Daily news update: Zuma’s doctors fail to file report on time, Malema case postponed and anti-lockdown march

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Zuma’s doctors fail to file medical report on fitness to stand trial

Former president Jacob Zuma’s doctors have failed to file their report in time on the 79-year-old’s fitness to stand trial for corruption.

“We can only confirm is that they missed the deadline to file the medical report and the court will deal with that,” National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga told The Citizen.

The deadline to hand over the report, as directed by Pietermaritzburg High Court’s Judge Piet Koen, was last Friday, 20 August.

Army ‘reminds’ Malema he can be prosecuted for fake news

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has denied claims by EFF leader Julius Malema that deployed soldiers are threatening to withdraw from Operation Prosper, labelling them as “baseless insinuations aimed at causing panic”.

This after Malema on Sunday shared a screenshot of a message purporting to be from a soldier who was complaining about not receiving meal allowances.

Malema’s firearm discharge case moved to next year

The trial date for Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and his co-accused Adriaan Snyman was rescheduled today at the East London Regional Court to 24 February 2022 till 4 March 2022.

The trial was supposed to take place from Monday till 27 August 2021 and was postponed due to the prosecutor experiencing health problems, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Malema and Snyman were excused from attending court as the postponement was agreed upon prior to today.

Auditor-General turns down request to audit millions in Lottery grants

The Auditor-General has turned down a formal request to audit Lottery grants running into tens of millions of rands given to a Cape Town-based minstrel organisation.

The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association (CTMCA) has received over R63.5 million in grants from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).

The Auditor-General’s refusal to audit the NLC comes against a backdrop of ongoing reporting exposing fraud, corruption and nepotism involving Lottery grants.

MKMVA, others planning anti-lockdown march to Union Buildings

At least 15 politically affiliated groups are planning an anti-lockdown march to the Union Buildings for next week. 

However, the groups’ petition hasn’t gained much traction yet, with just over 5,600 signatures out of a 500,000 target supporting the cause. 

The march is being led by the National Youth Group (NYG), Party of Action (POA), Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) and the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), among others.

DA willing to work with any party in SA but with conditions, says Steenhuisen

DA leader John Steenhuisen has outlined his party’s conditions for entering into a coalition government with other parties after the upcoming local government elections.

ALSO READ: DA reveals mayoral candidates, challenges ANC to reveal their list

Speaking at a media briefing in Nelson Mandela Bay on Monday, Steenhuisen said the DA was willing to work with any political party in the country, but provided that they share the same values and principles as the official opposition party.

Senior Northern Cape health officials arrested for alleged PPE corruption

The Hawks in the Northern Cape have arrested two officials of the provincial health department for their alleged involvement in the personal protective equipment (PPE) corruption.

The acting head of department and chief financial officer are implicated in irregularities in the awarding of PPE contracts and the contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), amounting to R43 million.

Their was arrest was confirmed by the Hawks on Monday.