Author: Staff Writer
The South African government is formally considering launching a state bank, which will be able to access different forms of capital, in addition to taking deposits. The Sunday Times, which has seen the document in question. reported that the cabinet’s economic cluster has created an economic reconstruction and recovery plan which includes the ANC’s proposals to launch a state bank that would be able to access retirement savings at favourable rates. The proposal to launch a state bank and access pension funds was first mooted in the ANC’s own recovery plan last month. The Sunday Times, which has seen the…
While South Africa will move to alert level 2 of the national lockdown at midnight on 17 August 2020, current restrictions such as international travel will remain in place to minimise the spread of Coronavirus. In addition, the country will maintain its 50 people limit on gatherings, which among others, include funerals and religious events. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Cabinet’s decision to move the entire country to alert level 2 on Saturday night. The President’s announcement comes as the country marked five months since it declared a national state of disaster to combat the Coronavirus pandemic. “As we look back at…
BMW Group on Friday announced its 10-year plan for sustainability, underscoring its commitment to the goals of the Paris climate agreement, the main focus being on the expansion of electric mobility. Vehicles of the BMW and MINI brands featuring electrified drive systems are now offered in 74 markets worldwide, where more than 500,000 electrified vehicles were sold by 2019. By the end of 2021, this figure will probably rise to over a million. As a result of the massive expansion of electric mobility, emissions produced by BMW Group vehicles per kilometre driven will be reduced by around 40 percent by…
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has implored the boards of the South African Post Office (SAPO) and Postbank to fast track the digitisation of banking services to make them more efficient. This comes after the Minister, during meetings with the entities in the past two weeks, raised concerns about the handling of the COVID-19 Special Social Relief of Distress Grant distribution. “The Minister’s concerns included pay points running out of cash on payment dates,” said the Ministry in a statement. The meeting with SAPO was held last week, while the one with Postbank was held on Thursday. As…
The Unemployment Insurance Fund has, as of Friday, disbursed R40-billion in COVID-19 Temporary Employee Relief Scheme disbursements to cushion the economic blow of the lockdown on workers as a result of the pandemic. “Today we reached that magical figure that we committed to make the lives of workers in the country easier by injecting hard cash into the economy through disbursements to our contributors. We made a commitment of R40-billion and I am happy today to say we have kept our promise. “But this is not all. As we have committed to an extension of the scheme until August 15…
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has presented to the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) an ambitious plan to save the taxi industry. The plan includes the establishment of a co-operative bank owned by taxi operators, according to a report in Mail & Guardian. The idea of a co-operative bank will be presented at a planned National Taxi Indaba by Mbalula as part of his grand plan to empower the taxi industry and create a value chain. Presenting this plan to the NEC, he said: “Various options are being considered which include either establishing a national co-operative bank owned by the taxi…
SANEDI (South African National Energy Development Institute) and the Mineworkers Development Agency (MDA) have signed a partnership agreement to bring relief to the country’s former mineworkers and their communities. The relief comes in the wake of mine closures and the ever-growing prevalence of mining “ghost towns” and other poverty-stricken areas. This partnership is offering immediate COVID-19 support to 200 identified needy families, worst affected by the pandemic in mining communities in the Free State and the North West provinces. SANEDI and MDA will be providing packages that include portable LPG stove systems with a number of LPG refill vouchers to…
The latest unemployment statistics released by Stats SA paint an ominous and gloomy picture for millions of female headed households who are facing the depressing prospects of impoverishment due to loss of income. In addition to being already disadvantaged in the labour market, women accounted for a disproportionate share of job losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and made up 2 of the three million people who lost their jobs at the beginning of the year. Global beauty and personal care company Avon has stepped in to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 job losses by offering prospective Sales Representatives who…
Electricity continues to be a huge problem in our country during the pandemic, where further load shedding is being experienced due to cable theft. This not only impacts the residential sector but also both commercial and industrial power users. A solution to alleviate the lack of security of supply is by installing solar panels and batteries at businesses or households, especially at essential services such as hospitals where power is needed the most. Given the impact of the pandemic, hospitals need constant power to ensure patient’s care. Solar panels coupled with a battery storage solution provides a good alternative for…
Despite the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the need to minimise social gatherings to curb the spread of the virus, beauty and personal care company Avon Justine will once again partner with non-governmental organisations to host the first-ever virtual national walkathon on 31 October this year to raise funds for breast cancer awareness and education. This first-ever national and bREis the 15th edition of iThemba Walkathon that Avon Justine and its non-governmental partners host each year to raise funds for breast cancer awareness and education. Safety and the need to minimise social gatherings is a primary concern this year, hence…