Author: The Bulrushes
Former President Jacob Zuma’s medical parole has been revoked by the Gauteng High Court, which ruled on Wednesday that the 79-year-old must serve his 15-month sentence in prison for contempt of court. The matter to challenge the lawfulness of the medical parole was brought by the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Democratic Alliance. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said it, “notes the judgment delivered on 15 December 2021 by the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, on the medical parole placement of the former president, Mr. Jacob Zuma. “DCS is currently studying the judgment and in due course,…
The UK has buckled under pressure and lifted the travel ban on 11 countries mostly in Southern Africa including South Africa. The UK imposed the Red List last month after scientists in South Africa detected a new Covid-19 variant now named “Omicron”. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has conceded that the Omicron variant has spread so widely in the UK and the rest of the world and the travel bans were serving no purpose. South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa has lambasted countries that had imposed travel bans for not using science to arrive at decisions and acting unfairly. Travel agencies in…
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday tested positive for COVID-19 amid an exponential spike of the Omicron variant first detected by scientists in South Africa last month. “President Cyril Ramaphosa is receiving treatment for mild COVID-19 symptoms after testing positive for the viral infection today, Sunday, 12 December 2021,” said the Presidency late Sunday. “The President started feeling unwell after leaving the State Memorial Service in honour of former Deputy President FW de Klerk in Cape Town earlier today. “The President is in good spirits but is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service of the South African National…
The South African satellite known as SumbandilaSat (Pathfinder in Venda) is reaching the end of its life, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) has announced. SATELLITE IMAGE: An image of Cape Town captured by SumbandilaSat SANSA said the satellite, which was launched in 2009 and took 1 128 high-resolution usable images will deorbit on Friday, 10 December 2021, The image data was applied in local research and on the Copernicus (previously GMES: Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) programme SANSA said the data also contributed towards disaster management like flood monitoring in Namibia and fire programme – later renamed…
A video of a man being shot in broad daylight while inside his car at an intersection in Sandton went viral before the police realised the victim was one of their own – Sergeant David Tsedu. This brazen shooting incident captured on video and posted on social media occurred on Thursday morning at about 11:00. Sergeant Tsedu, who was stationed at the City Deep Port of Entry, was driving along Katherine Street in Sandton when he was accosted by armed robbers and shot. The robbers shot and wounded Sergeant Tsedu before stealing his service pistol and other items. They fled…
Contestants Jacobus Rossouw, Evan Engelbrecht, and Frank Stevens have been named as the three top winners of the inaugural Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Virtual Trading Game competition. The top winners are from Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape respectively. The winners were announced during a virtual awards ceremony that was broadcast live on Facebook, on Wednesday, 8 December. They received a share of R60 000 in Satrix vouchers – R30 000 for first place, R20 000 for second, and R10 000 for third. “I would like to congratulate our top three winners. They did really well, and I wish them all the…
COVID-19 jabs could soon be a condition of entering public places as South Africa moves to ramp up vaccinations and tackle rising numbers of fresh cases seemingly fueled by the new Omicron variant. A decision on vaccination mandates is expected later this week when President Cyril Ramaphosa returns home from West Africa. He arrived on Sunday in Senegal on the last leg of his four-country West African. The visit to Senegal – at the invitation of President Macky Sall – marks the end of Ramaphosa’s four-nation visit to West Africa which included Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana. On Monday Ramaphosa will participate…
Responding to calls to lift travel bans imposed on Southern African countries, France on Wednesday announced it was lifting the restrictions from Saturday. On Sunday the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa urged countries to follow the science rather than imposing flight bans in a bid to contain the new Omicron coronavirus variant. South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was disappointed by the travel bans and called for their lifting. Shortly after South Africa discovered Omicron the UK and some EU members immediately imposed travel bans on the country and its neighbours. Hours after the travel…
Newtown’s First National Bank (FNB) Operations Manager, Zandile Sibiya, accused of stealing R4 million from her employer has appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. The 39-year-old Johannesburg woman was granted R10 000 bail on Tuesday. Allegations are that Operations Manager Sibiya fraudulently processed the forex payments with the International Banking Centre System transaction and transferred about R4 million into her bank account. FNB’s forensic analysis uncovered the anomaly and referred it to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation at the Johannesburg office for further investigation. Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said an extensive investigation was conducted which culminated in…
Struggling Eskom on Tuesday night said five generators had failed and load-shedding could be brought back at short notice. “While no load-shedding is currently being implemented, Eskom would like to request the public’s assistance in reducing the usage of electricity as the power system is constrained,” said the power utility. “Five generation units at various power stations have failed throughout the day.” A generation unit at Kusile and another at Majuba were taken offline to repair boiler tube leaks. Three other generation units at Kriel, Majuba, and Matimba tripped. Without offering an explanation, Eskom said the expected return to operation…