Author: The Bulrushes

A good number of people have a phobia about using public toilets and worry about their hygiene safety when they do so. However, Harpic – a leading toilet care products maker, has moved to make public and shared facilities safer in South Africa. “It is a universal truth that women in South Africa dread using public toilets,” says #HarpicHygieneForHer Project Manager, Masibonge Mkhize. “This truth applies across the entire socio-economic spectrum of women. However, the circumstances of lower income communities are even more severe. “Public and shared toilets in these communities can be unhygienic, unsafe and are typically not suited…

Auditor-general (AG) Tsakani Maluleke revealed Wednesday that financial reporting consultants cost local government R5,31 billion during the previous administration. As many as 70% of municipalities use consultants every year, the AG said. “Financial reporting consultants have become a permanent feature in municipalities’ processes, and the annual cost of consultants doubled over the term of the previous administration, with the financial reporting cost of consultants totalling R1,26 billion in 2020-21,” said Maluleke. The AG made the revelation during the launch of the 2020-21 consolidated general report on the local government audit outcomes. “The lack of improvement in municipal outcomes is an…

AfriForum has launched its “Border Watch Initiative” complete with sniffer dogs to stop Zimbabweans from crossing illegally into South Africa. The organisation said the unprecedented move was in response to a documentary on border jumpers. “The Border Watch Initiative was established following the enormous support the organisation received after the premier of the documentary film Open Borders,” said AfriForum in a statement issued Tuesday by its campaigns manager, Jacques Broodryk. “The documentary depicted how poorly border control between South Africa and Zimbabwe is applied and how AfriForum’s neighbourhood watches in this border area helps to safeguard the community.” AfriForum added:…

South Africa’s elite crime busters – the Hawks – are looking for an errant Home Affairs official who allegedly unlawfully facilitated the issuing of SA passports to Pakistan nationals. “Kagiso Ronny Maboa (38), a Home Affairs official is sought by the Hawks Middelburg-based Serious Corruption Investigation team for fraud, corruption and contravention of the immigration Act,” said Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi

The Department of Home Affairs will on Monday launch a pilot project to ease the passport renewal process for South African nationals living in the United Kingdom. “The pilot project will cover the cities of London, Edinburgh, and Manchester,” the department said in a statement released Sunday by Siya Qoza, spokesperson for the minister of Home Affairs. “To deliver this service, the department is extending its partnership with VFS Global to implement the pilot in the UK. VFS Global will receive applications for passport reissues at its new centres in the three cities.” The department said South African nationals will…

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on Thursday said it was investigating the source of the stench over parts of Gauteng in the past two days. Residents of Johannesburg have been complaining about “a heavy smell of sulphur that lingers in the nose”. The department said it, “noted concerns about the strong smell and is working with environmental and air quality officials in Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo and North West to determine the cause of the stench”. The department said it was also probing, “whether prevailing wind and weather conditions have contributed to the smell travelling over a long…

Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Wednesday said she was investigating a complaint lodged against President Cyril Ramaphosa for allegedly breaching the Executive Code of Ethics. Mkhwebane said the complaint relating to “President Ramaphosa’s alleged conduct, in respect of allegations of criminal activities at one of his properties, was received last Friday from Vuyo Zungula, MP, and president of the African Transformation Movement”. Last week, former spy boss Arthur Fraser lodged a complaint at the Rosebank Police Station against Ramaphosa alleging that he concealed from the police and the SA Revenue Service a 2020 robbery of more than four million…

Former Tegeta Exploration and Resources Director Ronica Ragavan, Pushpaveni Govender – a former trustee of Optimum Coal Mine, and Joel Raphela the former DDG in the Department of Mineral Resources, were arrested and appeared in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court Wednesday morning. Ragavan and Govender are accused of fraud, forgery, uttering, perjury and money laundering of R107.5 million. Allegations are that the accused irregularly withdrew mine rehabilitation funds from the trust accounts of Optimum Coal Mine and Koornfontein Mine in 2016. The two former company trustees were granted bail of R20 000 each, while Raphela was rushed to hospital during court proceedings for medical attention. The companies…

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday hosted visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and launched an “important collaboration” that involves the development of green technologies. “Today we are launching an important collaboration between the Federal Republic of Germany and Sasol around the development of green technologies,” said Ramaphosa during the visit to the Sasol headquarters in Sandton, Johannesburg, with the German Chancellor. “The Catalyst Research for Sustainable Kerosene project focuses on the development of catalysts for green jet fuel. “This is one of several areas of cooperation between companies, universities, and government agencies on the technology that will reshape our…

The Department of Home Affairs has fired Chief Director Ronney Marhule for recommending that Shepherd Bushiri and his family should be issued SA permanent residence permits. Before the Bushiris skipped bail, the wealthy preacher – along with his wife and two others –  were accused of money laundering and fraud involving R102 million. On Monday, the SA Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi said Marhule had been dismissed with “immediate effect”. “The chief director who recommended that Shepherd Bushiri and his family should be issued with permanent residence permits, which they did not deserve, has been dismissed from the Department…