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Making headlines: Parties lodge ethics complaint against Majodina over vulgar tirade against Kouga resident; Two newly completed bridges, as part of Lesotho Highlands Water project, set to open; And, BRICS finance chiefs call for urgent IMF, World Bank reform

Parties lodge ethics complaint against Majodina over vulgar tirade against Kouga resident

The EFF, DA and ActionSA have criticised Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina, following a highly contentious confrontation with a resident in the Eastern Cape.

The incident, which has sparked widespread public outcry, has led to an official ethics complaint laid by the DA and ActionSA, and intensified the political temperature ahead of the November 4 local government elections.

The controversy erupted during a community meeting in the Kouga local municipality, meant to address severe local water shortages.

According to political parties, Majodina unleashed a tirade of profanities and insults at a community member who was questioning or criticising the government's performance.

The DA and ActionSA lodged an ethics complaint with Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests, calling for Majodina’s conduct to be investigated and for appropriate sanctions to be imposed by Parliament.

ActionSA Member of Parliament Malebo Kobe criticised Majodina’s behaviour as a flagrant breach of the Code of Ethical Conduct for Assembly and Council Members.

Two newly completed bridges, as part of Lesotho Highlands Water project, set to open

As the construction of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II progresses, the newly completed Mabunyaneng and Khubelu bridges in the Mokhotlong district, in Lesotho, are set to be unveiled this week.

This followed the completion of the 90-m-high Senqu bridge earlier this year.

South Africa’s Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina and Lesotho’s Natural Resources Minister Mohlomi Moleko planned to launch the bridges on Thursday.

The two bridges, to be officially opened at Mabunyaneng bridge site, in Mapholaneng, form part of the restoration infrastructure portion of the LHWP to ensure continuous access across the future Polihali dam, as the two existing low-lying crossings on this route will be submerged when the reservoir is impounded.

The Khubelu bridge, the second largest of the three bridges, features a 270-m-long curved deck comprising nine 30 m spans, supported by eight piers and two abutments.

Rising approximately 25 m above the valley floor, the structure is carried by sixty-three 52 t precast beams, each 30 m in length.

The Mabunyaneng bridge spans 120 m across the valley and consists of four 30 m spans, supported by three piers and twenty-eight precast beams, standing about 12 m above the valley floor.

And, BRICS finance chiefs call for urgent IMF, World Bank reform

BRICS finance chiefs and central bank governors today reiterated calls for urgent reform of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to give emerging and developing economies a greater say in the two institutions.

The Bretton Woods institutions, created in the aftermath of World War II, should better reflect shifts in the global economy, they said in a joint statement, calling for increased IMF quota and voting shares for emerging and developing countries. They also backed greater representation of those economies in the leadership of the IMF and World Bank.

The call is not new. BRICS has long pushed for developing nations to have greater influence in global financial institutions, arguing that their representation should reflect their growing weight in the world economy.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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