Author: The Bulrushes

All Caltex-branded service stations in South Africa and Botswana are to be rebranded Astron Energy in one of the most significant and exciting events in the local fuel industry for almost three decades. Astron Energy is South Africa’s second-largest petroleum network with over 850 Caltex-branded service stations in SA and Botswana. The rebrand means Astron Energy becomes the overarching brand across corporate, commercial, and retail, and will be the public face of the Company at all forecourts and other key sites. This is an important step in Astron Energy’s ambition to become the biggest fuel brand in South Africa. The…

Jailed former president Jacob Zuma will appear in the High Court Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday next week. Zuma, who is serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court at Estcourt Correctional Centre, declined to appear virtually as the court had initially suggested. The 79-year-old former president is the first accused in a more than decade-old arms deal corruption case. The second accused in the French company, Thales. Zuma, who has been incarcerated for nearly a month, faces 16 charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption, and money laundering. He is accused of accepting a bribe from Thales from 1999. Allegations are that the…

President Cyril Ramaphosa will present himself to the commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture next week on Wednesday and Thursday. In a terse statement, on Monday the chairperson of the commission acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said he had fixed 11 and 12 August as the dates for Ramaphosa to appear. The commission, which cost about R1-billion, is investigating allegations of “state capture” that involved massive corruption, and fraud in the public sector including organs of state. Some media reports suggest that South Africa lost around R1.5-trillion through organised thefts dubbed “state capture”. The president previously appeared before the…

Eskom has announced the completion of the Medupi Power Station – 14 years after the massive 4 764MW project started. The initial plan was for Medupi to be completed by 2015 at an initial cost of about R80 billion. Since then time and costs have ballooned at Medupi, which means “gentle rain” in Sepedi. It is better late than never – but estimated costs are now at R234 billion for the power station with an estimated life of 50 years. Eskom, which has been battling with power supply issues, on Monday applauded Team Medupi for “working tirelessly” to complete the…

Every time a punter buys a lottery ticket in South Africa they are relying on ICT to make sure their bet is in the draw. But what many do not know is that it is a women-led company that is handling the ICT solution. When ITHUBA was awarded the Third National Lottery Operator license in 2015, Paytronix Systems became its ICT solutions provider. Paytronix Systems is a leading black-owned and women-led ICT Solutions provider founded in 2002. The primary focus for Paytronix Systems has been to provide platform support to enable ITHUBA to run the National Lottery. The leading ICT…

More than 500 people died of Covid-19 in one day in South Africa, which has gone past the peak of the third wave driven by the more deadly Delta variant. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in its latest daily update that 520 people died from Covid-19.and there were 17 351 new confirmed cases. The number of total fatalities from the pandemic stands at 70 908. While numbers of new virus infections in Gauteng have significantly come down to 5 204 in the last daily count, other parts of the country are experiencing a spike. The Western Cape has…

Deputy President David Mabuza hasn’t been seen in public since he said he was “going to Russia for a few days” – now the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) wants to know where the cat is? Mabuza, who once pronounced “the cat is back” when he was cleared of wrongdoing by a court, travelled to Europe last month. Reports at the time said Mabuza left for Russia on 26 June for medical treatment after he took a leave of absence. On Wednesday morning, the DA shadow minister for the Presidency, Solly Malatsi, said his party was going to ask Parliament to…

Low-cost airline Mango Airlines, which suspended all flights earlier on Tuesday, is not refunding passengers and is instead giving them vouchers to travel with other airlines. The struggling airline – a subsidiary of South African Airways – is on its knees and has failed to pay salaries to staff for the last two months. Officials at the airline are blaming the Covid-19 lockdowns and the government’s failure to bailout the airline. Last month the government approved the release of funds to the low-cost airline. Mango was to receive R819 million. Meanwhile, unions have approached the courts to try and compel…

Tiger Brands, South Africa’s biggest food manufacturer, announced on Monday that it is immediately recalling about 20 million KOO and Hugo’s canned vegetable products over safety concerns due to potentially defective cans. Tiger Brands is recalling certain KOO and Hugo’s canned vegetable products produced from 1 May 2019 to 5 May 2021 due to an extremely small number of defective cans supplied by a packaging supplier. The cans may have a defective side seam weld that could cause the can to leak. Tiger Brands said it identified the issue as part of its internal quality assurance processes. Canned products forming part of this…

