Author: The Bulrushes
A Zimbabwe-based Rimbi Travel and Tours Bus Service has been fined more than R400 000 by the South African Department of Home Affairs after some of its passengers were caught attempting to enter the country without passports. The department on Monday said it had, “given Zimbabwe-based Rimbi Travel and Tours Bus Service until end of business today, 29 March 2022, to pay an administrative fine of R420 000 for breach of the Immigration Act”. The law says any conveyor (transport business) that contravenes the provisions of section 35(9), will be liable for a fine of R15 000 for each person…
Sandton-based tech non-profit organisation Empire Partner Foundation (EPF) has joined forces with EPF Tech Fund to launch an R80 million tech investment purse to support startups across the country. The fund, backed by NMVE Capital, TDM Ventures, and Digication as its first investors, will invest in students and graduates, who are developing tech solutions that create a meaningful impact. The fund said, in its first phase, it invested in 20 data start-up firms in the last 18 months with a combined value of R150 million. Now the latest phase will benefit some 15 start-ups that have been through EPF Incubation…
Most parts of the Johannesburg central business district are without electricity after a fire on Monday morning in tunnels under Ntemi Pilusa Street tripped two main lines. City Power said it was attending to an outage from a Fordsburg substation affecting most of the Joburg CBD and Selby. “The outage happened around 8 am after a fire in our underground tunnels at Ntemi Pilusa street tripped two main lines,” said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena. “One line feeding Central Substation which affects the entire CBD, and the other line feeding Selby Substation affecting most of the industrial areas east of…
African entrepreneurs are being invited to enter Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition to stand a chance of winning a share of $1.5 million or R21.9 million grants on offer. The ABH prize competition, one of the Jack Ma Foundation’s flagship philanthropic programs spotlighting and celebrating Africa’s entrepreneurial talent, has opened applications for its fourth annual edition https://bit.ly/3Ngq1rT. Entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, across every sector, age group, and gender are now able to submit their applications, in either French or English, for a chance to become one of the Top 10 finalists. The official slogan of the competition, “It’s African…
Fresh from a court victory overturning a prohibition to march, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia marched in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on Saturday and demanded the resignation of Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi. Organisers of the anti-xenophobia march accused Dr. Motsoaledi and Gauteng Premier David Makhura of working alongside Operation Dudula to trample the rights of asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants. The initial Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia march had been planned for Human Rights Day but was stopped after Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department raised concerns that Operation Dudula was planning to march on the same day. Operation Dudula has publicly stated its intentions to…
The Information Regulator of South Africa on Friday said it was not satisfied with TransUnion’s response to the hacking incident in which data belonging to millions of individuals was unlawfully accessed by hackers. Hackers gained access to millions of South Africans’ ID numbers, banking details, and credit scores. Last week Brazilian hackers N4aughtysecTU claimed responsibility and demanded a ransom in bitcoin, which Transunion said it had refused to pay. The Information Regulator had given Transunion until Tuesday, this week, to report to it on: the date that the security compromise occurred, the cause of the security compromise, details of investigations…
The number of arrested suspects in the passport scam has risen to 29 with the arrest of more people as additional details of the elaborate scam emerge. Spokesperson for the minister of home affairs recounted how on Thursday night authorities pounced on the unsuspecting perpetrators at the Home Affairs office in Krugersdorp. The swoop was carried out by a multi-disciplinary operation involving the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation, Cash In-Transit Task Team, Department of Home Affairs’ Anti-Corruption, and the Johannesburg Central Tactical Response Team. They found the suspects processing information and photos using the Home Affairs system to fraudulently create…
Entrepreneur couple Dwight and Angelique Morrison have created a new social media app “PS Remember” connecting students all across Africa. Its unique database and search engine allows students to connect and socialise like never before with students in other countries. PS Remember (www.PSRemember.com) is a new and exciting social media platform that connects students’ past, present, and future in over 2.5 million schools in more than 147 countries worldwide. Its unique database and search engine allows students to connect and socialise like never before with students in other countries. For example, a student currently attending the University of Ghana can…
Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi has revealed how his department caught a kingpin and arrested several people including Pakistanis involved in a scam to unlawfully acquire South African passports. On Thursday night home affairs officials and law enforcement agency members swooped on the syndicate’s illegal operation in Krugersdorp, where 13 foreign nationals and 13 South Africans were arrested. Recounting events that led to the arrests, Dr. Motsoaledi said law enforcement officers took down the kingpin of a syndicate that had been fraudulently issuing South African passports, and other documents reserved exclusively for citizens to other nationals. “They were doing…
Mortuaries in Gauteng recorded nearly 900 unclaimed bodies last year, the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) revealed on Thursday. “There was a slight decrease in the number of unclaimed and unidentified bodies in the 2020/2021 financial year, which can be attributed to Covid-19 lockdown,” said GDoH. “In the 2020/2021 financial year, there were 898 unclaimed and unidentified bodies recorded, which was lower than 1 173 recorded in the 2019/2020 financial year, and 1 117 recorded in the 2018/2019 financial year.” The GDoH said it plans to finalise – by the end of the year – the development of an online…
Following the opening of registrations for this year’s annual Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Investment Challenge, the bourse is calling for catalyst teachers to volunteer to mentor participating high school teams. The JSE Investment Challenge, which runs from March to September, is an educational programme designed to introduce pupils and students to the fundamentals of investing in the JSE. Teams that participate in this competition are given R1 million in virtual funds to invest in various portfolios, to outperform the portfolios of other participating teams. The challenge is open to all South African high schools and higher learning institutions. High schools…
You don’t have to wear a mask if you are outdoors in South Africa from today following the relaxation of COVID-19 regulations announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. However, the wearing of masks indoors in public places is still mandatory, but “after tears” funeral gatherings remain banned, Ramaphosa said on Tuesday night. The president, however, encouraged people who have not yet vaccinated to do so saying it was the surest way to avoid severe illness and possibly death. Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has gazetted the amended Covid-19 Alert Level 1 Regulations making them…
Netflix is releasing a documentary on murdered Bafana and Orlando Pirates Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa next month, on 7 April. Once a legend, always a legend, A Netflix Documentary Series Senzo: Murder of a Soccer Star premieres 7 April, only on Netflix.
The Information Regulator of South Africa has given TransUnion credit bureau until Tuesday to submit details regarding the hacking incident that may have compromised the security of personal information of an undisclosed number of people. TransUnion has confirmed that a criminal third-party unlawfully gained access to its South African server through “misuse of an authorised client’s credentials”. Hackers are thought to have gained access to millions of South Africans’ ID numbers, banking details, and credit scores. Reports suggest that N4aughtysecTU claimed responsibility and demanded a ransom in bitcoin. The notorious Brazilian hacker group has reportedly given TransUnion seven day to pay the ransom. “We have…
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) on Wednesday night lifted the suspension of Comair Limited and its subsidiary, Kulula.com. SACAA suspended the operator certificate five days ago which resulted in Comair, Kulula, and British Airways flights being grounded. On Wednesday SACAA said it had concluded the assessment and evaluation of Comair’s evidence to close the Level 1 findings raised during the audit which started on 07 March 2022. The evaluation of the evidence was concluded on the evening of 16 March 2022. “The impact of this outcome paves the way for the Director of Civil Aviation to uplift the…
The Special Tribunal on Wednesday ordered German multinational software corporation – Systems Applications Products (SAP) – to pay back more than R400 million to the Department of Water and Sanitation. Most of the money must be paid to the department within five days. Wednesday’s Special Tribunal order follows an intensive investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in the affairs of the department in its dealings with SAP. The investigations revealed that the department irregularly concluded software license and support agreements between 2015 and 2016 with SAP. Armed with evidence, the SIU confronted the department and SAP and pointed out…
South Africa’s Competition Commission (the Commission) has referred social media giant, Meta Platforms Inc – previously known as Facebook Inc – to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution over alleged “abuse of dominance”. The Commission said Monday it had asked the Tribunal to impose a maximum penalty against Meta Platforms, WhatsApp, and Facebook South Africa which is 10% of their collective turnover. Last month Meta said it expects first-quarter 2022 total revenue to be in the range of $27 – 29 billion, which represents 3 – 11% year-over-year growth. The Commission referral for prosecution also includes Meta Platforms Inc subsidiaries, WhatsApp Inc, and Facebook South…
