Daily news update: Truck burnings increase, Zuma prefers jail to ‘bullying’ commission, who is the EFF’s Jack Markovitz?

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Truck burnings an escalating problem, amounting to hundreds of millions lost

Picture for illustration. One of two burnt out trucks during a protest by residents of Tokyo informal settlement on Lower Boksburg road in Germiston, 15 September 2020. They are protesting over the lack of electricity in the area. Picture: Neil McCartney

The initial estimated losses suffered due to nine trucks being petrol-bombed on Gauteng’s N3 between Heidelberg and Vosloorus, has been placed at R30 million, with the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) warning of a hike in premiums due to an increase in such attacks.

Cedric Masondo, Sasria’s managing director, said the latest attack followed the same pattern as previous attacks that have been seen in the past three years.

“Nothing is taken. The trucks are either burnt or petrol-bombed. This indicates actions of unhappy people. In the past 12 months we have paid over R100 million in claims related to trucks damaged in such incidents,” he said.

Masondo said they were not sure of the exact extent of the current losses, as they were still investigating the extent of the damage, but he said a horse and trailer could cost up to R6 million, excluding the cost of the truck’s contents.

Zuma: I’d rather go to jail than be ‘bullied’ by commission

23 Jun 2020 – Former President Jacob Zuma in the Pietermaritzburg High Court for the pre-trial hearing in the arms deal case | Image: Twitter: @HlaleleKelello

Former President Jacob Zuma is ready to face jail rather than to be “bullied” by the State Capture Commission led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, according to the Jacob Zuma Foundation.

The foundation has also commended the former president for walking out of the commission during a tea break on Thursday.

Zuma wanted Zondo to recuse himself from the commission before he could appear claiming that he and the deputy chief justice were friends, and that Zondo had fathered a child with a sister of one of his friends.

Zuma’s lawyer Advocate Muzi Sikhakane SC told Zondo that he would be biased against him and that Zondo was a witness and a judge in a dispute that involved Zondo.

Sikhakhane threatened to escalate their complaints to the Judicial Service Commission.

Malawi prosecutors to appeal ruling that released the Bushiris

Self proclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary in the Pretoria Magistrates court during their bail application for, 4 November 2020, Pretoria. Bushiri and his wife were released on R200 000 bail. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Prosecutors in Malawi are going to appeal a lower court ruling that led to the immediate release of self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary, Malawian Information Minister Gospel Kazako confirmed on Friday.

“We are going to appeal the ruling, the State did not agree with the ruling of the lower court. The director of public prosecutions will be filing an appeal in the high court,” he said.

The couple was released after magistrate Viva Nyimba in his ruling on Thursday said, among other things, their arrests by the Malawi Police Service were unlawful because it was not channelled through the Ministry of Homeland Security.

Kazako added that, for the papers to be filed, Malawi needed to receive all the necessary formal documents in totality from the South African government.

“The South African prosecutors, what they sent is just tentative. The papers that are expected we have not received all of them in totality.

“If the appeal is to be made with totality, we need a comprehensive submission of all the documents from South Africa,” he added.

Court reverses controversial sale of SA’s strategic crude oil reserves

Oil tanks. Picture: Shutterstock

The Central Energy Fund (CEF) and its subsidiary, the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF), on Friday welcomed the Western Cape High Court judgment in reversing the sale of SA’s Strategic Crude Oil Reserves sold in 2015.

This landmark victory is a culmination of a series of court proceedings that the CEF and SFF Board launched after it discovered that the former CEO of the Strategic Fuel Fund, Sibusiso Gamede, unlawfully concluded a series of agreements, which resulted in the disposal of South Africa’s 10 million barrels of Strategic Crude Oil Reserves, the two entities said in a joint statement.

In welcoming the Western Cape High Court judgement, the SFF CEO, Godfrey Moagi said: “We are vindicated by this high court ruling. If these unlawful transactions were left unchallenged, the country would have suffered huge financial losses given the repurchase price of the Oil reserves at the prevailing market rates”.

All traders have agreed that the sale of the strategic crude oil reserves were invalid, and as part of the high court settlement, the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF), a subsidiary of CEF, would refund all monies paid to it with interest accrued, the statement said.

Who is the EFF’s Jack Markovitz?

A member of the EFF has quickly gained internet fame. Jack Markovitz was vocal in his disdain for white people in South Africa at the Brackenfell protests on Friday, 20 November 2020. Picture: Twitter/screenshot

A white Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) member has gone from being relatively unknown within the party to a viral sensation.

His name is Jack Markovitz. Reports indicate he is 21 years old, and has been a member of the party for some time.

Markovitz was vocal in his disdain for racist white people in South Africa at Friday’s protest action at Brackenfell High School in Cape Town, after the school’s parents held an allegedly white-only private event for matric students.

Markovitz told IOL at the protest that his grandfather was Leon Markovitz, the DA’s former finance MEC in the Western Cape.

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