/ 12 June 2018

Sassa employee strike is off ― for now, and Kebby Maphatsoe could be on the way out

(Mashadi Kekana/M&G)
(Mashadi Kekana/M&G)

Stories making headlines locally:

The Citizen

  • Health spend shambles

Battling to pay salaries, the ailing Gauteng health department has a startling R600-million still in its kitty. Now, the South African Medical Association wants the unspent millions to be diverted to employ more doctors.

  • Busi protects SA from Zille tweet

Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has given Western Cape legislature 30 days to take action against its premier, Helen Zille, since she was found to have violated the executive code of ethics when she made a controversial statement about colonialism last year.

READ MORE: Mkhwebane: Zille must be held to account for colonialism tweet

  • Sassa strike put off – for now

A planned strike by Sassa employees affiliated to the Public Servants Association scheduled to start tomorrow, has been put on hold.

READ MORE: Sassa strike won’t disrupt grants payouts, says public servants union

Daily Sun

  • He’s a hero!

He started the race in the middle of the night, facing 90km of tarred road and relying on his crutches and his will to succeed. Fifteen hours and 50 minutes later, he crossed the finish line at Moses Mabhida Stadium a national hero.

  • Toilets but no houses!

After they’d waited for RDPs for years, the municipality instead built them toilets last year– complete with showers and geysers.

Business Day

  • Vodacom in biggest BEE telecoms deal

Vodacom will spend R1.1-billion on an employee share ownership scheme as part of its R17.5-billion BEE deal – the biggest BEE deal in the telecommunications sector.

  • Pension fund trustees ‘paid exorbitantly’

A court bid to place the pensions of almost half a million private security workers under curatorship – once again – has been met with a fierce backlash from the fund itself.

  • Former director tries to oust new board

Former Transnet director Seth Radebe has filed an urgent application to challenge his dismissal by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and to seek the removal of the new Transet board that Gordhan appointed.

READ MORE: Corruption-buster Molefe tackles Transnet

Sowetan

  • Move to clip Kebby wings in uMkhonto

There is a move in the ANC to disband the leadership of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association, which is led by Kebby Maphatsoe

  • Varsity crippled by fraud scandal

Allegations of mismanagement of funds have forced the shutdown of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in GaRankuwa, Pretoria North for a third week running.

The Star

  • Wrong turn to racial attack

What started out as a wrong turn onto a road that is still under construction led to a road rage incident that left a man beaten to a pulp and repeatedly called the k-word.

  • Hecklers should be forgiven, says ANC’s Mabuyakhulu

KZN ANC convener Mike Mabuyakhulu says party delegates who have insulted him and also prevented the organisation’s chaiperson Gwede Mantashe from addressing a provincial conference should be forgiven.

Stories making headlines internationally:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed a decision by a court that had given asylum to a woman from El Salvador who had been raped and abused by her husband. The case could have a broad effect on the asylum process, women who have endured extreme violence and the independence of immigration judges. (The New York Times)

Even after they ascended to top White House positions, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner continued to benefit from an extraordinary number of investment deals carried out by the companies they once ran, ethics filings released Monday evening showed. (The New York Times)

Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is being held to ransom by an Islamist guerrilla movement. After months of skirmishes between police and members of the Al Sunnah wa Jama’ah, the region has now erupted into full violence. (The Conversation)