The Lily Mine community in Barberton, Mpumalanga, has called upon the national government to join their efforts to recover the shipping container that trapped three workers underground seven years ago. Last week, the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed an application by Australian company Vantage Goldfields to challenge the Mbombela High Court ruling that independent creditor Arqomanzi acquires the mine, along with another one known as Barbrook. Argomanzi intends on resuming operations at Lily Mine, with an offer to give miners…

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is taking on review Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka’s Phala Phala report, which it labelled a “white-wash” and “pro-Ramaphosa public relations exercise” aimed at securing the public protector’s job.  Accusing Gcaleka of muddying the waters and misinterpreting relevant laws in her final report, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the acting public protector sought to project Ramaphosa as an “innocent bystander” who knew nothing by the inner workings of his administration and the presidential protection unit (PPU).…

Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka’s legal team has defended the fact that the final report into Phala Phala farmgate ignored evidence that opposition parties submitted to Parliament’s Section 89 panel, which found that President Cyril Ramaphosa had a case to answer. Today Gcaleka absolved Ramaphosa of any wrongdoing, stating that the president did not abuse his power or fail to declare his personal business interests to parliament. Last year, an independent panel appointed by Parliament, led by former Chief Justice…

Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has rejected the July 6 deadline for her to file answers to questions from the Section 94 Committee in parliament. The deadline was set against her despite the fact that she has decried a lack of legal representation following her deputy Kholeka Gcaleka’s decision to stop funding her legal team. Moreover, Mkhwebane has consistently objected to the way the committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi has been conducting himself. Her court bid to force Dyantyi to recuse…

THERE are mixed reactions to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruling against South African Home Affairs’ decision to terminate the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP). The ruling allows 178 000 Zimbabweans to live and work in the neighbouring country after the court ruled the termination as “unlawful” and “unconstitutional.” The ruling was met with varied feelings. Others concurred with the high court ruling that Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi acted unjustly, improperly, unlawfully, illegally and illegitimately. Some accused the…

While working on the first edition of my first book, The Eyes That Lit Our Lives, I put together a list of people I thought were vital in helping me to bring the story of a man whose Eyes had Lit Our Lives, Steve Bantu Biko. In the list, there were colleagues who were within Biko’s age group. There were also others who were younger than him, born in the 1950s and 1960s.  Curiously, I needed the elderly folks too.…

Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha is mourning the sudden passing of his wife, Maggie Mathabatha, who fell ill for a short time. The death has deeply impacted Mathabatha’s political party, the African National Congress (ANC), which has expressed its condolences to the mourning family. “The ANC Limpopo is profoundly saddened by the passing on of Comrade Maggie Mathabatha, the beloved wife of ANC Limpopo Chairperson and Premier, Comrade Chupu Stanley Mathabatha. Comrade Maggie Mathabatha passed on this morning after a brief…

Newly qualified nurses in Mpumalanga have accused the provincial Department of Health of betrayal after it emerged that they would no longer be offered jobs after completing their training. They said they were frustrated and furious after the department disclosed the unpleasant news during the Public Health Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Chamber (PHSDSBC) meeting recently held in the provincial legislature. Itumeleng Maganedisa, the provincial secretary of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), said they have taken up the…

Arising from my recent article, the question arose if I should not have addressed it to the ANC instead of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). One comrade has cited the impact of factional divisions within the ANC on the ANCYL. He argues that this has had a very negative effect on the composition of ANCYL task teams, their mandate as well as their political and organisational focus. He is sceptical of the commitment of the ANC leadership towards unity and…

Limpopo’s ANC deputy chairperson and MEC for the provincial Department of Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani, says she will not be presenting herself before the party’s newly elected Integrity Commission (IC). Despite the provincial ANC saying she must appear before the commission, Radzilani told African Times that she would not do so because her matter had already been dealt with by the same ethics body.  Radzilani is among ANC politicians and officials who have been instructed to appear before…