Daily news update: Mbeki on ANC, CIT robbers killed and Springboks

Here’s your morning daily 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 – Sunday, 08 September 2024

Mbeki says issue of renewal of ANC ‘not an invention’ [VIDEO]

Former African National Congress (ANC) President Thabo Mbeki has called on party members to put an end to positional fighting and return to the revolutionary values of the movement in a bid for the renewal of the party.

Mbeki is undertaking a two-day renewal drive in the Free State, aiming to mend years of factional conflicts and political instability in the province.

During the two-day meeting, a number of issues were raised including the perception that leaders of the ANC are detached from the very society it leads, a matter which the officials  made an appeal to be addressed.

Mbeki said the renewal of the ANC is not an “invention.”

“It’s a critical matter because we have to take very seriously the statement made by the population. That drop in the support of the ANC from 2019 to 2024, that Drop of 17%, is very dramatic. Is very big.

“As it was indicated, for the first time since 1994, the support of the ANC fell way below 10 million, it came at six-point something million. I’m saying that it was very important that the province should say in the light of we need to look very carefully at ourselves as ANC,” Mbeki said.

Six suspected CIT robbers dead in shootout with police in Germiston [VIDEO]

In crime news, a gang of suspected cash-in-transit (CIT) robbers have been killed in shootout with police on the East Rand in Gauteng.

The gun battle took place in the Germiston CBD, Ekurhuleni on Saturday morning.

It is understood the shoot-out happened when police approached the suspected robbers as they attempted to rob the CIT vehicle.

Gauteng Police Commissioner Tommy Mthombeni said the shootout is only the beginning of police’s intensified approach to crime prevention in the province.

“We must just warn these criminals, as I’ve indicated on the media space, that if they don’t stop whatever they are doing, they will feel like they are sitting on top of the fire.

“They have to take note to whomever is planning to carry out a crime within this province, they will feel the heat, as we know that some of them are daring. So, we are up for them, and we’ll meet them on the streets,” Mthombeni said.

‘Infrastructure there is old’: Lesufi says Joburg CBD needs a complete overhaul

Johannesburg’s central business district (CBD) requires a complete overhaul to improve safety and make the city more habitable, according to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.

On Friday, Lesufi and City of Joburg Mayor Dada Morero launched the accelerated service delivery programme in Soweto.

The premier and Morero conducted site visits, focusing on infrastructure, power stations, and reservoirs in the area.

Speaking to the media, Lesufi highlighted the need to address infrastructure issues both in Soweto and in Joburg’s CBD.

“The infrastructure there is old; we need to overhaul it. We have the capacity, skills, talent, and resources to do that. It will take time.

Residents warned about food safety after illegal peanut butter factory raid [VIDEO]

The Tshwane health department has warned residents to be careful about suspicious food products following a raid on an illegal peanut butter factory.

The illegal factory was uncovered during a joint operation and law enforcement official in Zandfontein last week.

In the video ward 1 councillor Leon Kruyshaar who visited the illegal factory shows an unhygienic factory with bags of peanuts on the floor and dirty equipment to manufacture the peanut butter.

Kruyshaar said the state of the premises was shocking, adding that the peanut butter was allegedly scooped by hand into bottles before being packed and distributed to retailers.

“They siphoned it out and its scooped of the ground and this is what we eat. If you have any the these (peanut butter) products, please discard it, get rid of it, its definitely a health risk.”

Boks beat All Blacks 18-12 in Rugby Champs thriller

In sprts news, the Springboks beat the All Blacks 18-12 in a thrilling match in Cape Town on Saturday to win the Freedom Cup and the Rugby Championship.

It was a fourth straight win by the Boks over their fiercest rivals, and the world champions’ first win of the Freedom Cup since 2009.

In another close, tightly contested affair, the Boks scored two tries, through captain Siya Kolisi and hooker Malcolm Marx.

The Boks have now gone four matches in the competition unbeaten, after earlier beating Australia in Australia on two occasions, and now they have also beaten the All Blacks twice, in Joburg and Cape Town.

The Boks next face Argentina in Santiago in two weeks’ time, with the return match in Mbombela.

Man arrested for allegedly giving illegal miners access to shaft hole at home

A 65-year-old man ha been arrested for allegedly allowing a group of illegal miners to access a mine shaft from one of the bedrooms in his home.

The man and his accomplice were handcuffed in the early hours of Thursday morning at the Nkandla informal settlement near Khuseleka mine in Rustenburg.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani said the home owner and accomplice are expected to appear before the Rustenburg Magistrates Court on Monday for illegal mining, tampering with and / or damaging of essential infrastructure and possession of suspected stolen goods.

“It is alleged that the home owner who resides with his family, used and or / allowed a group of men to utilise one of the bedrooms as an entrance to the nearby Khuseleka mine shaft.  Upon noticing the police, an unconfirmed number of men entered and disappeared into the man-made hole in the bedroom, while the other two including the owner of the house, were arrested.”