Daily news update: State of Disaster, DNA backlog and IFP councillor murder

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Cabinet approves State of Disaster extension until 15 March

The national State of Disaster will be extended by another month yet again following Cabinet approval this week.

Cabinet confirmed the extension in a statement, which was approved after consultations were held through the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJOINTS) on Wednesday.

“Cabinet was apprised on the work that has been undertaken through [NatJOINTS] to determine the extent to which the management of the Covid-19 pandemic still required the existence of the national State of Disaster.

“Inputs were received from various government departments to determine their respective areas of work that are at an advanced stage of completion.

“However, after noting that some of the key departments dealing with Covid-19 had not yet concluded their analysis, Cabinet approved the final extension of the national State of Disaster to 15 March 2022,” the statement reads.

‘You are not speaking for us,’ ANC’s alliance partners tell Ramaphosa

The left within the ANC has emphatically told President Cyril Ramaphosa “you are not speaking for us” in what they call his “fatally flawed assertion” that big business should lead job creation because it’s not the duty of the state to do so.

Both the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) demanded radical policy shift to realise economic growth and creation of jobs.

Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla acknowledged that the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday contained some workable proposals.

But the government refused to acknowledge that the prolonged economic crisis caused by big capital prescriptions, that had been tried, had dismally failed to provide solutions to the country’s socioeconomic problems. 

DNA testing backlog reduced as Public Protector investigates

The significant reduction of the DNA testing backlog will see government intensifying its fight against gender based-violence (GBV), according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

This is after the President signed the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill, Domestic Violence Amendment Bill and the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Bill into law last month.

During the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the new pieces of legislation would “strengthened the criminal justice system”.

Two suspects arrested for IFP councillor Reginald Ndima’s murder

Two suspects have been arrested in connection to the murder of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) councillor Reginald Ndima.

Ndima, the speaker of the Amajuba District Municipality, was shot and killed after he was ambushed in the driveway of his Newcastle home in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) on 29 January.

The suspects – Mhlonishwa Sokhulu and Sibusiso Chocholo – were arrested and charged for Ndima’s murder within days after the incident occurred, according to the South African Police Service (Saps).

Did Nomalanga Shozi and her Major League bae bag a reality show?

Just after a week of announcing her pregnancy, BET breaks hosts Nomalanga Shozi and her boyfriend Major League DJ boyfriend Bandile seem to have bagged a BET Africa reality show.

Nomalanga Shozi is a South African actress, radio DJ and TV Personality.

She has previously appeared on the South African soapie Rhythm City and MTV Shuga: Alone Together. Nomalanga also worked for Gagasi FM for a number of years.

The BET Africa host recently shocked everyone when she took to Instagram to share a “magazine cover” lookalike picture to announce her pregnancy.

Five foreign based SA players the Boks must consider in 2022

With the Rugby World Cup under two years away the Springboks will soon be heading into the home stretch of their preparations for the showpiece event.

By the end of this year the Bok management will want to have a solid idea of the squad that they want to compete at the 2023 event in France and next year’s season will all be about building those players up and preparing them for it.