Making headlines: Moseneke to announce Esidimeni compensation figures; Shaik says he won't testify in Zuma matter unless subpoenaed; And, Minister Dlamini lied under oath: Budlender

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Jessica Oosthuizen.

Moseneke to announce Esidimeni compensation figures

Retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke is expected to announce today the compensation that the Gauteng Health Department will have to pay families who lost members during the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

More than 140 mentally ill patients died following the bungled relocations from Life Esidimeni facilities to ill-equipped NGOs across the province.

Last month, Moseneke, who has been chairing a special arbitration hearing, said he needed 30 days to review the evidence before making awards to the families.

Two civil society groups, Solidarity and Section27, reached an agreement with the state that the families would be compensated R200 000 for common law damages, and counselling would also be made available.

In terms of constitutional damages, the legal representatives of the organisations argued that families of the deceased should be awarded R1.5-million as part of the redress.

Shaik says he won't testify in Zuma matter unless subpoenaed

Paroled businessman, Schabir Shaik, today rejected as false reports that he has been subpoenaed to testify in the imminent corruption trial of former president Jacob Zuma.

On Friday National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Abrahams announced that he had reinstated decade-old corruption charges linked to South Africa’s controversial arms deal.

Abrahams said that on the facts of the matter and in the interests of transparency, the interests of the administration of justice and in the interests of the National Prosecuting Authority, he is of the view that a trial court would be the most appropriate forum for these issues to be ventilated and to be decided upon.

He said after consideration of the matter, he is of the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Zuma.

Media reports at the weekend suggested that Shaik would testify against Zuma when the matter came before the courts.

But today the former financial adviser to Zuma said he maintained the money he gave to the former president were "loans" and not "bribes" as found by the court.

And, Minister Dlamini lied under oath: Budlender

Former Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini was an embarrassingly poor witness who lied in her testimony, the South African Social Development Agency inquiry heard today.

Submitting his closing arguments, Geoff Budlender, for NGO Black Sash, said Dlamini, now Minister for Women, lied about the role of the expensive work streams because she wanted to conceal her responsibility for her failures and, ultimately, the social grants crisis that arose two years ago.

He added that Dlamini knew all along that the April 2017 deadline set by the Constitutional Court to resolve the matter would not be met.

Budlender added that former Sassa CEO Thokozani Magwaza and former director-general Zane Dangor's "overwhelming" evidence contradicted Dlamini's testimony.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today
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