Latest news with #SiyandaMthethwa
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Severe cold front bringing snow in South Africa causes fatal accident, power outages
By Siyanda Mthethwa JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -A severe cold front sweeping across South Africa since the weekend brought heavy snowfall which has led to road closures, power outages and a fatal road accident, officials said. Five people were killed in a road accident along the N2 highway due to the adverse weather, Eastern Cape transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday. The South African Weather Service warned citizens late last week there would be a big drop in temperatures this week across the country, accompanied by disruptive rain, damaging winds, and snow over eastern areas. South Africa regularly receives snowfall during its winter months from June through August, with temperatures diving below zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). Snow has been reported since Monday across provinces including Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, prompting closures along sections of the N2 highway that connects the provinces, according to the KwaZulu-Natal transport department. Power utility Eskom said in a post on X that it was "experiencing a high number of customer calls nationally, due to widespread power outages caused by inclement weather." More resources were being secured to ensure prompt resolution to the power outages, Eskom said. The weather service forecast that the cold front would persist through midweek.
USA Today
30-05-2025
- USA Today
South African mother given life sentence for trafficking 6-year-old daughter
Siyanda Mthethwa Reuters JOHANNESBURG, May 29 (Reuters) - A South African mother and two accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday for trafficking her then-6-year-old daughter, in a case that gained nationwide attention since the child went missing last year. Kelly Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking the girl, Joshlin Smith, after she disappeared from a small town in the Western Cape. In a trial that shocked the country, a witness said Kelly Smith told her that she had sold her daughter to a sangoma, or traditional healer, for 20,000 rand ($1,100) and that the girl was desired for her "eyes and skin". Joshlin Smith has still not been found despite an extensive police search. Announcing their sentences on Thursday, high court judge Nathan Erasmus said the fact Kelly Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn were drug users was no excuse. "There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose," Erasmus said. For kidnapping the three were given 10-year jail terms. ($1 = 17.8969 rand) (Reporting by Siyanda Mthethwa; editing by Alexander Winning and Sophie Walker)
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Africa's DA party challenges new racial equity law in court
By Nellie Peyton and Siyanda Mthethwa JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa's Democratic Alliance party went to court on Tuesday to challenge new employment equity legislation which sets out numerical targets for the number of non-white people that companies should employ. The pro-business DA, the second-biggest party in government, says the new law violates anti-discrimination clauses in the constitution and gives the state too much regulatory power. Its larger coalition partner, the African National Congress, says the DA is trying to "preserve the apartheid-era economic status quo" and thwart its efforts to correct racial imbalances in the workplace that are apartheid's legacy. Statistics show that South Africa's companies are still dominated by white people at the top, with Black employees mainly occupying lower-level roles. Unemployment is much higher among Black citizens. Lawyers for the two sides made their opening arguments on Tuesday at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. "This case is about flexibility," said DA lawyer Ismail Jamie in court, adding that it is fine to set aspirational targets but not ones "so rigid that they constitute a quota", which he claimed the new ones do. Race remains a highly charged topic in South Africa three decades after the end of white minority rule. The DA's national leader is white and the party has a reputation for defending the interests of the white minority, which it denies. The Employment Equity Amendment Act, which took effect this year, updates a 1998 act that required employers to set diversity targets and report on their progress in meeting them. It is separate from an existing Black economic empowerment law which many critics say hasn't worked. That policy also sets targets for the number of Black people at management level, but firms can avoid it by earning points in other categories such as ownership or skills development. There is no penalty for non-compliance. TARGETS Under the new law, companies with more than 50 employees must meet sectoral targets for the number of non-white people, women and disabled people in skilled and senior roles, or justify their failure to do so. Firms that do not comply could lose government contracts and be fined. "If we continue the way that we are, we're never going to see the transformation that is required because people... will never get to top management," said Muriel Mushariwa, a law lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand and an employment equity consultant. She added, however, that it could be difficult for companies to comply with the new equity law and the Black empowerment programme, whose targets are broken down into different categories and not aligned. The DA says it supports redress but sees job creation as the primary solution. (Additional reporting by Thando Hlophe; Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Siyanda Mthethwa; Editing by Tim Cocks and Gareth Jones)
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Africa's DA party fights new racial targets for employers
By Nellie Peyton and Siyanda Mthethwa JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa's Democratic Alliance party is going to court to challenge a new employment law that sets racial targets for large employers in an attempt to address the economic inequality that is a persistent legacy of former racist white minority rule. The Employment Equity Amendment Act, which came into effect in January, allows the labour minister to set targets per sector for the number of non-white people and women who should be in management-level and professionally qualified roles. The DA, the second-biggest party in government, will argue in court on Tuesday that it is unconstitutional, party officials said on Monday, in a case that is causing further friction with its bigger coalition partner, the African National Congress. The topic is especially heated since U.S. President Donald Trump condemned South Africa for alleged racial discrimination against its white population, and offered white South Africans refugee status. "We opposed it from the beginning, for the key reason that it will continue to drive unemployment up (and) economic growth down," DA Federal Chairperson Helen Zille told a news briefing, saying this was because it would discourage companies from investing in South Africa. The DA also says it discourages companies from growing because those with 50 or fewer employees are exempt. Firms larger than that need to obtain a compliance certificate or justify their failure to meet the targets in order to do business with the state. Three decades after the end of white minority rule, racial divisions in South Africa remain stark. White people make up about 7% of the population but occupy 66% of top management level posts in the private sector, while Black people are more likely to be unemployed or in low-level jobs. Last month, the government published five-year targets for 18 sectors include mining, manufacturing and agriculture. In mining, for example, it wants 57.5% of top management to be Black, Indian or "coloured" people, a term for South Africans of mixed race. "This move is a clear attempt to reverse the progress made since 1994 and maintain the unfair status quo," the labour ministry said of the DA's court case. South Africa has been trying to empower its Black population for years through a rewards system which previously allowed companies to set their own targets. But cheating is high and critics say it has mainly enriched a handful of politically connected businessmen. (Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Tim Cocks)
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
South African court convicts mother of trafficking her 6-year-old daughter
By Siyanda Mthethwa JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African court found a mother and two accomplices guilty on Friday of kidnapping and trafficking her 6-year-old daughter, in a case that gained nationwide attention since the child went missing last year. Joshlin Smith, then 6, disappeared from her home in the small town of Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, in Western Cape province on February 19, 2024 and a nationwide search began. She has not been found. Joshlin's mother, Kelly Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Apollis and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were accused of selling the child for a fee. A judge at the Western Cape High Court found all three guilty of kidnapping and trafficking on Friday. "The conduct of ... Ms Smith is not that of a concerned parent. And why not? In my mind the only inference is that you knew (what happened)," said Judge Nathan Erasmus on Friday, addressing Smith, who sat in the courtroom but did not speak. In a case that shocked South Africa, one of the witnesses had said in court that Smith told her she had sold her daughter to a sangoma, or traditional healer, for 20,000 rand ($1,100) and that the girl was desired for her "eyes and skin". The judge did not say in his ruling who the girl was sold to or why. The three convicted will be remanded in custody ahead of sentencing. ($1 = 18.3833 rand)
