Govt Not Obligated to Provide South Africa With Electricity - Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has said in an affidavit, that the three spheres of government were not required by the Constitution to perform powers that were not vested in them, Eyewitness News reports. It said none of the government responders had the responsibility to supply electricity to the people of South Africa, and they were therefore not in conflict with the Constitution. Meanwhile, business also weighed in on the latest developments. Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) said there were many important questions after former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter's eNCA interview, in which he implied that a Cabinet minister was aware of corrupt activities at Eskom at a very high level. BLSA said that more details were needed.
Durban's R579-Million Street Light Contract Under Scrutiny
The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality has launched a forensic investigation to determine how an R91-million contract to fix and maintain street lights ended up costing the council R579 million, reports News24. A spreadsheet, authored by a senior official in eThekwini's supply chain department, listing the companies paid and the amounts paid to each, shows that between November 2019 and December 2020, officials paid R579 million to 18 companies contracted to fix and maintain streetlights across the city. In a short statement, eThekwini's spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo told News24 that the matter was under investigation. "As a matter of practice, we do not comment on investigations that are under way until they have been concluded."
Ramaphosa on Deadline To Sign Electoral Amendment Bill
President Cyril Ramaphosa has only a day left to meet the February 28 deadline that the Constitutional Court has imposed on him to sign the Electoral Amendment Bill, reports SABC News. The Bill will allow independent candidates to contest elections at both provincial and national levels. Executive Chairperson of the Institute of Election Management Services in Africa Terry Tselane said: "The Constitutional Court had given Parliament 24 months to review the electoral legislation in order to ensure that other citizens are able to participate as independents rather than through membership of the political party."
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ANC Says De Ruyter Must Lay Criminal Charges
The ANC has threatened to file criminal charges against former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter if he doesn't report his allegations of corruption at the power utility, backed with evidence, to law enforcement agencies in seven days, reports News24. This comes after De Ruyter said in an explosive interview with e.TV journalist Annika Larsen that there was rampant corruption at the power utility, engineered by top politicians from the governing party. De Ruyter said undisclosed members of the governing party and government at the highest levels were aware of corruption at Eskom and also that the utility serveds as the ANC's "feeding trough", reports IOL. De Ruyter alleges that he has received death threats and an attempt has been made on his life.
