Old Mutual employee tests positive for coronavirus

The number of coronavirus cases in the country is revised, South Africans in Wuhan are coming home; and panic sets in as markets head deeper into the red.

Old Mutual staffer tests positive

Old Mutual has confirmed that one of its employees has tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from abroad.

The company would not disclose where in South Africa the person is located but said the employee was told not to return to the office for another 21 days, in line with its international travel policy.

In a statement, the financial institution said the staff member was not in contact with any Old Mutual clients or employees at his workplace.

“Old Mutual followed the protocols prescribed by the SA Government and they tracked all the individuals who met with the Old Mutual employee outside of the workplace to arrange their self-quarantine. The employee is currently undergoing the necessary medical treatment.

ANALYSIS: Mkhwebane’s latest legal Isandlwana is the prelude to her end

The courts found that she doesn’t understand the law, she fails to act rationally and ignores evidence. And these findings are compounded by the SARB and Estina judgments. Her position is untenable, and she cannot survive, writes Pieter du Toit
The latest court loss is the beginning of the end for Busisiwe Mkhwebane. (Getty Images)
The High Court has delivered some deeply damaging blows to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane over the last 24 months, but her latest legal Isandlwana, in which her report into President Cyril Ramphosa was set aside by the court in Pretoria, must now be the prelude to her departure from office.

The court has exposed Mkhwebane – and confirmed what many have been arguing for years – as professionally incompetent and politically partisan.

She, and her senior advisors and investigators, have shown a deep inability to understand what the extent and scope of her office’s powers are.

As legal practitioners, they have failed to apply laws and statutes correctly and they have shown a singular determination, notwithstanding evidence or lack thereof, to make findings which have deep political repercussions.

Mkhwebane has suffered defeats in every single one of the major reviews that have gone to court, and by big margins too. These findings have been overwhelming in their reasoning and devastating in their rhetoric.

And all of them related to foundational, structural and institutional failures under Mkhwebane’s leadership.

They have all served to severely weaken the Office of the Public Protector.

Her very first foray into politically contentious investigations – the infamous SA Reserve Bank, Absa and Bankorp matter – ended in abject defeat, with the court slamming her for exceeding the bounds of her power.

When she sanitised the investigation into the Estina dairy farm, in which she absolved powerful politicians, the court ordered her to reopen the probe.

And all these courts’ findings were upheld in the appeals process too.

‘Flawed due to an error of law’

The court has considered, and now very much pronounced, on her incompetence and has also questioned her motivation for making findings – because in the Ramaphosa matter she discarded evidence in front of her, and even made findings in its absence.

On the issue of Ramaphosa’s “misleading of Parliament”, the court said: “The Public Protector’s finding on the misleading of Parliament is fatally flawed due to an error of law. It is difficult to understand how the president’s answer could rationally be viewed as anything but honest and reasonable, given the nature of [Mr [Mmusi] Maimane’s question.”

About donations to the Ramaphosa campaign for the ANC presidency, the court found: “We conclude that the findings of the Public Protector on the disclosure issue are unsustainable. Rational findings must be premised on a proper factual and legal foundation. That foundation was lacking in this case.”

And about the findings of money laundering, the court explained: “The conclusion is inescapable that, in dealing with this issue, the Public Protector completely failed to properly analyse and understand the facts and evidence at her disposal. She also showed a complete lack of basic knowledge of the law and its application.”

The courts found that she doesn’t understand the law, she fails to act rationally and ignores evidence. And these findings are compounded by the SARB and Estina judgments. Her position is untenable, and she cannot survive.

The Public Protector was considered a moribund institution until Thuli Madonsela, a noted legal practitioner and scholar, was appointed to that office in 2009.

With the capture of institutions and their subsequent failure to execute justice and oversight between 2009 and 2018, the Public Protector became the very last outpost of accountability.

Just desserts

The failings of Parliament, the police, the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority and other law enforcement institutions put unbearable – and unfair – pressure on the Public Protector.

But she managed to navigate a treacherous political environment, with the law and Constitution as her sole focus, which meant that incendiary investigations into Nkandla and state capture stood up to the white-hot scrutiny of populism and politics.

The Public Protector, modelled on the German ombudsman, wasn’t designed to function as it did under Madonsela.

But it was forced into the role of the final – and only – guarantor of accountability and justice by the pervading creep of corruption under then president Jacob Zuma and the ANC.

Since Zuma’s departure, the painfully slow process of recapture and restoration has started, with the NPA, being the site of enormous efforts to ensure institutional recovery and sustainability.

The Public Protector has an important role to play within the constitutional architecture which, in concert with other bodies, seeks to ensure justice.

If the office is compromised by incompetence and politics, as it is now, it weakens the whole system.

And, in a system already subdued by criminality and corruption, it could be fatal.

Our system has never had to facilitate the premature departure of a Public Protector, although in 2008 and 2009 a protracted parliamentary process led to the resignation of a sitting national Director of Public Prosecutions.

