Author: Agency

In a first for the African continent, South Africa is expected to launch three maritime-focussed nanosatellites into orbit on Thursday afternoon. The three nanosatellites – the first to be entirely developed on the African continent – will be launched from Cape Canaveral in the United States at about 5.25pm. The three satellites form part of the Department of Science and Innovation’s (DSI) Maritime Domain Awareness Satellite (MDASat) constellation. When complete, the constellation will comprise of nine satellites which, according to the department, will “detect, identify and monitor vessels in near real-time in support of South African maritime domain awareness”. Minister…

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says it has created a task force which is dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of matters arising from the State Capture Commission and the subsequent release of part one of its report. The first part of the State Capture Commission’s report dealt extensively with alleged corruption, maladministration, fraud and money laundering at, amongst others, the South African Airways and its subsidiaries, State power utility Eskom and the South African Revenue Service (SARS). In a joint statement released with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) – known as the Hawks – the NPA said…

South Africa has recorded at least 2 409 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24-hour reporting period, with 77 more deaths recorded as a result of complications caused by the virus. This is according to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases to 3 528 463, with a total of 92 530 deaths reported thus far. Hospitalisations more than doubled to 177 new admissions from about 80 over the previous reporting period. In a statement, the institute reported that the positivity rate of new cases over the past 24-hour reporting period dropped by at least…

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has noted the new court application by Telkom to set aside the Invitation to Apply (ITA) for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) spectrum issued by ICASA. On 10 December last year, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) issued the final ITA for the International Mobile Telecommunications spectrum. In a statement on Thursday, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies said that this development happens without affording Minister Ntshavheni an opportunity to resolve whatever concerns Telkom may have with the current ITA. “The Minister reiterates that the conclusion of a process to…

President Cyril Ramaphosa will formally receive the first part of the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State. A statement on the Special Cabinet Meeting that took place on Thursday said the hand-over of the first part of the Commission Report will take place on Tuesday, 4 January 2022. “The Commission Chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, will hand over the first part of the report at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. This follows the ruling of the Gauteng High Court on 28 December…

A special Cabinet meeting has approved several changes to the Adjusted Alert Level 1 COVID-19 regulations. This follows meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC), which received updates on the management of the current fourth wave of COVID-19 in South Africa, which is mainly driven by the Omicron variant. In a statement on Thursday, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said all indicators suggest the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at a national level. “The information gathered through the system used by the Department of Health has reported…

Eskom has connected Unit 4 of Kusile Power Station project to the national grid. The unit was connected to the grid for the first time on 23 December. “This synchronisation milestone means four generating units of the power station are now connected to the grid, and will contribute an additional 800MW to the country’s power system once the unit is fully optimised, following a series of tests and other commissioning activities,” said the power utility on Thursday. Situated near eMalahleni in Mpumalanga, Kusile is South Africa’s largest construction project and will be the world’s fourth largest coal plant. The unit…

South Africa conducted 50 377 COVID-19 tests on Sunday, with 15 465 new cases detected. According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the majority of new cases in the past 24 hours were from KwaZulu-Natal (4 135), followed by Gauteng (3 582), Western Cape (2 849), Eastern Cape (1 303) and Free State (1 104), while the rest of the provinces recorded less than a thousand new infections. The latest figures represent a positivity rate of 30.7%, pushing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 308 074. In addition, a further three people succumbed to complications related…

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has urged people to take the COVID-19 jab in their numbers during the festive season after announcing that vaccination sites will remain open over the holiday period. “We also call upon South Africans to celebrate this festive season with a lot of caution, especially with regard to alcohol consumption,” Phaahla said on Friday. “Our health facilities are already under a lot of pressure with the COVID-19 as we indicated a 70% rise in admissions and we’re least ready to handle large numbers of casualties, from motor vehicle accidents and also interpersonal violence.” He told the…

The government has noted Fitch’s decision to affirm South Africa’s long-term foreign and local currency debt ratings at ‘BB-’ and revise the outlook from negative to stable. According to Fitch, the revision of the outlook to stable reflected the “faster than expected” economic recovery, the surprisingly strong fiscal performance this year and significant improvements in key fiscal indicators following the rebasing of national accounts, said National Treasury in a statement. Treasury said Fitch warned that the pandemic continued to weigh on economic performance and remained a source of downside risk for public finances. “However, the likelihood of severe negative effects…