02 May 2024

/ The Wrap /

Hi there 🙋🏽‍♀️

We hope you had a restful mid-week Workers' Day. It's a welcome opportunity to reflect on workers' rights, and in this edition of The Wrap, we do just that by looking at a high bar set by the court for a dagga-smoking employee (haha).

With just a few weeks to the election, we break down why you'll be getting THREE ballots come voting day. We also unpack the MK Party's shenanigans, why the NHI bill may be more election nonsense that comes to nothing, and pro-Palestine protests at US campuses. Plus, we take pride in our athletes and musicians, even if our politicians leave much to be desired. 

So, let's dive into your weekly update of empowering and easy-to-understand news, brought to you by Verashni Pillay and the explain.co.za team. 😄

Format:

🔊 Voice note by Verashni 

📰 Text: Keep scrolling

OUR TAKE: DON’T LET THE NHI BOGEYMAN SCARE YOU

The National Health Insurance may well be South Africa’s new “land grabs”: a red herring the government dangles before large parts of the population to distract them from the fact they’re not getting better service delivery in all other areas. 

To recap, the NHI will create universal healthcare for all. Right now, we have a shoddy public healthcare system for most of the population and world-class private care for the few million who can afford private medical aid. 

Like land expropriation without compensation, the NHI addresses a real need: unequal access to resources rooted in apartheid’s legacy. Like the expropriation legislation, it is the way the state wants to address this legitimate issue that is the real concern. And, like so many sensational pre-election political plays before it, there’s little to no chance of it being implemented in its current form. 

With national elections a few weeks away and the ANC polling at a dismal 40%, President Cyril Ramaphosa has again tried to tempt voters with promises of signing the bill, which has been waiting for his signature since being passed by both houses of parliament at the end of last year. 

But even if signed, the bill will likely get bogged down in court for years, as the private healthcare industry has vowed to fight it. Plus, there is the pesky matter of funding the R200 billion-plus bill from an already overstretched tax base. It’s lightyears away from happening, and the ANC probably won’t even be in power to see it through. Still, all this talk affects public sentiment, potentially scaring our medical specialists into emigrating and deterring potential medical students. 

Making empty promises to a hungry poor and working class while ALSO panicking the already strained middle class is an ANC speciality… one we can’t wait to see the back of.

PRO-PALESTINE US STUDENT PROTESTS PROVE SA ISN'T ISOLATED AFTER ALL

Student protests. Police arrests on campus. Occupying university offices.

No, this is not a throwback to the Fees Must Fall protests that rocked SA, but scenes straight out of Ivy League and other universities in the US this week following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Students are taking issue with universities that do business with Israel or companies linked to the Israeli military. 

These demonstrations are a perhaps inevitable result of the seven-month-long war that Israel has waged in Palestine, which has killed over 34,000 people and displaced nearly 2 million more in response to Hamas' deadly October 7 attacks. The demonstrations on campuses remind us of similar scenes in the 1960s when students protested the US war in Vietnam and also in the 1980s when students marched and blockaded campus buildings to demand sanctions on apartheid South Africa. 

This fresh round of dissent against US President Joe Biden's foreign policy further throws doubts on his re-election chances in November. He has been polling at around 37% for months now - the lowest any incumbent president has ever dropped in ratings. Not even Donald Trump or Richard Nixon polled that low towards the end of their troubled administrations. Still, Biden has steamed ahead with his support for Israel, shown in the recent passing of a $95-billion military aid package by the US Congress, which will distribute the funds to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.  

Meanwhile, according to reports, the International Criminal Court may be preparing arrest warrants against the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and at least two other senior government officials who have been implicated in crimes against humanity, most likely for the policy of forced famine in Gaza.

These student protests are the latest in the global movement against the war in Palestine, which has been carried out in virtually every major city since October last year. We previously covered South Africa's application to the International Court of Justice against Israel and this war and reported how some political parties fear that this stance would isolate us on the international stage. These demonstrations have proven that this is not the case.

The Labour Appeal Court has lit up the room with a ruling that's left Barloworld Equipment coughing up some serious cash. The company must compensate former employee Bernadette Enever with over R1 million in back pay after unfairly firing her for repeatedly testing positive for dagga. 

The case revolves around Barloworld's zero-tolerance policy towards drug use, which led to Enever's dismissal. Given that the Constitutional Court gave the thumbs-up to weed back in 2018 for private use, the policy interfered with an employee's right to privacy outside of work hours. 

