Jo’burg negotiations with Eskom fail; cut-off a possibility
City Power, the City of Johannesburg’s electricity utility, and Eskom have failed to reach an agreement over its R5.2 billion in arrears. Last month, in the wake of a threat by Eskom to cut off the City, Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced a plan for a partnership between City Power and Eskom, and ring-fencing City Powers revenue. Ramokgopa said yesterday that no agreement had been reached. This raises the possibility that Eskom could make good on its threat. Consultations in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act – required when Eskom interrupts bulk supplies to indebted municipalities – are ongoing.
Cape Town planning tribunal withholds legal opinion paid for by ratepayers
A Daily Maverick investigation has found that Cape Town’s municipal planning tribunal is refusing to release a legal opinion, funded by ratepayers, that it has been using to justify approving subdivision applications in the Constantia overlay zone. The opinion argues that the city’s Municipal Planning By-Law takes precedence over national legislation protecting residential character. Objectors, including former human rights lawyer Tracey Davies of the Constantia Ratepayers and Residents Association, argue this amounts to a breach of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. A separate PAIA request revealed that the city keeps no official records of MPT members’ professional qualifications or potential conflicts of interest, with the tribunal’s administrator stating such information is “not mandatory” to record.
Madlanga commission revelations threaten South Africa’s FATF standing
Allegations emerging from the Madlanga commission that organised crime has infiltrated the upper ranks of the South African Police Service risk undermining the country’s bid to avoid being greylisted again by the Financial Action Task Force. Ismail Momoniat, who heads South Africa’s FATF delegation, told Parliament’s finance committee that law enforcement is the country’s single biggest challenge ahead of an evaluation culminating in October 2027. The FATF will assess five years of data on investigations, prosecutions, and convictions for serious financial crimes, using methodology described as broader and tougher than the 2019 evaluation that triggered the original greylisting. South Africa was removed from the greylist in October last year. Treasury has urgently tabled the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill, which it hopes to promulgate before November.
Parliament still waiting for answers on Ramaphosa’s Iran instruction
Questions submitted to the Presidency about whether President Cyril Ramaphosa’s reported instruction regarding Iran’s participation in the “Will for Peace” naval exercise was ignored have gone unanswered, according to Netwerk24. The exercise, held in False Bay in January, attracted controversy when the Iranian warship Iris Naghdi took part alongside South African and Russian vessels. Parliamentary questions about whether the President issued an instruction concerning Iran’s role, and whether it was subsequently disregarded, have so far produced no response.
Trump says “I love the inflation” as Iran war drives prices to three-year high
President Donald Trump dismissed rising consumer prices on Tuesday, telling reporters “you know what I really love? I love the inflation” in remarks that drew immediate ridicule and fresh commentary about the political cost of the US-Iran war. US inflation reached 4.2% in May year-on-year, its highest level since April 2023, driven largely by surging energy costs tied to the conflict. Only 22% of Americans told a Reuters/Ipsos poll they were satisfied with Trump’s handling of the cost of living. Trump insisted prices would fall “like a rock” once the war concluded, while Fox News host Jessica Tarlov remarked: “And Democrats just won the midterms.”
[Sources: News24, Daily Maverick, Business Day, Netwerk24, Reuters]