Sunday Independent Sunday, April 11, 2021

CORRUPTION Ibrahim Patel ‘smuggled his preferred candidate’ A civil organisation claims the trade and industry minister wants Struggle veteran Barney Pityana to control the National Lotteries Commission’s R1.6 billion budget MZILIKAZI WA AFRIKA THE battle for the position of chairperson for the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has taken an ugly twist with one shortlisted candidate taking a member of Parliament to court for defamation while civil organisations are accusing the trade and industry minister of trying to smuggle his “preferred candidate through the back door”. The Independent Beneficiaries Forum (IBF), which is part of the United Civil Society in Action (Ucsa), has written letters to the ANC accusing Patel, of having “gone through loops and lengths to ensure that the processes of appointing the NLC chairperson are flawed” in order…

STUDENT SUICIDE FORMS PART OF AGENDA Emergency council meeting as UCT crisis deepens EDWIN NAIDU THE deepening crisis at troubled UCT took a new twist after it emerged on Friday that a student in the faculty of health sciences, allegedly committed suicide – and will be one of a growing number of issues on the agenda during an emergency meeting of council to take place on Tuesday. Grieving colleagues of the student from the Eastern Cape claim they were forced to write assessments on the day of his death without support from the university last month. In a week of high-drama at UCT over the controversial stop-gap appointment of a retired white male over a black woman professor, which led to the shock resignation of convocation President Eddy Maloka on…

CRIME Church to probe allegations of rape BULELWA PAYI bulelwa.payi@inl.co.za ACTIVIST organisations have welcomed the decision by the Anglican Church to launch an investigation into allegations of rape against one of its priests. The church announced that a tribunal would hear the case involving allegations of rape by Reverend June Major against another cleric. This followed protests and hunger strikes by Major since 2016, demanding that a tribunal be set up to investigate the alleged rape and be allowed to serve again as a priest. Major said she hoped that the tribunal would also look into the role of the church in protecting the alleged rapist as he continued to minister in the Diocese of Cape Town. The alleged rape incident took place in 2002 in Makhanda (Grahamstown) while Major…

NEW TWIST Zuma, Concourt, Zondo’s war of attrition SAMKELO MTSHALI samkelo.thulasizwe@inl.co.za FORMER President Jacob Zuma is facing a face-off with the Constitutional Court after Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng threw down the rule book at the former president to indicate what sentence should be imposed on him if found guilty of contempt of court. Zuma has until Wednesday to reply to the directive issues by Mogoeng. Eric Mabuza, the lawyer for Zuma, could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Zuma’s supporters say they were not happy with the way the highest court in the land was dealing with the former president. This follows Mogoeng’s decision on Friday ordering Zuma to pen a 15-page affidavit telling the apex court what the appropriate sanction should be if the Concourt finds him guilty…

COVID–19 Gauteng vaccine roll-out sites still a mess ROLAND MPOFU roland.mpofu@inl.co.za TWO vaccination sites earmarked for public vaccination against Covid-19 in Gauteng are ready only on paper not on the ground. This was witnessed on Thursday during a visit by the Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Lebogang Maile to inspect the state of readiness at the sites in Tshwane which have been identified for the much-anticipated vaccination roll-out. Members of the executive council visited various vaccination sites and according to the Gauteng Health spokesperson Kwara Kekana, the visits formed part of the provincial government’s programme to ensure Gauteng’s readiness to administer the Covid-19 vaccine as more doses are expected. At the Saulsville Arena, a visibly shocked Maile asked why “we were at an empty place”? The Gauteng deputy director for clinic…

TRIBUTE COMPILATION Gee Six Five’s music lives on AMANDA MALIBA amanda.maliba@inl.co.ca OBANI Lababantu? hit-maker Gee Six Five, real name Olpha Selepe, made waves in Mzansi when she launched her music career at the age of 65 in November last year. Her career didn’t last long as Mzansi was robbed of her talent three weeks later. The muso died while self-isolating in Durban after she received a positive test for Covid-19 in December. Four months later, her son Fika Selepe wants to ensure her memory lives on forever in music with the release of a tribute compilation EP of Selepe’s songs. The EP aims to keep alive Gee Six Five’s message of endurance and defying the odds to achieve one’s dreams. The EP took a month to complete. “The EP is…