Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer is under fire from Numsa.
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The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has launched an attack on the entire Eskom board, as well as chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer.

In a lengthy statement issued on Sunday by Irvin Jim, Numsa general secretary, the union said that while it welcomed the resignation and departure of the “economically conflicted” Jabu Mabuza it did “not buy his cheap tactic of simply taking the fall for misleading the president”.

“Our honest view is that the entire incompetent Eskom board must go including the COO, Jan Oberholzer, who has added absolutely no value except adding to the wage bill,” the statement read.

Mabuza resigned as chair of the Eskom board on Friday after reports that he had misled President Cyril Ramaphosa over the load-shedding saga.Jim’s statement continued: “In fact, Numsa is calling on the ANC national leadership to take decisive action and deploy a new competent minister of public enterprises as, unfortunately, minister Pravin Gordhan has not just moved from one SOE crisis to another but, with due respect, he honestly appears to be overwhelmed and is unable to provide the necessary required leadership to fix our SOEs, in particular Eskom.”

Jim added: “During the tenures of Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko, Eskom generating plant performance improved significantly. However, when the new board took over these improvements were reversed and we are now paying the price.

“Under this new Eskom leadership we have witnessed a trend of load-shedding at a scale which has never been witnessed in the history of Eskom. What is also not being understood is that this load-shedding is permanently accompanied by the expensive utilisation of diesel.

“In fact, while it is obvious that communities and the rest of the economy continue to suffer under load-shedding, what Numsa demands is that Eskom and minister Pravin Gordhan disclose companies that are the beneficiaries and make money out of load-shedding and how much load-shedding has cost Eskom out of burning diesel.”

The OR Tambo airport was hit by a power failure after an Eskom transformer caught alight on Sunday morning.
Image: Richard Whalley / via Twitter
OR Tambo International Airport was plunged into darkness after a transformer at a Kempton Park substation caught fire on Sunday morning.

The Ekurhuleni municipality confirmed that the airport was one of a number of places affected.

According to reports by commuters, the power outage caused major inconveniences. Many commuters took to Twitter to share their frustrations. The outage lasted about two hours.On Sunday morning, Eskom confirmed that a transformer had caught alight in Kempton Park in Ekurhuleni.

“Eskom’s transformer in Kempton Park caught fire affecting @City_Ekurhuleni customers. Ekurhuleni Emergency Services on site,” Eskom tweeted.

It said the cause of the fire would only be established once it was safe to investigate.

Emergency services could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

The municipality released video footage of the fire on its social media platforms:Airports Company SA spokesperson Samukelo Khambule said that the power outage started at around 11am and lasted about two hours.

“Certain services were affected, such as people movers, retail outlets and some communication mechanisms. Airport operations continued, assisted by the back-up generator systems which ensured that critical infrastructure continued. Manual operations were also activated in main stream services such as baggage systems,” said Khambule.

A court has issued an arrest warrant for the prime minister’s wife after she failed to turn up for questioning over the 2017 murder of his previous wife, police said on Saturday.

The announcement came just days after senior officials in the ruling party called for Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to resign, accusing him of obstructing the investigation into the killing.

Lipolelo Thabane was gunned down by unknown assailants on the outskirts of the capital Maseru in June 2017, two days before her husband’s inauguration.

In a letter that only became public in court documents this week, Lesotho’s police chief Holomo Molibeli asked the prime minister to answer questions regarding his estranged wife’s killing.Thabane subsequently tried to suspend him but went back on his decision this week after Molibeli challenged it in court.

Thabane’s current wife Maesaiah Thabane was summoned for questioning on Friday to “shed some light into the ongoing investigations”, deputy police commissioner Paseka Mokete told AFP.

“We got at the State House at around 12 midday (on Friday) but were denied access by the guards at the gate,” Mokete told AFP on Saturday.

“When we were allowed entry… she was nowhere to be found.” A court subsequently issued a warrant for her arrest, he added.

Attorney general Haae Phoofolo later told police that Maesaiah Thabane would be handed over on Monday.

Phoofolo did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

A group of locals visiting the Kruger National Park have been fined R3 000 for contravening SANParks rules.

SANParks confirmed to Traveller24 it was notified of the tourists’ behaviour via its Social Media platforms and “immediately dispatched a Section Ranger in the Crocodile Bridge section”.

“The people were at a lion sighting. He instructed them to get into their vehicle and a fine of R3000 was later imposed,” says Kruger National Park spokesperson Ike Phaahla. The fine was issued on Thursday, 9 January.ANParks rules clearly state visitors must remain in their vehicles unless in a designated area. “SANParks has a zero tolerance stance against lawlessness,” says Phaahla.

“These are wild and not domesticated animals. Our rules and guidelines clearly state what to do when at sightings, and those who get out of their cars in undesignated areas are lawbreakers.” Driving a vehicle in a manner that constitutes a nuisance, disturbance, inconvenience or danger to any other person is not allowed.

– Driving or operating any vehicle in a reckless or negligent manner or in a deliberate disregard for the safety of a person, animal or property is not allowed.

– Behaving in an offensive, improper, indecent or disorderly manner including the playing of any radio, compact disc player, music system, musical system or instrument, or in any

way cause of any noise in any manner likely to disturb any species or specimen or other person is strictly prohibited.

– Stick to the speed limit! All general rules of the road apply within the Kruger National Park. The speed limit is 50 km/h on tar roads and 40 km/h on gravel roads.

– Visitors must remain in their vehicles unless in a designated area.

– No part of a person’s body may protrude from a window or sunroof or any other part of the vehicle. Vehicle doors should be closed at all times.

– You must be inside the camp or out of the gate before these times. No travelling before or after these times are allowed. Gate times must be strictly adhered to and late comers may be subject to a fine.

– You are not allowed to drive “off-road” or on roads with a “no entry” sign.

– The feeding or disturbing of animals is a serious offence. Remember, animals see litter as food!

– Vehicles of a carrying capacity exceeding 4 000kg, buses or any vehicles with more than 25 seats, are restricted to the tar roads.

KZN health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu has called for stricter security after a foreign national was shot dead at a hospital in Durban.
Image: Phasut Waraphisit via 123RF
A patient who was killed execution style at a Durban hospital on Friday evening has been identified as a foreign national.

According to KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, two armed men stormed past Clairwood hospital security and allegedly shot the man in the head at point blank range, in full view of other patients and staff.

They escaped in their vehicle by pointing guns at the hospital security guards, who tried to contain them by shutting the main gates.

The patient, a foreign national, was being treated for previous gunshot wounds, and had been transferred from King Edward VIII hospital to Clairwood on December 23, for wound care and rehabilitation.Simelane-Zulu said: “We are obviously shocked at this brazen display of violence right inside a health care facility. It is a flagrant disregard for the law, and a display of the ruthlessness of the criminal element in our society.

“Although it is not always possible to predict an incident of this nature, which appears well-planned, the fact that these perpetrators were able to escape without getting apprehended by security or law enforcement does call into question our preparedness as a department to react effectively to such acts.

“It means that our system is not as effective as we would have liked to think.

“Notwithstanding the fact that these people were armed, and that they also threatened our security guards, we should have had a system in place that ought to have made it difficult for them to get away.

“We will have to urgently re-look at our security protocols and make improvements as far as possible, within our limited financial means,” she said.

The department has offered counselling to staff and patients who witnessed the incident.