Daily news update: Ramaphosa vs Mkhwebane, ‘meteor shower’ sighting and Bathabile Dlamini in hospital

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Ramaphosa wants Mkhwebane’s rescission application dismissed with costs

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s legal team has filed opposing papers in the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) relating to Public Protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s rescission application.

According to TimesLive, Ramaphosa wants the ConCourt dismiss Mkwebane’s application with personal costs.

Rescission

Last month, Mkhwebane applied to the ConCourt for the “rescission, varying and/or reconsideration” of the harsh court loss she suffered when her appeal in the case for the disclosure of CR17 campaign funding for Ramaphosa’s ANC presidential campaign of 2017 was dismissed.

Bathabile Dlamini receiving medical attention in hospital, says ANC

The African National Congress (ANC) has announced that National Executive Committee (NEC) member and ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini has tested positive for Covid-19.

According to the party, Dlamini is in hospital, receiving medical attention.

“We wish comrade Bathabile a speedy recovery and hope that she successfully completes her medical treatment so that she can return to office and continue serving the movement,” said the party in a statement on Tuesday.

Was Gauteng health official murdered to shield ‘crooked people’?

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng on Tuesday said it would push for a high-level speedy investigation into the murder of a senior finance official at the Gauteng health department, Babita Deokaran.

The 53-year-old public servant was among the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU’s) witnesses into its investigations into contentious multimillion-rand PPE tenders in Gauteng.

ALSO READ: Murdered Gauteng health official was a witness in PPE probe, SIU confirms

Deokaran was gunned down on Monday morning outside her complex in Mondeor, south of Johannesburg, shortly after dropping off her child at school. She later died in hospital.

It is not a meteor shower, astronomer tells Gauteng residents

Social media is abuzz after Gauteng residents witnessed what looks like a perseid meteor shower on Tuesday evening.

In videos that have been shared on social media, balls of light can be seen appearing out of nowhere, shooting across the sky then disappearing again.

This has sparked a debate on social media on whether this could be a perseid meteor shower that has been reported in other parts of the world.

Manyi criticises NPA for appointing doctor to assess Zuma

The Jacob G Zuma Foundation has questioned the state’s decision to appoint a doctor to ascertain whether the former president is fit to stand trial for corruption.

‘Unconstitutional conduct’

Speaking on eNCA, the foundation’s spokesperson, Mzwanele Manyi, said the appointment of a medical professional by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to assess Zuma was unconstitutional.

Zuma foundation begs public for donations to cover his legal bills

Former president Jacob Zuma’s foundation on Tuesday appealed to the public for donations to help with his mounting legal bills.

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

The JG Zuma Foundation posted a poster of its banking details on Twitter for the public to “lend a helping hand” to assist the convicted former president.

Bathabile Dlamini to be prosecuted for lying about social grants crisis

The Black Sash Trust and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) on Tuesday welcomed the decision by the director of public prosecutions in Gauteng to prosecute former social development minister Bathabile Dlamini for alleged perjury or giving false evidence.

The charges relate to Dlamini’s testimony during a section 39 inquiry in 2018 that was chaired by judge Bernard Ngoepe.

The inquiry was instituted by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) to decide whether Dlamini should pay the legal bills from her own pocket for the social grants crisis in 2017.

Black women, you’re on your own: Men preferred for jobs, promotions

Gender discrimination is alive and well. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday released its Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2021, showing that the South African employment market “is more favourable to men than it is to women”.

SA’s unemployment rate

Women still excluded from the workforce

The unemployment rate during the first quarter was the highest since 2008 – a whopping 32.6%, but it only escalated from there.

The survey showed women in South Africa – especially Black women – still faced “additional challenges that hinder them from accessing employment”.