Governance & Politics – 25 March 2024

GOVERNANCE & POLITICS

• US-SA review of bilateral relations. The US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act was passed by the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee and will now move to the full House of Representatives. The bill will require the US administration to report to Congress, explicitly stating whether South Africa has engaged in activities that undermine US national security or foreign policy interests. Republican John James and Democrat Jared Moscowitz introduced the bill in February. It says that, in contrast to its stated non-alignment, the ANC government has been siding with ‘malign actors’, building military and political ties with Russia and China, and supporting Hamas – designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and a known proxy of Iran. (Source)

• House Speaker on special leave. National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has taken special leave from her position and the ANC. Her leave from the National Assembly is effective immediately. This follows an early-morning raid by the National Prosecuting Authority’s special investigation unit on her home in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Mapisa-Nqakula is alleged to have solicited and received at least R2.3 million in cash from a former military contractor during her tenure as defence minister. (Source)

• Hawks probe Mashatile. The Hawks Public Sector Serious Corruption Unit is investigating several allegations against Deputy President Paul Mashatile related to his moving into two luxury homes purchased by companies belonging to his son-in-law, Nceba Nonkwelo. Mashatile failed to properly declare his use of various properties, including a R37 million Waterfall house in Gauteng, as well as a R29 million seven-bedroom house in Constantia, Cape Town, that was also purchased by Nonkwelo. (Source)

• Expropriation Bill of 2020 was adopted by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) the Expropriation Bill of 2020 (the Bill) with the support of all provinces other than the Western Cape. Since the NCOP made various largely technical amendments to the Bill, the revised version must be approved by the National Assembly before it can be signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa. However, only four working days remain before Parliament rises on 28 March, ahead of the 29 May general election. If the Bill is not approved before the general election, it will lapse — and will have to be revived and re-adopted by the next Parliament. To avoid this outcome, the National Assembly could meet virtually to approve the Bill, after which it would immediately be sent to Mr Ramaphosa for his assent. (CRA, Risk Alert, 25 March 2024)

• Cadre deployment appointments illegal. The Public Service Commission, which monitors and evaluates the performance of the public sector, has said it will be unlawful for an executive authority to consider a recommendation of the ANC deployment committee in making an appointment, and that it would constitute an unfair labour practice. The PSC said the state capture commission, chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, had revealed the actions of the governing party’s cadre deployment committee. (Source)

• Increases for civil servants. South Africa’s public servants are set to receive a wage increase of 4.7% on 1 April, the Department of Public Service & Administration said. This is in line with a wage deal signed by the employer and four unions at the public service coordinating bargaining council in Pretoria on 31 March 2023. Employees set to benefit are not considered senior management. (Source)

• ANC to take Zuma to court. The ANC intends to take former president Jacob Zuma into further legal action in its challenge against the uMkhonto weSizwe party. The Electoral Court in Bloemfontein on Tuesday heard the first arguments in the ANC’s legal challenge to have the MK party, named after its disbanded military wing, deregistered. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula described the hearing as the beginning of the governing party’s fight against its former president to prevent Zuma from misappropriating their asset. (Source)

• DA threatens legal action against expropriation bill. The expropriation bill was approved in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday, with the DA threatening legal action over what it called an archaic and ruinous bill. All the provinces, except the DA-governed Western Cape, supported the bill, which has sparked fears among many landowners that the proposed land reforms could lead to a similar situation to the Zimbabwean scenario, where attempts to address skewed land ownership patterns dating back to the colonial era resulted in government-sanctioned land confiscations. (Source)