Author: Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the time has come for the African continent to integrate and work more closely together. The President was speaking at the Kenya-South Africa Business Forum held on Wednesday evening in the East African country where he is on an official state visit. “For us to surge forward, to address the issue of integration, it is about time that indeed Africa is more integrated. When we look at other continents, especially Europe, their inter trade is up to 70% and ours is a paltry less than 20%. “When you go into the markets that we have…I often…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that Kenyans will now be able to enter South Africa visa free for a period of 90 days. The President made the announcement during an Official State Visit to the country on Wednesday. During the visit several Memoranda of Understanding and agreements were signed between the two countries. The President said an agreement was reached on the “thorny issue” during talks. “We agreed that indeed Kenyans should be able to visit South Africa without requiring them to have visas… this dispensation will commence on the 1st of January 2023 and that our officials will speed…

Eskom has announced an online platform in response to what it calls an “overwhelming response” to its call for skilled and experienced persons to support the power utility’s turnaround strategy. The platform enables prospective workers to submit their details directly to Eskom at https://www.eskom.co.za/crowdsource/. “A digital platform and governance mechanism have been designed and implemented to reap the full benefits of the diversity of skills across the country through the crowdsourcing of these skills into the business. “Crowdsourcing differs from recruitment, in that it is triggered by specific technical challenges, is not linked to a permanent position, and it targets a…

Eskom says addressing its debt challenges is key to its turnaround strategy. This after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced in the Mid-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) that government will be taking over a portion of the power utility’s R400 billion debt. “Addressing Eskom’s debt levels is a key component to the turnaround plan envisaged under the Department of Public Enterprises’ ‘Roadmap for Eskom in a Reformed Electricity Supply Industry’ and as noted in the MTBPS, a debt takeover by government (together with other reforms at Eskom and in the South African electricity sector) will ensure the long term financial sustainability…

Eskom has announced that Stage 1 and 2 load shedding will be implemented for the rest of this week. Stage 1 load shedding will be implemented every day from 5am until 4pm with Stage 2 then taking effect from 4pm until 5am. “The increase in load shedding is mainly due to the need to preserve emergency generation reserves, the delay in returning four generating units to service while many running units are operating at reduced capacity due to technical faults. “Eskom will publish a further update as soon as there are any significant changes. Load shedding is implemented only as…

The last generating unit of Eskom’s coal-fired Komati Power Station has officially been taken off the grid and the power station has been completely decommissioned after supplying electricity to South Africans since 1961. According to Eskom, the move is in line with legislative requirements. “Unit 9 was commissioned in March 1966, the last of the nine units that were built. Other units were shut down over the years as they reached the end of their operating life. “Eskom has transferred the majority of Komati employees from the power station to support and augment the skills in other power stations and…

The South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) trade statistics for September 2022 recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R19.70 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN), SARS said in a statement. “The year-to-date (01 January to 30 September 2022) preliminary trade balance surplus of R175.42 billion is a deterioration from the R346.88 billion trade balance surplus for the comparable period in 2021. Exports increased by 22.0% year-on-year whilst imports increased by 27.1% over the same period,” said the revenue collector. SARS said the R19.70 billion preliminary trade balance surplus for September 2022 was attributable…

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africans should be best informed by the South African government on matters of State security. The President said it was unfortunate that the United States government issued a terror alert on Wednesday without discussing it with the South African government. “It was quite unfortunate that the US government issued that type of warning without having had deep… discussions with us. “Following that, we were able to engage them and to get to understand precisely where this warning or this information has come from. We are in the course of doing precisely that because warnings such…

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Acting Group CEO, Hishaam Emeran, has welcomed a 15 years’ direct imprisonment sentence that was handed to two illegal immigrants for the theft and smelting of the entity’s stolen copper cables and assets worth R2.6 million. “Though the theft of rail infrastructure is still a reality, the efficiency of the justice system in dealing with this scourge is commendable,” Emeran said on Thursday. The incident happened in February 2020 when PRASA’s Area Security Commander was alerted of the theft of electrical overhead cables in the Benoni area near Modderbee Correctional Services. The…

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the export of South African products to markets in other countries has a lasting effect on the fight against unemployment in the country. He was speaking at the opening of a Lulu Hypermarket in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during an official State Visit to the country. Lulu Hypermarket is an international chain which sells South African products in its Saudi Arabian store. The President said the 500 South African products that are being sold at the hypermarket make an impact on the lives of those exporting the products. “[These products] create jobs in South Africa…