News snippets from around the world.

South Africa’s security sector is in crisis – immediate reform is needed to ensure national stability

As the dust settles on insurrection, government must acknowledge the urgent need to repurpose a failing security system. The attempted insurrection of the past week affirms the extent to which South Africa suffers from debilitating political, social and economic pathologies. With high unemployment, inequality, poverty, xenophobia and racism, the country will face internal security problems for years to come. Add to this declining regional stability due to the insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province and events in Eswatini, and it’s clear that South Africa’s security system must urgently be repurposed for the tasks at hand.

First published by ISS Today and then www.dailymaverick.co.za

World’s leading ransomware gangs have created a cybercrime “cartel”

Several of Russia’s largest ransomware cybercriminal gangs have partnered up and are sharing hacking techniques, purloined data-breach information, malware code and technology infrastructure. The most active collaborators are four groups known as Wizard Spider, Twisted Spider, Viking Spider and LockBit. The gangs in this cluster jointly control access to illicit data leak sites and custom ransomware code. They also associate with the larger criminal ransomware ecosystem, exert influence over smaller gangs and license their tools to affiliates, said Jon DiMaggio, chief security strategist at Analyst1. The groups do not appear to share profits from criminal activity. “They’re not a cartel in the traditional sense, like oil companies that have a lock on the supply of crude,” DiMaggio explained. “But they do have technology infrastructure, and some are big enough to have their own [ransomware] code.”

www.cbsnews.com

Fake news uptick aimed at South Africa’s judiciary

South Africa’s judiciary has been hit by a flurry of fake news reports, which has forced it to clarify the wave of disinformation in the past two weeks. The latest is a list circulating on social media, purportedly containing judges shortlisted for judicial vacancies by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

www.iol.co.za

Zuma slapped with summons to pay back R18m in legal fees

The Jacob Zuma Foundation on Thursday confirmed the receipt of a summons that the former president pays back R18 million used to fund his personal legal costs. Zuma lost an appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) back in April and was ordered to pay back the money.

www.citizen.co.za

Government can’t borrow R70bn to increase public servants’ salaries

Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu has warned that the government would have to borrow over R70 billion to comply with the agreement to increase public servants’ salaries it failed to honour last year. Mchunu filed his written submissions ahead of next month’s Constitutional Court battle between unions representing state employees and the government over the failure to increase their salaries in 2020. The agreement reached at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) in 2018 would have seen salaries increase by between 4.4% and 5.4% agreed with effect from 1 April 2020.

www.iol.co.za

Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell closes Route B97 between Paarl and Bellville

MEC of Transport and Public Works has decided to close route B97 between Paarl and Bellville, currently the cause of conflict between taxi associations Cata and Codeta, who both claim to have the right to operate on the route. The decision follows his publication of notice in the Government Gazette dated 9 July (Government Notice 416 of 2021) that Bellville and Paarl are areas in respect of which extraordinary measures in terms of Section 91 may be made. Over 80 people have died since the start of the year due to the conflict over the route. Thousands of commuters were left stranded after minibus taxis pulled and buses followed suit after the violence spilt over. Now buses that are running a limited service have to be escorted by law enforcement when transporting commuters.

www.iol.co.za

South Africa unrest death toll jumps to more than 330

The recent rioting in South Africa has claimed 337 lives, the government said last week. “The South African Police Services has revised the total number of deaths in Gauteng [province] to 79 and KwaZulu-Natal to 258 as related to the unrest,” said Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in the president’s office.

www.aljazeera.com

SA State Capture Inquiry update

The state capture commission will resume its hearings into law enforcement agencies, hearing evidence from legal representatives of implicated prosecutors in the National Prosecuting Agency (NPA). The commission will also hear evidence from former police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, said the commission’s spokesperson Mbuyiselo Stemela. Phahlane has previously featured in testimonies by former head of Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) Robert McBride. McBride has told the commission that the SAPS was run on a patronage system whereby junior officers were promoted to carry out their seniors’ bidding.

www.iol.co.za

French person among 6 held over plot to kill Madagascar president

A French citizen is among six suspects arrested over a failed plot to murder Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina and other top political figures in the Indian Ocean island nation, according to officials. “One of the arrested people is French, two of them are bi-national: Malagasy and French. The three others are Malagasy,” Rodellys Fanomezantsoa Randrianarison, the public security minister, said last week.

www.aljazeera.com

Warning against dye-stained banknotes

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Wednesday advised the public to be aware and cautious of accepting banknotes that have been stained with traces of blue or green ink. This comes in the wake of the looting and vandalism of shopping malls and other stores, including ATMs, last week in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng that government has since characterised as part of a ‘failed insurrection’.

www.citizen.co.za

42 cases of murder opened in Gauteng, 171 in KZN following unrest

Following the unrest that swept through parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal last week, acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said that police had opened 42 cases of murder and 37 inquest dockets in Gauteng, while 171 cases of murder were opened in KwaZuluNatal and 87 inquest dockets.

