Cape Times 2025-12-24

THE Eastern Cape believes that shutting down procurement over the festive season will help ally fears it may not get the required exposure to provide competitiveness in responses. The last day for advertising of bids in the Eastern Cape tender bulletin was December 12 and the date for first publication will be January 16, according to a circular by Eastern Cape provincial treasury head Daluhlanga Majeke. He also indicated that National Treasury regulations bids are advertised in at least the government tender bulletin for a minimum period of 21 days before closure, except in urgent cases when bids may be advertised for such a shorter period as the accounting officer or accounting authority may determine. “Due to the looming closing period for December holidays, advertising of those bids may not…

DJ Warras’ sons and pallbearers paid cultural homage in traditional Zulu style during his funeral at the Immaculate Conception Church in Rosebank, Johannesburg yesterday. Family members, friends and colleagues from the media and music industries gathered during the private service to say their final goodbyes. The ceremony served as a tribute to the popular broadcaster and DJ, honouring both his roots and life while reflecting a sense of identity and shared mourning. Warras, born Warrick Stock, was shot dead last week in the Johannesburg CBD. He was 40-years-old. Police confirmed on Monday that the two people of interest initially taken in for questioning, were arrested. One of the most striking moments of the service came as his three sons and the pallbearers entered wearing black suits paired with umqhele,…

THE future of the KwaZulu-Natal Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) continues to hang in the balance as the National Freedom Party (NFP) now wants provincial legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce to fire its MPL Mbali Shinga. The NFP’s letter to the Speaker comes after the party resolved to temporarily suspend Shinga’s membership last week in response to her decision to refuse to toe party line when she voted against the Umkhonto weSizwe Party's motion of no-confidence in Premier Thami Ntuli. The suspension bars her from participating in all party activities including representing it in government. The party’s acting Secretary-General Sunset Xaba said Shinga was suspended after she did not respond to the letter from the leadership to provide reasons for defying the party’s instruction to support the motion.…

The National Consumer Tribunal has confirmed a settlement agreement between the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and We Buy Cars (Pty) Ltd (WBC), bringing to an end an investigation into alleged contraventions of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). According to the statement from the NCC, the settlement, referred to the Tribunal by the NCC on December 3, was confirmed on December 19 and has now been made a consent order in terms of section 74(1) of the CPA. In terms of the consent order, We Buy Cars has agreed to pay an administrative fine of R2.5 million and to refund a total of R3,419 971.83 to 31 affected consumers. The refunds relate to complaints lodged with the NCC over the past three years, in which consumers alleged that the company failed…

UNDER-FIRE Bitou Municipality deputy mayor, Nokuzola Kolwapi ‘still broke the law’ when discharging what she now claims to be a toy gun during traditional celebrations welcoming the return of her son from a Xhosa initiation school. This is according to firearm experts who also cast doubt on Kolwapi’s claim that the object she fired in the air was a “replica (toy-gun)”. Martin Hood, a dedicated attorney at MJ Hood & Associates, specialises in matters of firearm law and is also a firearm instructor. He said that Kolwapi's cultural argument holds no merit as “there is no culture that recognises waving a firearm around in public”, so her “relying on culture is absolute rubbish”. “The Firearms Control Act classifies a replica of a firearm. In other words, in this instance, a…

OUTGOING National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) advocate Shamila Batohi has come under fierce criticism from the Black Lawyers Association (BLA), which accuses her of presiding over the “moral decay” of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Nkosana Mvundlela, BLA president, in a scathing statement, said Batohi failed to provide direction on TRC cases, neglecting to assemble teams to tackle state capture prosecutions, and ignoring a victim-centred approach. The organisation said her tenure was responsible for deepened public mistrust in law enforcement. Batohi, who is set to vacate her office by the end of next month, took the hot seat in February 2019, stepping into the “long shadow of state capture”, a period she has noted was marked by profound institutional decay, erosion of public trust, and a deeply…