Author: Staff Writer
As we enter the fourth-day national lockdown, MTN announced on Monday it was enabling South African women to exercise whilst in isolation in their homes. Available on MTN’s Youtube channel and on social media @MTNza, GiGYMA is a digital home-based workout series that is easily accessible from any smartphone, tablet, laptop, or PC. While there has been a revival of healthy living amongst all South Africans over the past few years, the popularity of online fitness challenges and workouts has grown rapidly over the past two weeks. Now that South Africans can’t go to the gym, a walk or run…
Vodacom e-School platform is proving to be invaluable for the scores of school-going children at home on extended school break as the country grapples with Corovavirus (COVID-19). User registration on the platform since schools closed has been unprecedented over the past two weeks with the total number of registered users now close on 1 million. On Sunday 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a raft of measures to protect the country from the spread of the COVID-19. Schools closed from Wednesday, 18 March until after Easter Holidays. This meant that parents had to find alternative methods to help their children…
The first-ever BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe sees BMW bringing the four-door coupe concept that has already enjoyed great success in higher vehicle classes into the premium compact segment for the first time. It is now available in South Africa. Recommended retail prices in South Africa (including VAT, excluding CO2 tax): 218i – R 515 000 220d – R 595 000 M235i xDrive – R 725 000 Standout features include the dynamically stretched silhouette, the four frameless side windows and the rear lights extending well into the centre of the rear end, merging into a High-gloss Black band that runs up to and encircles the…
Jaguar Land Rover South Africa has made 11 vehicles available to the South African Red Cross Society (SARCS) in order to keep the organisation mobile in its efforts to control and minimise the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The vehicles, which come from Jaguar Land Rover’s Experience and marketing fleets, have been supplied free of charge and will be dispatched nationwide to boost transport capacity for SARCS. Red Cross volunteers will now be deployed to critical areas where they will engage communities and educate on how the virus is transmitted and how to avoid risks. In many vulnerable areas the…
Social grant payments for the elderly and people with disabilities is in full swing as South Africa enters Day 4 of the 21-day lockdown to curb COVID-19. In preparation for the lockdown, social security agency – SASSA – announced that grants for the elderly and people with disabilities will be paid from 30 – 31 March 2020. The Social security agency’s decision to pay grants earlier is in response to the State of National Disaster, as announced by President Ramaphosa on 15 March 2020. On Monday, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, together with SASSA CEO Totsie Memela, Acting MEC Panyaza…
Essential services businesses like grocery stores and veterinary practices can look to Bolt Business Delivery, now launched by the ride-hailing service in South Africa, to help them fulfil orders within the confines of the South African government’s lockdown regulations. Bolt’s ride-hailing services are authorised by the regulations to operate between 5h00 and 9h00, and 16h00 and 20h00 each day. The service connects business with drivers on the Bolt platform during these hours so that essential services businesses can deliver to South African residents unable to leave home. “Bolt has been working around the clock to provide innovative solutions to assist…
As it escalates its efforts to help customers, FNB announced on Monday that from 1 April – 30 June 2020 it will implement measures to provide relief to individual and business customers whose financial stability has been impacted by COVID-19. Jacques Celliers, FNB Chief Executive Officer, said the banks interventions will assist customers who demonstrate sound banking behaviour, such as having honoured their repayments to the bank on a consistent basis prior to COVID-19. For those customers that qualify, FNB said its COVID-19 interventions will be for all products. They will be available for a period of three months, covering…
As part of its long-term commitment to fuel cell technology, BMW Group will launch the second generation of its hydrogen-based powertrain in 2022 on a small series of the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT based on the current X5 generation. The premium carmaker offers first virtual insights into the powertrain system for the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT and reaffirms its commitment to following a carefully considered and systematic route to emission-free mobility. “We are convinced that various alternative powertrain systems will exist alongside one another in future, as there is no single solution that addresses the full spectrum of customers’ mobility requirements worldwide,”…
