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Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced that general public services will, over the next three years, reprioritise R2.4 billion to modernise information and communication technology, as well as fund the shortfall in the allocation for the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS). A portion of the funds, said Treasury, will also facilitate the population census in 2022, and support membership contributions to multilateral development banks. The pronouncements are contained in the 2022 Budget Review accompanying the Budget Speech the Minister delivered in Parliament on Wednesday. In total, the general public services function is allocated R209 billion over the Medium Term Expenditure…

When Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tables his maiden Budget Speech today, all the focus will be on his proposals to bolster the health of the public purse, and what that will mean to the taxpayer’s pocket. This after Godongwana said during the Medium-Term Budget in November that gross tax revenues are expected to exceed the estimates presented at the time of the 2021 Budget by R120.3 billion in 2021/22. What this means is that after forecasting total tax revenues of R1.365 trillion in the 2021 Budget, National Treasury made a significant upward revision to this figure in the MTBPS 2021…

The South African Post Office (SAPO) has announced that approved recipients of the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant can now collect their benefit from Pick n Pay and Boxer stores nationwide from Wednesday, 22 September. However, according to the national postal service, this is only open to grant recipients who have received an SMS from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) confirming their collection payout point as either Pick n Pay or Boxer. “Pick n Pay and Boxer are proud to assist grant beneficiaries access their funds more conveniently and safely, ensuring they receive much-needed relief quicker…

Gauteng Premier David Makhura says the creation of jobs and growing the economy are the top two priorities for the Gauteng Provincial Government. Makhura was delivering the State of the Province Address during a sitting of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Monday. The Premier said the economy of the province – much like the rest of the country – is reeling because of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Makhura said this has spurred the provincial government into action to change the lives of those living in the province. “[We] are boldly shifting our main focus and energies to…

Public Service and Administration Minister, Ayanda Dlodlo, says work is underway to “cautiously withdraw” the National State of Disaster in line with the risk adjusted strategy. Dlodo said this when Ministers in the Governance, State Capacity and Institutional Development (GSCID) cluster briefed the media to outline progress made in areas that the President mentioned in the State of the Nation Address. “Work is afoot to cautiously withdraw the National State of Disaster in line with our risk adjusted strategy. “We cannot let our guard down yet,. We need to improve our vaccination uptake to attain population immunity and continue to…

With government taking bold steps to modernise its systems, the era of long queues that forced motorists to take time off work in order to access traffic services will soon become a thing of the past. This is according to Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula who together with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) launched an online payment gateway for the renewal of driver and vehicle licences among other services on Thursday in Johannesburg. “These services, we are rolling out today will undoubtedly improve efficiencies and minimise the time the end-user spends in a queue. Motorists will be able to…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the oversight visit by the World Health Organisation as an opportunity to profile the depth of intellectual and technological capacity on the African continent, and the integrity with which, intellectual property is being leveraged to enable vaccine production on the continent. The President met with World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus,in Cape Town on Friday, to discuss progress in making Africa self-sufficient in the production of COVID-19 vaccines and related treatments. Dr Ghebreyesus and the Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation Meryame Kitir visited the country on a two-day visit to various vaccine-related sites…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced pipelined projects that will cut across several sectors like energy and social services worth over R100 billion. Delivering the State of the Nation Address at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday evening, the President said the construction for some of the projects will resume this year. “The infrastructure fund is at the centre of this effort with a R100 billion allocation from the fiscus. “The Infrastructure Fund is now working with State entities to prepare pipelined projects with an investment value of approximately R96 billion in student accommodation, student housing, telecommunications, water and sanitation…

Millions of South Africans who benefited from the R350 COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant can breathe a sigh of relief as government has extended it for a further year until March 2023. Delivering his State of the Nation Address on Thursday evening, the President highlighted that since the onset of COVID-19, the Social Relief of Distress Grant has provided support to more than 10 million unemployed people who were most vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic. “Mindful of the proven benefits of the grant, we will extend the R350 SRD Grant for one further year, to the end…

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the eVisa system has been launched in 14 countries, including China, India, Kenya and Nigeria, according to government’s commitment. President Ramaphosa said government is also streamlining and modernising the visa application process to make it easier to travel to South Africa for tourism, business and work. In his State of the Nation Address delivered in Cape Town this evening, President Ramaphosa said the revised Critical Skills List has been published for the first time since 2014, following detailed technical work and extensive consultations with business and labour. “The updated list reflects the skills that are in…