South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Friday 13 August 2021

We’ve got all the latest news stories and headlines in South Africa you really need to know on Friday 13 August 2021.

President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared for a second day at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on Thursday 12 August and had a go at “Radical Economic Transformation (RET) forces” whom he said “bastardised” the concept for personal gain. Ramaphosa admitted there were signposts that State Capture was happening under his nose.

The president also told the commission that the firing of then Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas was a tipping point.

TODAY’S LATEST NEWS IN SOUTH AFRICA, Friday 13 August

‘It’s been bastardised’: Ramaphosa rips into Radical Economic Transformation

In what can be seen as a stark message towards Jacob Zuma, Carl Niehaus, and the other so-called ‘RET forces’, President Ramaphosa has cut loose on Thursday, slamming some politicians for bastardising the true meaning of ‘Radical Economic Transformation’ – a term which Cyril feels has been abused by some.

Of course, this was one of THE buzzwords of the Zuma administration. Wide-ranging changes to employment, education, and housing were promised, but few of these promises ever materialised.

However, those sympathetic towards Jacob Zuma continue to champion the RET movement – even though it has essentially fizzled out, in a practical sense – and that was something Ramaphosa was quick to highlight.

SASSA R350 Grant: More than 3.5 million applications in less than a week

Millions of South Africans have already applied for the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant – also known as the R350 grant – since the applications opened on Friday, 6 August. The user traffic on the official channels overwhelmed the application system and thousands of users were left frustrated with incomplete applications – this prompted the agency to add even more platforms to apply. SASSA also repeatedly reminded applicants that they have the entire month of August to register for the grant.

SASSA said in less than a week since applications for the SRD grant opened it received more than four times the number of applicants compared to the first time the R350 grant was opened to the public in 2020.

“Compared to the first time when the R350 COVID-19 grant was opened last year, we had about 800 000 applications,” said SASSA spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi to EWN.

“But this time around, we had more than 3.5 million applications. Applications will be open until the end of August. People do not have to panic,” added the spokesperson.

Popular SA comic dropped by sponsors – due to ‘serious GBV allegations’

Comedian SABC Livhu is being cancelled left, right and centre on Thursday, after a serious set of allegations were made against him. Both his partner and her daughter accused the performer of ‘committing GBV‘ against them.

Gender-Based Violence is one of the most pressing issues confronting South Africa at the moment. So with such a popular figure now facing these heinous allegations, the example that has been set for his fans and followers is poor.

Amongst other things, SABC Livhu – real name Livhuwani Madadzhe – is accused of physically striking his partner, and she claims that sexual assault also took place. Her child has also been on the end of the suspected abuse, with the youngest victim saying that she was forced into a dog cage by the public figure.

This is how much executives at SA’s ‘Super’ companies were paid: PwC

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Executive directors report 2021 revealed how much money the top business people in charge of running the biggest companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) were paid. The report examined the remuneration trends and practices of JSE-listed companies from 1 March 2020 until 28 February 2021.

PwC found that perhaps unsurprisingly, the median salary for executives was millions of rands for the period in question. Stretching from Executive Directors with R3.32 million, Chief Financial Officers (CFO) with R3.34 million and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) with R5.17 million.

Food poisoning: Family dies after using fertiliser instead of salt

Tragic news coming out of Nigeria: A family of 24 people have all died after consuming poisoned food. According to several media outlets, the family had mistaken fertiliser for salt.

News of the deaths were confirmed by a local government official earlier this week. The incident is believed to have occurred in Danzanke village, a remote community that is located in Soko State, the northern part of the country.

According to the Soko State health commissioner Ali Inname, the family used fertiliser chemical popularly called ” Gishirin Lalle in Hausa” as a seasoning in domestic family cooking instead of table salt.

Inname has also revealed that two other members of the family managed to survive and are receiving treatment in hospital. They apparently only tasted the food and didn’t have a full meal.

KZN: Looters’ broke through wall’ to access school computers

A visit was conducted this week at three schools that were vandalised during last month’s unrest in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education and the Select Committee on Education, Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture visited the schools.

Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education said looters had broken into the schools through windows or the wall to steel school equipment, including computers.

“Damages at the three schools visited, in the Umgungundlovu District, included stolen school equipment, stripped fence and a completely burned down administration block which housed computers and books.”

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