The parliamentary process to investigate Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office has commenced.

She has applied to the Western Cape High Court to stop it, but this will in all probability fail.

The removal of Mkhwebane, found by the courts to be ill-suited for her job, should be swift and ruthless.

Parliament summons Ugu officials to explain water crisis on KZN south coast

People fetch water from a tanker during a strike by SA Municipal Workers' Union members in Ugu municipality in November 2017. The area is still suffering water shortages and residents are fed up.People fetch water from a tanker during a strike by SA Municipal Workers’ Union members in Ugu municipality in November 2017. The area is still suffering water shortages and residents are fed up.
Image: JACKIE CLAUSEN
The managers of the Ugu district municipality have been summoned by the portfolio committee on co-operative governance to explain the ongoing water crisis on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.

In a letter to the mayor, the committee’s chairperson, Faith Muthambi, said residents had called on the parliamentary committee to investigate ongoing water woes in the area.

“On the backdrop of this petition, the committee would like to invite the district municipality to a meeting at parliament on Friday to brief the committee on the petition,” she said.

Muthambi summoned the mayor, municipal manager, chief financial officer and heads of water, treasury and technical services in the district.

Municipal spokesman France Zama told TimesLIVE a delegation would appear before the portfolio committee on Friday.

Last month a KwaZulu-Natal family watched helplessly while their business premises burned to ground because there was no water in Margate and surrounding areas to douse the flames.

When large tankers arrived to extinguish the blaze at Plastic Recycling in Margate during the early hours of February 1, the Pienaars were hopeful that at least 50% of their business would be saved.

However, one tanker broke down on the way to the fire and the other ran out of water.

“When the working tanker was empty they went to refill it but there was no water in Margate to do so. They drove to Oslo Beach, to Marburg and Port Shepstone but there was no water anywhere. This is because of ongoing service delivery failure by Ugu. When we found out that Ugu could not supply us with water, we arranged with a farmer to pump water from his dam, but the fire brigade did not have a pump.”

“At this point the fire was completely out of control and we were left to stand and watch our business burn to the ground,” said Hester Pienaar.

The region has been plagued by water issues as its pipeline has been repeatedly “held hostage” and sabotaged.

Residents have resorted to using bottled water, ferrying water from as far as Durban back home or even moving out of the area as the water shortage escalates.

Two years ago, the region was declared a disaster area when hospitals‚ schools‚ clinics and homes had no water.

Truck drivers carrying water to communities were intimidated and municipal water tanks were stolen.

Special Cabinet meeting called to discuss coronavirus

Members of the Cabinet are expected to meet this weekend to discuss the coronavirus.The meeting was expected to be held on Sunday in Tshwane, the GCIS said in a statement.

“Cabinet reassures all in SA that the country remains on high alert. Every precaution is being taken to safeguard the country against any surge of the Covid-19,” minister in the presidency, Jackson Mthembu was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the group of South Africans who are being repatriated from the Wuhan in China where the virus was first detected, are expected to land on South African soil later on Friday.Upon their return, they will be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days, to a maximum of 21 days. During this period, the movement of people and goods in and out of the quarantine zone will be restricted,” the statement from government read.

The group will be kept at the Protea Hotel’s Ranch Resort outside Polokwane in Limpopo.“We strongly caution people against attempting to make any physical contact or attempting to visit the quarantine zone. Once the quarantine period ends and tests confirm no underlying Covid-19 virus infection in our compatriots, they will be released back into their respective communities,” the government said.

None of the 122 South Africans are believed to have the coronavirus.

They will be quarantined along with the plane crew and medics who are on the mission to fetch them from Wuhan.he number of confirmed positive cases in the country was on Friday morning still at 16.

The health ministry had initially placed the number of positive infections at 17 on Thursday but later downgraded the number, after a Free State man who had earlier tested positive for the virus later tested negative.

Meanwhile, government has called for the privacy of the 16 patients to be respected.

“We appeal to all to respect the privacy of Covid-19 patients and their families. We also strongly caution against the dissemination of any false information related to the virus so as to prevent the spread of fear, stigma and discrimination within our society,” Mthembu

Team of prosecutors to probe culpability in Enock Mpianzi’s death

The NPA has appointed a team to investigate prosecutions relating to Enock Mpianzi’s death.The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has received an inquest docket regarding the death of Parktown Boys pupil Enock Mpianzi, who died during a school camp in January this year.

This was confirmed by NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwana on Friday.

She said the docket had been received by the acting director of prosecutions, Advocate George Baloyi, to make a decision whether or not to prosecute.

“Advocate Baloyi has since appointed a team of prosecutors who will be working on the docket.

“Once all outstanding issues have been finalised, the NPA will make its decision,” said Mjondondwana.

The NPA said it was awaiting a copy of the forensic report commissioned by the department of education.

The report was released by Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi on March 4. It pointed to “negligence and extreme recklessness” on the part of the Nyati Bush and River Break Lodge, teachers who had accompanied the schoolchildren to the orientation camp, and the school itself.