Daily news update: Zuma turns to ConCourt, Groblersdal assault and Transnet strike day 9

Daily news update: 15 October

Zuma turns to ConCourt in bid to appeal dismissal of special plea application

Former president Jacob Zuma has approached the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) in a bid to appeal the dismissal of his application to remove prosecutor Billy Downer from his corruption trial.

“In its ruling on 23 September 2022, the ConCourt stated that such an application is competent under the circumstances of this case,” said the Jacob Zuma Foundation in a statement on Friday.

It further confirmed the former president will not be present in court on Monday.

Late last month, when the ConCourt dismissed Zuma’s bid to force former head of the Supreme Court of Appeal Mandisa Maya to reconsider his bid to remove Downer.

READ MORE: Zuma loses bid in ConCourt for Maya to reconsider removal of Downer

Groblersdal assault: Corrie Pretorius pleads guilty, firearm charge withdrawn

The Limpopo man accused of beating and pointing a firearm at a 16-year-old boy over seasoning at a restaurant has pleaded guilty.

Corrie Pretorius returned to the dock at the Groblersdal Magistrate’s Court on Friday, following his release on bail last month.

The 50-year-old man was reportedly granted R20 000 bail by the Limpopo High Court after he filed an appeal application.

He was initially denied bail on 29 June, with the magistrate’s court ruling at the time that his life would be in danger if released.

As proceedings resumed in court on Friday, the state withdrew the charge of pointing a firearm and decided to proceed with the charge of assault to cause grievous bodily harm, which Pretorius pleaded guilty to.

Effects of Transnet strike over wages set to worsen economy

Serious concerns have been raised after hundreds of trucks were stuck in different ports across the country due to the ongoing strike by Transnet employees.

The strike, which enters day nine, has been described as more devastating than load shedding and could have immense financial consequences.

ALSO READ | Unions reject Transnet’s latest wage offer

Unions rejected the latest Transnet-tabled three-year wage offer to end the ongoing strike.
The United National Transport Union (Untu) and the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), are demanding an increase of about 13%.

The new offer was tabled by Transnet on Wednesday following days of wage talks, facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA), between the unions and other government officials.

‘Nothing prepared Sars against state capture’ – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa said it is crucial that the South African Revenue Services (Sars) continues to pursue its mandate without fear, favour or prejudice, and nothing could have prepared the tax collector to protect itself against state capture.

The president was speaking during the revenue services’ silver jubilee.

Ramaphosa said the while the occasion marked 25 years of success for one of the state’s finest institutions, it was not prepared for state capture and South Africans lost trust in the institution.

He said the country was grateful for the assistance that Sars received in its formative years from others such as the Swedish tax authority, the Australian and Canadian revenue authorities, and many others.

Gauteng top kidnapping province in SA – Report

A new report has revealed that more than a thousand kidnappings have been reported since January 2022, that is more than double the 700 monthly average in 2021.

The details by Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) in a Strategic Organised Crime Risk Assessment report for South Africa reveals that the increase in the number of cases has become an established and lucrative criminal practice in South Africa.

The GI-TOC said kidnapping for ransom or extortion (KRE) has been on the rise in South Africa since 2016.

“Victims include vulnerable members of townships and informal settlements, migrants, as well as prominent businesspeople and their families – with ransoms calibrated accordingly.

“Transnational crime syndicates have driven a recent wave of high-level extortion and have given rise to numerous local copycat groups, but the majority of KRE is likely to be low level, targeting marginalised communities for small amounts – cases that often go unreported due to police mistrust,” it said.