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday eased COVID-19 restrictions and moved the country to adjusted alert level three, which allows the sale of alcohol and opening of restaurants. Ramaphosa said the month-long adjusted alert level four measures had helped to reduce the spread of the virus. He said infections dropped by 20 percent. Infections in Gauteng were slowing down but in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West cases were on the rise. The President said onsite alcohol consumption can resume but must end at 8 pm. Off-site sales can resume between 10am and 6pm from Monday to Thursday. The curfew…

It took 40 and two years to find it – but there is no doubt Jamaican dancehall artist Cutty Ranks found his big hit “Dame Tu Cosita”. In just three years the song has amassed more than three billion views on YouTube. 0ne billion views on YouTube can earn about US$8 million (R119 million). In 2018, Cutty Ranks’ vocals were featured on El Chombo’s reggaeton song “Dame Tu Cosita”, originally released in 1997. Cutty Dame Tu Cosita is Spanish, which means “give me your little thing”. In the song, Cutty Ranks repeats the phrase over and over, and just like…

The Road Freight Association (RFA) on Friday said it was “dismayed and gravely concerned” about the cyber attack on Transnet and the resultant delays at ports. “This is creating massive delays and creating unreliability of the movement of goods across all modes of transport – with road freight bearing the brunt of the impact,” said the RFA in a statement issued by its Chief Executive Officer Gavin Kelly. Transnet advised its customers on Thursday, 22 July, that it was, “currently experiencing a problem with some of its IT applications, and we have had to shut them down to identify the…

Former president Jacob Zuma will be let out of prison on Thursday morning to attend his brother Michael’s funeral at Nkandla. The 79-year-old former president is serving a 15-month prison term fo content of court. Correction services said Zuma is considered a “low risk” prisoner. The former president has been locked up at the Escourt Correctional Centre for the last two weeks. “As a short-term, low risk classified inmate, Mr. Zuma’s application for compassionate leave was processed and approved,” said the Department of Correction Services in a terse letter. Citing the week-long unrest and looting that began as the #FreeZuma…

State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo must be fired immediately because she lied to South Africans when she said the police had been given information warning of the unrest, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have demanded. In a three-page statement, the EFF called “for the immediate removal and impeachment” of Minister Dlodlo, “for deliberately misleading the public and Parliament about non-existent intel that cautioned government on the ‘Release Zuma’ riots”. The Red Berets did not mince their words saying: “She is part of information peddlers who lie to our people to protect their utter incompetence”. During a media briefing, Dlodlo told…

Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the globe, is safely back on earth after his jaunt to space. Commenting on the out of world experience 57-year-old Bezos quipped, “Best day ever!”. The Amazon founder was accompanied on Tuesday on the Blue Origin’s first human trip to space by his brother, Mark Bezos, and the oldest person to go to space 82-year-old Wally Funk. Teenager Oliver Daemon, 18, was also on the 11-minute 2,300-mph excursion. Bezos’ trip to space comes 10 days after British Billionaire Richard Branson successfully traveled to space and back in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane earlier this…

The Internet revolutionised the world and has infiltrated nearly every aspect of our daily lives. More applications – e-commerce, social networks, communication platforms, banking, etc – motivated more people to get “connected”. Smartphones brought with them another giant leap forward, making the web accessible on devices that could be kept in our pocket, and with them grew the volume of users, apps, and the amount of time we were prepared to spend online. Today, we are in the midst of a giant Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. In less than 3 decades, we have amassed close to close to 4.7…

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was self-isolating on Monday “Freedom Day” when all COVID-19 restrictions were done away with. Johnson had been in contact with twice vaccinated health secretary Sajid Javid who tested positive for Covid-19 at the weekend. As many as 50 000 people tested positive for the virus a day before Freedom Day that ended a year of restrictions, “If we don’t do it now we’ve got to ask ourselves, when will we ever do it?” Johnson said. Alarmed, TV personality Piers Morgan tweeted: “It’s so dumb when the pandemic is still raging hard and UK’s now got…

