NPA request for acquittal clarification dismissed
Earlier this year, Omotoso and his co-accused were acquitted on over 30 charges of rape, racketeering, sexual assault and human trafficking.
Judge Irma Schoeman ruled the State had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The NPA then sought clarification of factual findings, aiming to frame legal grounds for an appeal under Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
That request was denied, with the court stating the judgment was already 'comprehensive and clear'.
So, where to from here for the NPA?
National spokesperson Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga unpacks this.
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The Citizen
2 hours ago
- The Citizen
17% of SA's electricity consumed by a few giant consumers
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Responding to Moneyweb's request for comment, South32 points to Hillside's significant contribution to SA's economy in employing 2 300 people directly and a further 27 400 indirectly. 'It has played a key role in South Africa's domestic aluminium industry as a supplier to local companies that manufacture products for sale domestically and abroad. 'Hillside plays an important role in keeping the South African electricity grid stable and helps to manage load shedding through the suspension of power to potlines at critical times. Despite limited loadshedding across South Africa during the past year, suspension of power to potlines at Hillside has continued during this period in order to support Eskom in managing South Africa's electricity grid,' says a spokesperson for South32 (see the full response below*). Hillside's initial preferential tariff was linked to the London Metal Exchange price for aluminium and the US dollar-rand exchange rate, and dates back to the 1990s, when Eskom had surplus power. Then, it was only too happy to sign up a large anchor consumer capable of absorbing some of this surplus power, but – despite warnings from Eskom and others of a looming power shortage – government sat on its hands until forced to green-light the grossly over-priced and seriously delayed Medupi and Kusile power stations in the late 2000s. A new agreement was signed with South32 in 2021, the details of which remained a secret until recently. Hillside was formerly owned by BHP and acquired by South32 in 2015 as part of BHP's divestment from SA. The current Hillside contract (2021) does not contain commodity price and exchange rate sharing. ALSO READ: Grim impact of soaring electricity prices on South Africans revealed According to Open Secrets, the initial (pre-2021) agreement sparked outrage when it was made public, as it showed former owner BHP was paying only 15% the tariff charged to ordinary consumers. South32 says it is unable to verify this, as Meridian Economics ran the numbers for Open Secrets comparing the Hillside tariffs with the standard 'Megaflex' tariff [for large industry and mines]. Meridian conservatively estimated the discount for the current financial year at about R10 billion, with South32 having already benefited from about R25 billion in lower electricity prices since the deal was struck. Over the full 10-year agreement, Meridian estimates the total discount will be about 50% – around R92 billion in forgone Eskom revenue. The R10 billion discount for 2025 is sufficient to subsidise the electricity costs of nearly 700 000 households, supporting 2.5 million South Africans. South32 responds that the cost to Eskom of supplying bulk power to a single major customer like Hillside is significantly lower than the cost of supplying to thousands of smaller or individual customers. Says Open Secrets: 'It is also worth reflecting on how much this could contribute to South Africa's energy transition. South32's discount for this year – R10 billion – is nearly three times the total grant funds disbursed to the Just Energy Transition Partnership over the past three years.' ALSO READ: ArcelorMittal long steel business closing for good due to policy inaction In motivating the NPA with Hillside, Eskom argued that the Hillside smelter would not be viable under the standard Megaflex tariff. 'In the absence of this proposed NPA, the Hillside smelter would close, with resultant negative consequences. The need for an incentivised energy pricing arrangement is the reality for aluminium smelters worldwide,' stated the utility. 'Without an appropriate NPA, there would be zero electricity sales and zero revenue to Eskom from the Hillside smelter. The proposed pricing arrangement should not be viewed as a discount, as it has been structured to result in a more cost reflective tariff and ensure that all applicable costs are recovered and a positive contribution is made to fixed costs.' Eskom goes on to argue that the proposed NPA would be advantageous to both Eskom and other customers 'as it is at a higher price than the existing NPAs'. 'The loss of the Hillside smelter sales and loss of the positive contribution to fixed costs would result in a higher tariff increase requirement, as other customers would have to make up this contribution.' 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'Eskom outlined its rationale for the pricing agreement in a publicly available submission to Nersa in February 2021. In its submission, Eskom noted Hillside's role in supporting stability of the electricity grid. It also noted that the NPA would be advantageous to both Eskom and other customers. 'When it publicly outlined its rationale for supporting the agreement, Nersa stated there was a 'net benefit to the rest of the customer base in putting this agreement in place.' This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
The Citizen
3 hours ago
- The Citizen
Man accused of murdering Eersterust woman he met online abandons bail bid
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The Citizen
4 hours ago
- The Citizen
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