Author: Ground Up

By Raymond Joseph The Special Investigating Unit raided the office of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) in East London on Wednesday morning. Documents and computers were seized in relation to an investigation into a corrupt scheme run by former board member Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who died earlier this year. The scheme allegedly worked by getting newly set up non-profit companies to obtain NLC funding, which was then channelled to a family member. Documents and computers were seized by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) during a raid on the East London offices of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) as part of an investigation…

By Anton van Zyl and Maanda Bele “Do you think it will last until December?” This is Edward’s* main concern. Two months ago he invested R500 in a new get-rich-quick scheme, Gollong Investment. It was all the money he had, but he was desperate to try something to make some extra cash. After just 40 days, Edward, from Thohoyandou in Limpopo, received a notification that his balance with Gollong was now R800, showing a welcome R300 profit. The investment generated a 60% return, not bad going for just over a month.  Edward was so impressed with how his “investment” had performed, that instead…

By Ezekiel Kekana PRASA says 396 Shosholoza Meyl train carriages nationally will be scrapped and sold. 155 carriages have been parked for years in Pretoria’s Bosman Street station and are “obsolete.” A “retirement” strategy has been approved to dispose of all the obsolete assets of PRASA. Only two Shosholoza Meyl routes are currently operating. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) says 396 Shosholoza Meyl carriages, most of its fleet, are “obsolete” and will soon be scrapped or sold. At Pretoria’s Bosman Street station alone, there are 155 carriages rusting on the sidings, some for over a decade according to…

By Tania Broughton The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed with costs a bid by Siyangena Technologies Pty Ltd to overturn a finding by the Pretoria High Court that it was complicit in corruption when it scored contracts valued at about R5.5 billion from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) The SCA on Tuesday ruled that the company was not an “innocent party”, as it claimed, and that It would be “inconsistent with the notions of justice and equity” if it were allowed to profit from the unlawful procurement contracts. Read the judgment The court also affirmed that the high…

By Liezl Human The R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant is being extended for an additional year until March 2024, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced on Wednesday. Presenting his medium term budget policy statement to Parliament, Godongwana said: “The SRD grant was introduced in May 2020 as a temporary measure to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable who were affected by lockdown measures. It has been extended several times since then. Discussions on the future of the grant are on-going and involve very difficult trade-offs and financing decisions.” But millions of people who used to get the grant…

By Chris Gilili Over 150 members of civil society groups and unemployed people picketed outside the National Treasury in Pretoria on Tuesday. They are calling for the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) Grant to be extended and converted to a basic income grant. The group demanded a wealth tax to fund the grant as well as an increase in taxes on products like cigarettes, vaping, sugary drinks, alcohol and carbon. Over 150 members of civil society groups and unemployed people picketed at Church Square in Pretoria on Tuesday. They are calling for the National Treasury to continue paying the R350…

By Raymond Joseph Former National Lotteries Commission chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba personally recommended a R4.8-million grant, supposedly for a rural soccer tournament, to a company of which his wife was a director. R3-million of this money helped buy a luxury home for the NLC’s former board chairperson. Letwaba told investigators that neither he or his wife were aware of the funding application, according to a report by auditors SkX. Former National Lotteries Commission chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba recommended that a R4.8-million grant for a rural soccer tournament be given to a company in which both his wife and his…

By Zimbali Mncube The first two articles in this series focused on defining a Universal Basic Income Grant (UBIG) and explaining its impacts and the evolving debate about its implementation. One of the most contested issues in the debate is whether or not South Africa can afford it. That’s the topic we tackle in this last article in the series. Debates about the affordability of a UBIG tend to focus on the “gross” financing costs – the amount of money the government needs to set aside to pay the grants at the outset – and the fiscal trade-offs that would have to be made. These…

By Daniel Steyn and Mkhuseli Sizani In the rural Eastern Cape school dropout rates are extremely high. Primary school teaching is also often of a haphazard quality and there is a lack of focus on early childhood development. In the space of 20 years, one organisation has established four pre-schools, an extensive e-learning programme, an independent high school, and a job skills and entrepreneurship programme. Lihle Mbikwana grew up in Xhora Mouth in the rural Eastern Cape. As a child, his walk to school was more than an hour long, which in that area is considered short. The teachers had to drive three…

By Tariro Washinyira Trade union federations have rejected proposals by the National Treasury and the Presidency for alternative grants to replace the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The proposals, dated July 2022 by the Presidency and August 2022 by the National Treasury, include a targeted job-seeker grant and a caregiver grant to replace the R350-a-month SRD grant. An untargeted grant, such as a universal Basic Income Grant, is rejected as being too expensive. In a statement, the South Africa Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) dismissed the proposals. The union said as many as 62% of current beneficiaries of the SRD grant would be excluded from the…