South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Friday 4 September

For the latest news in South Africa, look no further than our daily overview of major headlines on Friday 4 September.

While Eskom struggles to return all dysfunctional power generation units back to the grid, resulting in load shedding which is likely to persist into the weekend, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has fired back following the sudden resignation of Gauteng leader, John Moodey.

TODAY’S LATEST NEWS IN SOUTH AFRICA, Friday 4 SEPTEMBER

Eskom: Slight improvement not enough to suspend load shedding

Despite managing to carry out successful repairs on a few generation units at key power stations, the threat a weekend disrupted by load shedding remains. The latest update from the embattled power utility comes after a particularly dismal week, with South Africans beleaguered by Stage 2 and Stage 4 load shedding since Tuesday.

Eskom blamed the power grid’s volatility on a swell of unplanned generation unit breakdowns and a weather-related surge in national usage. At the height of this week’s troubles, Eskom’s capacity had been reduced by 16 000MW.

On Thursday afternoon, Deputy President David Mabuza — who serves as head of the Eskom Task Team — appeared before parliament’s National Council of Provinces to answer tough questions regarding the utility’s dismal performance. Mabuza reiterated government’s commitment to unbundle Eskom into three separate entities but strongly dismissed murmurs of privatisation.

Recently, Eskom revealed that South Africa could be plagued by sporadic load shedding until 2022.

DA hits back, says Moodey ‘ran away’ from disciplinary processes

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, John Steenhuisen, has lashed out at John Moodey, after the Gauteng head threw in the towel on Wednesday afternoon. Moodey, who, during his resignation speech, cited racial prejudice and the destruction of the party’s progressive liberal values, threatened to ‘expose’ other issues if ‘attacked’ by the party in the retaliation.

On Thursday, Steenhuisen hit back; arguing that Moodey had resigned to avoid serious disciplinary action associated with a sex-for-jobs scandal which was intended to discredit the Gauteng leader’s political opponent. Steenhuisen explained:

“It is clear that John Moodey preferred to leave, choosing to avoid the formal disciplinary hearing as he is no longer a member of the DA. He also issued a blatant threat saying he would “expose the DA” if the party reacted to his allegations.

The party has nothing to hide. John Moodey does, and his threats will not prevent us from setting the record straight.”

Moodey has since slammed the charges as ‘fabricated’. The latest bout of infighting which has marred the DA’s recent history, comes just days before the official opposition party is due to host a much-anticipated Policy Conference in the lead up to the Elective Conference.

Mokonyane’s extravagant birthday bash raises red flags

The events surrounding former Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane’s 40th birthday party — and the dubious connections to corrupt company Bosasa — have, once again, come under fire before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. Mokonyane, who has been accused of accepting bribes to push through sordid tender agreements, fumbled before Judge Raymond Zondo on Thursday, recanting evidence that ‘no birthday party’ was ever held at Krugersdorp-based Victorian Guest House.

Mokonyane’s latest testimony comes just days after guesthouse owner Frederick Hendrik Coetzee supported claims made by former Bosasa boss Angelo Agrizzi that the minister had, indeed, celebrated her birthday at the establishment. Mokonyane ‘apologised’ for the contradiction but remained defiant regarding the alleged Bosasa connection.

Mokonyane said she ‘didn’t remember’ seeing any Bosasa representatives at her birthday bash and was unaware of claims made by both Coetzee and Agrizzi that the function was paid for by Bosasa.

Compensation Fund inundated with COVID-19 claims

The Compensation Fund says it has been inundated with COVID-19 related claims during the national lockdown.

During this period, 5986 claims were lodged for COVID-19 sickness contracted while at work.

“Of that number, 3 782 claims have been submitted directly to the Compensation Fund and a further 2009 to Rand Mutual while Federated Employees have received 195 claims,” reads a statement from the Fund, which is an entity of the Department of Employment and Labour.

Rand Mutual, which operates under licence as granted by the Employment and Labour Minister, covers mostly workers in the mining and iron and steel industries. The sector recorded a sharp rise and has paid out R3.3 million in dependent benefits while the CF has paid R419 000 in medical aid claims. Rand Mutual has also disbursed R18 251.00 for burial costs.

“Of the 3 782 claims received by the CF, 2074 come from the Western Cape followed by Eastern Cape with 666, Gauteng with 481, KwaZulu-Natal with 435, Mpumalanga 74, North West 29, Northern Cape with 20 and Limpopo 3,” said the Fund.

The Compensation Fund has accepted liability to 2 296, which represents 60.7% of the claims received, repudiated 544 which is 14.4% and 942 await adjudication which represents 24.9% of the claims received directly. (Source: SAnews)

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HOROSCOPE TODAY

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