For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Haydon Whitley.

Making headlines: Home Affairs boosts border force with 301 new immigration officers; DA demands immediate lifestyle audit following Dina Pule’s controversial return to Cabinet; And, City of Johannesburg welcomes Moody's ratings confirmation, positive outlook

Home Affairs boosts border force with 301 new immigration officers

The South African Department of Home Affairs has initiated a major recruitment drive to hire 301 additional immigration officers, aiming to drastically bolster the country's border security and law enforcement capabilities.

This deployment addresses a long-standing personnel deficit that has strained the department's capacity to police national immigration laws effectively.

Currently, the department operates with just 868 frontline immigration officers tasked with managing compliance across the entire country.

Through extensive internal financial reprioritisation, achieved despite severe, ongoing budgetary constraints, the department is expanding its operational workforce to 1 169 officers.

This targeted expansion will immediately increase the nation's frontline enforcement capacity by 35%.

DA demands immediate lifestyle audit following Dina Pule’s controversial return to Cabinet

A fierce political battle has ignited following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent Cabinet reshuffle, which saw the controversial return of Dina Pule as the new Social Development Minister.

The DA has formally written to the director-general in the Presidency and the secretary to Cabinet, demanding an immediate, comprehensive lifestyle audit of the newly appointed Minister. Conversely, the ANC Women’s League has fiercely defended the appointment, praising Pule’s leadership credentials.

The DA completely rejected and condemned Ramaphosa’s decision, declaring Pule utterly unfit to hold office. The opposition party pointed directly to her track record of unethical conduct, which previously led to her removal from Cabinet.

DA spokesperson on Social Development Nazley Sharif highlighted the severity of Pule's past transgressions, which include serious findings of maladministration by the Public Protector, criminal investigations and misleading Parliament, a formal reprimand by the Speaker for bringing Parliament into disrepute and unlawful payments totalling R10-million.

Sharif emphasised that Pule previously facilitated a scheme allowing her boyfriend to unlawfully benefit from R6-million in taxpayer funds.

And, City of Johannesburg welcomes Moody's ratings confirmation, positive outlook

The City of Johannesburg has welcomed the decision by Moody's Ratings to affirm the city's long-term issuer rating at Ba3, while revising the outlook to positive, following the conclusion of its review.

The city, in a media release, says the rating affirmation and positive outlook represent an important vote of confidence in the city's financial resilience, its ability to meet its debt obligations and the strength of Johannesburg's economic fundamentals despite a challenging operating environment.

The CoJ says its successful restoration of compliance with the JSE debt listings requirements, following the publication of its audited annual financial statements, resulted in the lifting of the suspension of its debt instruments and removed any potential risk associated with debt acceleration.

Throughout this period, the city says, it demonstrated sound financial management, sufficient liquidity to service its obligations and an unwavering commitment to investors and financial markets.

Moody's recognised several key strengths underpinning the city's credit profile, including a resilient and diversified metropolitan economy that contributes about 15% of South Africa's GDP; stable operating performance supported by improved electricity sales and prudent financial management; a moderate and sustainable debt profile; continued access to capital funding and government grants to support infrastructure investment; and consistent servicing of all debt obligations, even during the temporary JSE suspension.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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