Daily news update: SA mourns Kebby Maphatsoe, Petrol price, Eskom’s R18.9bn loss and ANC’s electoral court withdrawal

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MKMVA president Kebby Maphatsoe has passed away

President of the now-disbanded Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) Kebby Maphatsoe has died.

According to reports, Maphatsoe died on Tuesday afternoon, however, the cause of his death remains unknown at this stage.

Zille suspicious of ANC’s electoral court withdrawal

The African National Congress (ANC) has reportedly withdrawn its application to the electoral court to force the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to reopen the candidate registration process ahead of the local government elections in October.

Last week, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said the party would approach the electoral court to force the IEC to open candidate registration for one extra day.

Eskom reports R18.9 billion loss, but has less debt

Eskom’s annual results show that it has less debt, but still owes R401.8 billion. The utility company has been able to reduce its gross debt by R81.9 billion, a reduction of 16.9% and believes that it is on course to achieve financial and operational stability through prudent management and implementation of its turnaround plan.

André de Ruyter, Eskom Group chief executive, on Tuesday announced Eskom’s annual results for the financial year that ended March 2021.

Khusela Diko fired, but not really

The Presidency has finalised its disciplinary process against former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko, and found that she failed to disclose her interests in certain companies as required by public service regulations on the disclosure of financial interests, but this doesn’t mean she will be fired.

Following the disciplinary process, Diko has been served with a written warning for the offence.

Fresh and Euphonik’s crimen injuria case against rape accuser dismissed

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has dropped the case of crimen injuria opened by Euphonik (Themba Mbongeni Nkosi) and DJ Fresh (Thato Sikwane) back in April. 

The duo opened the case against a woman known by her Twitter handle @nampree, who alleged at the beginning of 2021 the DJs had drugged and raped her in 2011. 

She opened a rape case earlier this year but it was subsequently dropped by the NPA due to “insufficient evidence”.

Scam Alert: Public warned about ‘unregistered’ Fairtree Capital WhatsApp group

The Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) has warned the public to be cautious when doing business with a WhatsApp group named Fairtree Capital.

“The individuals behind the WhatsApp group are not authorised to render any financial advice and intermediary services,” said the FSCA.

Creators of the WhatsApp group are allegedly soliciting investments from people and promising unrealistic and excessive returns while using the names of a legitimate financial services providers (FSPs), such as Fairtree Asset Management, Faitree Capital Hospitality and Fairtree Private Client.

Fuel price downer: More pain at the pumps in September

Despite tentative predictions on Monday signalling South African fuel consumers could enjoy a rare breather in September, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) seems to have different plans. 

The DMRE explained the Rand’s depreciation against the US Dollar, from R14.54 to R14.7 per USD), led to higher contributions to the basic fuel prices of petrol (13 cents) , diesel (12 cents) and paraffin (12 cents). 

More than R1 billion required to fix fire-ravaged Charlotte Maxeke hospital

It will cost about R1.1 billion to fix Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital after a fire gutted several sections of the facility in April 2021.

This was apparently disclosed by the Gauteng health department last week during a meeting of provincial legislature’s health committee.

According to DA MPL and spokesperson on health in Gauteng, Jack Bloom, the department will also ask the Solidarity Fund for no more than R200 million to fix the hospital.