Author: Agency
As more results are finalised in the aftermath of Monday’s 2021 Local Government Elections, a picture of coalition local governments has begun to emerge. Vote counting is progressing at the IEC’s Results Operations Centre on Tuesday and the Electoral Commission anticipates tallying 90% of the votes by this evening. With no outright winner in the seven-seat Kannaland Local Municipality, in the Garden Route District Municipality, a coalition government would have to be formed, results show. A breakdown of the total tallied votes show that while the Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) secured a majority of the cast ballots,…
Eskom says it plans to add at least 30GW of new generation capacity – mainly from solar and wind energy sources – to the system over the next 10 years. This was revealed in the power utility’s Transmission Development Plan for 2022 to 2031 which was presented to various stakeholders. Eskom said it will be building the required infrastructure to accommodate the envisioned extra capacity. “To provide for an adequate and reliable transmission system, Eskom plans to increase the transmission infrastructure by approximately 8 400 km of extra high-voltage lines and 119 transformers to bring on board 58 970 MVA…
The R350 COVID-19 Grant beneficiaries who opted to use the South African Post Office for the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grant payment have been encouraged to collect their R350 only after receiving an SMS informing them that their grant is available. The Post Office said beneficiaries can visit their nearest Pick ‘n Pay or Boxer supermarket or post office to collect their grant. “If you chose a bank account or cash send as your payment method, you will receive the money through the bank you chose. You cannot go to one of the supermarkets. Beneficiaries who have received…
By Oupa Makhalemele, Film and Publication Board Research, Policy and Advocacy Officer As the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) continues cementing its presence in our everyday life, keeping abreast of the developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is everyone’s responsibility. There is no better time to start thinking of ways in which technology can be harnessed to improve the lot of women, especially when it comes to their safety in a predominantly misogynistic world. The more things change… The abuse of women and children, our woefully inadequate health system and our failure to bring the multitudes of marginalised people on…
Eskom Chief Operating Officer (COO), Jan Oberholzer, has assured the country that load shedding is not expected to be implemented during the upcoming Local Government Elections. He was speaking during the power utility’s state of the system briefing on Monday. The assurances from the COO come after concerns that the country may face power cuts during this weekend’s elections following two consecutive weekends of load shedding this month. This as special votes are set to be cast on Saturday and Sunday, ahead of Election Day on Monday, 1 November 2021. Oberholzer said he expects that the power utility will have…
As South Africa continues to prepare to migrate to digital broadcasting by 31 March 2022, the South African Post Office has called on qualifying households to apply for their free set-top boxes ahead of the deadline. Homes that apply before 1 November, will receive a decoder before the analogue television signal is switched off. “Those who apply after 1 November 2021 will only receive a decoder later,” the SAPO said in a statement on Thursday. Qualifying households are urged to visit their local Post Office as soon as possible to apply for a free government-subsidised decoder (set-top box). The set-top…
South Africa has now passed the 21 million mark for total COVID-19 jabs administered since the start of the country’s vaccination rollout programme. This comes after 205 253 doses were distributed in the past 24 hours, pushing the total to 21 011 187 doses administered to 14 568 927 people. The Department of Health’s data show that the Western Cape is leading the race so far, with 45.38% of its adults having received at least one dose of the jab, followed by 42.60% in Free State, 42.16% in Limpopo and 41.88% in the Eastern Cape. In addition, the latest statistics indicate…
Eight foreign nationals, aged between 33 and 52, were on Tuesday morning arrested for their links to an alleged R100 million internet scam during a large-scale operation in Cape Town. The group was arrested in a joint operation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United State Secret Service (USSS) Investigations, Interpol and with assistance from the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit. Also assisting in the operation was Crime Intelligence (CI), K9, National Intervention unit, Special Task Force (STF), Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS), Criminal Record Centre and Cape Town Metro police. The suspects are alleged to have…
Since the beginning of lockdown last year, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has disbursed R63 billion, bringing relief to about 5.4 million workers across the country. It has been 17 months since the COVID-19 Temporary Employer / Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) was introduced to save jobs and ease the financial burden on businesses, and most importantly, their vulnerable workers who lost income during the lockdown. In a statement on Thursday, the Employment and Labour Department said the money paid out is the largest sum that has been paid by government to help workers, businesses and the economy mitigate the impact of the lockdowns. “Considering…
National Treasury has published an updated version of its “Financing a Sustainable Economy” document as part of efforts to encourage more long-term investments in sustainable economic assets, activities and projects. The technical paper was first published in May 2020. In the updated paper published on Friday, Treasury said while financial institutions previously only focused on the return on investment of projects, the focus on sustainable finance encourages them to also be cognisant of how their investment decisions impact the environment. “It is envisaged that this will assist in reducing pressures on the environment, including supporting the transition to a low…