Author: Gugu Lourie

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) was not ready to operate from 1 June, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula said on Saturday. “When we presented Level 4 Directions, we indicated that commuter rail will resume operations gradually on an incremental basis, based on detailed plans submitted by operators,” said Mbalula. He added that the Gautrain resumed its operations at the beginning of May 2020 and as on 1 June 2020, it will resume the airport service. PRASA  is not ready to resume “Through our ongoing engagements and evaluation of PRASA’s state of readiness to resume operations, we have…

As soon as President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the R350 COVID-19 grant for the jobless, doubts were raised? How would the government with a poor track record of efficiency pay these millions of jobless people? For more read: Is The R350 COVID-19 Special Grant For The Jobless A Mess In The Making? Many of the jobless are hungry. They live on the streets or in cramped conditions and the promised relief under the hard lockdown was like manna from heaven – except for many it still hasn’t fallen to the ground. Caught up in the excitement of being useful, the Ministry…

Mark Janse van Vuuren, the CEO of Jasco, has stepped down, the JSE-listed tech group announced on Friday. His resignation is effective 31 May 2020. ”Following the successful completion of a restructuring and repositioning programme for the company and its subsidiaries, Mark felt it was time to pursue his own new interests, after 12 years of service with the group,” the company informed investors on Friday. Pete da Silva, alternate to the deputy chairman of Jasco, will serve as the interim group CEO with effect from 31 May 2020 while the board evaluates potential successors. The board is expected to…

Altron remains on track to double its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) by 2022 financial year, the CEO the JSE-listed technology firm said. “The expected outcome of our five-year plan was to provide leading returns for our shareholders – over the past three years our total shareholder return of 167% ranks us as the best-performing ICT company in South Africa,” Mteto Nyati, disclosed in the company’s annual report. Altron is delivering on the promise of shareholder value, he said. “We remain on track to double our EBITDA by the 2022 financial year,” Nyati explained. “Altron has not…

British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) announced on Friday it is commencing urgent legal proceedings to challenge the government’s decision to extend the ban on tobacco sales during Level 3. BATSA is supported in this action by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) as well as groups and organisations representing the tobacco value chain across the country, including consumers, tobacco farmers and retailers. The company said in a statement it has made every effort to constructively engage with the government since the ban came into force, including making detailed submissions, along with other interested parties, to various Ministers, as well as directly…

You can now check on the status of your application for a special R350 COVID-19 grant, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) revealed on Friday. SASSA disclosed on its official Twitter page that its online status check for the special R350 COVID-19 grant is live. The new function allows potential recipients to check the status of their applications for the unemployment grant. To check your status you need an ID number and cellphone number. Our online status check is live. Click on or copy and paste this URL on your browser https://t.co/kvuCPU6xoY to check progress on your COVID-19 SRD…

Retailer Pepkor, previously Steinhoff Africa Retail, continues to report strong growth from its financial technology (FinTech) services. The company, which is a subsidiary of JSE-listed Steinhoff, owns clothing retailers Pep and Ackermans, furniture stores such as Bradlows, Russells and Incredible Connection. In 2014, Christo Wiese sold Pepkor to Steinhoff International in exchange for about 20% of Steinhoff’s issued shares. Pepkor disclosed on Friday that its FinTech business delivered a 36.4% rise in revenue to R4.3 billion in the six months ended-March 2020. The company operates its FinTech division through FLASH and Capfin. The FinTech segment also maintained its operating profit at R200…

Smokers, who are frustrated by the continued prohibition of tobacco products, should be patient, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in an exclusive late-night interview with SABC on Thursday. “We are not permanently going to be on level 3,” he explained. “We are going to migrate to another level, even those who are hankering for tobacco, they must know that it is only a matter of time before their hankering is assuaged or addressed.” 84 days have lapsed since the first reported case of COVID-19 on our shores. South Africa is moving to level 3 lockdown on Monday. But the sale of…

Workplace gatherings for work purposes will be permitted under strict conditions during level 3 lockdown, said Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Conditions for workplace gatherings observance of health, hygiene observance of social distancing protocols. Employers must ensure that the 1.5 metres distance is maintained amongst employees. ”We will have to limit the number of people in the workplaces, so that we minimise the chance of infection,” said Dlamini-Zuma. Limited Domestic Travel In order to ensure smooth movement of employees and as a measure to carefully and gradually open our economy we will also permit a limited domestic…

The sale of liquor in licensed premises will now be permitted as of the 1st of June 2020, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said on Thursday. Alcohol sales were prohibited for 66 days. She said alcohol will be sold for a limited period between Mondays and Thursdays from 09h00 and 17h00. However, onsite consumption is prohibited, and e commerce sales will be permitted subject to the same onsite trade days and times. Furthermore, there will be no special or events liquor licenses will be issued for the duration of the state of national disaster. Sale of…