Author: Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged South Africans to remain optimistic, even as “we brace against harsh winds”. “We are a nation that perseveres, and that never gives up. We will overcome our current challenges, as surely as we did the pandemic that threatened to lay waste to our nation. “Misfortune has tested us over the past year, but these hard times have brought to the fore once more the traits for which we are known as South Africans,” the President said in his weekly newsletter on Monday. As 2022 draws to a close, President Ramaphosa urged the nation to reflect…

National Treasury says it continues to engage with the Department of Public Enterprises and Eskom with the aim of identifying solutions to the purchase of diesel. On Thursday, the Treasury said it had noted the recent public interest and media queries requesting clarity about discussions to assist Eskom with the purchase of diesel. In a statement on Thursday, it said: “The staggered nature of the budget process, which allows for the necessary legislative and executive oversight as well as for well-informed planning about how to allocate the country’s scarce financial resources, makes it difficult to consider and accommodate any ad…

Eskom has delayed the start of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station’s maintenance outage to next week Saturday to allow the strained national power grid to stabilise and recover some generation capacity. This after the power utility implemented Stage 6 power cuts until Friday morning – leaving some neighbourhoods without any power for up to four hours per rotation. Eskom Acting Chief Nuclear Officer, Sadika Touffie, said the decision to delay the refuelling and maintenance outage is necessary. “While Eskom is ready to commence with the outage, with the contractors and all the requisite resources on standby, grid stability is an…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has lauded the country for being able to rebuild the supporting architecture to investigate and prosecute serious and other crimes within a short space of time. This comes after the announcement by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) last week that it had reached a settlement with an international company implicated in corruption at Eskom. In his weekly newsletter to the country, President Ramaphosa described this as a huge development in the country’s effort to hold those responsible for state capture to account. The NPA Investigating Directorate finalised a landmark agreement with Swiss engineering company ABB Ltd to…

Presidential spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says President Cyril Ramaphosa is still engaging stakeholders with regards to the way forward following findings by an Independent Section 89 panel that the President may have violated his oath of office. The panel was formed to look into the circumstances around a robbery at the President’s Phala Phala game farm and found that President Ramaphosa may have seriously violated sections 96(2)(a) of the Constitution and Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities (PRECCA) Act – allegations the President said he “categorically denies”. At a media briefing last night, Magwenya said the President…

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says Swiss engineering company, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), is expected to pay some R2.5 billion in “punitive reparations to South Africa” for its part in State Capture. The company was allegedly irregularly awarded a lucrative control and instrumentation contract at Eskom’s Kusile Power Station in 2015 after allegedly colluding with Eskom officials. “This settlement represents a bold and innovative step towards accountability and justice for alleged offenders, particularly in the form of restitution for the serious crimes committed at Eskom during the state capture period. “This agreement was reached in line with Section 64(e) of…

Cabinet has approved the 2022 Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Decadal Plan, which serves as an implementation guide of the 2019 White Paper on STI. Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said on Thursday that Cabinet approved the draft plan in March 2021 and has since been enriched through further consultation with relevant stakeholders. The plan has five thematic focus areas which are as follows: – modernisation of agricultural, manufacturing and mining sectors; – exploitation of new sources of growth, particularly the digital and circular economy; – large research and innovation programmes in the areas of health and energy; – utilising…

People living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) who collect their medication from government clinics have the option of collecting their medication from a Post Office collection point. On the eve of World AIDS Day on 1 December, the South African Post Office (Sapo) said anyone who collects chronic medication from a government clinic, but who lives closer to a post office than the clinic, can request to collect their medication from the Post Office. “The service is aimed at patients who live or work closer to a post office than a government clinic. The main benefit of the service is longer service…

Mineral Resources and Energy Deputy Minister, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, says South Africa must find technological solutions that can maximise the usage of minerals such as coal with “minimal carbon” emissions. She was speaking at the 17th South African Geophysical Association conference held at Sun City on Tuesday. “As the DMRE [Department of Mineral Resources and Energy], we have emphasised moving from higher carbon emission towards lower carbon emissions as opposed to completely abandoning coal. “Technologies such as carbon capture usage and storage must be explored fully and so must mechanisms by which we could mix fossil energy sources with clean sources…