For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Bheki Cele says no evidence links recent truck attacks to July 2021 unrest; IEC confirms that Cope is still a registered political party; And, ConCourt overturns High Court ruling and declares Aarto constitutional

Bheki Cele says no evidence links recent truck attacks to July 2021 unrest

Police Minister Bheki Cele this afternnon assured citizens that the recent attacks on trucks were not linked or related to the 2021 July unrest.

Cele said there was no evidence before the South African Police Service to suggest that the targeting of trucks was in any way linked to the July insurrection.

This week marks two years since the country witnessed mass looting, acts of arson and wanton destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng province, where 354 people lost their lives as a result of the mayhem.

To date, 67 people have been arrested in 11 cases related to the July insurrection.

Cele noted that police were also, in fact, investigating 107 cases in KwaZulu-Natal related to the torching of trucks since 2018.

Cele highlighted that 21 trucks had been burnt since Sunday, nine in KwaZulu-Natal, three in Limpopo and nine in Mpumalanga.

IEC confirms that Cope is still a registered political party

The Independent Electoral Commission has verified the registration of the Congress of the People as a political party.

This comes after news reports alleged that the party was deregistered.

Party spokesperson Dennis Bloem has since clarified that Cope has deregistered as a company by the Companies Intellectual Properties Commission and remains a political party.

The IEC confirmed today that “the Congress of the People is registered with the Commission as a political party in terms of the Electoral Commission Act.

However, it noted that it reserves the right to cancel the registration of a party if it finds that a party no longer has the intention to participate in an election; when a party is not represented in the National Assembly, a Provincial Legislature or Municipal Council; and if a party has not participated in a national, provincial or municipal election after the date of its registration.

Cope is facing leadership battles, with the recent expulsion of the party’s deputy president Willie Madisha and elections secretary Mzwandile Hleko.

And, ConCourt overturns High Court ruling and declares Aarto constitutional

The Constitutional Court has found that the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act is constitutional.

The apex court overturned an order of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, which had found the Act to be unconstitutional and invalid and that it should be scrapped in its entirety.

In a unanimous decision delivered by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the justices agreed that the Act and the way notices would be served to alleged offenders was not inconsistent with the Constitution. The court also concluded that Parliament had the competence to pass the Act.

He added that the court had rejected Outa's contention that the Act removed certain powers from municipalities and gave them to other state organs.

The Act set up a single national system of road traffic regulation, to hold motorists to account for traffic violations.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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