For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: Civil society wants Thembi Simelane to account for VBS allegations; Solidarity launches skills bank to boost growth, job creation; And, Namibia to cull 83 elephants and distribute meat to people affected by drought

Civil society wants Thembi Simelane to account for VBS allegations

Civil society organisations Freedom Under Law, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Judges Matter and Defend Our Democracy on Tuesday called on Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Thembi Simelane to “fully and transparently” respond to the recent Mutual Bank VBS allegations levelled against her.

In a joint statement, the organisations said perceptions of corruption and conflicts of interest cause significant harm to public confidence in governance institutions and the rule of law.

Reports stated that Simelane, while serving as mayor of Polokwane, made two unlawful investments into the since-collapsed VBS Mutual Bank.

It is said that these payments appeared to be linked to kickbacks paid in exchange for the deposits into VBS by the municipality. 

It is further alleged that these kickbacks were paid to a company which then used a significant portion of the kickbacks to pay towards a loan which was used for the purchase of a coffee shop by the Minister.

Simelane has claimed that the transaction was a legitimate commercial loan which was fully repaid.

However, the organisations pointed out that neither the loan agreement or proof of settlement of the loan have been provided.

The organisations want the Minister to account for her alleged involvement in the incident.

Solidarity launches skills bank to boost growth, job creation

Trade Union Solidarity has pointed out that a precondition for growth and job creation in South Africa is excellent infrastructure and appointing the people with appropriate skills, publicly launching its skills bank with which it aims to tackle the lack of skills in the public sector.  

This comes after discussions held between Solidarity and various levels of government about skills shortages in South Africa.

According to Solidarity, the goal of the project is growth and job creation, and it hopes to register tens of thousands of people on the skills bank, which will first focus on ten critical skills in the engineering and trade environments.

Solidarity's Network Platform head Hennie Bierman says the entire service will be free of charge.

And, Namibia to cull 83 elephants and distribute meat to people affected by drought

Namibia plans to cull 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, and to distribute the meat to people struggling to feed themselves because of a severe drought across southern Africa, the environment ministry said.

The cull will take place in parks and communal areas where authorities believe animal numbers exceed available grazing land and water supplies.

Southern Africa is facing its worst drought in decades, with Namibia having exhausted 84% of its food reserves last month, according to the United Nations.

Nearly half of Namibia's population is expected to experience high levels of food insecurity in the coming months.

With such a severe drought, human-wildlife conflicts are expected to increase if the authorities do not intervene, the environment ministry said.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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