Author: Staff Writer
As rating agency Fitch announced its decision to downgrade South Africa from ‘BB+’ to ‘BB’, placing the country further into non-investment grade, the government has emphasised its commitment to implement structural economic reforms. In a statement on Friday, the government said it has noted the decision by the agency. In its decision, Fitch cited the lack of a clear path towards the government’s debt stabilisation, as well as the expected impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) shock on public finances. The agency also cited economic growth as the reason for the downgrade. “To assure all South Africans, the government is seized…
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says the Western Cape has already seen an increase of COVID-19 positive cases of people who have not traveled abroad – which has led to an upsurge in the number of admissions to hospitals. Briefing the media in Cape Town on Friday, Mkhize said the department, therefore, is pushing to roll-out more testing especially in densely populated areas such as townships and informal settlements. He said they have already identified these sites and additional beds to augment the existing capacity as the number starts to peak to manage the outbreak. The country has recorded two…
Government is ramping up efforts to make sure that every health worker has protective gear as soon as next week. Health Deputy Minister Joe Phaahla made the assurance during a ministerial press briefing on Friday, where he said the government would be getting stock from this weekend and early next week. The health worker unions have been putting pressure on the government to provide health care workers with personal protective equipment (PPE), with Nehawu threatening to take Health Minister Zweli Mkhize to court over the matter. There were also concerns that healthcare professionals were putting their lives at risk…
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced that as of Friday there are now 1 505 positive cases of COVID-19, an increase of 43 new cases from Thursday. “We also want to report that there are 2 more deaths from KwaZulu-Natal. An 80-year-old male and 81-year-old female,” said Minister Mkhize, adding that the total number of deaths now stand at 7 with 2 yet to be confirmed. Speaking at Khayelitsha Hospital on Friday, he said he would like to convey Government’s condolences to the families and friends of these individuals. “We would also like to thank the health workers who are…
FNB Connect will reduce data prices by up to 55%, in April 2020. In addition, FNB Connect will double customers’ data on their Lifestyle plans without any price increase. This weekend, FNB Connect will also be giving all its customers 1GB of free data during the national lockdown, with a validity period of 30 days. This lockdown data allocation is in addition to the Free Connect allocations that customers with qualifying transactional accounts receive monthly. Raj Makanjee, FNB Retail CEO says, “This will enable our customers to save on telco spend, which is a regular feature in household budgets. Access…
DStv Now is the online version of DStv, free to DStv subscribers. There’s also a version of DStv Now available to non-subscribers, which is proving increasingly popular during the COVID-19 lockdown. Two new channels have been added to this free service as of the beginning of April, taking the total number of channels to 16. In response to the unfolding pandemic situation, MultiChoice worked with local and international news channels in mid-March to add 24-hour news coverage to the DStv Now free service in just a matter of days. The intent was to help all South Africans stay up to…
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, as of Thursday, stands at 1 462. The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, announced the increase in cases at Universitas Hospital in the Free State, where he met with the COVID-19 task team in the province. A mass screening and testing is now underway there. Five deaths have been recorded, with two yet to be confirmed. The Free State became a hotbed for COVID-19 infections after several people, who attended a Divine Restoration Ministries church conference, tested positive. Mkhize, who attributed the restraint of the spread to the nationwide lockdown, warned…
Cargo ships and airfreight companies will be able to dock and land on South African shores to deliver essential services, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Thursday. The regulations, implemented by government during the 21-day National State of Disaster COVID-19 enforced lockdown, have been amended by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. “All cargo have now been allowed into the country and to be offloaded from ships. This applies to essential goods and other goods, subject to sanitising and disinfection,” said Patel at a briefing of Ministers from the COVID-19 National Command Council. Patel said…