Johannesburg’s premier indoor concert arena – The Dome – is changing hands and the new owners are not into having fun with loud music and large crowds. Widely known as the gateway into Johannesburg, the Ticketpro Dome has been the venue of choice for international as well as local music and comedy shows. For 20 years it was the largest indoor venue in South Africa, with uninterrupted floor space that could host shows in a variety of setups. RX Venue Management said it was with “a heavy heart” that it announced on Monday the sale of the popular concert venue.…

Duduzane Zuma on Monday denied that he encouraged looters during the week-long arrest that began as the #FreeZuma campaign. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika‘s Xoli Mngambi, the son of former president Jacob Zuma denied his video posted on social media incited looters. He, however, said he did not post the video on social media. Duduzane Zuma said the Twitter account purporting to him was not his. “I am not on social media … it’s not mine,” said Duduzane Zuma. Commenting on the video in which he appeared to encourage looting, Dudzane Zuma said: “I was not instigating any violence … a lot of…

South Africans remembered freedom icon Nelson Mandela on Sunday with many activities including cleaning up shopping centres that were vandalised in the week of looting madness. “On this occasion, we urge South Africans to embrace Madiba’s values and honour his legacy through humanitarian acts and initiatives that acknowledge his never-ending quest to change the world for the better,” said the African National Congress. “Let us use Mandela Day to provide food to the most vulnerable in our society, to clean up our streets and to start the task of rebuilding. “Over the past few days, the country experienced violence that…

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday declared that the insurrection had failed. He said the security forces had defended democracy. “The insurrection has failed,” Ramaphosa said, adding: “South Africans have rejected it”. He made his remarks after he visited KwaZulu-Natal, where the unrest has been the worst. The president said the violence was a “deliberate, coordinated, and well-planned attack on our democracy”. The unrest began a week ago with the #FreeZuma campaign. He said 212 people have lost their lives. As many as 198 died in KwaZulu-Natal. Police have arrested more than 2 500 suspects for public violence and looting. Ramaphosa said…

The Commander-in-Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Friday visit trouble spots in KwaZulu-Natal, where nearly 100 people have died in the unrest. As many as 32 schools have been vandalised adding to the billions of rand of destruction to infrastructure in the province that is still experiencing looting. “President Cyril Ramaphosa will this morning, Friday, 16 July 2021, undertake an oversight visit to Ethekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, to assess the impact of recent public violence and the deployment of security forces,” the Presidency announced in a statement. Ramaphosa will interact with the provincial government…

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala on Thursday said he was sorry and regretted giving a young boy a mighty whack on the back as looters caused havoc in an area he had visited. A video of the premier beating the boy has gone viral on social media and attracted criticism. The KwaZulu-Natal Office of the Premier said the incident occurred when Sikalala, and his delegation were visiting the worst affected areas. The visit was part of assessing the damage on the ground to bring an end to the wanton looting. “While the action of apprehending a resisting looter is justified, the…

The deadly virus has silence the golden voice of Tsepo Tshola, who had been in hospital until his passing on Thursday. The “Village Pope” as Tshola was affectionately known succumbed to Covid-19 a month before his 68th birthday. Fans, friends, and family have taken to Twitter to express their loss of the accomplished African Jazz musician. The Lesotho-born musical genius was once the lead vocalist of the famous band Sankomota, whose name means a mighty warrior from Basotho. Tshola was indeed a mighty warrior. He was, however, unfortunate to be one of the many who have fallen to the virus.…

South African authorities on Wednesday unexpectedly lifted COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings just as more than 600 people died of the virus in one day. South Africa is in the throes of the third wave, driven by the more deadly Delta variant. The country is also in the grip of unrest. At least 72 people have died in looting incidents in different parts of Gauteng and KwaZuluMembersprovinces. More than one thousand people have been arrested for public violence and looting. Hundreds of looters have brazenly ignored the Covid-19 restrictions that prevent gatherings and impose a curfew from 10pm to 4am. In…