Author: Agency
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the country must urgently reduce its carbon and greenhouse gas emissions or risk experiencing negative social and economic consequences. The President was addressing the nation through his weekly newsletter. Carbon and greenhouse gas emissions are a product of the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which contribute to global warming and changes in the Earth’s climate patterns (climate change). President Ramaphosa said the impact of climate change is already felt in some South Africans’ quality of life through drought and flooding. “Several communities in Mpumalanga, for example, are affected by high levels of…
South Africans can now download their digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate following the official launch by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla. Addressing a media briefing on government’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19 and the national vaccination rollout programme on Friday, the Minister said the certificate could be used for travel and tourism, sport and recreation events, music festivals, shops that are providing discounts and prizes for people who are vaccinated. “Our role is to make this tool available to the nation to provide people with the proof of vaccination so they can have access to many the amenities and…
A Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report has identified significant weaknesses in parts of the anti-money laundering, counter financing of terrorism and counter financing of proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF) systems. Released on Thursday, the National Treasury and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) said in a joint statement that the Mutual Evaluation Report was an assessment of South Africa’s AML/CFT/CPF systems. They said the mutual evaluation of South Africa was conducted by an assessment team led by the International Monetary Fund and included officials from the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group and the FATF member countries. According to the statement, South…
President Cyril Ramaphosa says one of the key drivers of infrastructure development is green energy, which has the potential not only to drive industrialisation but to establish a whole new industrial reality. The President was delivering the keynote address on the second day of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA) hosted by the Presidency on Thursday. President Ramaphosa said the Green Hydrogen Export special economic zone to be developed at Boegoebaai in the Northern Cape, with Sasol as an anchor investor, is a major step towards realising South Africa’s potential to be a global leader in green hydrogen.…
The South African Revenue Services (SARS) has welcomed an eight year sentence handed to a Bloemfontein businessman for fraud. MJ Ntabe of Ntabe Trading & Projects CC was recently found to have used false tax invoices in the calculations of VAT Output and Input tax. The Bloemfontein Regional Court this week sentenced Ntabe to five years direct imprisonment for the crime. The court heard that Ntabe and his company provided the revenue collector auditors with false supporting documents to substantiate the VAT calculations. It said: “SARS Audit raised additional assessments, which resulted in a total prejudice of R1-million to SARS.…
The Department of Health has confirmed that its currently testing South Africa’s digital COVID-19 vaccine certificate to “troubleshoot” all possible glitches ahead of the official launch. This comes after the South African COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate System portal went live on Tuesday. The system will allow users to create a QR code showing their COVID-19 inoculation status and will be available to adults who are fully vaccinated. However, the department explained that the system is not officially functional in a live environment, which will enable vaccinated individuals to access and download certificates. “We had to build a lot of security into…
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…