logo
Crooks rip away poor's better life

Crooks rip away poor's better life

The Citizen19 hours ago
William Huma must repay R21 million, but no court can restore the opportunities stolen from the poorest South Africans.
Sometimes, there are glimmers of hope that justice will be served in South Africa and that the country could become the prosperous, fair, place we all believe it should be.
One such was news former National Lotteries Commission board member William Huma has been ordered to pay back R21 million in stolen grant funds, which should have been used to empower women and children in villages in the North West.
The Special Investigating Unit and the Special Tribunal have been on the case of malfeasance in the structures of the national Lotto for some years now, following the dogged reporting of the corruption and theft by news organisation GroundUp.
Brave whistle-blowers in the organisation have also provided valuable information.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Mashatile denies family tied to multibillion-rand lottery deal
Huma is but one of the examples of individuals in the lottery structure manipulating the system of grants to enrich themselves and their families.
As with many schemes concocted by our corrupt and immoral civil servants, or those working for state-owned enterprises and statutory bodies, these thefts can never be written off as 'victimless crimes'.
Countless numbers of the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable in society have had any chance of a better life ripped away from them by these evil people.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Council pushes skills and digital training for SA youth
Council pushes skills and digital training for SA youth

The Citizen

time5 hours ago

  • The Citizen

Council pushes skills and digital training for SA youth

South Africa's youth unemployment crisis has reached alarming proportions, with the deputy president, Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile, warning that urgent, innovative interventions are needed to break the cycle. Speaking as chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) at its meeting at the Gallagher Convention Centre on August 21, Mashatile stressed that millions of young people remain 'locked out' of both jobs and education, posing a grave risk to the nation's future. Read more: Professional skills workshop empowers varsity college future teachers 'We must acknowledge that the crisis of youth unemployment is particularly severe among young people not in employment, education, or training—the NEET (not in employment, education, or training) cohort,' he said. 'The future of the youth of South Africa is in our hands, and we must be radical in securing it.' According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa, more than 3.5m young people aged 15–24 fall into the NEET category. Even more concerning, over half of them have been searching for work for more than a year, highlighting the deep-rooted barriers facing the country's youth. Mashatile reminded council members that the overall unemployment rate has climbed again to 33.2%, with the burden falling hardest on young people, women, and marginalised groups. He urged the HRDC—a multi-stakeholder advisory body of government, business, labour, and civil society—to lead with innovation, skills development, and economic inclusion. During the meeting, the Presidency and Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator outlined measures under the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention Programme, which aims to cut youth unemployment by 10–20% by 2030. The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) also presented on its initiatives, while stakeholders discussed a digital skills ecosystem designed to connect young people to jobs in South Africa's growing digital economy. 'We must refocus our curriculum and skills development programmes to align with industry, economic, and social needs. As technology advances exponentially, today's skills may become obsolete tomorrow. We must encourage continuous personal and professional development,' said Mashatile. He concluded by calling on all sectors of society to join forces in tackling the crisis, saying only collective action will safeguard opportunities for South Africa's next generation. Follow us on our WhatsApp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration!

Costs may reduce voter registration to one weekend before 2026 elections
Costs may reduce voter registration to one weekend before 2026 elections