Enever, who worked at Barloworld since 2012, testified that cannabis changed her life, reducing her reliance on prescription drugs for managing pain and sleep issues. 

Despite disclosing her smoking habit, there was no evidence that Enever was ever 'impaired' during work hours, and she was not involved in operating heavy machinery. 

This ruling is more than just a win for Enever – it has now set a significant precedent regarding dagga consumption in the workplace. But before you light one up, let's keep up the fight for workers' rights, especially following Workers Day this week. 

Last week, the Democratic Alliance (DA) unveiled its policy saying that if the party were to win the elections on 29 May, the minimum wage would not be increased "any further", and instead, the monetary value would be allowed to be "eroded" by inflation. Talk about a blunt attack. (Ok, we'll stop with the 🌿 puns 😆).

Another day, another MK Party (MKP) story. 😶 In case you missed it, the uMkhonto WeSizwe Party is a break-away faction that has blatantly ripped the branding of the ANC's historic military wing. It was registered in September 2023 and fronted by disgraced former president Jacob Zuma. But it's anyone's guess whether they will make it to your ballot paper come May 29. Here are the issues:

Zuma's eligibility to run
The Constitution disqualifies anyone with a criminal record from serving as a member of parliament (MP) for five years after being sentenced. You may remember Zuma's conviction in 2021 for contempt of court around the state capture hearings, landing him with a 15-month prison sentence (even if he only served a fraction of that).

In late March the IEC announced Zuma was therefore not eligible, but the MKP promptly took the matter to the electoral court. To everyone's great surprise, the court overturned the IEC's decision. Now, the IEC is approaching the highest court in the land, the Constitution Court, for an urgent hearing to effectively stop Zuma from qualifying.

They have to tread carefully as an impartial body, noting: "This appeal is not intended to involve itself in the political field of play; it is rather to ensure free and fair elections." The hearing is on May 10 - just weeks before the May 29 elections. 👀 The drama!

Zuma's health
But besides Zuma's eligibility to stand, can he literally… stand? There have been questions about Zuma's health in recent weeks after several falls. The MKP has dismissed reports of his declining health, stating that the "falsehoods" about his health were "desperate attempts to disrupt our progress and weaken our resolve." He sure does look like a far cry from the man who would sing Mshin' Wam while dancing like his (political) life depended on it. 

Forgery claims
All of the above will be moot, however, if an explosive City Press story on Sunday is to be believed. A former party senior official, Lennox Ntsodo, reported to the police that the party forged signatures to meet the threshold to qualify for the elections. 💀💀 Ntsodo said in an affidavit that in February, 20 people were hired to assist in forgery, sourcing details from a jobseekers database of the Cape Metro council and some from a burial scheme.

The party had denied the allegations, saying Ntsodo had a "sketchy background" and was angry that he didn't make the MKP list. But… the Rapport newspaper called 15 people on the lists, 14 of whom denied ever signing it. The IEC says it only verified that the person signing was alive and a registered voter and that it would have been "impossible" to verify each signature, relying instead on good faith from parties. It has urged police to speed up the investigations into the claims. 

If the party DOES get to run, it could be a headache for the EFF - not the ANC, as previously assumed. The latest poll by market research company Ipsos shows MKP polling at 8.5% among a representative sample of over 2500 registered voters, up from no support since the previous February poll.

The ANC's support held largely steady at just over 40%, but the EFF went from polling at 19.6% in February to just 11.5% in April, which could mean the MKP has eaten into its support. Remember, these are NOT election predictions, just sentiment-testing as South Africans grapple with who to vote for in the crucial upcoming elections.

Go Akani! South African sprinter Akani Simbine secured a gold medal on Saturday at a prestigious World Athletics event in China, the Diamond League event. Simbine overcame a sluggish start to claim victory in the men's 100m race. He overtook former world champions Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley in the final stretch to nab his eighth Diamond League 100m crown.

Clocking in at 10.01 seconds, Simbine crossed the finish line ahead of Coleman, the 2019 world champion, by a razor-thin margin of three-hundredths of a second. Kerley, the 2022 world champion, trailed closely behind, securing the third spot with a time of 10.11 seconds.

This victory marks a significant rebound for Simbine, who was disappointed by his disqualification at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest due to a false start.

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games approaching, Simbine's success in the Diamond League may signal South Africa's potential to secure an Olympic medal in a sprint event. 

