SA woke up to the shocking news on Sunday that Tito Mboweni, the country’s first black governor of the SA Reserve Bank and former minister of the key labour and finance portfolios, had died.
Mboweni died at a Johannesburg hospital on Saturday night after a short illness. His death will no doubt dominate the country’s political landscape in the coming days as his family and the government plan a befitting send-off for the ANC cadre, who also played a key role in the leadership of the party’s economic policy unit.
ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to reflect on key achievements of the government of national unity’s (GNU) first 100 days in office during an event to be held at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg on Monday.
The first 100 days of the GNU, which was formed after the ANC lost its electoral majority in the May 29 election, has seen the economy turning the corner of load-shedding, the rand firming against the dollar, and consumer inflation slowing for the third consecutive month in August.
Former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is on Wednesday expected to appear in the Pretoria high court for a pre-trial hearing over 12 charges of corruption and one for money-laundering stemming from her days as defence minister.
Mapisa-Nqakula, who appeared briefly in court in June where an indictment was served to the defence, allegedly received kickbacks from a defence contract. She allegedly asked for R4,550,000, of which R2,150,000 was paid in cash.
The corruption allegations were made by defence industry contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the sole director of logistics company Umkhombe Marine, which did business with the SA National Defence Force (SANDF). In February 2016, the company was awarded a contract valued at R104m.
The National Assembly is set to be a hive of activity this week, with numerous portfolio committees expected to be briefed by relevant stakeholders.
On Tuesday, the auditor-general of SA is set to brief the transport portfolio committee on the 2023/24 annual report of the department of transport.
The Financial and Fiscal Commission (FCC) is expected to brief the basic education portfolio committee on expenditure patterns relating to conditional grants and equity in education, among others.
On the same day, the FCC will brief the portfolio committee on health on the health sector’s national and provincial departments and relevant entities.
The AGSA will also brief the health portfolio committee on the audit outcomes of the health sector, with the Medical Research Council expected to brief the committee on its annual report for the 2023/24 financial year.
Also taking place on Tuesday, the select committee on finance (National Council of Provinces) is set to be briefed by the provincial treasuries of Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga on their quarterly reports.
On Wednesday, the portfolio committee on trade, industry & competition is set to have an engagement with the National Treasury on issues relating to the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). Business Day has reported how conflict of interest has marred the bidding process to operate the national lottery, which generates revenue on behalf of the NLC, with many of the participants linked to the ANC, directly or indirectly.
On Friday, the department of human settlements’ entities, including the Social Housing Regulatory Authority, Housing Development Agency, Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority and Community Schemes Ombud Services, are set to brief the human settlements portfolio committee on their audit outcomes for the 2023/24 financial year.
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