Author: Agency

The announcement of the four preferred bidders under the first bid window of the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Procurement (BESIPPP) Programme marks a “significant development” in South Africa’s pursuit for energy security. This is according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s written remarks at the announcement of the bidders on Thursday. The preferred bidders were selected following an independent evaluation of the bid submissions process held between August and October this year. “This first grid-scale energy storage programme in South Africa marks yet another important step towards the development of adequate electricity generation capacity to meet the…

The first consignment of energy equipment donated by the People’s Republic of China is expected to be received by Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa. The consignment handover is expected to be held in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday. “The donation forms part of the Technical Assistance Programme that was entered into in August 2023 during China’s Head of State Visit to South Africa. The first consignment which has arrived in South Africa consists of 450 gasoline generators which will be distributed to public service facilities across the country. “The generators will be used as backup to alleviate the…

The South African Police Service (SAPS) Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) unit has, in collaboration with the USA Department of Homelands Security, arrested three child online sexual predators in Gauteng. The trio was arrested in a simultaneous takedown operation in the past week, relating to a number of suspects who were identified as South African users who are involved in the possession, distribution, manufacturing, accessing and downloading of child pornography. Members of the SECI at Head Office and in Gauteng conducted the preliminary investigations on the users, and various provinces were identified where the suspects reside. After several months…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised that South Africa remains one of the preferred investment destinations and is an important gateway for markets and other business opportunities throughout the continent. The President was delivering remarks at the Procter & Gamble Plant launch in Kempton Park, in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. “As a clear demonstration of the value of trade between African countries, Procter & Gamble currently exports from South Africa to Namibia, Swaziland, Mozambique and Botswana. We understand that the company is set to supply the African continent from South Africa through the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. “The African…

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated President Joe Biden’s commitment to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beyond 2025 when it expires.  “President Biden fully supports the reauthorisation of AGOA. But we don’t just want to extend AGOA – we want to work with the United States Congress to make it better. And that’s what this week’s dialogue is about,” he said on Friday. Blinken was addressing delegates through a video speech at the three-day AGOA Forum at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg. Launched in 2000, AGOA grants exports from qualifying African countries duty-free…

An extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for a longer period of time can act as an instrument to entice investors to pour more resources into the African continent. “We would like you to look at the extension or renewal of AGOA for a sufficiently lengthy period for it to act as an incentive for investors to build new factories on the African continent. “As we were going around talking to a number of product producers, the recurring message and word I heard is ‘we can do more…if this opportunity is extended and we can build more…

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum creates a significant opportunity to elevate issues associated with labour standards and social justice. This is according to Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi who delivered opening remarks at the Organised Labour and Civil Society AGOA Forum on Thursday. “We exist within complex social and economic environments that are ever changing. But our goals should be to achieve social justice and decent work for all people through a focus on decreasing unpaid labour, increasing social protection, doing away with employment discrimination, increasing wages, and improving job security. “Through these efforts we could…

Work is underway to reconfigure the structure and size of the State as part of government’s efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending. “This Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) supports measures to lift our growth prospects over the medium term and restructures the State to become more effective,” Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said on Wednesday while delivering the MTBPS in Parliament. Government is preparing a joint plan to rationalise departments, entities and programmes over the next three years The Presidency, National Treasury, Department of Public Service and Administration and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation…

SA’s Government has extended the COVID-19 Social Grant (SRD Grant) until March 2025 while it considers social security policy reforms and a funding model. The grant was introduced to support low-income individuals affected by the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivering the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said R34 billion has been allocated to extend the grant by another year. “Over the medium term, a provisional allocation is retained while a comprehensive review of the entire social grant system is finalised. The 2023 Budget indicated that the COVID-19 Social Relief…

The servicing of government’s rising debt is “crowding out” social spending in the country, says Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana. The Minister on Wednesday delivered the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament, where he explained the challenge posed to spending on social services. “It is important… to point out that our debt levels and rising debt service costs are not problems in and of themselves. “Our challenge is that rising debt service costs are crowding out important social spending, and our economy has not grown fast enough to support increasing expenditure or our current debt levels. Therefore, this policy statement…

SA’s revenue collection is expected to fall by some R56 billion below the 2023 Budget predictions, according to the National Treasury Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The MTBPS notes that slowing commodity exports, slower growth, downward revisions of the tax base growth, slowing corporate tax collections and lower net VAT collections have all impacted tax revenue. The 2023 Budget had projected collections would reach some R1.78 trillion but that has now been revised down to R1.73 trillion. “In recent years, revenue collection has benefited from a pattern of high prices for South Africa’s commodity exports. In the current year,…

SA Government is working hard to address deficiencies in the fight against organised crime and illegal financial flows that led to greylisting, says Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana. “Since February, when South Africa was grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a large number of government departments and agencies – including the police and the Hawks, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Special Investigating Unit (SIU), State Security Agency (SSA), the Reserve Bank, Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and South African Revenue Service (SARS) – have been working hard to address these deficiencies,” the Minister said. Delivering the Medium Term…

The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) has warned the public against sharing a message that is circulating and promising free data. “The department would like to warn members of the public to desist from participating in sharing the false information and cautions against opening such links as they are fake and harmful,” the DCDT said on Monday. The department said government is striving to ensure that it brings about digital equilibrium by ensuring that it embarks on various activities aimed at connecting the unconnected and leveraging opportunities for everyone to participate in the digital economy. “DCDT has been…

