September 1, 2023.

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

Making headlines:

Residents of burnt Joburg building refuse help for fear of deportation

DA declares highest donation in quarterly funding report

And, Zimbabwe opposition calls for nationwide protests over disputed vote

Residents of burnt Joburg building refuse help for fear of deportation

City of Johannesburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele says some of the residents who occupied the Marshalltown building that burnt down refused to go to hospital and temporary shelters for fear of the aid being a ruse to deport them.

At least 74 people died and dozens others were hospitalised when the five-storey building on the corner of Albert and Delvers streets caught fire. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Makhubele said some metro buses that had been dispatched to fetch the building's occupants left empty because they refused to board them.

She said she suspected that the residents, the majority of whom have been confirmed to be undocumented foreign nationals, feared being deported or arrested if they boarded the buses. However, Makhubele assured them that the City only sought to assist them.

DA declares highest donation in quarterly funding report

The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa noted that the more than R58-million in declarations that were made by political parties is significantly higher for the reporting period compared with previous quarters.

Four political parties – ActionSA, the African National Congress, the Democratic Alliance and the newly registered Build One South Africa – made funding declarations during the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.

The IEC presented the Political Party Funding Disclosure Report for the period of April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023. The report is the ninth since the Party Funding Act came into operation and shows the second-highest amount declared since implementation.

The highest declared donation of more than R22-million was made to the DA. R15-million was received from an entity known as Fynbos Ekwiteit, which has made significant donations to the DA  in the last two financial years.

Zimbabwe opposition calls for nationwide protests over disputed vote

Zimbabwe's main opposition party called on Friday for nationwide protests and a re-run of elections that it said fraudulently handed President Emmerson Mnangagwa a second term in office.

The appeal from the Citizens Coalition for Change came a day after Mnangagwa said the vote was valid and warned there would be a crackdown on anyone spreading chaos.

The electoral commission said late on Saturday that Mnangagwa had secured roughly 53% of the vote, leaving CCC leader Nelson Chamisa in second place on 44%. Mnangagwa's ruling Zanu-PF party was named winner of the parliamentary election but fell just short of the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.

Analysts have questioned the credibility of the elections, which were marred by arrests of vote monitors. Zanu-PF has said there were no irregularities and Mnangagwa has urged anyone with complaints to go to the courts.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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