Author: Staff Writer

Investec Group CEO Fani Titi is among the top four executives of its South African business who, along with the chairmen of the Investec Group and the South African bank boards, are donating part of their compensation to honour the example set by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government in helping to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. “Investec is very conscious of the extreme pressure that individuals, businesses and industries are under as a direct consequence of COVID-19. We are inspired by those on the frontlines and by the overwhelming sense of generosity of South Africans,” said Titi. Along with…

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The JSE’s Board of Directors and the Group Chief Executive Officer have pledged as much as 30% of their earnings to the Solidarity Fund for the next three months. Members of the JSE Executive will also be making contributions. The JSE pledge was announced as the bourse completed the second day of its two-day #Trade4Soldarity campaign. The fundraising will include all fees earned from trades across all asset classes by the JSE and market participants on Wednesday 15 April and Thursday 16 April. The fundraising effort was launched in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appeal to the country for donations…

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The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has assigned an emergency temporary spectrum to telecommunications operators to ensure connectivity for all during the National State of Disaster period. The Authority has considered applications for temporary radio frequency spectrum assignments in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 2300MHz, 2600MHz and 3500MHz bands, including the use of Television Whitespaces (TVWS) in an effort to ensure connectivity for all during the National State of Disaster period. “Of all applications received, only seventeen (17) were found to be in line with the criteria and conditions outlined in Annexure A of the Regulations which, among others, required…

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South Africa has 2 605 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with Limpopo and the Eastern Cape recording their first deaths. “It is with regret that we inform the public that the COVID-19 related deaths is now 48. “We note that two provinces, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, have also recorded their first deaths. We convey our condolences to the families. “We continue to speak strength and appreciate our dedicated health workers, who are faced with these circumstances daily,” said the Health Department on Thursday. The number of tests being conducted continues to rise, with the total number of tests conducted to date being…

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Work is underway to prepare Gauteng’s public health infrastructure for the period when the COVID-19 pandemic may peak. With Gauteng as the country’s epicentre, with 930 of the 2 506 confirmed cases, the province has cleared some of its existing hospitals and declared them COVID-19 facilities. “This has helped us to make available 555 standard beds and 308 ICU beds. We are also putting up new permanent wards in Kopanong, Jubilee, Chris Hani Baragwanath and George Mukhari Hospitals. This will add 800 new beds, which will be used for different purposes. “This intervention will help speed-up our existing plans to…

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The National Credit Regulator (NCR) has urged consumers to be careful of fake credit provider scams, as South Africa continues the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. “The NCR is warning consumers to be careful of scammers who act as legitimate credit providers, preying on vulnerable consumers during this period of COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of this pandemic has unfortunately left many consumers desperate for money with some having to resort to borrowing,” said the NCR Chief Executive Officer, Nomsa Motshegare. She said criminals have spotted an opportunity to exploit vulnerable people by posing as legitimate registered credit providers and offering loans…

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South Africa’s parliament will resume its business with immediate effect after the Presiding Officers announced on Thursday that the leave period for Members of Parliament has been cancelled. This follows the suspension of the programme of Parliament’s two Houses last month, as a precautionary measure to curb COVID-19 by drastically limiting the numbers of people at the precincts in Cape Town and at off-site parliamentary activities. Briefing the media on the resumption of the business of Parliament on Thursday, Parliament Presiding Officers — National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Chairperson, Amos Masondo — noted that…

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If you are stuck at home with a burst pipe, you can now call your plumber to come to fix it. This is just one of the changes made to regulations governing the extended COVID-19 lockdown. The announcement was made by the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was addressing the country on Thursday. “Today, we’re not coming with many new regulations. We’re extending the regulations that exist because the lockdown was extended,” she explained. This comes after President Ramaphosa extended the 21-day lockdown until the end of April to contain the spread of the…

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Government has begun the process of bringing certain industries on stream in an orderly manner, including that of mining, in a phased approach to easing the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. To this effect, government has amended the Disaster Management Regulations governing the lockdown to include a number of industries as essential trade. Through this amendment, certain sectors will return to operation under strictly controlled conditions. “I am confident that these amendments initiates and lay the foundation for the risk-adjusted measures the President announced last week.  In the coming days, the proposals already made by various stakeholders will be considered in our planning…

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Work continues to map South Africa’s future – with Cabinet asking all clusters to work together to produce one consolidated document on key priorities regarding the country’s economic recovery plan that will used post the COVID-19 national lockdown. The call was made during a virtual Special Cabinet Meeting held on Wednesday to discuss the socio-economic recovery plan, post the COVID-19 national lockdown. This follows the announcement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa two weeks ago, that Cabinet have a full discussion to come up with an economic recovery plan for the country. During the meeting, five presentations were received from the…

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