Latest news with #NorthGautengHighCourt
Eyewitness News
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Judgment reserved in Ramaphosa's appeal matter on recognising King Misuzulu as Zulu heir
Nhlanhla Mabaso 29 May 2025 | 16:19 Misuzulu kaZwelithini Cyril Ramaphosa Pretoria High Court President Cyril Ramaphosa meets His Majesty Misuzulu KaZwelithini ahead of the 110th commemoration of King Dinuzulu at KwaNkomonye Royal Palace in KwaZulu Natal on 16 March 2024. Picture: GCIS BLOEMFONTEIN - Judgment has been reserved in President Cyril Ramaphosa's appeal matter involving the Zulu royal family's identification president seeks to overturn a judgment by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria invalidating his recognition of King Misuzulu kaZwekithini as the rightful appeal was heard for two days in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). With arguments having been concluded, the judges said they would announce the judgment at a later stage. Ramaphosa's lawyers have argued till the end of these proceedings that his recognition of Amazulu King Misuzulu as monarch was done properly, while the king's lawyers told the five judges that custom dictates that he be on the Zulu throne. The parties then submitted that the high court order be reversed. However, Prince Simakde wants the North Gauteng High Court ruling to be adhered to, and that the president appoints an investigative committee to probe the process of identification. Meanwhile, the king's uncle, Prince Mbonisi Zulu, wants the court to refer the matter of identifying a king back to the Zulu royal family. Justice Dumisani Zondi reserved the judgment. ALSO READ: Prince Mbonisi Zulu disputes title of King Misuzulu's mother as 'great wife' of royal family
The Citizen
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Tshwane plan to relocate east informal settlement dwellers unfolds
The Tshwane metro confirmed that the construction drawings for the establishment of the Pretorius Park Ext 40 Township are now being finalised and will soon be submitted to the relevant authorities to pave the way for development shortly. This move marks a step towards the long-anticipated relocation of residents from Cemetery View and Plastic View informal settlements in the east of Pretoria. The city also revealed that the Surveyor General Diagrams for the long-awaited township development have been approved. Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said a multidisciplinary team was officially appointed on June 12, 2024, to drive the project. 'The team of engineers and specialists are currently busy with the planning phase, working on designs to prepare the land that will ultimately accommodate hundreds of families living in the fire-prone settlements.' The long-anticipated relocation of residents from Cemetery View and Plastic View informal settlements is a dawn that thousands of east ratepayers eagerly await. Once complete, Pretorius Park Ext 40 is expected to form part of the city's broader spatial integration plan, offering both government-subsidised housing and social rental units to residents currently living in unsafe and overcrowded conditions. Pretorius Park Ext 40 will integrate the poor into the affluent Garsfontein area, in pursuit of spatial transformation and integration principles espoused in the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (Act No. 16 of 2013). East of Pretoria ratepayers have been calling on the municipality to relocate residents from informal settlements through legal efforts to evict them, having been in the courts for years with multiple failed eviction processes thwarted by Human Rights organisations. Pretorius Park will ultimately offer 863 housing units, 300 of which will be fully subsidised by the government. The remaining units will be allocated for social housing rental stock. The qualifying beneficiaries from Cemetery View (currently home to 866 households) and Plastic View (with over 900 households) will be relocated to the new development. Mashigo said a contractor will be appointed during the 2025/26 financial year. 'The project is still in the planning phase; the contractor will be appointed in the next financial year. The designs and construction drawings are underway currently,' said Mashigo. Previously, the municipality said a submission was made to the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements to fund the top structure construction under the current Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). This will follow the installation of bulk infrastructure, including water, sewer, roads, and stormwater systems. The relocation of Cemetery View residents has been discussed for over a decade. In 2010, the city attempted to prevent land invasions by demolishing structures and evicting illegal occupiers at the Cemetery View informal settlement. However, after a court case brought to the North Gauteng High Court, the city was ordered to provide emergency relief in the form of temporary shelters. This led to a court settlement on August 18, 2010, requiring the city to eventually provide permanent alternative accommodation. The process has since faced multiple objections from neighbouring property owners, homeowner associations, and civil society organisations. The city had to revise and resubmit its township planning application in March 2020, which was only approved by the Municipal Planning Tribunal in August 2022. The final approval for the Conditions of Establishment and Layout Plan for Pretorius Park Ext 40 was granted on January 3 2023, clearing a major hurdle in the city's goal of building a formal, integrated community in the Garsfontein area. Mashigo said the city will expedite the implementation of Pretorious Park Ext 40 and ensure that the urban management activities are implemented on both informal settlements to prevent any further pollution and invasion. 'In the interim, Tshwane Metro Police Department is deployed on site to attend to any transgressions of law.' The city previously said it is pushing for the relocation move to be at least by 2029. Mashigo mentioned previously that the city has limited powers over evictions due to the existing court order, which makes it difficult for the city to implement certain measures. Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
