Daily news update: DA guns for Ramaphosa, Covid-19 rules, and Chiefs player exodus

Here’s your morning news update: An easy-to-read selection of our top stories. Stay up to date with The Citizen – More News, Your Way.

Daily news update – 22 June

DA guns for Ramaphosa, asks FBI to probe farm theft saga

The Democratic Alliance (DA) asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States (US) to investigate President Cyril Ramaphosa’s $4 million theft saga.

Briefing the media on Tuesday, DA leader John Steenhuisen revealed that the opposition party wrote to the FBI in its bid to ensure that Ramaphosa was “held accountable for his failure to publicly disclose all the relevant details” surrounding the February 2020 theft at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.

While Ramaphosa has repeatedly called for due processes to take place, Steenhuisen said this was no justification for his refusal to answer questions. 

No record of request from Namibia in Phala Phala farm theft probe – Justice ministry

The Department of Justice and Correctional Services has confirmed there is no record of a request for mutual legal assistance from the Namibian Police Force (Nampol) in relation to the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.

The ministry said it has closely followed media reports and a statement by Nampol concerning a request for mutual legal assistance in respect of a suspect by the name of David Imanuwela.

Chrispin Phiri, the spokesperson for the department, said there are established procedures for serving requests for mutual legal assistance including liasing with diplomatic officials.

Ramaphosa didn’t interfere with state capture report, claims Presidency

The Presidency denied claims that President Cyril Ramaphosa interfered with the work of the State Capture Commission or the judiciary.

Ramaphosa would have officially received the Commission’s fifth and final instalment of the state capture report on Monday.

However, the handover has been pushed back after the commission said it faced challenges in processing the report.

Is govt ready to scrap covid-19 regulations on mask-wearing, gatherings?

The Department of Health is reportedly considering scrapping South Africa’s Covid-19 regulations related to mask wearing inside an indoor public place and restrictions on gatherings.

The recommendation was made by Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla in a in a leaked memo dated 20 June 2022, according to a News24 report.

The memo apparently notes that there had been a decline in “critical indicators” including the number of reported Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations, deaths and the “effective reproductive rate of the virus” in the country.

Home affairs official who issued passport to ‘Lebogang from Bangladesh’ arrested

A Department of Home Affairs official who fraudulently issued the passport to “Lebogang from Bangladesh” has been arrested.

The department’s Counter Corruption Branch, working with the Hawks and other law enforcement agencies, handcuffed the official on Monday.

The official, who works at the Benoni home affairs office, is expected to appear in the Benoni Magistrate Court for a formal bail hearing on Tuesday.

Carl Niehaus calls for urgent arrest of Ramaphosa

Disbanded Mkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association former spokesperson Carl Niehaus has called for a citizen’s arrest of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Niehaus also known as the “toy soldier”, after he apparently failed a military veterans’ verification test in the Eastern Cape, made the call for Ramaphosa’s arrest in a statement posted on Twitter.

The president has come under severe criticism after ducking most questions about details on the burglary at his Phala Phala farm in the Waterberg in Limpopo, merely promising to cooperate fully with any investigation.

Inflation in SA: Will it breach upper limit of the Sarb target?

Consumers are waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the inflation rate for May to see if it breaches the threshold of the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) to see if the central bank will follow the US in raising the repo rate by 75 basis points.

Statistics SA will announce the inflation rate for May on Wednesday. According to the Bureau of Economic Research (BER) at Stellenbosch University, it expects inflation to accelerate to 6.1% in May in line with the consensus forecast after it remained unchanged at 5.9% year-on-year in April.

Boucher backs Bavuma fully, but would love more intent from Proteas

Proteas coach Mark Boucher would love his batsmen to go out and show more intent in T20 cricket, but he knows they first of all need to be equipped to do so.

And, he said on Tuesday that captain Temba Bavuma will be one of the players he will be working hard with ahead of the World Cup in October.

Bavuma’s series strike-rate of just 103.38 came under the spotlight when South Africa wasted a 2-0 lead in their T20 series in India recently.

Mphahlele and Ntiya-Ntiya out as Kaizer Chiefs continue clean-up process

Veteran defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele and left back Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya are the latest players to be released by Kaizer Chiefs. 

This duo takes the number of players released by the Naturena based side to 12 after the mass release that happened earlier this month, which included another veteran Bernard Parker. 

Chiefs made it clear as soon as the past season ended that drastic steps would be taken to ensure the seven-year dry run without a trophy is halted in the coming term.