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

Making headlines: BOSA announces it will be on 2024 election ballots; DA launches urgent contempt of court action against Mbalula; And, Presidency confirms Hlophe, Motata removed from office

BOSA announces it will be on 2024 election ballots

Build One South Africa announced today that it will be contesting the elections nationally and in all nine provinces on May 29, gathering 140 000 signatures, more than that required by the Independent Electoral Commission.

BOSA acting spokesperson Roger Solomons said this was double what the law required, saying the signatures would be hand delivered to the IEC today, before the Friday deadline.

Solomons averred that being a new party had not come without its challenges, between the government, the IEC and the Constitutional Court, noting "many unnecessary and some unjust hurdles" that had been placed in the party’s path.

He highlighted that the signature requirements for new entrants was one of the more unfair hurdles which BOSA faced.

BOSA will field 120 candidates for the election across all lists.

DA launches urgent contempt of court action against Mbalula

The Democratic Alliance has followed through on its promise to take African National Congress secretary-general Fikile Mbalula to task over his failure to hand over complete records relating to the ANC’s cadre deployment committee.

The DA contends that the ANC is in contempt of the Constitutional Court order, which required the ANC to hand over complete records of its national cadre deployment committee dating back to January 1, 2013, when ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa was chairperson.

The DA claimed that the ANC had deliberately failed to hand over some records and redacted some information, and that there was overwhelming evidence that the ANC also had active provincial and regional cadre deployment committees in ANC-controlled provincial and municipal governments which subverted legal appointment processes.

The DA’s court action against the ruling party will also ask for the laptop and hardrive from which the cadre deployment records were removed. The DA wants the hardware handed over to an independent IT expert.

The DA is adamant that the ANC is hiding information relating to Ramaphosa’s role in cadre deployment, which was supposedly used to facilitate State capture.

And, Presidency confirms Hlophe, Motata removed from office

After a lengthy fight, Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and retired Judge Nkola Motata have been removed from office by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Hlophe was removed from the bench by a National Assembly vote, having been accused of trying to influence the Constitutional Court in a matter related to former President Jacob Zuma.

Hlophe had been found guilty of gross misconduct by the Judicial Service Commission, after which the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services recommended his dismissal.

Motata was found guilty of gross misconduct following a drunk driving conviction in 2009.

This marks the first time in South Africa’s democracy that judges have been impeached.

In the National Assembly vote, 305 MPs voted for Hlophe’s removal, while 27 voted against and 296 MPs voted for Motata’s removal, one voted against and 13 abstained.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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