To step up the fight against COVID-19, Broadband Infraco has partnered with ItakaneICT on a strategic alliance to bring cashless money services to rural and disadvantaged communities. Andrew Matseke, Chief Executive Officer for Broadband Infraco said the partnership will enable the deployment of payment platforms in rural communities and will help in dispensing and transacting financially without using physical cash. As the lead agency for the deployment of SA Connect, Broadband Infraco will leverage its infrastructure and backbone capability already deployed in rural communities. ItakaneICT, on the other hand, will use its platforms as mini ATM devices to drive cashless…
SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has tested positive for Covid-19. He told eNCA during an interview on Thursday that he had no idea how he was exposed to the novel coronavirus. It’s true I tested positive to #CoronavirusInSouthAfrica Had a lingering flue since Friday! Felt I must act on caution & tested on Saturday but they only checked the temp which was normal.Flue persisted & Tuesday went back to the doc & insisted on proper testing – boom – positive — Zwelinzima Vavi (@Zwelinzima1) April 2, 2020 Also read: Coronavirus: South Africa Records Five COVID-19 Deaths South…
New regulations governing who may attend a funeral under the Coronavirus-enforced lockdown have been put in place by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has gazetted further amendments to the regulations on the COVID-19 lockdown in order to flatten the infection curve. The amendments allow certain individuals to move between provinces, metropolitan and district areas for the purposes of transporting a body for burial purposes. The amendment also limits the individuals who are permitted to travel to funerals. The regulations now outline a process on how people — who wish to travel…
As South Africa enters day 7 of a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Eskom has announced that it will double maintenance work at its plants. “With the COVID-19 national lockdown in full effect, Eskom has experienced a significant reduction in demand for electricity. Electricity usage has dropped by between 7 500MW and 9 000MW since the lockdown came into effect last week. This has allowed Eskom to operate without the need to implement load shedding,” said the power utility. The utility is making use of the low demand to carry out important short-term maintenance of generation infrastructure. In order to protect the…
First National Bank (FNB) has announced a new strategic partnership with Clicks as the exclusive health & beauty rewards partner. Members of FNB’s rewards programme, eBucks, can now earn and spend eBucks at over 650 Clicks stores nationwide and online. This partnership sees eBucks, the ‘loyalty programme South Africans can’t live without’, joining up with Clicks ClubCard, South Africa’s ‘most used’ loyalty programme, according to the latest Truth and BrandMapp Loyalty White Paper. FNB and RMB Private Bank customers will be able to earn up to 15% back in eBucks on total purchases, when they shop in-store or online at…
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has announced revised regulations that call on the taxi industry to among others, reduce the number of passengers ferried per ride during the 21-day nationwide lockdown, implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19. He addressed the media at the Noord Taxi Rank on Wednesday, shortly after addressing traffic officers who have been deployed to ensure compliance with the published regulations during the lockdown. Under the regulations, passenger numbers are determined according to the licensed capacity of the vehicle. During the lockdown period, the following public transport vehicles must reduce the number of maximum passengers to 70% of…
As consumers continue to weigh the impact of COVID-19 on their finances, many will be considering options to protect themselves from financial difficulties. Earlier this week, FNB announced its new set of cashflow relief measures for customers whose finances have been impacted by COVID-19 to enhance the set of measures customers would have historically relied on, like Credit Life where applicable. The Bank acknowledges and agrees with personal finance commentators that credit insurance has always provided relief to customers who qualify and should be one of the options that customers consider over the next few months. It is with this…
Vodacom and Discovery have partnered to deliver a simple but powerful online healthcare platform for the benefit of all South Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic. This platform provides easy access for all South Africans to a COVID-19 risk tool, to help understand your personal risk for COVID-19 plus, where needed, to immediately schedule virtual healthcare professional consultations and get advice. Globally, telemedicine has proved invaluable in the management of this disease, with many governments and healthcare systems advocating for digital healthcare tools and virtual consults to be the first step and primary means of healthcare support during the COVID-19 outbreak.…
Vodacom has cut data prices by up to 40% and will provide free data to access essential services through Vodacom’s zero-rated platform ConnectU with immediate effect. The value of these initiatives is some R2.7-billion over the next year. Vodacom’s various 30-day data bundle prices will be cut across all of its channels by up to 40%, providing customers with even greater value and making it more affordable to connect. 30-day bundle size New Price Reduction 50MB R12 40% 150MB R29 33% 325MB R55 33% 500MB R79 21% 1GB R99 34% 3GB R229 23% 5GB R349 14% 10GB R469 22% 20GB…
