Cape Town —
Update as at 16h30 SAST
DA Wants Parliament to Reconvene
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen has written to Parliamentary Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, asking that parliament reconvenes “to find solutions to multiple crises hitting our nation”. Steenhuisen said parliament should be “meeting around the clock”, to find ways to solve the crises hitting the country. Parliament is currently in a constituency period which started in mid-June and is set to end in August.
Prince Mbonisi Files Application to Set Aside King Misuzulu Coronation
Prince Mbonisi KaBhekuzulu, a senior member of the Zulu royal family and brother of the late King Goodwill Zwelethini KaBhekuzulu, has filed an urgent application with the Pretoria High Court where he wants to set aside the recognition and coronation of King Misuzulu KaZwelithini as the next King of the Zulu nation. The coronation is expected to take place in Nongoma and Durban on August 13, 2022. Misuzulu is the son of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini Zulu who died in March 2021 and the Regent, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini - Misuzulu's mother - who died in April 2021. Prince Mbonisi asked that the matter be heard on July 26, 2022, three weeks before the coronation.
SAFTU Threatens to Hold Strike Over Eskom, Cost of Living
Zwelinzima Vavi, secretary-general of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) intends holding a worker’s summit and a nationwide general strike over the Eskom crisis and the rise in the cost of living. Vavi is calling for the axing of Eskom head, Andre de Ruyter, while saying that the basic income grant would bring some relief to many as food prices escalate.
Roads to and From Kruger National Park Closed
Yesterday saw a shutdown of roads to and from Kruger National Park, a huge tourist attraction in Mbombela in Mpumalanga Province. Taxi operators blocked roads in protest at rising petrol costs. SANParks spokesperson Ike Phaala advised tourists planning on entering the Phabeni, Numbi and Paul Kruger Gates, to rather use alternative gates as routes leading to the park around the Mbombela area remains closed. He urged visitors to us the Malelane or Orpen gates, during the protests.
Shut Up Not Rude If Spoken In isiXhosa
The Legal Practices Council has found that Advocate Dali Mpofu telling a prosecutor to "shut up while I am speaking" - at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture - was not rude. The council hauled Mpofu before it on an unprofessional conduct charge.
The charge came after a heated moment when Mpofu was cross-examining Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan in March 2021, on behalf of former SA Revenue Service commissioner Tom Moyane.
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He told Gordhan's legal counsel Michelle Le Roux to "shut up while I'm talking" after he had objected to her line of questions to Gordhan. He later also told Gordhan to shut up, prompting Zondo Commission chair Raymond Zondo to stop proceedings and tell Mpofu "I am in charge".
Irregular Security Contracts, Sabotage Behind Gauteng Hospital Fires?
Yet another fire broke out at the Charlotte Maxeke hospital this week, when plumes of spoke was seen from the underground parking lot. Although the fire was extinguished, the Democratic Alliance's Jack Bloom said he was "horrified". Incidents of hospital fires has been seen across the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces this year. Bloom said it was "unbelievable' that a fire could have started at the hospital, in spite of the hefty sum of R40 million a year being spent on security. He added that hospitals in Gauteng were not getting value for money in terms of security, and he believed the Department of Health was overpaying for the services, which were not yielding success. According to reports, the Department of Health has said that security contracts at hospitals were being irregularly awarded on a month-to-month basis since the 2015 agreements expired in 2017.
