The Legal SA

Dyantyi Not Recusing Himself

15:05pm, Johannesburg, July 24 2023.

The chairperson of the South African parliament's Section 194 Committee probing the fitness of suspended Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane's fitness to hold the office has for the second time refused to recuse himself as the committee chair.

This comes after Advocate Mkhwebane applied for a second time for Dyantyi to recuse himself on the basis of allegations of Dyantyi soliciting a bribe along with the late Tina Joemat-Pettersson in exchange for influencing the out of the impeachment proceedings against Advocate Mkhwebane and in her favour.

Advocate Mkhwebane alleges that Dyantyi was one of the elements in a plot to extort money from from her husband .

In response to the latest recusal application against him, Dyantyi says that he could not meet last Friday's deadline to respond to the application as he was still waiting for Advocate Mkhwebane to furnish him with the full recording on which the allegations of bribery against him are based.

Dyantyi further submits that the the evidence submitted by Advocate Mkhwebane in support of her latest recusal application against Dyantyi does support the existence of prima facie proof of the extortion allegations.

Instead, Dyantyi says Advocate Mkhwebane's application only raises more questions on why Advocate Mkhwebane only released snippets of the recorded conversation between Advocate Mkhwebane's husband and the late Tina Joemat-Pettersson at an Ocean Basket restaurant at the OR Tambo International Airport.

Dyantyi says that it is preposterous that he would attempt to solicit a bribe as he has not been appointed as a South African government minister.

In closing, Dyantyi says that he will only accept his removal as the chairperson of the Section 194 Committee if such a removal is commanded by his party the African National Congress or the committee itself.

Written by Thabo Makaota, Senior Writer @TheLegalSA.

BRICS IS Not A Threat To The West

The Treasurer General of the African National Congress Dr. Gwen Ramokgopa was at pains to ease Western tensions over the ever expanding BRICS bloc of nations.

Dr. Ramokgopa says that the growth of BRICS should not be seen as a threat to developed nations.

During a gathering of BRICS representatives from Brazil, Russia, India, China And South Africa in Sandton today, Dr. Ramokgopa said that the growth of BRICS should be seen as a positive step in growing the global economy.

At least 38 countries including Egypt, Belarus, Venezuela, Argentina, Bahrain, Algeria, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, Tunisia and Türkiye are desperately wanting to secure BRICS membership.

Dr. Ramokgopa says that while the admittance of more countries into the BRICS bloc will significantly change how world trade is conducted, it will not adversely affect developed nations.

Dr, Ramokgopa insists that Africa's role efforts in the development and transformation of the world economy should be appreciated by the west as it will ultimately mean that the financial burden developing nations have on developed nations decreases, meaning increased prosperity for western countries and developing nations in Africa, South America and South East Asia.

The current BRICS member countries represent 30% of the global population and that number could grow to over 50% should BRICS reach it's expansion targets.

Written by Ntokozo Mdlovu, independent political analyst and writer.

Almost 300 KZN Councilors Illiterate

The Public Service Association has called on municipalities to ensure that councilors are equipped with to perform their duties.

Chairperson of the PSA Mlungisi Ndlovu says that it is absolutely unacceptable that councilors meant to deliver services to the public cannot read and comprehend critical documents in governance.

Ndlovu says what needs to be done is that councilors need to undergo stringent vetting to ensure that they are fully competent to govern at local municipality level.

The Schools Audit Report by compiled by the Cooperative Governance Department found that 298 councilors based in KwaZula-Natal cannot read and write.

20+ Nations Seek BRICS Membership

13:00pm, Friday, 07/07/23, Johannesburg
BRICS says that it has come up with suitable criteria and set standards for admitting new members to the formation of developing nations.

The BRICS bloc of nations currently comprises of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The BRICS group of nations seeks to advance, at a global scale, each members economies in the geopolitical landscape.

Multilateral military cooperation is also a mandate of the BRICS group of nations with Russia, China and South Africa having engaged in joint navy drills off the east coast of South Africa this past Armed Forces Day, held annually on 21 February.

The new guidelines for countries wishing to join the BRICS bloc are being kept under wraps until they are ratified by the foreign ministers of the 5 principle BRICS members.

At least 20 countries including Egypt, Belarus, Venezuela, Argentina, Bahrain, Algeria, Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand, Tunisia and Türkiye all want to become BRICS members as a matter of great urgency.

South Africa is set to host the next BRICS Summit at the Durban International Convention Centre in KwaZulu-Natal in August.
The expansion of the BRICS group is set to be a key feature of the summit with a new collective BRICS currency set to be discussed in detail.

BRICS was formed in 2001 as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) where South Africa was then invited to join in 2011.

The five principle nations have been together in the BRICS group for over 10 years now.

South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Honourbale Naledi Pandor will convene a virtual meeting in the next two weeks with her BRICS counterparts to consider the finalization of the criteria for admission of new member nations to the BRICS bloc.

Written by Ntokozo Mdlovu, political analyst and writer @TheLegalSA

Common Ground Reached

The seven political parties that make up the so-called 'Moonshot Pact' say that they have reached common ground to hold a national convention over the removal of the African National Congress as the governing party of South Africa.

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen announced the pact when he was re-elected as DA leader this past April.
The pact itself seeks to mobilize all combined assets and resources of the member political parties to wrestle South African governance away from the governing African National Congress when the republic goes to the polls in 2024.

Another objective of the pact is to ensure that the Economic Freedom Fighters lead by Julius Malema do not get into governance.

ActionSA

Political newcomer ActionSA is one of the political parties that are onboard to realize the objectives of the Moonshot Pact.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says that it is absolutely critical that the ANC does not win the 2024 national general election as this will be the final nail in the coffin of South Africa's future and economy

FF+ Cautions The Pact

The leader of the Freedom Front Plus, Pieter Groenewald has cautioned that while all political parties in the pact share a common ideal, each must still run their own election campaign.

This, Groenewald says, must be done to avoid creating the public perception that the pact is actually one political party.
The political parties in the pact include:

The Democratic Alliance, The Freedom Front Plus, The Inkhatha Freedom Party, ActionSA, National Freedom Party, United Independent Party and the Spectrum Political Party.