The MK Party says Jacob Zuma has returned home and is “healthy and jovial”, but conflicting reports and deleted statements have created uncertainty about his hospital stay.

The boy’s distraught parents were on scene, but it is unclear if they were inside the home when the child had fallen.

On 17 September, the Constitutional Court delivered the eagerly awaited judgment relating to the Public Procurement Act. As some had hoped, and the government had feared, the act was declared unconstitutional and invalid. The genesis of the story is that in designing the Constitution of the Republic, the need to engage the public when drafting laws that would ultimately affect them was cast in stone. In sections 59, 72 and 118 of the Constitution, it is quite explicit that the National Assembly, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and provincial legislatures must facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes. This means that when new laws are mooted, there is an expectation that the public will indeed be offered a chance to be involved in the process. Public consultation, a complex task Lawmakers who are elected to represent the public are expected to put the public interest at the heart of the binding laws they propose and pass – and the best way to ensure alignment with the public interest is to actually canvass it. South Africa’s linguistic and social diversity cannot be ignored in the process of engaging the public. This means the practice of using a single language does not suffice and communities of different social and linguistic profiles have to feel that public consultation engages them at a level where language barriers are not a hurdle to participation. As the bills are primarily drafted in English, the processes involved in ensuring that translations and explanations where required are properly prepared call for a long lead time where no one gets rushed in the process. At some point, the Legislative Sector Public Participation Framework was developed to codify “reasonable public participation”. Under this guidance, features of reasonable public participation include holding pre-hearing workshops in order to establish relationships with stakeholders, running effective communication and awareness programmes, and ensuring that communities are mobilised and consultation meetings convened. In addition, summaries of proposed bills are meant to be translated into at least three languages spoken in a particular province and invitations to public hearings must be sent weeks in advance. When public hearings are heard in provinces, permanent delegates to the National Council of Provinces are required to attend. Most crucially, negotiating mandates that ultimately inform deliberations must be accompanied by detailed public comments. Such a framework essentially captures the entire spectrum of public consultation and promotes – if not ensures – inclusivity. Synthesising often irreconcilable views What it perhaps cannot do equally explicitly is determine how public comments and views that will naturally be diverse, polarising and often irreconcilable, must all be synthesised in final deliberations. The obvious difficulty is that in spite of parliament’s best intentions, some bills are complex and technical and hence the range of citizens who can engage meaningfully on their own starts to shrink. When citizens have access to resources – technical, legal and policy specialists – they can at least rely on such resources to inform their viewpoints. The downside of this model is that only the better-resourced community and civil society structures stand a fair chance of mobilising and informing affected citizens and constituencies timeously enough to enable meaningful participation and contributions. The implication of such a model is that substantive consultation is not just a question of numbers but also the substance of contributions made. If a public hearing involves a contentious and polarising issue like the land-related bills, the public hearings can degenerate into a dichotomy between massively mobilised constituents who simply state ‘No’ without offering any substantive justification for their position. On the other side, fewer but well-justified submissions that say otherwise may be presented on the same platform. The challenge then is to avoid a blind counting exercise where the number of ‘No’ submissions prevails just because they have volume and the number of substantively reasoned rebuttals are overwhelmed. Bills with flaws and blind spots The hard reality is that some bills are proposed with serious flaws and blind spots that benefit from a public consultation process where multiple stakeholders can make contributions. While the law does not guarantee that everyone’s viewpoint will ultimately be reflected in the bill and the resultant act, the requirement is for public consultations to be approached with an open mind, and the public consultation process must have an ability to influence the deliberations. When laws are enacted that appear to have paid little attention to the range of public inputs, the involved stakeholders will reasonably question whether the process was a consultative one or a compliance exercise. To this end, the responses to the public comments themselves are instrumental. They should articulate how lawmakers engaged each issue raised and can – if nothing else – give assurance that contributions are not wholly ignored. Despite these provisions, badly conceptualised laws can still emerge if those responsible for the process are able to skirt the margins of consultation and then use their voting power to usher in a flawed process. ANC legislative dominance, then came the GNU … Over the past 30 years, the process of making laws has been subject to two distinct political phases – the pre-government of national unity (GNU) phase and the current phase where the GNU is in place. In the previous phase, the ANC held a majority in the National Assembly and all