Author: The Bulrushes

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…