SA Government has established a partnership with business to work together in four critical areas, including energy, logistics, crime and corruption, and employment to give impetus to efforts currently being undertaken. President Cyril Ramaphosa said this while delivering an address to the nation updating on the Economic Recovery progress on Monday. “We continue to collaborate with organised labour and civil society to ensure a whole-of-society approach to addressing the most important challenges our country faces. All of this gives us hope that we are turning the tide on the many challenges that we face,” the President said. This month marks…

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will need in excess of R50 billion investment in the next five years to improve capacity and the freight rail performance. In recent years, Transnet has experienced challenges characterised by the condition of the network, security issues, including cable theft and infrastructure vandalism, as well as the unavailability and reliability of the locomotives. Addressing a webinar on the state of freight and rail in South Africa, TFR Acting General Manager: Rail Network and Projects, Bessie Mabunda, said the entity requires a combination of funding to deal with the network backlog and to continually maintain the network…

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has officially launched a commercialisation enterprise to accelerate the pace and increase the scale of the commercialisation of its technologies and intellectual property (IP). CSIR-C3, pronounced as CSIR C-Cubed, will drive all aspects of technology commercialisation and provide adequate financial resources along the technology de-risking process through to commercialisation. According to the research organisation, the standalone enterprise will hold all CSIR IP and act as an incubator for start-up enterprises underpinned by strong technical and non-financial support. It will enable the commercialisation of CSIR IP through the development of a network of…

Government is expected to officially relaunch South African Airways (SAA) in Cape Town on Thursday. The event – which will mark two years since SAA returned to the skies – will also be used to announce the restart of the state-owned airliner’s direct flights to São Paulo, Brazil. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said the relaunch was a milestone for the airliner which had run into turbulence after it was grounded for 16 months and underwent business rescue and averted liquidation. “The upcoming event marks a very significant step in the resurgence of South African Airways. We look forward to…

South Africa is beginning to turn the corner in resolving the energy crisis. This according to Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who was briefing the media on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan in Pretoria on Monday. Improved performance of Eskom’s generating fleet meant the suspension of load shedding over the past weekend and much lower stages of the planned power outages during the week. “We have turned the corner, although we are not out of the woods yet. We are beginning to show sustained improved performance over an extended period of time and this…

South Africa Cabinet announced on Thursday that it has given the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy (GHCS) the green light for implementation.  The move, according to the Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, will ensure South Africa becomes a major producer and exporter of green hydrogen. “Government has identified possible funding for green hydrogen projects and the draft Green Paper received extensive feedback from stakeholders,” she said on Thursday. The Minister was briefing the media on the outcomes of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting. Ntshavheni explained that the GHCS gives effect to the Hydrogen South Africa Strategy that was approved by Cabinet in 2007…

Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has challenged tech conglomerate Meta to deal with misinformation and called for fair treatment when dealing with developed and developing countries. Speaking at the Meta for Government engagement on Wednesday, the Minister decried Meta’s platforms that are still flooded with fake news and misinformation. The engagement was in partnership with the Presidency and Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), and Meta, the parent company of Facebook. “Anybody can be a journalist because of the ability of social media to be able to communicate and share information instantly.” The Minister also posed a question to…

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele has called on the union representing State Information Technology Agency (SITA) workers and the department to find an amicable resolution to the deadlocked wage negotiations. Earlier this week, members of the Public Servants Association (PSA) announced their strike action when wage negotiations had hit a dead end. “The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has been alerted by SITA of the deadlock with negotiations and the subsequent protest action.  The department acknowledges the rights of employees to embark on such action. “Although the department has noted calls for the Minister to intervene,…

Africa can produce more energy than it requires within the next 30 years if it takes advantage of its natural resources. This is according to Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who was delivering a keynote address on Green Hydrogen at the Africa Energy Week held in Cape Town. “We need to have a Pan African view in the exploitation of this energy carrier and our view is that by 2040 Africa can produce up to 50 times more energy from renewables than the world’s estimated demand. “This is as a result of our location advantages. I…

South Africa’s Census 2022 national results has shown an upward trend in ownership of refrigerators, televisions and cellphones.   “The overwhelming majority (92.1%) of households in the country owned a cellphone in working order, a notable increase from the 3.3% in 2001. Just under four-fifths (79%) of households owned televisions compared to the 52.6% in 2001,” Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said. Furthermore, the data from Census 2022, which he handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday in Pretoria, shows that the ownership of a refrigerators/freezers increased from 53.8% in 2001 to 83.2% in 2022. “In contrast, households owning a radio…

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Asset Forfeiture Unit has obtained a preservation order against assets related to a PPE matter worth R27 million in the Northern Cape. The order was granted against the assets of well-known Kimberley businessman Somandla Sibisi and his companies Macronym 37 and Aphiwokuhle Holdings. The frozen assets include a residential property bought for some R900 000, a business property – known as Live Café – bought for more than R2 million, kitchen equipment bought for over R300 000 and a 2013 model Audi A1 car bought for R130 000. NPA regional spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane, explained that…

The National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Energy Mobility Education Trust have concluded a three-year partnership agreement to fund postgraduate students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and commerce fields. The agreement is said to focus on traditionally marginalised groups and contribute to the transformation of the education landscape, with a specific focus on South Africans who are Black, female or people with a disability. According to the Energy Mobility Education Trust CEO, Vuyo Mwase, the move will promote academic, scientific, and technological cooperation by supporting full-time studies for South African postgraduate students at the Honours level for…