but one delegation in the National Council of Provinces. Given the way bills get introduced in the first place, the majority would have emerged from the ANC and would presumably have been reflective of the party’s view and position in relation to the issue at hand. If the public consultation process could be ticked as a pass mark, then the follow-up processes of National Assembly and National Council deliberations could still mirror a position of the ANC rather than the reflections of a wider stakeholder group including citizens. As it turns out, such laws have come to pass, and it was when the Constitutional Court was asked to intervene where the spirit of the law-making process could be emphasised. Over the years, cases relating to the question of whether the process was constitutionally-compliant have been adjudicated and the principles have been continuously reinforced. This means parliament and the ANC in particular have access to a rich archive of reference points that explain how such consultations ought to work. With all this in mind, the question of how so many cases still make their way to the Constitutional Court and how the government lost its most recent case relating to the Public Procurement Act naturally emerges. The salient part of the judgment is that in completing the process of passing the bill, parliament seems to have been fixated on truncated timelines that made little sense in light of the vast number of affected stakeholders who attempted to make submissions. There’s also the fact that a wholly new chapter on preferential procurement was smuggled into the final versions without being subject to a public consultation process. Some of this was evidently influenced by the need to complete it all before the general election of 2024. Election urgency is not ‘objective’ urgency But what the government and parliament knew – thanks in part to the Land Access Movement of South Africa (Lamosa) – was that a parliamentary desire to finalise a legislative process before the end of term does not create any objective urgency. This means that it is not open to lawmakers to bypass the public consultation process simply because they forgot to plan on time and are chasing a deadline. The tempting proposition is that an ANC government, whose pre-election internal polling started predicting a less assured governance pathway after the 2024 general election, woke up to the reality that bills already passed when it had the majority in both houses – and were simply waiting for presidential assent – only required the presidential signature to be cast in stone. While the gap between NCOP concurrence and presidential assent has no timelines and the president can simply wait and not explain the delay, the period around and since the 2024 general elections coincided with a sense of urgency. Bills that had long lingered across the corridors of deliberation suddenly found favour with the presidential pen. The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, the first version of which was introduced by then minister of health Dr Zweli Mkhize in 2019, went on to traverse a long and complicated journey It was signed into law in May 2024 (shortly after Panyaza Lesufi declared that NHI was indeed imminent provided voters gave the ANC a mandate). The Expropriation Bill, with a stop-start history much longer than most people can recall, was signed into law in January 2025 after being available for the president to sign since March 2024. The highly contentious Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, which was passed by the NCOP in May 2024 with noted dissent from the Western Cape delegation, was signed into law in September 2024. But so contentious were its components that Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube of the DA did not attend the signing ceremony. The president then offered the range of disaffected stakeholders a post-event consultation window before all clauses came into force in December 2024. Which brings us to the Public Procurement Act … The Public Procurement Act itself was passed by the NCOP in May 2024 and signed into law in July 2024, just weeks into the GNU when the rules of engagement were still contested. As parliament had failed in its duty, the president was asked to sign a law whose rushed development created the defects that ultimately proved fatal. Some of the glaring flaws included a comment window of just three-and-a-half weeks and a limited period of just four hours for stakeholders who wanted to review the new chapter on Preferential Procurement. For those who had something to say directly to lawmakers, parliament allocated a grand total of just two minutes per presentation. Of the 112 submissions received by the finance committee, just 41 merited responses from National Treasury. The DA-led Western Cape government was one of the parties that fought to have the Public Procurement Act set aside, even though the DA is a member of the GNU. The result of the law being struck down in its entirety is that it leaves the procurement system subject to the prevailing litany of rules that remain in desperate need of alignment and the timeline for drafting a new bill is still unknown. Risky gamble If such bills were signed into law just to ensure that they cast laws reflective of ANC preferences into stone – ensuring that future governments would ‘have’ to make the best of what had been etched into law – then bypassing critical public consultations was a risky exercise, precisely because of the possibility that such bills can get reviewed and set aside due to this Across all these laws, the ANC did not always find common ground with its newfound GNU partner, the DA, and could still get the laws passed. In some of the laws, the dissent was across the political spectrum and not just a matter of the DA in its capacity as the official opposition. Consequences When these laws get invalidated on the basis of the ANC-dominated parliament’s failure to do the basics, the process has to start afresh – and given how contentious some of the issues are, it is rather difficult to see this as an easy process. Missteps in consultation that leave bills open to reviews of this nature have consequences. It means key legislation the ANC thought it had got over the line – like the NHI – may ultimately have to be restarted if they are subjected to judicial review and do not survive scrutiny. For a party not used to convincing other parties on the merits of its proposals – and also not always keen on following the labour of public consultation processes – the ANC needs to learn how to negotiate and consult with other political parties at every step. Because avoiding the pitfalls of flawed public consultations is the only way we can avoid a law-making paralysis under the GNU. