Musa Khawula ordered to apologise to Malema or face 30 days in jail:
Controversial blogger Musa Khawula has been sentenced to 30 days imprisonment, suspended on condition that he apologises for comments suggesting that Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema and his wife, Mantoa Matlala-Malema, were headed for divorce.
On Tuesday, the Gauteng high court found Khawula in contempt of court after he failed to comply with an April ruling ordering him to issue a public apology over defamatory allegations about the couple’s marriage.
The court ordered that the 30-day prison sentence would be suspended for 30 days on condition that Khawula fully complies with the earlier order requiring him to apologise.
In February, Malema took Khawula to court after the blogger posted on social media platform X that Mantoa had filed for divorce.
In April, the court ruled in Malema’s favour, finding Khawula’s posts defamatory, false and unlawful. He was ordered to remove the posts, issue a public apology within 24 hours and pay legal costs on an attorney-and-client scale.
The court also instructed him to permanently remove all defamatory posts about Malema from his X account and other social media platforms.
Khawula, however, refused to comply with the court order, insisting his remarks were true and publicly stating that he would not apologise, prompting the couple to return to court.
SA padel gets a global upgrade: Premier Padel P2 launched:
Premier Padel will come to South Africa for the first time at the end of July, marking a milestone for the sport’s growth in the country.
The tournament will bring the world’s top players to South African soil for official competitive action.
Just a year after most of the world’s top 20 padel players featured in a friendly exhibition at the SA Invitational hosted by Gayle and 360, the stars are ready to get serious under the lights at SunBet Arena in Time Square, Pretoria, from 27 July to 2 August.
On Tuesday, Primedia held a launch event at Balwin Padel, Waterfall City, to welcome the Premier Padel Pretoria P2 to South Africa and give media and stakeholders more information on the event.
A concern among the broader padel community was ticket prices after the high cost of tickets to the SA Invitational. However, Primedia Sport vice-president Tobie Badenhorst said pricing had been made more reasonable so that the event was accessible to more people.
He said the most expensive ticket in the stands would be R1 250 for the days of the semi-finals and final, while VIP tickets were expected to cost R5 000.
For those who won’t be able to make it to Pretoria to watch it live, the tournament will be streamed globally on Red Bull TV, the official broadcast and streaming partner of Premier Padel.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, ESPN Africa (available on DStv Channel 218 and StarTimes 248) will deliver full live coverage of the tournament. The broadcast will also be available on the ESPN linear channels on Disney+ in South Africa. Furthermore, the tournament will also be carried on Canal+ (French-speaking only platform).
A chance for local talent to shine
Badenhorst confirmed that qualifiers would take place for South Africa’s elite players, with spots for four men’s teams and one for a women’s team. Two men’s teams will have to go through the tournament’s qualifiers and two teams will be entered straight into the main draw.
Players such as Adam van Harte, Richard Ashforth, Warren Kuhn and Luan Krige are expected to relish the opportunity, particularly with strong home support behind them.
The same group of players will also soon be competing in the 360 Diamond League, which is a franchise team league that brings South Africa’s elite players under one roof.
“The official launch of the Pretoria Premier Padel P2 represents a defining moment for South African sport,” said Badenhorst.
“Hosting a world-class event at the SunBet Arena at Time Square not only delivers a premium experience for fans, partners and broadcasters but also creates meaningful opportunities for local players to compete on the global stage.”
Where to now for padel in South Africa?
South Africa has made drastic strides in padel since the first court opened at Val de Vie Estate in Paarl, Western Cape in 2019.
There are 1 513 courts and 458 clubs across 30 cities in the country, with players playing an average of more than four times a month, according to data from Playtomic — the official application that connects Padel players throughout the world.
Last year saw 131 new clubs open in the country and 387 new courts. Gauteng and the Western Cape together make up 67.7% of the country’s courts.
There are about half a million amateur players in South Africa, however the data shows that there are only about 70 000 to 90 000 active players a month.
South Africa ranks in the top five for player bookings on the Playtomic app and is in the top five for viewers of Premier Padel on Red Bull TV.
Romandi de Jongh, Playtomic country manager, explained that the country was in the post-boom of the sport and should manage it well to avoid a collapse.
The three key ways to do that, she said, was for a more inclusive community as padel was viewed as an elite sport; the need to expand in other provinces beyond Gauteng and the Western Cape; and to avoid bad practices like price wars between clubs.
De Jongh said as the sport was starting to show signs of a post-boom period in South Africa, making it a great time for Premier Padel to come to the country.
SIU flags inflated generator prices in R25m Ditsobotla contract probe:
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has referred an investigation into a R25 million irregular procurement of generators for the Boikhutsong pump stations in Ditsobotla Local Municipality to the Special Tribunal, after inflated pricing and procurement breaches involving Rensch Trading CC were detected.
In a report tabled before the standing committee on public accounts in parliament last week, the SIU found that the company was appointed without the proper procurement processes being followed.
The investigation revealed that the service provider was appointed under Regulation 36 of the National Water Act as an emergency measure, despite the process appearing to be aimed at ratifying a prior telephonic appointment.
“No contract or appointment letter exists for a contract valued at R25 million,” the report said. “The delivery and installation of generators took place at inflated prices ranging from R250 000 to R550 000, based on a variation order relating to specifications and pricing, without any supporting evidence to justify the increase.”
The SIU also identified fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R5 704 503.40 for work that was not completed but was paid for. In addition, irregular expenditure of R25m was linked to the procurement of generators.
The matter has been referred to the Special Tribunal, while three cases have been sent to the embattled municipality for disciplinary action.
Advocate Victoria Mdlalose, the acting North West provincial head of the SIU, told parliament that the procurement had been done by Ngaka Molema District Municipality on behalf of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.
Mdlalose said the service provider was paid R5.7m for work not yet done. “Part of this was emanating from payments that were done [by the municipality] to the service provider for days … in actual fact that work was not actually carried out. It is also in relation to an over payment of R2 million that was done to the service provider.”
The SIU said the matter was at the Special Tribunal for civil litigation and while there were three disciplinary referrals, no action was taken against the implicated municipal officials.
“What we did find is that the institution did appoint a firm of attorneys to discipline the SCM [supply chain manager] but nothing actually happened in relation to that. In relation to one of the managers, nothing happened and [the official] is still in the institution and no action was taken against them,” she said.
For years, the municipality has struggled to deliver basic services, including sanitation, clean water and electricity.
The SIU has also tabled another report into Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality in the Free State.
The investigation focused on the irregular awarding of contracts for events management services and the compilation of an indigent register, as well as instances of fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
The SIU found that procurement processes followed by the municipality for both contracts were not in line with Section 217(1) of the Constitution. Municipal officials who served on bid committees were found to have committed misconduct by failing to comply with relevant legislative requirements.
The report highlighted contraventions of Section 78(1)(c), read with Section 171(3)(c) of the Municipal Finance Management Act, by senior managers and officials who incurred unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
It also cited fraud by a service provider or its representative through the submission of duplicate invoices.
Further findings included forgery and the use of forged documents, as well as contraventions of the Justice of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act.
A former accounting officer was found to have failed to take reasonable steps to prevent irregular and wasteful expenditure.
Additional allegations include fraud by another service provider involving a fraudulent tax clearance certificate, double billing for VAT and the submission of false claims to the municipality.
The SIU also cited contraventions of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act by a former official and associated individuals and entities.
The SIU confirmed that 17 criminal cases were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority between 7 November 2022 and 2 May 2023.
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