeng only had three weeks to campaign. The court struck the case off the roll saying it lacked urgency. Ledwaba has the backing of former players and the EFF, since accepting her nomination.
Ramaphosa Digs In Heels Over Public Protector's Suspension
President Cyril Ramaphosa has stuck to his decision to suspend Busisiwe Mkhwebane last week Thursday - this despite a threat by her of court action if the decision was not revoked by Tuesday 14 June, 2022. The president's action drew criticism from various political parties in view of the fact that the public protector last week announced she would investigate allegations levelled against Ramaphosa by former State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser, in connection with the theft of U.S.$4 million at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020, that was not reported to the police. Fraser laid a charge against the president and also alleges that the thieves were kidnapped, interrogated and paid off to keep quiet.
Road Collapses as Rain Continues In Cape Town Overnight
The Western Cape has been lashed by heavy rains and wind since Sunday June 12. Flooding has occurred in many areas, with low lying informal settlements being worst affected. This morning, a road collapse has been reported at Spine Road off the N2, following heavy overnight rain.
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Supreme Court of Appeal Slams Govt's 2020 Tobacco Ban
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled the state's five month ban on tobacco products during the lockdown period was "fundamentally flawed". In December 2020, the Western Cape High Court declared the ban to have been both unconstitutional and invalid, on the back of an application brought by British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA). Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - under whose hand the ban was effected - then lodged an appeal with the SCA, which was heard in March, 2022.
According to reports, Judge Ashton Schippers, who penned the SCA's ruling, said the minister had failed to show that the benefits of the ban exceeded the harm it caused. The judge said the ban had threatened the stability of the entire tobacco value chain, the judge said, leaving tobacconists unable to trade and informal traders forced to close shop.
