Presidential Spokesperson media briefing statement and programme update – President’s programme for the upcoming week

Presidential Climate Change Commission

Today, Friday, 4 November 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the presidential climate commission on the just energy transition investment plan. The President, as the chair of the commission will provide the meeting with government’s priority investment and financing interventions of the JETIP as recently approved by cabinet and the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on the Just Energy Transition Partnership for broader consultations. The session is scheduled to start at 16h00 and end at 17h30.

COP 27 Egypt

On Monday, 7 November 2022, President Ramaphosa will lead South Africa’s delegation to Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt to attend the Twenty-seventh Conference of Parties (COP 27). The Minister in The Presidency, Mr. Mondli Gungubele, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor and Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Ms Barbara Creecy will support the President during the negotiations.  

The President’s focus will be on securing maximum ambition in terms of climate action, the honoring of previous commitments and the provision of enabling means of implementation support for developing countries including South Africa. 

With COP 27 taking place in Africa, it presents an opportunity to advance African priority issues, namely. 

• Raising the ambitions on mitigation, adaptation and support to developing countries.
• Advance financing arrangements for loss and damage.
• Build on progress made in Glasgow on the importance of Just Transitions.
• Advance discussions on the special needs and circumstance of Africa.

Kenya State Visit 

At the invitation of H.E. Dr William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, President Ramaphosa will undertake a State Visit to Kenya on the 9 November 2022. The bilateral discussions will focus on, multilateral, economic, regional and continental issues. The visit will include a Business Forum focusing on trade and investment between Kenya and South Africa. 

According to the World Bank, Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy and gateway to the region with a GDP that stands at over USD 110 billion as of 2021. Kenya is South Africa’s largest trading partner outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, making South Africa the biggest seller of goods to Kenya on the continent. 

South Africa exported over R6 billion worth of goods to Kenya in 2021. As of April 2022, exports to Kenya have been valued at over R2 billion. 

The state visit to Kenya, offers both countries the opportunity to build on the momentum created by the November state visit last year by former President Kenyatta and to strengthen and deepen bilateral relations and cooperation between South Africa and the new Kenyan Administration. 

Energy/NECOM Update

In his address to the nation on 25 July 2022, President Ramaphosa announced a bold set of actions to address load shedding and achieve energy security. One the of the key commitments the President made was the South African Police Service constituting a special law enforcement team to help Eskom confront crime and corruption. 

The National Joint Operational Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) continues to coordinate the work of multiple agencies to address sabotage, theft and fraud at Eskom. In this regard, 67 cases are on the court roll and three have been finalised with a conviction. 

his a significant step towards ridding Eskom of rogue elements that undermine one of the key tenets of achieving the country’s energy security, which is the fixing of Eskom and improving the operational performance of existing power stations.  

SONA Commitments Updates and Presidency Achievements

In the interest of transparency and accountability, the Presidency would like to encourage members of the media and the public to track progress on the implementation of the SONA 2022 commitments by visiting the Presidency SONA portal, www.stateofthenation.gov.za 

At the last media briefing, we also shared a summary of achievements of the Ramaphosa led administration. Today, we would like to focus on efforts to END STATE CAPTURE AND CORRUPTION and these are; 

• The appointment of new leadership at the Hawks, which has restored the credibility and stability of the institution and led to action against corruption. Since 2018, the Hawks have secured 4,500 convictions for corruption and other priority crimes.
• The appointment of a new National Director of Public Prosecutions on the recommendations of an independent panel following a transparent public process.
• The establishment of the NPA Investigating Directorate to prosecute state capture and other significant corruption cases. The Investigating Directorate has by August 2022 enrolled over 20 corruption cases and charged 65 accused.
• The appointment of the SIU Special Tribunal to expedite civil claims against corrupt individuals and the recovery of stolen funds. Since its establishment, it has recovered over R8.6 billion.
• The administration undertook measures to end corruption and politicisation at the State Security Agency, including the appointment of new leadership and implementation of recommendations of a High-Level Panel on the SSA. 
• Lastly, this administration amended the State Capture Commission regulations to enable sharing of information and resources with the NPA on state capture cases. The several high profile cases that are before the courts bear testament to the success of the enablement provided by the Ramaphosa administration to law enforcement agencies in support of their fight against corruption. 

Kgathatso Tlhakudi and Protected Disclosure Claims

The Presidency noted with concern a Sunday newspaper story accusing the DG in the Presidency Ms Phindile Baleni and the President’s Special Advisor Dr Bejani Chauke of a cover-up following a protected disclosure by the suspended DG of the department of Public Enterprises, Mr Tlhakudi. 

The Presidency rejects these false, unsubstantiated and baseless claims. The so-called protected disclosure reached the Presidency halfway through the disciplinary process against Mr Tlhakudi who lost his labour court bid to have his suspension overturned.

Mr Hangwani Maumela

To the extent that Maumela is the son of the President’s ex brother-in-law, the President has no further knowledge of Maumela nor has he ever had any relationship with him. Furthermore, President does not have any knowledge of Mr Maumela’s business dealings neither was he aware of his involvement with the Tembisa Hospital or any other state entity. 

The President expects law enforcement agencies to conduct their investigations without any fear or favour, regardless of who may be involved and to arrest those who are or were party to malfeasance. 

In the exercise and fulfilment of his constitutional powers the President remains duty bound to always act in accordance to the constitution and his oath of office. This he does without any fear or favour. SIU Proclamations are never signed based on the individuals involved. 

The Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals act no.74 of 1996 sets out guidelines in which the President may exercise his powers. The President considers every application by the SIU on its merits and he will certainly sign such a proclamation should the SIU, as it so often does, motivate for the need for such an investigation.

Source: Government of South Africa