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana can approach Wednesday’s medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) with some relief, with economists estimating that tax collections could exceed expectation by between R40 billion and R70 billion. The stronger-than-expected revenue performance reflects greater resilience in the economy, supported by elevated precious metal prices that have boosted mining profits. Personal income tax and value-added tax (Vat) receipts remain robust, while improved efficiency in broadening the tax base has provided further support. However, the windfall from the mining sector is cyclical and may prove short-lived. Without sustained economic growth, the additional revenue is unlikely to provide a lasting boost to the fiscus, cautioned Investec treasury economist Tertia Jacobs during a recent podcast. “The South African Revenue Service (Sars) is collecting about R100 billion per annum now. It looks like they’re finding it more challenging to collect another R30 billion or so, and we know that the tax gap is about R400 billion, but they are working at it.” More harsh penalties Tax specialists have increasingly voiced their concerns about an aggressive Sars. “An increase in revenue can also be seen in harsher understatement penalties imposed by Sars, less appetite for settlements, and more appeals being heard at the Tax Court and beyond,” says Joon Chong, a partner at Webber Wentzel. A proposed amendment to the 20% underestimation penalty regime in the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill could further boost Sars’s revenue through penalties imposed on the existing tax base. The bill will also be tabled in parliament on Wednesday, alongside the MTBPS. It proposes an amendment to treat a taxpayer’s provisional tax estimate as nil if no payment is made by the due date, even if the estimated taxable income falls within the acceptable range. “It effectively converts non-payment into underestimation. Under the existing rules, a taxpayer who estimates within the permitted tolerance but fails to pay does not incur a 20% underestimation penalty but a 10% late payment penalty.” In addition to being harsher, the amendment will operate retrospectively from 25 February this year. It therefore seeks to change the legal consequences of conduct that has already occurred and which was subject to different penalty consequences under the law as it stood at the time, notes Chong. “Changing these consequences after the event undermines legal certainty and the rule of law, which are foundational values of our Constitution,” she says. “The question is whether the compliance concern Sars is seeking to address justifies imposing a substantially more punitive consequence retroactively.” Debt collection Keitumetse Sesana, a tax legislative policy expert, says Sars’s debt collection workbook, with latest populated balances for August, shows undisputed tax debt at R557.5 billion and disputed debt R134.2 billion, bringing the total to approximately R692 billion. “However, the growing number of tax disputes progressing through the courts suggests that taxpayers are increasingly pushing back against Sars, raising an important question about the extent to which South Africa’s already narrow tax base can continue to absorb mounting revenue collection pressures,” says Sesana. Last year, Sars faced revenue collection pressures that exposed limitations in its debt collection capacity, prompting additional investment in debt collectors and enforcement capabilities. “The question now is whether these interventions, supported by additional funding from National Treasury, will translate into measurable improvements in collection efficiency and the resolution of disputed debt.” Sesana is quick to add that undisputed debt is not necessarily immediately recoverable, but says it warrants more targeted segmentation and a credible recovery strategy. A growing illicit economy Sars, law enforcement agencies and legitimate businesses have intensified their efforts to combat illicit trade and economic activity through Operation Ukubusa, the National Illicit Economy Disruption Programme announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in February. However, a recent study by global market researcher Ipsos found that illicit cigarettes sold in the market increased from 27% in 2022 to almost 75% this year. This is estimated to result in R30 billion in lost tax revenue, as cigarettes continue to be sold well below the minimum collectable tax (MTC) price of R27.12. The total size of the illicit economy is estimated at around R280 billion. “Tackling the illicit economy therefore presents an important opportunity not only to recover lost revenue, but also to protect legitimate businesses, restore fair competition and broaden the effective tax base without placing further pressure on compliant taxpayers,” says Sesana. Ultimately, combating the illicit economy must move beyond policy commitments towards measurable results that strengthen revenue mobilisation and protect the integrity of South Africa’s tax system, she adds. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.

