Author: Agency

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has announced a marginal decrease in the prices of petrol, while the price of diesel is expected to increase. Motorists are expected to pay four cents less per litre for 93 octane petrol, one cent less for 95 octane petrol per litre and at least 22 cents more per litre for both grades of diesel. The wholesale price of illuminating paraffin has increased by 22 cents per litre, while the single maximum retail price (SMNRP) for illuminating paraffin has increased by 43 cents per litre. The maximum retail price for gas has decreased by…

South Africa has now crossed the 18 million mark for administered COVID-19 vaccine doses. This comes after government distributed 184 324 in the past 24 hours. According to the Department of Health, this means the country has now given 18 073 784 vaccines since its rollout programme. Meanwhile, as of Monday, the number of fully vaccinated adults now stands at 9 213 503, of which 129 539 people were jabbed by Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine or the two-dose series made by Pfizer in the last 24 hours. The dashboard also shows that 57.16% of vaccinees are females, while 42.84% are males. Meanwhile, the National…

South Africa is now home to over 8.8 million fully vaccinated adults, as President Cyril Ramaphosa leads the inaugural Vooma Vaccination Weekend to push more people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the Department of Health, the country on Thursday administered 146 190 vaccines, bringing the total doses to 17 505 358. In addition, the latest data shows that 92 320 people were fully vaccinated in the past 24 hours. This means the country now has 8 819 130 adults who have either received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson or the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine since the start of the inoculation programme. In…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the Department of Health will soon roll out the vaccine certificate as proof that residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19. In a televised address to the nation, the President said the digital pass system could be used to show vaccination status to facilitate travel, access to establishments, gatherings and other forms of activity. “Our approach is informed by World Health Organisation guidelines and is in line with international best practice. Streamlining and standardising proof of vaccination will also go a long way towards getting a number of international travel restrictions both from and into…

Gauteng Premier David Makhura says more than a million people in Gauteng have not gone back to receive their second jab of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. He was speaking during a visit to the newly opened pop-up vaccine site at Khutsong in the Merafong municipality in the province’s West Rand on Wednesday. Makhura highlighted that receiving the second jab of the vaccine gives you even more protection from getting severely ill if you contract COVID-19. “We have over a million people who have taken their first dose of Pfizer whose days have come and passed for their second dose and they…

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says the mining industry is playing a critical role in “saving” the economy during the country’s ongoing COVID-19 induced lockdown. Mantashe was speaking during the opening of the two-day Mining Investment Conference held in Limpopo. The Minister said the decision to allow mining to continue during different phases of the COVID-19 induced lockdown is proving to be decisive in the recovery from the devastating impact the virus has had on the economy. “Mining is doing well…and has played a very important role in saving the economy. The commodity prices are expected to do…

South Africa has administered 16 999 722 doses of COVID-19 jabs as of Monday evening, the Department of Health said. The tally includes the two-dose Pfizer vaccine as well as the single shot of the Johnson & Johnson jab. According to the latest data, 159 732 vaccines were distributed in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the number of fully vaccinated adults has now gone up to 8 501 712, while 12 268 451 people had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 shot. In addition, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) logged 578 new COVID-19 infections. The dashboard shows that the majority of…

President Cyril Ramaphosa will later today attend an announcement by Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of the multinational conglomerate, NantWorks LLC, of an ambitious initiative to build capacity for advanced health care in Africa. The initiative will entail collaboration between NantAfrica, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI), the Universities of Cape Town, Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch and KwaZulu-Natal. NantWorks is a multinational, California-based conglomerate that is leading the digital revolution in healthcare, technology and media through the harnessing of science, digital infrastructure, supercomputing and communication. NantWorks…

South Africa on Tuesday crossed the eight million mark for adults who are fully vaccinated. According to the Department of Health, the country administered 178 685 COVID-19 jabs in the past 24 hours, of which 100 853 people were fully jabbed. This brings the total number of administered doses to 16 358 076, while those who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson or the second shot of the Pfizer vaccine stands at 8 108 520. The latest data shows that there are now 11 848 356 citizens who have been vaccinated out of the 39 798 201 individuals that government is targeting before the end of December. Meanwhile, the…

The Justice and Constitutional Development Department has clarified a media report that hackers demanded a R33 million ransom, following a ransomware attack on the department’s Information Technology systems, earlier this month. According to the report, hackers allegedly encrypted all information on the department’s electronic system, including backups and demanded the ransom be paid – an allegation the department strongly denied. “The [department] would like to place it on the record that it has not received any ransom demand following the ransomware attack as suggested by an article…published on 20 September 2021. The article to this effect is completely untrue,” the department…

South Africa has surpassed the 16 million mark for total administered COVID-19 doses since the start of the country’s vaccination rollout programme. This comes after 154 199 jabs were distributed in the last 24 hours. According to the Department of Health, there are now 7 997 795 citizens who have been fully vaccinated, of which 76 736 people either received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the second shot of the Pfizer jab on Monday. The dashboard also shows that there are now 11 711 920 individuals who have been vaccinated, translating to 29.43% of the country’s adult population. Meanwhile, the National Institute for Communicable…