South Africa has recorded five deaths resulting from Coronavirus, with 1 353 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, made the announcement at a media briefing in eThekweni on Tuesday. To date, the country has conducted 39 500 tests. The first recorded death was that of a 48-year-old woman in the Western Cape, with the second being an 85-year-old from the Free State, who had attended the Divine Restoration Church Ministries conference, where a number of infections were detected. The third death was that of a Gauteng man, who succumbed to respiratory distress two days ago.…
As South Africa settles into an unprecedented 21-day national lockdown and banks look to do what they can to help ease the financial burden and very real anxiety the general public is facing, TymeBank is leading the way when it comes to offering tangible support to its customers. With the world having been forced to rapidly switch to a digital way of working, TymeBank could not be better placed. “Being South Africa’s first digital bank, we’re built for this. As other companies and banks are having to rethink and reinvent themselves to be fully functional, we’re already able to demonstrate…
Naspers has committed R 1,5 billion in emergency aid to the government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. The group will contribute R 500 million to the Solidarity Response Fund announced by the President last week. In addition, Naspers will buy R 1 billion worth of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies in China – in partnership with the Chinese government and Tencent – to support South Africa’s health workers and fly it to South Africa as soon as possible. “By working with government and civil society we want to help our country overcome this very difficult period. We hope…
Electronic Communications, Postal and Broadcasting Directions issued under Regulation 10 (8) of the Disaster Management Act Electronic Communications Services Licensees, OTTs and ISPs that provide linear and non-linear services bears the responsibility to remove fake news related to COVID-19 from their platforms immediately after identified as such. What are Fake News? “Fake News” means statements made with the intention to deceive as contemplated in the Disaster Management Regulations, 2020 What are the types of Fake News? Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country for the purposes to influence public opinion…
The Gauteng Health Department has confirmed a COVID-19 case in Alexandra, Johannesburg. “The confirmed case, was tested and was instructed to remain under self-isolation while awaiting results,” said the department on Monday. According to the provincial department, the man who has tested and was subsequently found to be infected with the virus, disregarded instructions to self-isolate and travelled to outside of the province before the lockdown. “Upon positive confirmation of results, our team of tracers working with law enforcement agencies tracked the confirmed case to Limpopo,” said the department. The man is currently under isolation in a health facility in…
The country’s communications watchdog said on Monday it has taken a decision to extend the validity period of existing radio frequency spectrum licences in line with regulation 10 of the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has resolved to grant all radio frequency spectrum licence holders an extension to renew their licences by no later than the 30th of June 2020. In terms of the Regulations, the due date for the renewal of radiofrequency spectrum licences is 31 March annually. The Regulations further provide that failure to pay the prescribed licence renewal fee by…
Vodacom announced on Monday it has appointed Khumo Shuenyane as a non-executive director. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone group said Shuenyane’s appointment is effective on 21 July 2020. Shuenyane has served as an independent non-executive director of Investec Limited and Investec Plc (together ‘Investec Group’), and several companies within the Investec Group, since 2014. He was appointed chairman of Investec Bank Limited, Investec Group’s South African banking subsidiary, in 2018. He has over a decade of experience in the telecoms industry. He served six years as Group Chief Mergers & Acquisitions Officer for MTN Group and a member of its Group…
DStv to set up a dedicated pop-up channel for various religious groups in the country during this Easter Weekend. The channel, named Africa Easter Channel, is in collaboration with the renowned TBN Africa, DStv Channel 343. Across South Africa, over 80% worshippers observe and celebrate the Easter period, hence different and various Christian denominations be will be looked after by the channel. The current restrictions due to the global pandemic, COVID-19, will see South Africans staying at home during the Easter Weekend. Accordingly, Africa Easter Channel’s offering of music and sermons is bound to keep DStv viewers engaged and fulfilled during…