Sunday Independent Sunday, February 14, 2021

COVID-19 Ramaphosa, Mkhize tussle over vaccines ‘Disagreements’ attributed to delays in jabs procurement and roll-out MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize allegedly tussled behind the scenes over where to procure which jabs, resulting in the country's vaccine roll-out programme being negatively affected and the procurement process delayed. Sources say Mkhize preferred Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine while Ramaphosa and some members of the ministerial advisory committee on Covid-19 allegedly rallied against the Russians, in favour of the Johnson & Johnson, the American multinational pharmaceutical company. The differences happened at the height of the country's second wave as the Covid-19 cases breached the one million mark while the deaths exceeded 40000. Sputnik, which some media houses tried to ridicule as unsafe, has produced over 1.2 billion…

NEW MEANING NATION Steinhoff fraud – no arrests yet KARABO NGOEPE karabo.ngoepe@inl.co.za CARLOS BARRIA Reuters WITH R21 billion in public funds squandered in what is said to be South Africa’s biggest corporate fraud, it appears that no one wants to take responsibility and confirm how far the investigations have gone to recoup the funds from Steinhoff or to bring those involved to book. Despite having taken more than 200 witness statements and the billions the PIC has lost in Steinhoff, law enforcement agencies seem to have lost the appetite to recover the loot. This is in contrast to the gusto displayed when they went after officials from the VBS - dubbed the “great bank heist” where over R2 billion was squandered. Law enforcement agencies moved swiftly to make arrests and freeze…

PUBLIC PROTECTOR Firm with links to Khawe in spotlight KARABO NGOEPE karabo.ngoepe@inl.co.za A COMPANY with close ties to the ANC’S Gauteng provincial secretary, Jacob Khawe, is in the Public Protector’s purview following its appointment to render services within Emfuleni Local Municipality. The Sunday Independent can reveal that Comperio Forensic Services is under investigation for allegedly rendering shoddy work to the municipality and receiving huge monthly payments. One of the directors of the company, Isaac Mashaba is alleged to be extremely close to Khawe. Khawe served as the mayor of the embattled municipality before moving to the ANC’s provincial office to take up his current position. Public Protector (PP) Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s spokesperson Oupa Segalwe confirmed to the publication that an investigation which was lodged with the office in September 2020 was…

EDUCATION BACK TO SCHOOL Pupils prepare for school SIYABONGA MKHWANAZI siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za BHEKIKHAYA MABASO African News Agency (ANA) BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga is expected to give details today on the reopening of schools tomorrow to start the new academic year. This comes as unions have welcomed the decision to reopen schools. The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and the National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA (Naptosa) said yesterday this was an opportunity to get pupils back to their desks. Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said education plays a key role in society. “I hope the country appreciates the fact that education not only provides education but psychosocial services. We want to send a message of hope to our children and teachers,” said Maluleke. He said teachers would…

HOT OFF THE PRESS Independent Media this weekend, launched a brand-new product – Insider - with all its Saturday and Sunday newspapers countrywide. Insider is aimed at consolidating all existing supplements under a single umbrella brand as a “Second Book” of specialized content for Independent Newspapers’ Saturday Star, Weekend Argus, Pretoria News Weekend, Sunday Independent, Independent on Saturday and Sunday Tribune. The new book will augment the already excellent articles these papers carry whether nationally or regionally. It will feature a host of respected columnists, editors and contributors along with other leading opinion writers and experts as thought leaders on a broad selection of topical matters. Dr Iqbal Survé, Executive Chairman of Independent Media remarked that: “Innovation is key to the industry’s sustainability. We all know the media landscape, especially…

ANDY KAWA’S BATTLE FOR JUSTICE HAS BEEN THE LONGEST 10 YEARS OF HER LIFE ‘Our bod ies will continue to be crime scenes’ EDWIN NAIDU edwin.naidu@live.co.za SUPPLIED MORE than a decade ago in the aftermath of the euphoria around South Africa’s successful hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the dreams of Joburg businesswoman Andy Kawa came crashing down after she was raped in a 15-hour ordeal on a beach in the Eastern Cape. She was visiting her former hometown to finalise the purchase of a house for her mom, and with time to spare before returning to Joburg on December 9, 2010, decided to park her car and go for a walk at about 2pm on King’s Beach in Port Elizabeth. And thus began her decade-long nightmare. According to…