Photo: iStock elements, editing by Cheryl Kahla.
News today includes a frustrated Julius Malema losing his cool in court, and Busisiwe Mkhwebane fighting back after being fired as public protector.
Meanwhile, chaos unfolded when a 24-wheeler truck mashed into five vehicles, and Gauteng Premier Lesufi called for a Marshalltown fire probe to be established.
Today’s weather forecast includes a mixed bag of conditions, promising a very interesting day ahead – full forecast here.
And of course, South Africans are forced to endure Stage 6 load shedding indefinitely as Eskom deals with the breakdown of generating units.
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A frustrated Julius Malema lost his cool in court on Wednesday, blasting the magistrate presiding over his firearm discharge trial for allegedly being late.
Malema and his bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, returned to the dock in the East London Magistrate’s Court for the continuation of their trial.
The EFF leader is facing five charges, including the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging a firearm in a built-up area or public space and reckless endangerment to person or property, while Snyman faces two charges under the Firearms Controls Act.
CONTINUE: ‘If it means prison then let it be’ – Malema blasts magistrate’s ‘ill-discipline’
President Cyril Ramaphosa has formally fired advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, a month before her term as Public Protector was due to end.
Mkhwebane was officially removed from office after a majority of MPs in the National Assembly voted on Monday in support of her impeachment.
318 members of Parliament supported her removal, while 43 were against and one abstained.
CONTINUE: ‘If I perish, I perish’ – Busisiwe Mkhwebane fights firing as public protector
Public Service and Administration Minister Noxolo Kiviet has disputed the suggestion that government has allowed unions to become powerful which, in turn, has resulted in the public sector’s bloated wage bill.
Kiviet was answering questions in Parliament on Wednesday.
South Africa’s public sector wage bill will breach the R700 billion mark in the 2023/2024 financial year, which includes an additional R37.4 billion to fund salary increases.
CONTINUE: ‘It’s an insult’: Minister hits back after government accused of creating wage ‘monster’
The chaos which unfolded along a busy Kloof Nek Road on Tuesday morning when a 24-wheeler truck spun out of control and smashed into five vehicles, has been described by eyewitnesses as “horrific” and “like a scene from a movie”.
Former Miss SA, TV presenter and businesswoman Cindy Nell-Roberts was one of six people who miraculously sustained only minor injuries as the massive truck swept down the Cape Town CBD road like a tsunami, leaving a trail of frozen crayfish and destruction in its wake.
CONTINUE: Smell of petrol and panic – Inside former Miss SA Cindy Nell-Roberts’ horror truck ordeal
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has said the commission of inquiry into the Marshalltown fire was established to avoid political interference in the investigation of the disaster.
The provincial government held a media briefing on Wednesday to announce the terms of reference for the inquiry, which would look into the Usindiso Building fire in Johannesburg that left 77 people dead and many injured and homeless.
The inquiry will be chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe.
CONTINUE: ‘We need an independent probe into Marshalltown fire’ – Lesufi
READ: Zuma, ‘debt-check’ road blocks, Mkhwebane vote criticism, Tshwane job cuts
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