TimesLIVE

time5 hours ago

  • TimesLIVE

Costs may reduce voter registration to one weekend before 2026 elections

The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has warned that the ongoing fiscal challenges could limit registration opportunities for the 2026 local government elections and potentially give South Africans only one chance to register. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said on Thursday the IEC expected the registration weekend to be in June 2026. However, he noted there was no guarantee there would be a second chance to register. 'The reason for that is financial. We are in discussion with the National Treasury so it may well be that ahead of the elections there may be one general registration weekend,' he said. 'Our preference is two but we all know the fiscal position of the country.' Mamabolo was part of the IEC delegation that addressed members of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg on the opening day of its multi-stakeholder engagement in the province. He confirmed that electronic voting will not be implemented next year, although there were policy discussions about using it in the future. The commission added that it was taking steps to prevent a repeat of the technical problems it experienced in the 2024 elections but reiterated that its systems were not compromised and the national elections maintained their integrity despite those setbacks. Mamabolo said the 2024 elections were relatively peaceful in comparison to past elections, despite being the most competitive and witnessing a significant increase in tension and legal disputes. 'The commission had to defend no less than 80 applications in various courts but we have to compliment the fact that the prevailing environment was fairly peaceful in comparison with previous iterations of elections.' The complaints came mostly from the technical challenges the commission experienced, mainly the functioning of the voter management devices (VMDs) in the voting stations and the 'crash' of its results dashboard. The IEC had in 2024 introduced, for the first time, independent candidates as part of the evolving electoral framework. However, Mamabolo reiterated that their ICT system was not hacked and the elections met the international standards of free and fairness, despite those challenges. The IEC's elections results dashboard was infamously interrupted during the counting of the national and provincial votes. Addressing the interruption of the election results dashboard, Mamabolo reiterated that the results were secured. Mamabolo also reflected on the 'suboptimal' performance of the VMDs on election day last year, saying the commission was also unhappy because it led to long queues and created a lot of of consternation at voting stations He said there were five applications (apps) that were operational in the VMDs but one of them, the voters roll app, experienced a glitch that caused it to the create multiple records for a single voter when their ID was scanned, instead of capturing a single record and sending it through the network. 'As that one transaction replicated over many times, sometimes as many as 20,000 times, it created a backlog between the local machine and our application pulls in the network.' He said the IEC has put measures in place to prevent future problems as they prepare for the 2026 elections. 'We have identified that problem, ameliorated it and, at the moment, we are procuring an external independent tester to test the application from the code itself - its transmission to the network - and we should be able to give the executive summary of that testing to political parties in the party liaison committee so that you can be assured that the testing has happened by an independent company and what the outcome is.' He urged political parties to work on their candidates' lists early because the commission cannot extend the cut-off date. 'The courts have repeatedly said the IEC can't unilaterally change the date of the election timetable so when the date for submission of candidates list is set, it can't be changed unless there is a tsunami or similar natural disaster. Parties must work on that with a view to around June/July (2026).' The proclamation date is expected to be around July from co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa.

Maimane endorses national dialogue as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
Maimane endorses national dialogue as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

TimesLIVE

time6 hours ago

  • TimesLIVE

Maimane endorses national dialogue as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane has called on South Africans to take up the opportunity presented by the national dialogue and participate in reshaping the country's morale. He believes this is a crucial moment for the country to discuss its future as a maturing democracy. 'Now, 31 years into our democracy, it is important for South Africans to forge a consensus about what the country looks like. The question on the table is, who is on trial? Some say the government is on trial, and yes, because the government has demonstrated huge governance failures, on the economy, safety of citizens and in many other areas.' However historically troubled the government has been, Maimane says, the citizens need to introspect and reflect on their own contribution to wrongdoing in the country. 'At the same time, the moral fabric of our society is also on trial. It cannot be that the fault resides in government when you see parents murdering their own children and young people falling pregnant, when we knowingly vote for leaders who are not ethical.' Maimane says the dialogue comes at an important moment and everyone should work to ensure its success. 'This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We mess this national dialogue up, be assured that we will not be able to hold another one. Therefore it is within that context that we have to do everything possible to ensure that the process is not politicised, that it is not corrupted and that ultimately the right people are in the room to have the conversation. 'I hold the view that the CEO who works in Sandton must be able to interact with the entrepreneur from Alexandra. So that we forge a new pathway as a country for the next 31 years. It is within that, where we have to say that our nation is on trial when we think about the national dialogue.' Maimane called on the 'disgruntled legacy foundations' such as the Thabo Mbeki Foundation to attend the dialogue, despite their concerns. 'I am appealing to the foundations, that while they may have challenges with the process, I am inviting them back into the fold. They must come back. I want to equally say to South Africans that we all have to ensure that this process works.' Maimane said he had written to President Cyril Ramaphosa and finance minister Enoch Godongwana in a bid to make the intervention non-partisan and as inexpensive as possible. 'I asked the ministry of finance for a thorough funding plan and accountability structure. South Africans are not represented in a lekgotla or anywhere else. They are represented in parliament. Godongwana responded extensively about what the national dialogue would effectively cost. 'In essence, he commits that coming out of the contingency reserve fund, the country will spend R485m. This is not a small amount, it is half a billion rand technically.' The parliament portfolio chairperson on appropriations said he would put it into context using the Presidency's budget vote for comparison. 'The Presidency's budget is below a billion rand. When you say you are going to spend half a billion rand, you must understand it is significant. 'What could this money have done? It could have at least employed 2,972 teachers at a full-year salary, feeding around 497,000 learners for a 200-day school year, you could be building just over 2,400 RDP houses, you could be providing 48,500 youth with learnerships, or even 24,250 start-ups with R20,000 grants.' Maimane says he is comforted by Godongwana's promise to safeguard the financial aspect of the process. 'The commitment from the minister is that we are going to use some of the money that was allocated to Nedlac. The municipalities will make their contributions in kind and they will pursue other in-kind donations from in the private sector. 'We will be there to make sure that each and every rand is spent correctly.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store