Months of uncertainty surrounding the controversial Bodulo Mothong housing project could come to an end today when the Free State High Court delivers judgment in a closely watched legal battle that could determine the future of hundreds of vulnerable families awaiting relocation to safer living cond...
Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) leader and founder Jacob Zuma said his party is contemplating making a push for the postponement of the local government elections until the party’s disputed 2024 general election case against the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has been finalised.
Addressing the party’s eThekwini consultative forum on councillor candidate selection on Sunday evening, Zuma spoke at length about the alleged rigging of the 2024 elections that his party was challenging, questioning the IEC’s rationale in preparing for another election while his party was still challenging the previous elections legitimacy.
Zuma asked why the party members were not demanding that before any new election, the electoral body must first deal with the party’s dispute.
“We were robbed in the previous elections. We might call for the postponement of the upcoming elections. You can’t organise another election while you have not resolved the previous one. For me we must be talking with one voice, asking why you bring another election before solving our case first.
"We must speak out in numbers and tell them we are not in the new elections yet and we still need to know what happened to our votes that were stolen. I would be happy if we can all ask, here in KwaZulu-Natal, what happened to our votes. Let’s tell them that we don't want a new election because they have not solved the issues of the previous one,” said Zuma.
He further told the meeting that he has met the party’s legal team and was preparing for the sitting of the case which was expected to be heard early next month by the Electoral Court.
Zuma, called on his party members to double down and win the eThekwini municipality at this year's elections and eventually the province by 2029.
In the 2024 national and general elections, the MKP received 400,000 in eThekwini, becoming the largest party and ending the ANC’s historical dominance. The party was currently holding consultative forums throughout the province as part of a councillor candidate selection process. Although communities participated in the selection process, it is the party's leadership that appoints councillors.
After the announcement of the 2024 elections results by the IEC, the MKP claimed that there was widespread rigging of the elections which it claimed it had won. However, in August the same year the party withdrew its case in court but later revived it. The party cited technical glitches which saw the results disappearing for two hours from the national results dashboard and claimed that this was done deliberately 'in order to steal the party’s votes'.
The IEC has already indicated that this year’s local government elections will take place between November and January 2027 and was just waiting for President Cyril Ramaphosa to promulgate the date.
In 2024, the MKP became the third biggest party with 14,58% of the vote nationally. It also became the biggest party in KwaZulu-Natal with 45% - just short of the majority needed to form the provincial government.
The IFP formed a Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) with the DA, ANC and NFP leaving the MKP as the official opposition. As a result, the MKP assumed the role of the official opposition in the provincial parliament.
Alleged criminal mastermind Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala will remain in custody at the Kgosi Mampuru Maximum Security Prison until next month.
Matlala appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday, where the court ruled that he will remain at the facility until May 13 for consultations.
Earlier this year, Matlala was transferred to the Ebongweni Super Maximum Correctional Centre, in Kokstad. At the time, Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald said officials followed Standard Operating Procedures when he was relocated. IOL reported that Matlala was relocated from Kgosi Mampuru on December 21, 2025, to Kokstad, a move that prompted him to seek relief from the Johannesburg High Court amid challenges in conducting proper consultation with his legal team.
Matlala was arrested on charges of fraud and corruption relating to a police tender, valued at R360 million, awarded to him in 2024.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola is due to appear in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Tuesday in relation to the R360-million health tender that was awarded to tender tycoon Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
The contract was awarded to Matlala’s company, Medicare24, in 2024, but was later cancelled after serious irregularities surfaced.
Masemola now faces criminal charges linked to alleged breaches of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). He was served a summons in March.
Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged the case, saying any action will follow due legal process, while stressing the need for stability within SAPS.
At the same time, the pressure is intensifying. Suspended Mpumalanga police commissioner Daphney Manamela has accused Masemola of protecting corrupt officers and interfering in investigations.
She claims she was sidelined for acting against extortion and corruption, and that a key crime-fighting unit was disbanded soon after.
Manamela has also alleged a multi-million rand bribe linked to a high-profile case. Masemola has denied the claims.
Police say the allegations are serious and under investigation.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi announced that she would be instructing all State Attorney Offices to establish stakeholder forums in their respective areas where they will meet quarterly to discuss issues such as the allocation of briefs to the legal fraternity.
This followed an outcry on Monday by several legal practitioners that the Office of the State Attorney routinely allocates legal work to established and mostly white legal practitioners, while overlooking smaller black firms.
The minister and her deputy, Andries Nel engaged with legal practitioners as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration and advance transformation within the legal sector.