Tasneem Moosa of Hello Darlings travel agency has surfaced from hiding to deny she ran away with millions of rand belonging to her clients and investors. The elusive Moosa spoke to GlowTV/Laudium Sun at the weekend from an undisclosed location. She said the only reason she went into hiding was that she had received death threats. “They said things like we will torture you and kill you in front of your children … what mother would accept that.” Moosa said she simply took her family to a place of safety. Asked why she shut down her social media, Moosa said that was to stop…
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday appointed Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo as the next Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa with effect from 1 April 2022. “The president’s decision follows consultation with the Judicial Service Commission and leaders of parties in the National Assembly on four nominees for appointment as chief justice,” said the Presidency. In terms of the constitution, the chief justice is “the head of the judiciary and exercises responsibility over the establishment and monitoring of norms and standards for the exercise of the judicial functions of all courts”. With Justice Zondo assuming the position of…
Eskom on Thursday afternoon announced that it was lowering load-shedding to Stage 3, “due to some recovery in generation capacity over the past 24 hours”. “Load-shedding will be reduced to Stage 3 from 21:00 hours tonight until 08:00 on Friday,” said Eskom. The power utility said thereafter Stage 2 will be implemented until 05:00 on Monday. “The emergency generation reserves have sufficiently improved to permit a reduction in the Stage of load-shedding.” However, the power utility appealed “to all South Africans to continue helping us limit the impact of load-shedding by reducing the usage of electricity and to switch off…
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s application to revoke its judgment on her CR17 report, saying “no case has been made out for rescission”. Mkhwebane’s initial report on the CR17 campaign and adverse findings were taken on review, which the high court set aside on the grounds that the public protector had “reached an irrational and unlawful conclusion on the facts before her”. The Constitutional Court also upheld the finding. Mkhwebane then unsuccessfully applied for rescission of that decision to the Constitutional Court, which dismissed the matter with costs. In the findings that have been set…
Eskom on Wednesday morning ramped up load-shedding to Stage 4 amid failing generation equipment. “Due to further failures of generation units, Stage 4 load-shedding will be implemented from 09:00 today until 05:00 on Friday,” said Eskom. The power utility said it was ramping up load-shedding to “manage the emergency reserves”. Eskom implemented Stage 2 load-shedding on Monday. However, the power utility said Wednesday it was “with a great deal of disappointment that Eskom has to inform the public that further failures overnight of generation units has necessitated the implementation of Stage 4 load-shedding starting at 09:00 this morning”. Eskom said…
Eskom has announced that “due to multiple unit failures” Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented from tonight at 9 pm. The power utility said it had experienced multiple generating unit failures over the past 24 hours. Eskom said it “regrets to inform the public” that Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented between 21:00 tonight and 05:00 on Tuesday. “This will be repeated same time on Tuesday night until 05:00 on Wednesday,” said the power utility in a statement issued earlier Monday. “This load-shedding is required in order for Eskom to replenish the emergency generation reserves, which have been utilised significantly since…
Jack Bloom, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, said Monday that there had been another theft of copper pipes at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH). Bloom said what was “most distressing” was that theft of the copper cables was delaying the re-opening of the casualty unit, which he said had been planned for 14 March. “Despite R40 million a year spent on hospital security, there has been theft of copper pipes, and more than 500 metres of electrical cable and new electrical distribution boards,” said Bloom. “This follows the theft last year of R30 million of copper…
Two men from Cameroon have been caught with a huge amount of stolen copper by Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) undercover officers. BUST: Two suspects from Cameroon found with stolen copper cables The men were arrested on Saturday after they were found in possession of the stolen copper in Bramley, north of Johannesburg. Recounting events leading to the arrest, Xolani Fihla, JMPD spokesperson said acting on a tip-off, JMPD officers proceeded to corner 11th Road and 3rd Avenue in Bramley, where they observed the suspected property. “An unknown male opened the gate of the premises, officers approached him, identified themselves…