Daily news update: Foreign nationals vs Dudula Movement, load shedding and Zuma backs Russia

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Daily news update 08 March 

WATCH: Foreign nationals clash with Dudula Movement members in Alexandra

Businesses were disrupted in Alexandra’s Pan African Mall on Monday as community members who identified themselves as the Dudula Movement invaded the place in search of migrant employees and shop owners who did not have valid paperwork.

There have since been reports of clashes between foreign nationals and residents and videos of shops being forced to close have since surfaced on social media.

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, members of the movement claimed they had been attacked by foreign nationals.

“We are being failed by law enforcement. We feel that they are oppressing us. If it was South Africa citizens who were throwing stones and attacking foreigners, masses would have been arrested by now. But they did not do anything when stones were being thrown by foreign nationals.”

Parties slam Joburg mayor for ‘increasing unemployment rate’

Several political parties in the City of Joburg lambasted mayor Mpho Phalatse for the looming dismissal of 130 staffers over their job contracts.

The city is embroiled in a tug of war with the staffers who face the chop after news of the council taking a decision on 25 February to rescind their permanent contracts.

The city deemed the conversion of their fixed-term contracts to permanent as an illegal act by the previous mayoral committee, which it said had no powers to do so.

According to Phalatse, the “illegal conversions” would cost the city R59 million per annum.

Eskom announces stage 2 load shedding

Power utility Eskom on Monday announced that it is moving the country to stage 2 load shedding.

“Due to multiple unit failures, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 17:00 Monday and implemented continuously until 05:00 on Wednesday.

Eskom’s earlier statement indicated that it would only cut power supply at night. But the latest statement says there’s been another breakdown at Medupi Power Station since Monday afternoon, and it would implement rolling blackouts to relieve some of the demand on the grid.

Sanctions on Russian oil can lead to same shortage as in 1973

Sanctions on Russian oil can lead to the same oil shortage South Africa and many other countries experienced in 1973, when fuel was not only expensive, but the sale hours of fuel were also severely limited. While the US is still considering sanctions on Russian oil, the war in Ukraine has already seen oil prices rising to the highest since July 2008.

Over the weekend, Brent crude reached $139.13 per barrel before settling at $R119 per barrel on Monday afternoon. Oil prices soared in 2008 when Iran’s possible crude oil return to global markets was delayed.

ANC Mpumalanga conference postponed again

The long-overdue ANC Mpumalanga elective conference that was planned for the upcoming weekend has been postponed again, as internal divisions in the province soured.

The provincial conference has been postponed several times before after factional battles turned violent.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the ANC leader, is in Mpumalanga on Monday to deal with the factional spats among the branches. Some party members have reportedly approached the courts to interdict the provincial conference, citing branch and regional disputes that were never resolved.

According to provincial task team coordinator Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, the 11th to 13th March planned conference date fell away after some branches protested.

Zuma backs Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, says Putin’s actions are ‘justifiable’

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed the hypocrisy of the West, including their “bullying tendencies and their insatiable appetite” to dominate others, while clandestinely furthering their own agendas and interests.

That’s the view of former president Jacob Zuma, who has added his voice to the ongoing debate on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.