Vote-buying allegations against President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ongoing private prosecution saga between President Cyril Ramaphosa and his predecessor Jacob Zuma were among the major stories in the South African press on Wednesday.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported that Ramaphosa together with African National Congress (ANC) national chairperson Gwede Mantashe and treasurer general candidate Bejani Chauke have been accused of vote buying during the 55th National Conference of the ANC earlier this month.
It said the vote-buying came to light after an ANC member from KwaZulu-Natal province wrote to the ANC electoral chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe accusing the incumbent leadership of buying votes at the conference.
Ramaphosa defeated former health minister Zweli Mkhize, with 2 476 votes against 1 897.
The Daily Maverick reported that Ramaphosa had approached the high court in Johannesburg in the hope of stopping Zuma from pushing ahead with proceedings to have him privately prosecuted.
The matter stems from a statement issued by the Jacob G Zuma Foundation earlier this month in which the former president said Ramaphosa should be charged “in a private prosecution with the criminal offence of being accessory” to a case in which Zuma is accusing a state prosecutor of leaking his medical records to the press.
The paper said Ramaphosa had notified the Johannesburg high court of his intention to make an application on January 10 next year.
The president wants a summons against him to be declared unlawful and wants the private prosecution being driven by Zuma declared “unlawful, unconstitutional, invalid” and for it to be set aside.
The SABC also reported that the 32-year-old truck driver whose vehicle exploded in Johannesburg on December 24 was expected to appear in the Boksburg Magistrates Court on Wednesday facing “multiple counts of culpable homicide, negligent causing of an explosion resulting in death and malicious damage to property.”
The driver was arrested on Sunday at a private hospital where he had been receiving medical treatment for minor injuries after he underestimated the clearance under a bridge, resulting in his gas-laden truck exploding on Saturday.
The death toll from the explosion has risen to 18, with 37 people receiving medical care after suffering severe burn wounds.
Online news agency, News24, reported that police in South Africa’s Free State province had revised the charges against some white men accused of attempting two black teenagers on Christmas Day at a resort in Bloemfontein.
It quoted provincial police spokesperson Motantsi Makhele as saying the police have changed the charges against the men to attempted murder after “more information came to light during the investigation.”
The police had earlier said they were investigation a case of common assault after a group of men allegedly attacked two black teenagers at the Maselspoort Resort outside Bloemfontein on Christmas Day.
JN/APA