This engagement provides a platform for constructive dialogue with legal practitioners on matters relating to transformation and the empowerment of previously disadvantaged professionals within the legal sector.
Various members of the legal fraternity as well as representatives of legal bodies were outspoken about the fact that black lawyers are overlooked, especially when it came to the State Attorney allocating work in high-profile cases.
Others said while they followed procedures as set out by the State Attorney’s Office to simply get any work, they have been overlooked. This caused frustration for many, as some had to close their offices due to financial constraints.
The acting Solicitor-General, Felix Mbeki, gave an overview during the proceedings, including statistics as to how work is being allocated and which processes had to be followed to be considered. He also painted a positive picture on how practitioners called upon to do work for the State are paid within the stipulated 30-day payment frame.
This sparked an emotional outcry from many of the lawyers present, who said these were simply wrong and that these figures did not represent the plight of the smaller black firms who are being overlooked.
Mbeki gave the assurance that since the establishment of the Office of the Solicitor-General, a structured and policy-driven approach has been implemented to promote fairness, transparency, and inclusivity in the allocation of state legal work.
One of the lawyers present at the engagement, however, said he had a legal bill taxed in 2023 for R31 000 after doing work for the State, which has not been paid up to today.
Another said she has never been briefed for work as small black firms are simply being overlooked. “We don’t have money for rent…Receiving a brief depends on how close you are to someone in the State Attorney’s Office,” she said.
Advocate Myron Dewrance, who leads Advocates for Transformation, also questioned how transformation is achieved while overlooking black and women lawyers.
He said these practitioners are being failed and this results in them not being able to economically sustain themselves and their practices. According to Dewrance, it is not only being briefed but also being paid for the work done if briefed. He pointed to a practitioner who has to use her home as an Airbnb and who has to live in her car with her child as she cannot make ends meet.
Dewrance said in most instances white firms are being briefed. He also questioned the system and said several government entities brief outside the State Attorney’s system, such as Sars, Eskom, and the Reserve Bank, who have their own preferential law firms. This is where the high-value work is, he said.
“Without this, we cannot talk about transformation. Please don’t sell us a pipe dream,” Dewrance said.
Minister Kubayi gave the assurance that the concerns will be addressed. She said while they are valid, the worst off in this sector are black female practitioners.
She emphasized that transformation does not need replacing white faces with black faces. But she acknowledged that there are briefing patterns which favour white males and said this cannot be ignored.
She is actively defending the Legal Sector Code (LSC) against legal challenges from major law firms. She said the LSC is crucial for transformation.
The code aims to increase participation of black legal practitioners, youth, and women and to reflect the country’s demographics.
Suspended City of Tshwane CFO Gareth Mnisi has been accused of a conflict of interest for assisting a company owned by Sergeant Fannie Nkosi’s brother with tender documentation for a tender outside the City of Tshwane.
The same company Ngaphesheya Construction and Projects, was simultaneously competing for a Tshwane Metro Police Department's R2.9 billion security tender, a process in which Mnisi was set to be one of the adjudicators as chairperson of the bid adjudication committee (BAC).
Testifying at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry Mnisi on Monday, he said he did nothing wrong by assisting Ngaphesheya, a company linked to Nkosi's brother Bheki.
"It had nothing to do with the City of Tshwane, firstly. Secondly, I did not look at any attachments and conduct a physical assessment of what was there. I just looked at raw documents provided and responded to key areas...So, there was no conflict of interest because of that," he said.
Unimpressed by his response Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said: "For a chief financial officer that is a very narrow view of a conflict of interest."
He expressed concern that Mnisi assisted with the preparation of a bid document for the same entity that “is participating as a competitor in a bid process that you are going to chair, with a view to making recommendations on whether to award or not to award to the city manager".
Mnisi insisted that his action had no conflict of interest because there was no association between the bid and the City of Tshwane.
"I have no interest, whether financial or any other sort. Whether they receive or appointed in those areas in looking at the broad documentation... I stand not to benefit. I have not been promised any money...It is just for a friend who specialises in these matters to have a look at what is key for those documents," he said.
He said that even if the tender in question was advertised in Tshwane, he would still be allowed to assist tender bidders by clarifying general terms during the open application period.
"This is a matter that was further escalated to the city’s war room as a result of matters of these nature serving as a red tape, if I might put it as such - for individuals who have been disqualified for petty issues which could have been avoided had they understood the contents of the requirements of any bid," Mnisi said.
