Author: Gugu Lourie

Vodacom has launched its latest “Red Hot Dealz”, offering big discounts on large SIM-only data bundles on a 24-month contract. The Red Hot Dealz are available from 8 June 2020 to 6 July 2020. The Vodafone-owned operator is offering a 200GB data mega-deal, consisting of 100GB of anytime data and 100GB of Night Owl data plus a free 5GB video ticket, for R499per month over 24 months. In total, you get 4800GB to work, learn and play from home. There is one device that accompanies this deal: a Huawei B535-932 home router and you have to pay R204 once-off SIM and…

Irene Charnley, a former trade unionist and businesswoman, has responded to calls by Bantu Holomisa, the United Democratic Movement leader,  to immediately vacate her seat on the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) board. In a letter to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, Holomisa said Charnley was a former beneficiary of the PIC’s funding initiatives, making her ineligible to serve as a board member. The United Democratic Movement would argue that there is enough evidence to warrant that Charnley must vacate her seat on the PIC board immediately. For more read: Irene Charnley Must Vacate Her Seat on the PIC Board, Urges Holomisa See below…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) announced late on Thursday that some of its key electronic services are offline. The agency apologised for the system downtime. Apologies we are offline for the following services: Bank details upload, status checking on the Website, Web applications. Our technicians are working to resolve the problem. If you get this screen please ignore and try again tomorrow #day70oflockdown @GovernmentZA @The_DSD pic.twitter.com/hYJpmvqE56 — SASSA (@OfficialSASSA) June 4, 2020 Many applicants for the R350 COVID-19 Grant were frustrated by the message and voiced their anger on Twitter: Sad thing is this was announced in…

The ANC’s alliance partners have publicly stated that the R350 COVID-19 grant for the unemployed should be made permanent. During an address with representatives from the tripartite (ANC, SACP and Cosatu), Solly Mapaila, the leader of the South African Communist Party, on Thursday suggested that there was a need to “broaden the discourse” when it comes to social grants, and the current Relief of Distress payment schedule must be lengthened. #ANC Solly Mapaila says the alliance has tabled a “broader” social grant discourse. He says the proposal to have the R350 grant on a more permanent basis should be discussed.…

The South African government will appeal a High Court judgement that has declared some of the earlier coronavirus lockdown restrictions unconstitutional. Minister for the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said while the government appeals the court judgment, current regulations remain in force and has appealed to all to observe all the health protocols that have been put in place. “The judgment sought to say that level 3 and 4 regulations were invalid – in our view, those regulations were properly enacted and within the framework of the National Disaster Management Act,” said Mthembu. Mthembu said the regulations were crafted to save lives. SA acted…

The 13 million jobless South Africans are begging for help, but their cries have been met with a deafening silence. By Friday, the South African Social Services Agency (SASSA) had received 13 million applications for the R350 Social Relief Grant. The agency also stated that only 6.3 million of these applications were properly completed and valid. The unemployed are facing an unprecedented crisis as they cannot fend for themselves because of the lockdown. A hard lockdown was imposed at the end of March to curb the spread of COVID-19 while giving the government time to prepare the healthcare system for the expected spike…

Logistics company Santova is planning to expand its presence globally as COVID-19 batters the world economy and disrupts supply chains. The JSE-listed company said it will focus on establishing a presence in strategic locations, namely India, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the United States. “The ‘new norm’, continuous unrelenting disruptive change, offers Santova real growth opportunities.,” Santova informed investors on Thursday. “Our focus is on exceptional client-centricity, innovation and latest technological software packages,” the group said. “We will build our business in and along real economic growth zones or trade lanes, including participating in intraregional trade between China, Japan, India, Singapore,…

A high court in South Africa has declared some of the earlier coronavirus lockdown restrictions unconstitutional, but it also ruled that level 3 remains in force for now. On Tuesday, Judge Norman Davis declared that the regulations promulgated by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma were “unconstitutional and invalid”. The lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 while giving the government time to prepare the healthcare system for the expected spike in virus infections. For more read: Lockdown Makes No Sense – Says South Africa’s Court While some citizens are pleased with Judge Davis’ decision, it is likely, in…

Irene Charnley, a former trade unionist and businesswoman, must vacate her seat on the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) board immediately, the United Democratic Movement leader, Bantu Holomisa, said. In a letter to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, Holomisa said Charnley was a former beneficiary of the PIC’s funding initiatives, making her ineligible to serve as a board member. PIC is a state-owned asset manager that manages R2 trillion in government pension savings on behalf of the Government Employees’ Pension Fund (GEPF). In 2015, the PIC committed an investment of $100 million in Smile Telecoms, a company owned by Charnely. “This is…

Members of the public are prohibited from transporting alcohol outside of level 3 trading hours, said SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo. Speaking on Cape Talk’s Afternoon Drive with John Maytham, Naidoo said that this means that transporting booze is prohibited on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. Naidoo added that only licensed traders are permitted to transport alcohol outside of trading hours for the purposes of restocking retail outlets. “If a person is stopped at a roadblock during the weekend and found to have alcohol in their vehicle, they will be in contravention of the lockdown regulations,” he explained.…