Author: Kgaogelo Magolego
An independent probe has cleared Deputy President Paul Mashatile of any involvement in the granting of loans to a company belonging to his son Thabiso Mashatile and son-in-law Nceba Nonkwelo. Gauteng Housing MEC Lebogang Maile ordered a probe into loans of an estimated value of R30 Million extended to Nonkwelo Investment by the Gauteng Partnership Fund which are yet to be settled. Mashatile held various leadership positions in Gauteng, both in the ruling ANC as well as the government and online publication News24 ran a series of articles claiming he had used his influence to secure the loans for Nonkwelo.…
Former ANC Northern Cape Provincial Chairperson John Block is a free man. Block was sentenced to fifteen years at the end of 2016 after being convicted of corruption and money laundering. Kimberley – Former Northern Cape ANC provincial chairman, John Block, and the CEO of the Trifecta group of companies, Christo Scholtz, were each sentenced to an effective 15 years imprisonment in the Northern Cape High Court on Tuesday after a four-year-long trial. The court found that Block had used his power and influence to get the government to lease properties at prices of over a hundred million ran in…
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has called on the state security to probe if there’s been discussions between businessman Mthunzi Mdwaba and any cabinet ministers. Mbalula took particular exception to Mdwaba’s claim that he was privy to cabinet discussions relating to a botched deal between his company and the department of employment. Mdwaba accused Mbalula, Enoch Godongwana, Blade Nzimande and Thulas Nxesi, the ministers of finance, higher education as well as employment respectively, of soliciting a half a billion rand bribe for him in turn for making the deal possible. Mbalula on Thursday laid charges of crimen injuria and of…
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has denied having any kind of relations with businessman Mthunzi Mdwaba who has accused the former minister and several serving ministers of soliciting a bribe of half a billion rand from him in turn for seeing through a R5 billion rand contract with the department of employment. Mbalula on Thursday laid criminal charges against Mdwaba and at the Sandton Police station. He admits knowing Mdwaba but is adamant their ties were casual. “I know Mthunzi Mdwaba I won’t deny I know him. He’s not my friend, he’s not my business friend,he knows me. I’ve never…
Traffic came to a standstill in Johannesburg and Soweto as thousands filled the streets to join the national rugby team Springboks on their trophy tour after defeating New Zealand to lift the Webb Ellis cup in France. The tour kicked off at the Union Buildings in Pretoria where President Cyril Ramaphosa and Sports Minister Zizi Godwa congratulated the team. In Johannesburg, South Africans of all races gathered (mostly wearing green) and sang for hours waiting for the Boks who were an hour and half late for the scheduled 14:00 start of the Joburg leg of the tour. “My kids are…
Political parties have expressed mixed feelings ahead of the 2024 general elections. The IEC on Tuesday launched the elections in Midrand announcing it was now waiting for President Cyril Ramaphosa to proclaim a date. The term of the sixth parliament is coming to an end in May and the constitution allows for a 90 day window before an election is held. While the likes of DA, Action SA, Al Jamah and Patriotic Alliance welcomed the announcement by the IEC, the EFF and the African Transformation Movement had serious misgivings. EFF Secretary General Marshall Dlamini is convinced President Cyril Ramaphosa will…
The EFF wants the Israeli embassy in Pretoria removed as in yesterday. Just after picketing at the embassy the party announced that it had written to parliament proposing formally that the Israel ambassador be expelled and the embassy closed. The letter penned by the party’s deputy president and parliamentary chief whip Floyd Shivambu also requested for the debate on the proposed resolution to be held urgently. “Given the sensitivity and nature of the proposed draft resolution, we respectfully request that the Speaker, in the capacity of Chairperson of the National Assembly Programming Committee (NAPC), convene an urgent meeting to ensure…
As pressure mounts on Israel to end its bombardment of Palestine along with the continued occupation, the EFF has set its sights on Israel’s commercial interests in South Africa. The party marched on the Israel embassy on Monday and called for complete isolation of the Zionist state including products it produces. Party leader Julius Malema singled out McDonalds and Woolworths to distance themselves from “apartheid Israel” or face confrontation, “McDonalds is giving the soldiers of Israel food in Israel. We want McDonalds South Africa to distance itself from what is happening in Israel. They have until the end of this…
The Africa for Palestine movement says there’s no hope of a negotiated settlement of the conflict without Israel largely because of the latter’s continued indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip where more than three thousand civilians have already been killed and over a million displaced. Shehryar Khan, an activist for the interest group said on the sidelines of a picket outside the Israeli embassy in Pretoria that pressure should be applied on the Zionist state to abandon what he says is a plot to massacre Palestinians so as to make way for more Israeli settlements. “ They have only one…
South Africans of voting age who have never cast a vote have become primary targets as political parties prepare to battle it out in the 2024 national and provincial elections. 20 million or so stayed away in previous elections with more than half of them not even bothering to register. Opposition parties believe the participation of these people, may tip the scales against the ANC which has been in power since the dawn of democracy in 1994. The EFF is hoping to benefit from this number. The party went on a drive and succeeded in recruiting a million signed up…