Following the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the days of social grants would be paid, a number of industry bodies have made representations on the relaxation of hours public transport vehicles are allowed to operate. A similar request was made by the Minister of Social Development, Minister Lindiwe Zulu. Having considered Minister Zulu’s request and representations made by various industry bodies, including the taxi industry, I have decided to amend the Public Transport Directions in order to accommodate grant beneficiaries. Effective from tomorrow, 30 March 2020 until Friday, 3 April 2020, buses and taxis will be permitted to operate…
Liquid Telecom South Africa, part of the leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom, today announced that it had mitigated network outages due unexpected loss of connectivity following a recent break-in the WACS (West Africa Cable System) undersea cable. “To help ensure continuity of service, Liquid Telecom’s network traffic is automatically re-routed during such outages. We are responding to new and increased demand from customers with additional capacity across alternate routes,” said Reshaad Sha, CEO Liquid Telecom South Africa. “Liquid Telecom operates a five-cable system for our international internet capacity in South Africa. Our resilient architecture means the loss of the…
South Africa will participate in the Public Health Emergency Solidarity Trial, which has been initiated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to conduct a clinical trial to find an effective COVID-19 treatment. “WHO has convened an independent group of experts to review evidence from laboratory, animal and clinical studies to prioritise treatments for inclusion in the trial,” Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Saturday. The group has identified the following treatment options for inclusion in the trial: • Remdesivir: a drug which was previous used in an Ebola trial; • Lopinavir/ritonavir: a licensed treatment for HIV and Aids; • …
President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the Ranch Resort a green zone after everyone, who had been placed under quarantine there, has tested negative for Coronavirus (COVID-19). The group of 112 citizens was placed under quarantine at the Ranch Resort in Polokwane from 14 March 2020 after they were repatriated from Wuhan in the Hubei Province of the People’s Republic of China, following the outbreak of COVID-19. “We are now able to declare the ranch a green zone. We had placed our students, the cabin crew of the flight that fetched them, as well as our military medical officers and the…
Seacom today announced it is aware of the outage on the West coast undersea cable, WACs, that is currently affecting numerous South African ISPs. While repairs on the WACs undersea cable systems are being planned, many ISPs will need to re-route their traffic via alternative paths, such as Seacom’s East coast undersea cable or other routes. As a result of the WACs cable system issues, customers may experience increased latency as alternative routes are implemented. “Seacom is aware that due to issues on the WACs cable system on Africa’s West coast, many African ISPs and their customers could be experiencing…
A team of experts are working on creating a range of data warehouses, including the current geographic spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) current cases, health vulnerabilities and location of health and other facilities, among other things. This work is being done by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Department of Health. Globally there are 512 701 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 23 495 confirmed deaths and there’s 202 countries that are affected by the Coronavirus. “Through the Department of Science and Innovation…and the CSIR we have successfully commissioned and finalised the physical set-up of a core situational…
Plans to reunite the 114 South African citizens repatriated from Wuhan City in China with their families are underway, as their 14-day quarantine period has ended. Addressing a media briefing on Saturday, in Tshwane, Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, said the Department of Health is working on the modalities for their release home. “The department is responsible for transporting the students to their respective provinces and to ensure that they are reunited with their families. Buses and mini vans have been secured to transport the citizens from the Ranch in Limpopo to the rest of the country.…
As South Africa enters a three-week shutdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, the National Department of Health (NDoH) has launched its COVID-19 Connect Whatsapp Helpline in four new languages. From today, the WhatsApp helpline is available in Sotho, Zulu, Afrikaans and Xhosa, in addition to English. This means that people in South Africa will be able to get vital information on COVID-19 in South Africa’s five most-spoken languages, broadening the accessibility of this service which was launched two weeks ago, and which currently has over 3 million users. Anyone in South Africa can join the COVID-19 Connect conversation by…
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola will oppose the Constitutional Court challenge launched by an undisclosed foundation which is against the 21-day lockdown, the Star newspaper reported on Saturday. In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, The National Coronavirus Command Council has decided to enforce a 21-day nation-wide lockdown with effect from midnight on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Monday. In a televised address to the nation, the President announced that the lockdown is necessary in order to save lives in light of the Coronavirus. South Africa has 1 170 known cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus behind Covid-19, the health…
