Good Morning, SA | ConCourt to deliver CR17 judgment, and AG highlights massive municipal waste

The Constitutional Court will deliver judgment on President Cyril Ramaphosa's CR17 campaign and the Auditor General highlights widespread financial mismanagement in South Africa's municipalities.

View Online Good Morning, SA The Constitutional Court will deliver a landmark judgment on President Cyril Ramaphosa's campaign and the Auditor General highlights widespread financial mismanagement in South Africa's municipalities. SHELDON MORAIS, ASSISTANT EDITOR: BREAKING NEWS Day of reckoning: ConCourt will on Thursday deliver judgment on CR17 donations The story: On Thursday, the Constitutional Court will rule whether the President Cyril Ramaphosa misled Parliament with regard to donations made to the CR17 campaign, and whether the Public Protector had the scope to investigate the matter in the first place. What else: While the findings are significant, more important would be a judgment about whether donations made to political party campaigns should be publicly disclosed. What was said: "The report cannot be justified with reference to the facts. It is clear that she got an outcome, the facts were inconvenient, she discarded them; she wanted to reach an outcome. That should simply not be tolerated," advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi told the court. Read More Municipal horror stories: How billions in taxpayers' money are being wasted The story: On Wednesday, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke released her office's latest report into municipal finances, which showed widespread mismanagement among the 257 municipalities in the country. How we know: Together, the municipalities controlled budgets of R719 billion in the 2019/20 financial year, but many lack even basic financial controls and suspect payments were rife - with more than R26 billion in irregular expenditure. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure totalled almost R3.5 billion. What else: And while R1 billion in taxpayer money was used to pay financial consultants to help municipal officials with their accounting, this often did not make much difference. In fact, Maluleke slammed the overuse of consultants, particularly by the financial units of municipalities that are mean to compile audit reports themselves. Read More Bus service takes on Standard Bank, Mercedes-Benz in court over business rescue The story: African People Mover (APM) crossed paths with major companies Standard Bank and Mercedes-Benz at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday over the fate of a struggling long haul bus service. The context: The hearing on business rescue was originally meant to be heard in September, but APM's human resources administration officer Venesa Sigwebedlana said the company is bleeding cash fast. What was said: "Curiously, both Standard Bank and Mercedes-Benz in their papers have not only chosen to rubbish the new proposed strategic direction of APM, but have also abrogated themselves the role of the credit committees of SEFA [Small Enterprise Finance Agency] and the NEF," the National Empowerment Fund Trust application states. Read More News for You NEWS Covid-19: No data to assess J&J jab's efficacy against Delta variant, Parliament hears With the highly infectious Delta variant becoming dominant in South Africa, the health department says there is no data yet to assess the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against it. NEWS Mother in dock after allegedly confessing to killing her one-month-old baby Mimi Mokoena faces charges of murder, perjury and defeating the ends of justice. NEWS Habitual offender sentenced to 7 life terms plus 60 years for rape, robberies A man serving 18 years for rape and other offences has been slapped with an additional seven life sentences and 60 years in jail for similar crimes. Jacob Zuma judgment: Answering the 'What about De Klerk?' question Former president Jacob Zuma was sentenced by the Constitutional Court to an effective 15 months for defying its order to appear before the Zondo Commission, his ardent supporters were at it again with the usual question: "What about De Klerk?" MPUMELELO MKHABELA, COLUMNIST Must-read in lifestyle All is fair in love and lust in this racy Netflix show Season 2 of Too Hot to Handle is even more debaucherous – if that's possible. Read more WATCH | This US mom-to-be hasn't let pregnancy stop her from pole dancing in seven-inch heels "I love the constant exploration of ways I can move my body. It really challenges me to think of how I move my body in a different way, and learning skills and tricks is really rewarding". Read more 'Delta Plus' Covid-19 variant: What we know so far India has signalled alarm over "Delta Plus", which is closely related to the Delta variant of concern that has spread worldwide. Here's what we know. Read more Volkswagen officially unveils its latest SA-bound Polo GTI: local availability announced Set to hit local shores during the first quarter of 2022, VW's new Polo GTI has officially been unveiled with more power and advanced tech. Read more In the rest of the world Bolsonaro fires Brazil health official after new vaccine graft accusation: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired a Health Ministry official after a newspaper reported that the official asked for a bribe in a vaccine deal. Read more 182 unmarked graves found at third Canadian school - tribe: Another 182 unmarked graves have been discovered at a third indigenous residential school in Canada, a local tribe announced, on the heels of two similar finds. Read more Deadly heatwave slams Canada, US: Millions of people in western Canada and the northwestern United States are under heat alerts as the region bakes in record-breaking temperatures. Read more DOWNLOAD THE News24 APP CONNECT WITH US

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