Author: Staff Writer

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…