Author: The Bulrushes

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night announced a wide range of solutions to tackle persistent load-shedding including, re-hiring experts, adding renewables, encouraging households to install rooftop solar, and changing laws to allow municipalities to generate power. “While existing legislation may be sufficient in ordinary times, the current crisis requires that we act decisively and more speedily,” said Ramaphosa in his live broadcast. “We will therefore be tabling special legislation in Parliament on an expedited basis to address the legal and regulatory obstacles to new generation capacity for a limited period.” South Africa has installed capacity to produce approximately 46 000…

The City of Cape Town on Monday announced that it will now pay cash to small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) customers for the excess energy they produce and sell back to the City. Announcing the big step toward ending load-shedding, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said: “This morning, I met with over 50 members of Cape Town’s business community to announce two important steps in the City’s journey to ending load-shedding and becoming energy secure.” Hill-Lewis added: “The City of Cape Town will now pay cash to small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) customers for the excess energy they produce and sell back to the…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Madam Justice Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya, current President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, as Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa with effect from 1 September 2022. “President Ramaphosa made this appointment in accordance with Section 174(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,” the Presidency said on Monday. Justice Maya brings more than two decades of a distinguished career as a judicial officer. She is the first woman to hold the positions of Deputy President and President of the Supreme Court of Appeal. “Justice Maya will contribute to the…

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s (JSE) Virtual Trading Game is growing in popularity as more people become aware of how it helps individuals to learn to invest. Director of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the JSE, Vuyo Lee, says the JSE’s Virtual Trading Game, was launched to drive awareness about the stock market. Since its inception, the Virtual Trading Game has attracted increasing numbers of participants, says Lee. “The JSE Virtual Trading Game is a game that aims to teach South Africans about investing on the JSE and the larger role that such investment plays in the country’s economy,” explains Lee.…

In a bid to accelerate digital transformation in South Africa’s public sector, the University of Pretoria (UP) and the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Institute teamed up for the first time to host an executive education programme, for senior government officials and leaders of state-owned enterprises. The two-day executive programme was held on Thursday and Friday at UP’s Future Africa Institute. It featured various speakers, including international cybersecurity experts, national and provincial government officials from several departments, academics, and representatives from state-owned enterprises including Transnet Freight Rail, SENTECH, and power utility Eskom. Cyber security expert Prof Jan Eloff, the acting Dean…

The Gauteng Department of Health on Sunday revealed that Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) has more than 2 600 people on its waiting list for surgeries. The department said the hospital was now using “various interventions to reduce long waiting times for surgical procedures”. The interventions include opening a second theatre on Tuesdays and Fridays for cardiothoracic (heart, lungs, chest organs) surgeries. “Patients who are due for smaller cases of plastic surgery, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic, paediatric and other general surgeries are referred to Bertha Gxowa District Hospital and those who are due for minor colorectal cases are referred to South…

KwaZulu-Natal Businessman Makhonzandile Lukhope and his daughter Naledi Lukhope were arrested by the Hawks and have appeared in court for PPE fraud of more than four million rand. “The Lukhopes were arrested on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering to the value of R4 365 868.88 related to a PPE tender awarded by the Eastern Cape Department of Education,” said the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on Thursday. “The pair was arrested on Wednesday 20 July 2022 and appeared before the Zwelitsha Magistrates Court. “They were both subsequently released on bail of R4 000 and R2 000 each.” The SIU said…

The opportunity to participate in the more than four-decade-long financial literacy programme is fast becoming a factor when learners rate their overall satisfaction with their school learning environment. There is a growing appreciation by South African learners for the need to gain exposure to a broader knowledge base beyond the school curriculum, says Ralph Speirs, JSE CSI officer. Learners from Acudeo College Crystal Park agree with Speirs. “One thing that I personally love about my experience in this school is all the wonderful opportunities that it has exposed me to, like the JSE Investment Challenge,” says Onyinye Kennedy, matric learner…

Five former Department of Community Safety help desk officials accused of taking bribes to unlawfully erase massive outstanding licence fees owed by trucking companies have been arrested. The scam allegedly involved R60 million. The accused, 43-year-old Thembi Millicent Motlohi, 35-year-old Allman Thabani Masuku, 52-year-old Xoliswa Celia Ngcekwane, 44-year-old Nompulelo Winnie Nxumalo, 54-year-old Agnes Nosipho Ndzinisa, and 37-year-old Mbombela Registry Authority official Nkosinathi Samuel Gumede, were arrested on Monday. The accused were taken down by a team of law enforcers that included Nelspruit-based Hawks, officials from the Road Traffic Management Corporation, and others from the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit as well…

Theletsi Roger Nkhumise – the former municipal manager of Moretele Municipality in the North West – was arrested on Friday over a dodgy multi-million-rand IT tender and appeared at the Moretele Regional Court the same day. Nkhumise is accused of unlawfully appointing Flame IT Strategy to render ICT services to the Moretele Municipality, which is largely rural, to the tune of approximately R215 million. The municipality inherited the contract for ICT services from Madibeng Local Municipality. The arrest of Nkhumise follows an investigation conducted by the  Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which revealed that the municipality increased the scope of work with two…