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

Making headlines: Ramaphosa promises 'structural change' as ConCourt celebrates 30th anniversary; Toyota files R6.5bn flood damage lawsuit; And, Rwanda arrests opposition leader

Ramaphosa promises 'structural change' as ConCourt celebrates 30th anniversary

Thirty years after the establishment of the Constitutional Court in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa is promising citizens a range of institutional, infrastructure, financial, administrative, and legal support to allow the judiciary to execute its duties independently, effectively and with dignity.

Delivering the keynote address on the Constitutional Court’s thirtieth anniversary, at Constitution Hill today, Ramaphosa said government support was crucial to maintaining judicial independence.

He acknowledged significant challenges with constitutionalism in South Africa today, noting a disconnect between the promise of the country’s Constitution and the lived realities of South Africans.

He said the promise of the Constitution is far from fully realised, noting persistent inequality, threats to judicial independence, lack of implementation of court orders, and erosion of trust in institutions, which he said remain pressing challenges.

He said enhancing access to justice and improving Court services had been allocated for in this year’s Budget, and he said there had been increases to improve superior court services, for judicial education and support, for the filling of vacant posts and to address other funding shortfalls.

Toyota files R6.5bn flood damage lawsuit

Media reports said Toyota Motors has brought a lawsuit for R6.5-billion in the Durban High Court for 2022 flood damages that shuttered its plant near Durban

The claim against Transnet, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and eThekwini Municipality has been brought by Toyota South Africa Motors’ insurer, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance.

The reports alleged that the floods, which closed the Prospecton plant for four months, cost the company about R4.5-billion in plant repairs and rehabilitation and more than R2-billion in business interruption.

The suit, which claims interest on the sum, alleges that by failing to maintain waterways and drainage systems that carried the floodwater, the three defendants shared responsibility for the damage.

And, Rwanda arrests opposition leader

Rwanda has arrested prominent opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, who is being held at a detention facility in the capital Kigali on charges of inciting the public and creating a criminal organisation, a State investigative agency said.

Her lawyers say the move is politically motivated.

Ingabire was freed in 2018 after serving six years of a 15-year jail sentence handed to her in 2012 following her conviction on charges related to conspiring to form an armed group and seeking to minimise the 1994 genocide.

She is now accused of "playing a role in creating a criminal organisation and engaging in acts that incite public disorder," the Rwanda Investigations Bureau said in a statement.

It did not say when she would be charged in court.

Ingabire, who heads unregistered opposition party DALFA–Umurinzi, returned from exile in the Netherlands to contest a presidential election in 2010, but was barred from standing after being accused of genocide denial.

Last year President Paul Kagame, in power for a quarter of a century, won re-election after securing 99.18% of the vote, according to the electoral body.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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