Author: The Bulrushes
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…
Meta on Monday announced the return of its global campaign ‘Made by Africa, Loved by the World’, which was first launched in 2021. The campaign, which is part of Meta’s Africa Day celebrations on 25 May, aims to amplify the voices and stories of people and businesses from across Africa that are impacting the world. Kezia Anim-Addo, Communications Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, said, “I’m truly excited to be bringing back ‘Made by Africa, Loved by the World’ for the 2nd year running. “This campaign is about showcasing the incredible talent we have here on the continent and the African people and businesses that…
Eskom has announced that load-shedding Stage 2 during evening peak hours will continue throughout the week as it battles shortages of generation capacity. “Due to the continued shortage of generation capacity, Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented from 17:00 until 22:00 throughout the week,” the struggling power utility said in its latest communique issued Sunday. “While there may be instances where load-shedding might need to be implemented outside of these hours, as far as possible Eskom will endeavour to limit the implementation of load-shedding to the evening peak in order to limit the impact of the capacity shortages on the public.”…
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has seen positive returns from its Investment Challenge designed to advance investments and stock market knowledge of learners and students. “The Investment Challenge was created to bring financial literacy to all learners and students across the country from all backgrounds,” says Ralph Speirs, JSE CSI Officer. “However, it is remarkable to see our financial literacy outreach touching the lives of people in the most remote parts of the country. “This year, we are very excited to welcome learners from Manamakgotha Secondary from the Northwest Province.” The school is situated about 80 kilometres from Rustenburg in a…
Tech nonprofit organisation Empire Partner Foundation recently held a historic hackathon to tackle youth unemployment in the Great Kei Municipality, Eastern Cape. The two-day youth unemployment coding festival was designed to provide participants with the right mindset, tools, and confidence needed to see, assess and shape opportunities for launching new projects and ventures. Young software developers were guided through a process of creating solutions to self-defined problems in an agile method, where testing the problems and validating solutions were crucial. Empire Partner Foundation has taken a leading role in tackling youth unemployment through hackathons. The non-profit organisation has in the…
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of cold and wet weather in large parts of South Africa from Thursday into the weekend. “A steep upper-air trough system will develop into a cut-off low-pressure system over the north-western interior of the country by Friday,” said SAWS. “Widespread rainfall can be expected over the southern and central parts of the country from Thursday onwards, with light snowfalls likely over the mountainous, high-lying areas of the Western and Eastern Cape, spreading to the Lesotho Drakensberg regions by the weekend, where heavier falls are anticipated.” SAWS said light snowfalls can also be…