Author: Staff Writer
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…