Author: Agency
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has called on interested parties to submit their comments on the proposed Licensing Exemption and Regulation notice published by Minister Gwede Mantashe. According to the department, the notice seeks to operationalise the “various measures to address South Africa’s electricity challenges”, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the height of the electricity crisis in July. “It outlines a set of electricity generation activities that are exempt from licensing and those that in addition to being exempt from licensing must also comply with the Code (distribution code, transmission code, or any code approved by the…
The Central Energy Fund has announced decreases across the board on the prices of fuel, gas and paraffin from Wednesday, paving the way for some relief for consumers. This marks the second consecutive month of decreases following increases experienced this year. The price adjustments per litre are as follows: A R2.04 decrease in both grades of petrol. Diesel 0.05% Sulphur will cost 56c less, while the price of diesel 0.005% Sulphur will decrease by 46c. Wholesale illuminating paraffin has decreased by 82c, while the retail price will cost R1.09 less. The maximum retail price of LP Gas will go down…
Four of South Africa’s State Owned Companies (SOCs) – Transnet, Telkom, Eskom and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), together with the South African Police Service, have announced an integrated approach towards combatting the scourge of cable theft, battery theft and infrastructure damage. This was announced at an SOC Industry Roundtable on economic sabotage of critical infrastructure. The roundtable was led by chief executives and acting chief executives of the four SOCs, Eskom’s Andre de Ruyter, Transnet’s Portia Derby, Telkom’s Serame Taukobong and Prasa’s Hishaam Emeran. The CEOs and entities agreed on, amongst others, further integrating their security…
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the latest employment figures – which show a decline in the unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2021 – are cause for cautious optimism in the recovery of the economy. The President was addressing the nation through his weekly newsletter on Monday morning. The statistics show a decline in unemployment from 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022 to 33.9%. “Over the last few years, South Africans have had to contend with slow growth and rising unemployment. This has been worsened by a devastating pandemic, an attempted insurrection unrest in July last year, and, earlier…
The Information Regulator has established online portals for public and private bodies to use to submit their Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) section 32 reports and to register their Information Officers (IO’s). In a statement released on Friday, the regulator said the online portals intend to improve efficiency, as they will be user-friendly and afford quick turnaround time for submission of section 32 reports and registration of Information Officers. “Manual applications will continue to be administered to accommodate special circumstances. However, we strongly encourage all public and private bodies to use the portals because it…
South Africa intends to enhance the teaching of robotics and coding in public schools through the establishment of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute. Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the AI Institute is being established in partnership with institutions of higher learning, in particular the Johannesburg Business School of the University of Johannesburg and the Tshwane University of Technology, which are co-founder institutions together with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. “It is essential that we invest significantly to provide our youth with access to modern training, skill sets and formal education. To achieve this, our…
President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a nine-member National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council (NACAC), which will advise the President on effectively implementing the anti-corruption strategy in all spheres of society, and provide advocacy and action in the fight against fraud and corruption. The council is also expected to give input on government’s response to the recommendations in the State Capture report, which President Ramaphosa is expected to present to Parliament by 22 October. “The National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council is the embodiment of our united resolve as a nation to rid all components of our society of all forms of crime and corruption…
The Department of Home Affairs has dismissed a senior official found guilty on counts relating to gross negligence and gross dereliction of duty. The official, Simphiwe Hlophe, Chief Director: Infrastructure Management for Information Systems (IS) was responsible for Information Technology (IT), aspects that involve network outages (offline), system downtime and IT capability which affect the Department’s commitment to service delivery and clean governance. Hlophe was charged with: Gross negligence or dereliction of duties in that he certified an invoice of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) that included services not rendered Contravention of National Treasury Regulation 8.2.1, gross negligence (alternative…
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI/Hawks) is currently probing at least 22 477 cases with a combined monetary value of about R1.5 trillion. The sordid details were on Tuesday revealed by National Hawks Head, Lt Gen Godfrey Lebeya, during a media briefing in Pretoria. Lebeya, who took stock of milestones achieved since his appointment in 2018, highlighted National Priority Offences. The cases include cash-in-transit robberies; theft of fuel from Transnet pipelines; drug and human trafficking, and corruption. They also include commercial crime, organised crime, cybercrime and money laundering, inchoate offences such as conspiracy to commit crime and incitement to…
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is expected to strengthen the corruption-busting unit’s hand in fighting maladministration, corruption and fraud. This as these crimes become more technologically sophisticated. According to a joint statement, the MOU paves the way for the CSIR to share expertise and skills to “drive research, development and innovation” in the fight against cybercrimes, data science and information. “The signing of the MoU between the two government entities signals a coordinated effort to enhance the use of technology to fight the scourge…