Author: Agency

The South African Police Service (SAPS) have arrested more than 90 undocumented foreign nationals who are suspected to be illegal miners. The police are conducting integrated operations against illegal mining, focusing on affected districts such as Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and the West Rand. These operations continue to yield positive results, the SAPS said. “During the operations the police seized illegal mining tools that included, pendukas, penduka stands, generators, gas cylinders, jack hammers, steel balls, gold bearing material, a welding machine, water pump motors and two live ammunition of a rifle. Illegal mining sites were also disrupted and dismantled. “The law enforcement…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says it has received several reports of individuals purporting to be Head of the SIU, Advocate Andy Mothibi, or his representatives. The scammers are reportedly going around soliciting money from public representatives, office bearers, and members of the judiciary. The reports have been received in the North West and Free State provinces this week, prompting the SIU to issue a public warning. “The SIU conducts its investigations with integrity and professionalism. “We never ask for money from subjects of investigations or anyone linked to our work. Members of the public are urged to be vigilant,…

A man has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for defrauding the Unemployment Insurance Fund and unduly benefitting from the COVID-19 Temporary Employer/ Employee Relief Scheme (TERS). The man, Dennis Patrick Lerato Modika, was sentenced in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, after being found guilty on eight counts. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Modika submitted some 1 358 fictitious employee claims over a period of two years to the Department of Labour to benefit from the fund. “The accused and his company did not have the declared employees in their employ and were therefore not entitled to…

SA Cabinet has approved state-owned company Petro SA’s recommendation of GazpromBank Africa as an investment partner for the reinstatement of the Mossel Bay Gas to Liquids (GTL) refinery plant and production. This according to Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni who was speaking during a post-cabinet media briefing on Monday. Ntshavheni highlighted that the refinery is one of the “critical components of PetroSA’s turnaround strategy”. “Cabinet was updated about the process followed by CEF to source partners with requisite technical and financial resources to support PetroSA in bringing the refinery back to full operation. The preferred partner would share in…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) for South Africa that will allow the unit to have direct access to Interpol’s information system. “The MoU will strengthen the SIU’s investigating tools of trade and access to data systems to combat cybercrimes. Interpol NCB will provide the SIU with up-to-date training resources. The Interpol NCB has a network of data systems in 195 countries that the SIU can tap into,” the SIU said in a statement. The agreement was signed by SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi and Interpol NCB’s…

The Freight Logistics Roadmap – aimed at addressing the serious challenges in that industry – has been approved for publication by Cabinet. The roadmap also sets out to reform the logistics system in the long run. Over the past few weeks, Transnet – South Africa’s government owned freight rail, ports and logistics company – has been hard at work to resolve severe truck congestion challenges at its Richard’s Bay port, including ramping up the number of locomotives available on its lines servicing the port. Speaking during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Monday, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the…

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has urged the public to engage with the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2023, which has been approved by Cabinet. IRP 2023 is now set to be published by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy. The Minister urged communities, stakeholders and interest groups to engage with the IRP 2023 and send their submissions, as part of determining the country’s “energy future”. “This will underpin our responses in relation to how we are going to address the energy situation in the country. “What is significant about this is that… the IRP 2023…

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has released a White Paper that outlines a comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) roadmap for South Africa and the structure of a suite of policy interventions tailored to the automotive industry. “It is a product of constructive engagement with stakeholders, including within government, industry and labour, to chart a viable and sustainable transition path for the industry,” Patel said on Monday. At a media briefing in Pretoria, Patel said the primary goal of the White Paper is to set a course to transition the auto industry from primarily producing Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles…

South Africa has made progress in addressing the 20 technical compliance difficulties in its anti-money laundering system. This is according to the National Treasury following the release of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) technical compliance re-rating follow up report. “On 27 October 2023, the FATF Plenary formally re-rated 18 of the 20 deficiencies, based on the progress made by the South African authorities in the two-year period following the 2021 mutual evaluation (MER). Of these, fifteen were upgraded to be no longer deficient, as 14 recommendations were now fully or largely compliant, and one recommendation was rated as not…

The announcement of the four preferred bidders under the first bid window of the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Procurement (BESIPPP) Programme marks a “significant development” in South Africa’s pursuit for energy security. This is according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s written remarks at the announcement of the bidders on Thursday. The preferred bidders were selected following an independent evaluation of the bid submissions process held between August and October this year. “This first grid-scale energy storage programme in South Africa marks yet another important step towards the development of adequate electricity generation capacity to meet the…