"This has built a lot of confidence leading into the Olympic year. This helps build momentum, which I hope to build on further as the season progresses," said Simbine in a post-race interview. 

Though we are quite dominant when it comes to swimming and certain track events (Penny Heyns, Caster Semenya, Wade van Niekerk), a South African has never won an Olympic medal for a sprint event before. Here's hoping for Akani! 🏃

In precisely 26 days, South Africans will head to the polls, and for the first time, voters will receive three ballot papers. This is thanks to last year's Electoral Amendment Bill, which allows independent candidates to contest the election, among other things.

Three? I hardly understand the two, we hear you say. Well, don't be afraid, as we're here to explain (haha) how these will work. 

🗳️ National Compensatory Ballot
This ballot will be the same for all South Africans. It's straightforward and easy to understand. It features only political parties contesting for half of the seats in the 400-seater national assembly, aka Parliament. You'll see the name of the party next to the face of the party leader (yes, Cyril and John will be smiling at us), the abbreviation of the party name, the logo of the party and the box in which to make your mark. Remember, you only need to make one mark (X) per ballot paper.

🗳️ National Regional Ballot
The remaining 200 seats in Parliament are made up of "regional" or provincial representatives, which is where this new ballot comes in. For example, if you vote in Johannesburg, you will receive a "Gauteng regional ballot" – this is a vote for an independent OR party to fill the regional seats reserved in Parliament for Gauteng.

Previously only political parties contested for these seats, but now independents will be in the mix, too. Political parties will be represented as mentioned above, but independent candidates will have their names, photos, and the word "independent," plus that all-important box to put your X in. 

Here's the thing: the exact mix of national vs regional ballots when it comes to the final makeup of the 400 seats will depend on a formula that is applied by the IEC. It's a lot of maths. For you as the voter, the thing to understand is how you vote regionally will also have a say on how the national assembly is made up. Yay, hybrid system! (Download this PDF from the IEC website if you like maths.)

🗳️ Provincial Legislature Ballot 
The May 29 elections actually feature 10 elections: One to elect leaders to Parliament, which the above two ballots cover, and one for each of SA's nine provinces. This follows a similar process to the national: electing people to the provincial legislature, who will elect your premiers, MECs and so on. This third ballot you receive, which may be called, for example, "A Gauteng provincial ballot", will be specific to your province's leadership and will contain candidates from various political parties AS WELL as independent candidates running for seats in the provincial legislature.

The ballot will display the faces of the political parties' leaders and independent candidates, their respective party abbreviations, logos, and a designated space for you to mark your choice with an 'x'. 

We know three ballot papers might seem intimidating. Still, it speaks to the ever-evolving nature of our politics: More players in the game mean more marginalised voices can be represented. 💪

“It’s about time you listened to Boom Shaka…”

If you grew up in SA in the 90s, you’d recognise that ditty. The iconic kwaito group Boom Shaka made waves with the track back in the day, and the band was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Metro FM Music Awards (MMAs) in Mpumalanga over the weekend. 

Their reunion performance had everyone in their retro feels, especially when group member Thembi Seete recalled performing with the late Lebo Mathosa, a founding member of Boom Shaka who died in a car accident in 2006.

Grammy award-winner Tyla, who we told you about last week, was the most nominated person at this year’s MMAs, with six nominations, winning one: the Global Icon award.

Veteran artist DJ Oskido, who has been in the industry for over 25 years, was also honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. 

It was a fitting tribute to the founders of proudly local genres that have rocked the world and inspired artists like Beyonce, Drake and more. 

Oskido: 
🔹 First popularised the Kwaito genre of music outside of SA’s townships
🔹 Was central to the rise of Afro-house and 
🔹 Opened doors for the comparatively new amapiano genre that Tyla has made palatable for a Western, pop-centred audience. 

“This award is not just for me,” said Oskido. “It’s for everyone who has been part of this incredible journey, from kwaito to house, amapiano, and the entire explosion of South African music that has captivated the world.”

TitoM and Yuppe won the Best Viral Challenge for their song Tshwala Bam. The song sparked a global dancing challenge, including by celebrities like Jason Derulo. So, it’s about time you listened to SA’s winning beats. Everyone else is. 😉

That’s it from us at The Wrap, a product of explain.co.za – simple news summaries for busy people.

The Wrap is sponsored by explain’s agency division. We specialise in content marketing for purpose-driven organisations, often with a pan-African reach. Mail info@explain.co.za for a quote. 

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Till next time, goodbye from the team. ✌️