Our shameless president and ministers went to court to deny responsibility for the power crisis proving that the people no longer come first
The president needs to report back to South Africa on what his government has – and hasn’t – achieved since 2018
Latest twist in public works saga suggests minister quashed query into doctored corruption report
As with economics, the state is rudderless, which requires a return to the ideals of the Constitution and a developmental state
In a moving tribute to Zola Skweyiya, President Cyril Ramaphosa apologised for the way the ANC veteran had been treated in his later years
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The deputy president paid tribute to the stalwart in Pretoria on Wednesday
Historians may struggle to pick Zola Skweyiya’s greatest political legacy, because there are several contenders
The politician died in Kloof Hospital in Pretoria on Wednesday morning.
A social grants payment contract has sparked a court battle because it was awarded to foreign firm with a chequered past in South Africa.
Former opposition leader Tony Leon and former ministers Zola Skweyiya and Ngconde Balfour have been earmarked for diplomatic posts.
Although Zola Skweyiya has retired from Cabinet, he will always be a reminder to the ANC of its expected moral duty, writes Niren Tolsi.
South Africa’s largest trade union federation has called for an official inquiry into allegations of impropriety involving a social grants tender.
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/ 2 February 2009
Government’s social relief of distress assistance is only for the ”poorest of the poor”, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Monday.
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/ 28 September 2008
Senior ANC Cabinet Minister Zola Skweyiya has criticised the ”shocking disrespect” shown to Thabo Mbeki in the last year, it has been reported.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma on Thursday addressed a gathering of more than 1 000 poor white Pretoria residents.
Alleged inappropriate management practices at the South African Social Security Agency will be investigated.
The Act that qualifies men to apply for the state old-age grant from the age of 60 has been signed into law.
Foreign children have the same right as their South African counterparts to be protected, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Tuesday. He said it was sad that children were once again bearing the brunt of xenophobic violence, losing parents and loved ones, as well as their homes.
The Democratic Alliance on Sunday accused Parliament’s questions office of ”obstructing” the party’s parliamentary questions probing corruption. The questions office had disqualified two written questions on the grounds that they were too vague in terms of the National Assembly’s guide to procedure.
The government has set aside millions of rands to assist the poor cope with harsh economic conditions, the Department of Social Development said on Monday. Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya appealed to churches and community-based organisations to help the department in creating awareness around the relief.
Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya was not in contempt of court and was respecting a high court ruling for social grants to be given to applicants with alternative forms of identification, his department said on Wednesday. The Department of Social Development said Skweyiya was in the process of implementing the court’s decision.
Trustees of the insolvent estate of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble want more than R25-million back from beneficiaries of Kebble’s largesse, Business Day reported on Wednesday. Alleged beneficiaries ranged from senior African National Congress members to a prominent business journalist.
Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya on Monday released a discussion document that could see the current means test for social-grant eligibility overhauled. ”It is the view of the department that the means tests are outdated and consequently exclude many poor people from the safety net,” Skweyiya said.
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/ 20 February 2008
The age limit for the child-support grant will be raised by one year to include 14-year-olds as from January next year, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced on Wednesday. He also said the qualifying age for men for the state old-age pension would be reduced from 65 to 63 this year, to 61 in 2009, and 60 by 2010.
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/ 18 February 2008
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel should make good on expectations of a higher age limit for the child support grant, the Black Sash said on Monday. Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya told a media briefing last week that the grant would be extended to the age of 18 and the means test recalculated.
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/ 14 February 2008
The government intends acquiring five million hectares of land next year in an effort to have 30% of agricultural land in the hands of black farmers by 2014, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Lulu Xingwana said in Cape Town on Thursday. Currently, black farmers own 4,7% of farm land, she told a press briefing.
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/ 29 January 2008
More than 5 000 public servants have been convicted for defrauding the South African Social Security Agency, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Tuesday. In April 2005, Skweyiya tasked the Special Investigating Unit with investigating fraud and corruption which then plagued the social-grant system.
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/ 7 December 2007
”Unfortunate and regrettable” was how Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya on Friday described the publication of a letter in which he criticised Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota. ”I wish to state that the letter was intended for internal discussion within the African National Congress, and not for public consumption,” he said.
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/ 5 December 2007
A reported spat between Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya and Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota was an indication of how the divisions within the African National Congress (ANC) were running through the Cabinet, a political analyst said on Wednesday.
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/ 29 November 2007
An extra R87-million has been allocated to help people living in extreme poverty, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Thursday. The money was in addition to funds already given to provinces for relief, he told reporters after meeting provincial ministers of social development in Durban.
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/ 24 November 2007
Former African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe has been found guilty of sexual harassment by a party-appointed disciplinary committee, the ANC said on Friday. Goniwe was charged with abuse of office by trying to obtain sexual favours from parliamentary intern Nomawele Njongo on October 25 last year.
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/ 6 November 2007
The government plans to hold countrywide public hearings early next year on the issue of name changes, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Tuesday. Addressing a media conference in Cape Town, Skweyiya said public hearings on the standardisation of geographical names in South Africa will be held in March 2008.