Madlanga, however, pushed back, saying: "This is totally different. This is your friend's brother's company. You assist that company for a bid, which as you say was for some other entity. It is something that you have an intimate relationship with. You have said you are a close friend of Nkosi. Based on what you are telling us you didn't even see a need for a disclosure."
Co-commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi suggested that Mnisi had an interest in and bias toward Ngaphesheya, even if he was not promised any financial rewards.
She said Mnisi’s actions could be viewed as illegal, amounting to participation in the corruption of a tender process already under way in Tshwane.
"The alternative is that you are promoting the financial interest of Ngaphesheya in another institution and that should have disqualified you to sit as a BAC chair in Tshwane or should have declared," Baloyi said.
The company that Mnisi assisted, Ngaphesheya, and El Shadai — one of the two Nkosi asked him to check for compliance — were among the seven companies appointed for the security tender in Tshwane.
Mnisi had earlier testified that Nkosi forwarded him a list of seven companies from suspended TMPD deputy chief Umashi Dhlamini to check for compliance.
Nkosi has been accused of conspiring with Dhlamini and Mnisi to help his brother's company secure a TMPD security tender despite the company not meeting the requirements.
Nkosi’s forwarded list of preferred tender bidders to Mnisi also read in part: "The above is from the red berets, please check with Mfowethu (Mnisi) if it is the same with his from CIC (Juju) to verify the authenticity." Mnisi flatly denied receiving a list from 'CIC Juju' who was identified as EFF leader Julius Malema.
On a different occasion Mnisi testified that he sent Nkosi a message detailing a tender for the supply, delivery and off-loading of refuse bags for the city for a three-year period, as and when required. The tender message stated that Mnisi had also sent the same message to Bheki Nkosi and that they “need to regroup on this”.
During his recent testimony Nkosi explained that he understood Mnisi’s message about regrouping to mean they should meet and that Bheki Nkosi should apply for the tender if he qualified.
Mnisi told the commission that he did not assist the Nkosi brothers to complete tender documents as he is prohibited by law.
EFF leader Julius Malema’s five-year prison sentence for a 2018 incident at an EFF rally in Mdantsane has been described by legal experts as excessive, with some warning that it could be increased to as much as 10 years if a higher court finds the magistrate was “too lenient.”
Some experts say that, if a higher court reaches that conclusion, it may impose a harsher sentence on appeal.
Malema was sentenced on Thursday by Magistrate Twanet Olivier in the East London Magistrate’s Court in KuGompo City.
He was, however, released on warning after filing an immediate appeal.
The State had argued for a harsher penalty. Prosecutor Advocate Joel Cesar asked the court to impose a sentence of up to 15 years’ imprisonment, or alternatively 10 years with three years suspended, along with fines on the remaining counts.
Malema was convicted in October 2025 on five counts under the Firearms Control Act.
The charges relate to a 2018 EFF rally at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, where he was seen on video firing what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle into the air before a crowd of about 20,000 supporters.
The firearm belonged to a security company linked to his former bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, who was acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
The court heard that Snyman handed the weapon to Malema during the event.
Malema has consistently maintained that the firearm was a prop or blank gun and not capable of firing live ammunition.
Top Durban advocate Paul Jorgenson said that wule Malema’s decision to appeal his sentence was a “no brainer” there was a strong possibility the appeal court could significantly alter the outcome.
Jorgenson said that on appeal, Malema’s five-year prison sentence could potentially be replaced with a fine or a suspended sentence. He also questioned whether the trial court fully considered alternative sentencing options, saying: “I mean did the magistrate even consider correctional supervision.”
In his view, the sentence could ultimately be set aside by a higher court. However, he cautioned that the State may also pursue a cross-appeal seeking a harsher punishment.
“That is a strong possibility,” Jorgenson said, referring to the chance of a reduced or non-custodial sentence on appeal, while noting that the legal process could still work in either direction depending on arguments presented by both sides.
Speaking to IOL News, legal expert Malesela Komape of Komape Incorporated Attorneys said the sentence was “far-fetched” and likely to be overturned or reduced on appeal.
“The defence has shown that previous authorities support a non-custodial sentence in cases like this,” he said.
“A five-year direct imprisonment is excessive, and there is a strong possibility that Mr Malema will succeed on appeal.”
Komape said the High Court would examine whether the magistrate erred in both conviction and sentencing.
He pointed to inconsistencies in the treatment of the co-accused, saying that Snyman was initially found to have a case to answer under Section 174 but was later acquitted.