www.ewn.co.za

Shootings in Washington spotlight growing problem

US mass shootings, in which four or more people were shot, make national – and international – headlines. But stories involving smaller-scale attacks often remain on the pages of local newspapers. The spree of violence in the nation’s capital last weekend is one more point in a larger, worrying, trend. According to Washington DC crime statistics, the rate of assaults committed with a firearm has risen each year since 2018. So far, 455 assaults with a firearm have been reported in 2021. This time last year, there had been 422. Across major US cities, rates of homicides and shootings are up, says University of Pennsylvania Professor David Abrams, who created the website City Crime Stats last summer to track how the pandemic has affected crime. “Homicides are, in most of these cities, outpacing – and in some cases by a lot – rates that we’ve seen for the last several years,” says Prof Abrams. “It’s pretty widespread. This is not just a DC phenomenon. It’s not just a Chicago phenomenon.”

www.bbc.com

How last week’s violence differed from SA’s typical service delivery protests

Looting was a dominant feature in the recent unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which stands in stark contrast to what usually happens during service delivery protests in SA. This is according to Municipal IQ, a local government data and intelligence organisation that collects information on service delivery protests staged against municipalities to quantify and better understand the nature and trends of such events. “While recent civil unrest and looting were not directed directly against municipalities, Municipal IQ has databased major incidents (using media reports) to allow for a comparison of last week’s events against service delivery protests,” said Municipal IQ. According to the organisation, while service delivery protests in any given month are spread across SA, the vast majority of recent unrest took place in KZN and Gauteng (66% and 33%, respectively), and in metros (66%). “As of the end of June, 22% of 2021’s service delivery protests took place in KwaZulu-Natal, and 46% were in metros spread around the country. This is in sharp contrast with the concentration of unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and in particular eThekwini, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Msunduzi and uMhlathuze, which together accounted for 75% of incidents,” said Kevin Allan, MD of Municipal IQ.

www.sowetanlive.co.za

Life Esidimeni inquest postponed to August

The Life Esidimeni inquest has been postponed once again, this time to next month to allow for all parties involved to ensure that they are legally represented. The hearings into the deaths of at least 144 mentally ill patients after they were moved to illegal NGOs by the Gauteng Health Department began earlier last week.

www.ewn.co.za

SA ‘knows’ where the famous blue sofa is — but who is going to get it back?

A Durban furniture store is closer to recovering its now famous blue couch that was stolen when its showroom was looted earlier this month. The San Pablo Corner Sofa, a genuine leather sectional with ‘elegantly sloped armrests and supportive headrests’, is at an informal settlement near Quarry Road in Durban. This is according to social media users, who responded to Leather Gallery’s call for information on the whereabouts of the couch. The couch, which is priced from R67,999, was the subject of a meme when it was photographed at an informal settlement hours after it had been stolen from the Springfield showroom during unrest which swept through Durban.

www.sowetanlive.co.za

Transnet cyber-attack: ‘The economic implications cannot be understated’

With speculation mounting that a cyber-attack that led to the total shutdown of Transnet operations last Thursday is linked to the violent riots and looting that took place in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng earlier this month, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has been called to set the record straight. The Democratic Alliance said – last Friday – that the implication of Transnet being forced to shut down its critical logistical operations “cannot be understated”, with the parastatal still reeling from this month’s unrest and trying to ease a backlog of shipments at some of the country’s largest ports.

www.thesouthafrican.com

Covid-19: ‘We have passed the peak of the third wave,’ says Kubayi-Ngubane

South Africa has seen the worst of its third wave of coronavirus infections, according to Acting Minister of Health Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane. The acting minister and deputy, Dr Joe Phaala, briefed the nation on 23 July, on the government’s response to Covid-19. The latest government briefing on the Covid-19 crisis was bittersweet. KubayiNgubane said that it appears that the worst of South Africa’s third wave of infections has passed and that cases are declining, however, she also added that 47 500 potentially lifesaving vaccines were lost and120 pharmacies were damaged during the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

www.thesouthafrican.com

California sues Activision Blizzard alleging harassment, sexism

Video game giant Activision Blizzard is being hit with a slew of allegations of sexism, discrimination and harassment of female employees in a lawsuit filed by a California state agency. The state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a civil complaint last Wednesday claiming that the maker of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft violated state laws by allowing a ‘pervasive frat boy workplace culture.’ Similar allegations have been made against France-based video game giant Ubisoft as well as US-based Riot Games, maker of League of Legends.

www.thesouthafrican.com

Two in court for possession of 19 rhino horns worth millions

The two men, caught with nineteen rhino horns in their possession, appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. The Hawks’ Col Katlego Mogale said Schalk Steyn (48) and Johannes Groenewald (53) appeared in court after they were arrested while transporting 19 rhino horns in two bakkies. She said that they face charges for the illegal possession and selling of rhino horns. “The pair was arrested during a multi-disciplinary operation conducted on 21 July 2021.” The operation was conducted by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Wildlife Trafficking Counter-Intelligence and private sector to curb wildlife trafficking. “During their arrest, they were found with nineteen rhino horns with an estimated value of R2,6 million.”

www.thesouthafrican.com

Basic Income Grant for SA ‘will be worth over three times more’ than R350 grant

Calls for a Basic Income Grant of R1 268 have intensified. Three civil society organisations, including the Poverty and Inequality Institute, have demanded South Africa’s government provide a universal Basic Income Grant in order to assist over 13 million people living under the poverty line. The country had been providing a R350 Social Relief of Distress grant at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The SRD payments bridged a gap for citizens who remain ineligible for other SASSA grants. However, after many extensions from the initial deadline, the grant was discontinued. Many argued that the discontinuation left millions of vulnerable people – who have come to depend on the grant to provide for their needs – in the lurch.

www.thesouthafrican.com