Daily news update: Petrol price, political party donations and VBS to seize Zuma’s assets

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 – 31 August

Good news, as another sizeable petrol price cut expected in September

There may be some good news at the petrol pumps for motorists – with reports that the petrol price may be decreased in September, according to the Central Energy Fund’s latest data.

The Energy Department is expected to make the official announcement on the petrol price at the end of this week, Johannes Mokobane told The Citizen.

The decrease will bring some much-needed reprieve to motorists and cash strapped consumers.

Koketso Mano, FNB Senior Economist says the Central Energy Fund on 26 August showed a month-to-date over recovery of about R2.00 per litre for petrol and R1.00 per litre for diesel.

DA leads in party donations – declares R15.9 million to IEC vs ANC’s R10 million

Only four of South Africa’s political parties declared their received donations the the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), who on Tuesday released the 2022-23 first quarter disclosure report in terms of the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA).

The four parties were ActionSA, the ANC, DA and Patriotic Alliance (PA).

• ActionSA – R750 000
• African National Congress (ANC) – R10 000 000
• Democratic Alliance (DA) – R 15 977 687.13
• Patriotic Alliance (PA) – R310 000.00

The PPFA came into effect on 1 April 2021, and it requires political parties to disclose donations from donors from R100 000 and upwards to the IEC.

VBS Mutual Bank gets attachment order for Zuma’s assets at Nkandla

The High Court in Pietermaritzburg has reportedly granted VBS Mutual Bank curator Anoosh Rooplal an order forcing former president Jacob Zuma to pay back money he spent on Nkandla upgrades in 2011.

This after the former president fell behind on payments for the infamous R7.8 million loan he took out in 2016, from the now liquidated VBS Mutual Bank.

Louise Brugman, spokesperson for the bank’s liquidator, Anoosh Rooplal, confirmed to Daily Maverick on Tuesday that the bank had received a default judgment against Zuma.

Political parties want to amend Electoral Amendment Bill as interim report adopted

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has adopted an interim report on the Electoral Amendment Bill despite some parties opposing parts of the proposed legislation.

The report will now go to the National Assembly, with the committee seeking permission to broaden the scope of the Bill since substantive amendments were made to it.

The committee has also agreed to make the Bill with the new changes public for written submissions, but only for a period of two weeks after having previously held provincial public hearings in March.

The Bill will be published once the National Assembly has processes the amendments, according to the committee’s secretariat, Eddie Mathonsi.

Saps summoned to explain leak of Krugersdorp rape victims’ details

The Information Regulator has issued a summons to the South African Police Service (SAPS) on details related to the release of personal information of the Krugersdorp rape victims by the police.

This follows failure by the Saps to provide sufficient detail regarding the circumstances that led to the disclosure of eight women’s personal information who were raped by a mob in West Village, Krugersdorp on 28 July 2022.

Spokesperson, Nomzamo Zondi said after the horrific incident the leaking of the victims’ personal information – including home addresses, names and other personal information – constituted interference.

Cabinet approves bill to strengthen fight against money laundering

South Africa will soon learn its fate at the end of September, on whether it will be greylisted or not, after it was placed in a one-year observation period following a very poor ratings assessment in its mutual evaluation report, a study done by the Financial Action Task Force.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.

The mutual evaluation report is an assessment of a country’s measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This includes an assessment of a country’s actions to address the risks emanating from designated terrorists or terrorist organisations.

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