AfriForum launches court challenge to have Expropriation Act declared unconstitutional
AfriForum argues that certain sections and provisions of the Expropriation Act contain inherent contradictions, which is why the court should declare the act unconstitutional. Image: Henk Kruger/African News Agency The civil rights organisation AfriForum filed a court application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria today to challenge the constitutionality of the controversial Expropriation Act. AfriForum maintains that this act, which was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa on December 20, 2024 and the notice of its signing only published in the Government Gazette a month later, on January 24, contains serious flaws and is a real threat to the constitutional right to private property in South Africa. AfriForum argues that certain sections and provisions of the act contain inherent contradictions, which is why the court should declare the act unconstitutional. Alternatively, AfriForum seeks an order that those specific provisions be declared unconstitutional. Central to AfriForum's arguments is that Section 12(3) of the act, which provides for the expropriation of property at nil compensation, opens the real possibility of the abuse of public power in that every expropriating authority, including mismanaged local authorities, is given the power to expropriate at nil compensation. A further major flaw AfriForum highlights is the fact that the act allows a property owner to be deprived of their property while the matter of its expropriation is fought over in court – a process that can take many years. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel deposed the affidavit on behalf of the organisation's court case on the Expropriation Act. Image: Supplied According to Ernst van Zyl, Head of Public Relations at AfriForum, the ANC's top brass has for years now emphasised that the intention of the Expropriation Act is to enable expropriation without compensation and that 'nil compensation' means 'no compensation'. 'We have heard them highlight their objectives, and we believe them,' says Van Zyl. 'We assured our members and the public at the beginning of the year that we would fight this dangerous act both domestically and internationally. The spotlight that US President Donald Trump has so far placed on the threat this act poses to private property rights in South Africa is a welcome development. AfriForum's court case, in which we will test the constitutionality of this act, is our most important local battle in this fight,' Van Zyl concludes. SUNDAY TRIBUNE
Eyewitness News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Tshwane denies unfairly targeting Kleinfontein with hiking its rates bill
JOHANNESBURG – The City of Tshwane Municipality has denied it is unfairly targeting the illegal white-Afrikaner only settlement of Kleinfontein, saying it only wants what is due to it. The municipality has hiked the rates bill of the settlement from about R50,000 a month to R2 million a month. The Kleinfontein board has previously mentioned the new rates pose a threat to its survival because it residents cannot afford them. Last year, the North Gauteng High Court declared Kleinfontein an illegal settlement and ordered the City of Tshwane Municipality to enforce its by-laws in the area. At a media briefing on Thursday, Tshwane Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise said the municipality is only following the directive of the court. 'We are embarking on getting our money from Kleinfontein, that's the intention, and other politics like other people must be able to access it; those are not the purview of the city. It is legislated and can only be done by provincial and national governments.' The municipality recently established a mayoral subcommittee looking to formalise 17 illegal townships within its borders, including Kleinfontein. The Kleinfontein board says it is looking forward to finally getting clarity on its legal status.
Eyewitness News
15-05-2025
- Health
- Eyewitness News
NHI Act: BHF expecting Ramaphosa to ignore Friday's deadline to comply with court order
CAPE TOWN - The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) says it expects the president will ignore Friday's deadline to comply with a court order to provide the record of decision that led to him signing the National Health Insurance bill into law. Instead, it expects he and the health minister will file for leave to appeal last week's judgment of the North Gauteng High Court that it has the jurisdiction to review his decision-making. On Thursday, the BHF, which represents private medical aid schemes, announced it will be launching two more court cases against the constitutionality of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act and the public participation process that preceded it. Last week, the high court found that Ramaphosa's decision to assent to and sign the NHI Act into law is reviewable. READ: Board of Healthcare Funders set to file two more legal challenges to NHI Act It gave him 10 calendar days to furnish the court with the record of his decision. The BHF expects this record could bolster its subsequent cases challenging the public participation process that led to the passing of the bill, and even after, when the sector petitioned the president to consider their concerns and objections. But on the final day of its annual conference in Cape Town on Wednesday, BHF lawyer Helen Michael was doubtful the judgment would be adhered to. "If we are all being frank, I would probably say that's unlikely. The problem the president does face if he fails to file the record is that he opens himself up to a contempt of court application." The South African Private Practitioners Forum and the South African Medical Association have also launched their bids against what they believe is the unconstitutionality of the NHI Act.