The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit has arrested a 36-year-old suspect in Gauteng following the August 2020 data breach at Experian. In a statement, the Hawks on Wednesday said Experian entered into a contract with the suspect, who purported to be a certain Tebogo Mogashoa, a director of Talis Holdings. “The agreement gave the person access to the personal information of millions of people, held by the Credit Bureau.  The suspect then proceeded to download approximately 23 million personal data records and 727 000 business records. “The suspect then attempted to sell these records at about R4.2 million,” said…

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has told the National Council of Provinces that current scientific reports suggest that vaccination still offers protection against the new COVID-19 variant C.1.2 identified in South Africa. The variant – which has been detected in all provinces in low frequency – is reported to be more transmissible, resistant to neutralisation and causes more disease severity. The Minister was speaking during the National Council of Province’s Ministerial Briefing Session on the Vaccination Programme. “The NICD [National Institute for Communicable Diseases] and the professors from KRISP [KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform] were reporting… to the National…

The government is making every effort to reach population immunity and is investigating immunising children with the remaining vaccine stock once most adults are covered. “Just in the same way as when we were convinced that we have enough capacity and stock to cover the above 35. Therefore, when that stage arrives, we will definitely look at science and our capacity. Then, at that stage, we should be able to move towards the lower ages below 18, as some of the vaccines have already been approved for those who are under 18,” said Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla on Tuesday.…

The South African Post Office (SAPO) has warned beneficiaries of the R350 Special COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant not to pay for a spot in the queue. The Post Office said it has become aware of instances where self-appointed “queue marshals” ask customers who visit their branches a fee for a place in the front of the queue. “No SAPO employee or other individuals have the right to ask beneficiaries to pay any fee to be serviced or to receive preferential treatment by jumping the queue. Such practices are illegal. “Customers are advised not to pay the fee…

Recently published research has revealed that the new COVID-19 variant C.1.2 has been identified in South Africa. According to the researchers, there are concerns that this SARS-CoV-2 variant of interest (VOI) has been associated with increased transmissibility, neutralisation resistance, and disease severity. “Here we report the identification of a potential variant of interest assigned to the Pango Lineage C.1.2,” the preprint analysis published last week read. The Pango, which stands for Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak Linages, refers to the software tool for sequence assignment used by researchers to track the transmission and spread of COVID-19. “This lineage was…

Khathutshelo Mashau, a convicted fraudster who swindled several taxpayers, has been sentenced to 48 years direct imprisonment after being found guilty on charges of theft, fraud and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). In a statement, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on Thursday said Mashau had been handed the hefty sentence by the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court. This came after the court heard how SARS had received a complaint from a taxpayer that his personal income tax refund was paid into an incorrect bank account. “SARS conducted an investigation and found that the refund was paid into…

Unemployment in South Africa rose to 34.4% in the second three months of 2021, according to results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). The outcome of the QLFS was released by Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke, on Tuesday. Addressing reporters, Maluleke said for the second quarter of 2021, the number of employed persons decreased by 54 000, reaching 14.9 million. Statistics South Africa said the number of unemployed persons increased by 584 000 to 7.8 million compared to the first quarter of 2021. During this period, the number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 186 000 (5.9%), while the number of people who…

The National Department of Health will launch a pilot project to transport people to vaccination centres, as government works around the clock to drive up inoculation rates. “There must be more focus on taking the vaccine to the people, rather than getting people to come to the vaccine,” Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, said at a health briefing on Friday. According to the Minister, the transportation model will first be tested in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Phaahla told the media that the goal is to provide transport from high-density population areas to mass vaccination sites in urban areas.…

The Cabinet has called on all eligible businesses affected by the recent civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng to apply for industrial loan support at zero-percent interest, under the R3.75-billion Economic Recovery Support Package offered by the government. “The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and its development finance institutions – the Industrial Development Corporation and National Empowerment Fund – have put together a funding package to support various business recovery interventions. This includes the rebuilding of infrastructure, equipment, fittings for premises, stock and working capital,” a Cabinet statement said on Thursday. The funding will help alleviate the…

South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is expected to increase drastically following the Cabinet’s approval for the vaccination of people aged between 18 and 35 years from 20 August 2021. The Cabinet said it had received a report from the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) indicating that over nine million vaccines have been administered in South Africa to date, with over seven million people partially vaccinated and over four million fully vaccinated. “Cabinet welcomed the vaccination rollout plan to increase the uptake of vaccines, particularly in provinces that had shown a reduction in the uptake of vaccines. As part of increasing…

Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says an estimated 150 000 jobs are at risk in the aftermath of looting and destruction of property that swept through KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. In a briefing on efforts to recover and rebuild after the wave of destruction, Ntshavheni on Tuesday said Ministers in the economic cluster are consolidating proposals for a government package of interventions, including for small businesses that are largely uninsured. Ntshavheni said data and estimates provided by the SA Property Owners’ Association (SAPOA) showed that in KZN alone, 161 malls, 11 warehouses and eight factories were affected, with 161 liquor…

By Gennaro Cuofano,  WordLift When Larry Page and Sergey Brin invented PageRank back in 1996, they had one simple idea in mind: Organize the web based on “link popularity.” In short, in the universe of pages existing in a (at the time almost) shapeless web, Page and Brin wanted to organize that information to make it become knowledge. The logic was pretty simple, yet extremely powerful. First, if a page was connected to multiple pages, which in turn linked back to it, that page improved in relevance. Also if a page had less links from other pages, yet those pages were…