Author: Agency
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…
Gauteng Premier David Makhura says more than a million people in Gauteng have not gone back to receive their second jab of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. He was speaking during a visit to the newly opened pop-up vaccine site at Khutsong in the Merafong municipality in the province’s West Rand on Wednesday. Makhura highlighted that receiving the second jab of the vaccine gives you even more protection from getting severely ill if you contract COVID-19. “We have over a million people who have taken their first dose of Pfizer whose days have come and passed for their second dose and they…
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says the mining industry is playing a critical role in “saving” the economy during the country’s ongoing COVID-19 induced lockdown. Mantashe was speaking during the opening of the two-day Mining Investment Conference held in Limpopo. The Minister said the decision to allow mining to continue during different phases of the COVID-19 induced lockdown is proving to be decisive in the recovery from the devastating impact the virus has had on the economy. “Mining is doing well…and has played a very important role in saving the economy. The commodity prices are expected to do…
South Africa has administered 16 999 722 doses of COVID-19 jabs as of Monday evening, the Department of Health said. The tally includes the two-dose Pfizer vaccine as well as the single shot of the Johnson & Johnson jab. According to the latest data, 159 732 vaccines were distributed in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the number of fully vaccinated adults has now gone up to 8 501 712, while 12 268 451 people had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 shot. In addition, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) logged 578 new COVID-19 infections. The dashboard shows that the majority of…
President Cyril Ramaphosa will later today attend an announcement by Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of the multinational conglomerate, NantWorks LLC, of an ambitious initiative to build capacity for advanced health care in Africa. The initiative will entail collaboration between NantAfrica, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI), the Universities of Cape Town, Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch and KwaZulu-Natal. NantWorks is a multinational, California-based conglomerate that is leading the digital revolution in healthcare, technology and media through the harnessing of science, digital infrastructure, supercomputing and communication. NantWorks…