The Motsepe Family in partnership with companies and organisations that they are associated with have pledged R1 billion to assist with the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its related challenges that are confronting South Africa and the African Continent. These companies and organisations are: • Motsepe Foundation • Sanlam • African Rainbow Capital (ARC) • African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) • and others The Founder and Chairman of the Motsepe Foundation, Dr Patrice Motsepe said: “Several hundred million rands will immediately be made available with the primary objective of saving lives and slowing and restraining the spread of the Coronavirus. “We…
A man who tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) has been arrested at a village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo, SABC News reported on Saturday. Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba says the man tested positive in Gauteng and instead of self-isolation he went back to his home village outside Tzaneen. The man is believed to have had contact with other people when he went back home. After his results came out positive, the tracer teams in Gauteng struggled to locate him until he was found in Limpopo. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has raised concerns regarding the lack of information pertaining to…
Government has deployed a total of 22 347 traffic officers across the country, to ensure compliance with the published Regulations and Directions for the 21-day nationwide lockdown. South Africa went on lockdown on Friday in response to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. “Our National Traffic Police are working closely with the Defence Force and the South African Police Service (SAPS) in enforcing the law at the Beitbridge and the Lebombo border posts,” Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said. He was updating members of the media on the first day of the lock down with Ministers who are part of the…
Government has urged all South Africans to unite, remain positive and continue to work hand-in-hand to turn the economy around. This comes after Moody’s decision to downgrade South Africa’s long term foreign and local currency debt ratings to ‘Ba1’ from ‘Baa3’ and maintain the negative outlook. South Africa’s credit ratings by Moody’s are now one notch below investment grade. “It is with a heavy heart to note that all three major credit ratings agencies currently rate South Africa at sub-investment grade. However, every crisis presents an opportunity. “The opportunity we have today is to unite and work together to…
The number of COVID-19 deaths in South Africa has been revised down from two to one mortality, after a subsequent investigation found that one patient was negative for the virus. Earlier on Friday, the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said South Africa had recorded its first two deaths. The cases were in private and public institutions in the Western Cape. As of Friday, South Africa had recorded 1 170 positive cases. This is an increase of 243 new cases from yesterday’s announcement. The total number of tests conducted to date is 28 537. On Friday evening, the Minister in a…
Today, as South Africans experience the first day of the 21-day national lockdown, Springbok Rugby Captain, Siya Kolisi, will head up a digital fist-bump relay in an attempt at the Guinness World Record for the longest social media fist-bump relay in a 24-hour period. MTN SA will also temporarily change its slogan from “everywhere you go” to “everywhere you stay” in an effort to encourage South Africans to observe the call to stay home during the national lockdown. The relay, initiated by MTN, stands as a reminder of the importance of social distancing at this time, but it is also…
MultiChoice has set aside R80 million to ensure that current productions are able to pay full salaries of cast, crew, and creatives for the months of March and April, by when hopefully we will have the worst of the disruptions behind us. This is part of the several measures, aimed at safeguarding the incomes of cast, crew, and creatives as well as the sustainability of production houses. Through the MultiChoice Talent Factory, the company will be launching an online learning portal that will support over 40 000 members of the industry to gain access to courses and online masterclasses, so they can continue to hone their craft…
Vodacom is in full support of the measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19 and help to flatten the curve of infections in South Africa. The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, has announced that South Africa’s telecommunications workers will be exempt from the Covid-19 national lockdown as digital infrastructure is deemed a critical service. To that end, both fixed-line and mobile telephony systems must be maintained during South Africa’s 21-day lockdown. “While we are all feeling anxious about the health and wellness of loved ones, family, colleagues and members of…