Author: Kgaogelo Magolego

Acting Joburg Mayor and deputy president of Patriotic Alliance Kenny Kunene has slammed the South African Human Rights Commission rejecting its argument that illegal immigrants be allowed to access government services citing the constitution. Kunene was leading a raid at suspected criminal dens in Randburg, North of Johannesburg when the SAHRC issued a statement condemning organisations that had been visiting health facilities demanding that illegal migrants not be assisted adding it reminds South Africans that everyone in South Africa is guaranteed a right to health even if they were in the country unlawfully. The commission said the constitution guaranteed the…

The City of Joburg is targeting buildings dilapidated buildings that are illegally accessing services as part of its cleanup efforts in the Johannesburg CBD (Central Business District).  On Tuesday the Acting Executive Mayor Kenny Kunene led a crackdown on such buildings in Marshalltown where scores of undocumented immigrants were arrested and illegal connections to the electricity grid were dismantled. Kunene said the city could not successfully reclaim hijacked buildings if those occupying them unlawfully continued to live in comfort with access to amenities. “This is a multi-departmental programme. We’ve got transport and JRAs also here. We are going to look at…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has come out strongly in defense of South Africa’s transformation laws which have become subject of contestation including within the Government of National Unity. The Democratic Alliance is currently pursuing several cases in court against transformative laws that it claims among others discourage investment and in the case of the National Health Insurance which it claims will collapse the country’s private healthcare sector. Other concerns raised was the requirement for foreign investors to allocate a stake to a local firms in line with the country’s Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment policy and Ramaphosa has dismissed the apprehension.…

uMkhonto weSizwe party has raised concern about the arrest of two of its members of parliament on corruption charges. Brian Molefe and Siyabonga Gama handed themselves over on Monday morning and were released on bail (R50 000 each) following an appearance at the Palm ridge Magistrate Court. The charges against the two stem from a locomotive deal of just under a million rand entered into by Transnet which they served as chief executives on different periods. The two were implicated in alleged wrongdoing at the state capture commission and had been out of the public space until their recent deployment…

City of Joburg Mayor Dada Morero easily fended off an attempt by the Democratic Alliance to remove him. The DA had hetched a plan to take over the city by removing him and installing former Mayor Kabelo Kwamanda whose removal it had instigated. The DA motion only received only 75 votes with those opposing it totalling 144 after the deal with Al Jamah ( Kwamanda’s party) allegedly fell off once it became apparent that the DA was simply unable to turn parties in the so called Government of Local Unity to turn against the mayor. Even Action SA which had…

Electricity has become simply unaffordable for many households in South Africa. This is according to the country’s electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa who addressed the media alongside Joburg Mayor Dada Morero. The minister said over and above ending loadshedding, the government will have to find a way of accommodating the poorest of the poor. “ So we are sitting with two big problems and the City Power Johannesburg episode isjust a manifestation of a bigger problem. Electricity is unaffordable.We can’t continue along this tariff path. We are getting to a situation here in the country where we see newdimensions of energy poverty. The…

The settlement agreement entered into by Eskom and the City of Joburg’s City Power has set a necessary precedent for resolving disputes among state institutions. This is according to electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa who announced the deal alongside Mayor Dada Morero ending a longstanding dispute between the two institutions resulting from disagreements over billing particularly during loadshedding. Ramokgopa commended the two institutions for agreeing to deal with the matter outside court. The minister said he has appointed the South African Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) to handle the dispute and present a technical report that will include recommendations on what should…

Action SA Leader Herman Mashaba had a tough encounter while on the campaign trail in Alexandra outside Johannesburg. While Mashaba was overwhelmed with service delivery frustrations that residents shared ( most of them visible) it was an insistence by a group that the community no longer want to support political parties that forced him to do a lot of explaining. “We vote for people to be councillors but once they are in office they start reporting to their political parties and not us, that’s why as a community we no longer support political parties and will be fielding our own…

Former uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s Secretary General has slammed all three political parties he was previously part of. The attack on the three ( ANC, EFF and MKP) comes as Shivambu prepares to launch his own political party. Shivambu announced during a media briefing in Midrand on thursday that he was forming his own political party also claiming he had been advised to do so by members from the three organisations. Shivambu said the three had no capacity to take the country forward as they lacked the desired leadership claiming that members were not speaking out in fear of reprisal. “Go…

MK activist and Tshwane Regional Organiser Mpho Morolane has come out strongly in defense of the party’s former Secretary General Floyd Shivambu who has announced he’s forming a new organisation with all indications being that he will be expelled from the party.Morolane attended Shivambu’s media briefing in Midrand on Thursday and said former EFF members who followed him when he dumped the red berets who find themselves in limbo should take responsibility for their own actions.Former EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi is among those who were collateral damage as he fell out of favour with the party leadership for his association…