Kaizer Chiefs icon Doctor Khumalo might step back from our television screens. The former Bafana Bafana superstar has been named as SAFA’s new vice-chairperson of the Technical Committee. Jack Maluleke remains as the chairperson. “In our technical committee, we have reappointed Mr Jack Maluleke as the chair and appointed Doctor Khumalo as the vice-chairperson of the SAFA Technical Committee,” SAFA President Dr Jordaan told the media on Sunday. “I spoke to him, and he is quite happy to serve in this technical committee of SAFA,” he added. WHAT THE KAIZER CHIEFS LEGEND DOCTOR KHUMALO WILL DO AS THE VICE-CHAIRPERSON The Soweto-born icon will be involved in developing the country’s football development strategy. He will be aligning local programmes and structures with the fast-moving international waves. Khumalo, who has been vocal on Bafana Bafana in recent times, will also liase with the standards suggested by FIFA and lead the SAFA 2023 Vision. Some of the responsibilities include coaching development. The national team performance will also be among the key areas under the committee’s watch. The committee is expected to review coaching programmes, assess technical standards and contribute to efforts to improve the quality of football across the country. The Kaizer Chiefs icon will further contribute to discussions around the identification of coaches for SAFA’s national teams. Talent scouting and youth development are other areas of focus. DOCTOR KHUMALO TAKES ON KEY FOOTBALL ROLE The SAFA Technical Committee also has a performance oversight role, assessing the technical and tactical progress of national teams and identifying areas that need improvement. As vice-chairperson, Khumalo may also deputise for Maluleke when required and assist with delegated responsibilities. The committee works within SAFA’s broader governance structures to support the implementation of football policies and development plans. Khumalo brings extensive playing experience to the position. He represented Bafana Bafana during a significant period in South African football history and remains one of Kaizer Chiefs’ most recognisable former players. His new position gives him an opportunity to contribute beyond his playing legacy, particularly in areas that influence coaching, talent development and the future direction of the national game. The 59-year-old recently named his best five South African players of all time. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF HIS APPOINTMENT? Share your thoughts by clicking on the red comments block below.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has returned to work after his dramatic collapse at the Constitutional Court, revealing what pushed him to his limit. Mbalula confirmed his return to Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Sunday, 18 October, after President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered him to rest following Thursday’s health scare. The ANC secretary-general declared himself fit to resume his duties, joking that he had served his sentence. “The President of the African National Congress, who is after all the boss, ordered me to bed. That order expired at six o’clock this morning. I have served my sentence, and I am back at my desk,” Mbalula said. MBALULA REVEALS WHAT LED TO HIS COLLAPSE Mbalula blamed seven weeks of mounting pressure over the ANC’s legal battle to reinstate 181 councillor candidates ahead of the 4 November local government elections. He said the possibility of voters in six municipalities receiving ballot papers without their preferred party had weighed heavily on him. “Many of you saw what happened to me in that courtroom, I had carried something heavy for seven weeks,” he said. “The thought that people in six municipalities might be handed a ballot paper that did not carry the party they had chosen. That thought sat on my chest every night.” Mbalula said the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the ANC’s favour brought overwhelming relief. “When the Court spoke, the weight came off all at once, and the body did what the body does.” He acknowledged that the pressure had taken a physical toll. “I am a human being. All of us have a limit, and there is no shame in finding yours.” [WATCH] THE TASK AHEAD, DECISIVE VICTORY FOR THE ANCComrades, fellow South Africans, there are seventeen days left. The courtroom is behind us. The campaign is in front of us. I am back, I am well, and from today you will find me where I belong, which is on the ground, with our… pic.twitter.com/CpOodrbMnC— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) October 18, 2026 DOCTORS GIVE FIKILE MBALULA THE ALL-CLEAR Mbalula assured South Africans that doctors had examined him following the incident. “To my family, who had the fright of their lives, and to all of you: the doctors have examined me thoroughly and I am fit as a fiddle.” He added: “I have rested. Now the ground is calling my name.” As previously reported by The South African, Mbalula became visibly emotional and nearly collapsed while addressing journalists on Thursday, 15 October. The incident followed the Constitutional Court’s decision to overturn an earlier ruling that upheld the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) exclusion of 181 ANC candidates. The ANC had failed to complete the final submission step on the IEC’s online nomination system before the deadline. The court subsequently ordered the IEC to include the affected candidates on the ballot. RAMAPHOSA HAD ORDERED MBALULA TO REST Mbalula’s return comes just a day after Ramaphosa confirmed that he had instructed the ANC secretary-general to take time off. Speaking during an election campaign visit to Athlone, Cape Town, on Saturday, Ramaphosa acknowledged the pressure Mbalula had faced. “He was carrying a heavy burden,” Ramaphosa said. On Sunday, Ramaphosa insisted that Mbalula would not return until he and the doctors were satisfied with his recovery. Mbalula has now declared himself ready to resume his political duties as the ANC heads into the final stretch of campaigning ahead of the 4 November elections.

The Reserve Bank wants all of South Africa's ATMs white-labelled, with free transactions below a threshold, starting with a pilot in January.

Apple's first foldable iPhone carries a steeper local premium than its new HomeView, HomePod mini 2 and Apple TV 4K.