October 22, 2024.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines:

Kabelo Gwamanda placed on special leave

Taiwan rejects South Africa's demand to move office from Pretoria

And, Russia hosts Brics leaders, signalling Putin is far from isolated

Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has placed MMC for Community Development Kabelo Gwamanda on special leave, effective immediately, and has relieved him from all executive duties.

This after Gwamanda was arrested last week, in connection with a funeral policy scam that he allegedly ran in Soweto more than a decade ago, in which he supposedly scammed unsuspecting Soweto residents in a scheme in which they made monthly payments for funeral insurance.

Morero, who met with Gwamanda this morning said the severity of his allegations demanded a proactive response to protect the integrity of the Mayor’s Office.

He said Gwamanda’s special leave was in line with the City's commitment to “integrity, good governance, and accountability” and will appoint an Acting MMC for Community Development to ensure uninterrupted service delivery.

Taiwan said it will not move its representative office from Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital, after accusing Beijing of pressuring South Africa to ask for a relocation.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung told lawmakers yesterday that the government is preparing for the “worst case scenario.” He urged South Africa to uphold an agreement signed in 1997 — the year that Pretoria severed ties with Taipei — which states that Taiwan will maintain its liaison office in the city.

South Africa has said that relocating what will be rebranded as Taiwan’s trade office in Johannesburg is standard diplomatic practice. This change will reflect the “non-political and non-diplomatic nature” of the relationship between the two.

The South African government has been unwilling to negotiate with Taiwan on the relocation, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorised to speak publicly.

In the worst case scenario, South African police may expel personnel from Taiwan’s representative office, leading to its closure, the person said.

Other potential measures could include halting the issuance of visas to Taiwanese diplomats, gradually forcing the Taiwan office to withdraw from the country, according to the person.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will play host to Russia’s biggest gathering of world leaders since the invasion of Ukraine and use the Brics summit to show the US and its allies that he’s no pariah.

With Russian troops advancing in eastern Ukraine and evidence of growing war fatigue among some of Kyiv’s allies, the Kremlin is seizing its opportunity to cast Putin as standing up to the West in attempting to reshape the global order. The US and its Group of Seven partners dismiss the argument, though it’s a message that resonates with some countries of the emerging world.

Leaders of 32 countries, as well as top officials of regional organizations and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will attend the three-day summit starting today in Kazan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are due to join Putin alongside leaders of the new Brics members, Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia. Putin plans bilateral meetings with many of them, as well as with guests such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday cancelled his plans to attend the summit after suffering a head injury in an accident at his home. Officials said he’ll participate by video link.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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