Month: February 2024

As this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), Cabinet says plans are in place to achieve the remaining 390 973 work opportunities by March 2024.

The year 2024 marks 20 years of the existence of the EPWP, which represents one of South Africa’s success stories of mass public employment programmes and is by far one of the largest poverty alleviation initiatives.

Briefing media on Thursday during a post Cabinet briefing, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said Cabinet received a briefing on the implementation and achievements of the EPWP, a flagship government programme that has provided millions of work opportunities to unemployed South Africans since its inception.

“Cabinet was informed that 4 609 000 work opportunities were created during the Phase 4 medium-term of the EPWP, which covers the period 2019/2020 – 2022/23.

“This figure represents a 92% achievement against the target set by the Sixth Administration to create five million work opportunities. Plans are in place to achieve the remaining 390 973 work opportunities by March 2024,” the Minister said.

The EPWP has over the past 20 years created over 14 million work opportunities, making it the largest continuous public employment programme in the world.

This milestone was achieved through ongoing partnerships with the private sector and civil society.

“These work opportunities have contributed to skills development for the participants, as they were created under a range of EPWP projects in the tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, social projects and projects led by women,” Ntshavheni said.

Of the 4 609 000 work opportunities, the top three provinces where most work opportunities have been created are KwaZulu-Natal, which accounts for 1 064 000 opportunities (23%), followed by the Eastern Cape, with 903 789 (20%) and the Western Cape at 508 954 (11%).

The Minister said while most of these opportunities are short- to medium-term; some have resulted in permanent employment. Figures also indicate that more than 20% of participants obtained employment outside the EPWP.

Many past EPWP participants have successfully completed diplomas in fields such as professional cookery and some are permanently employed in the hospitality industry. In addition to work opportunities, the EPWP also contributes much more in terms of service delivery, and improvements of amenities in communities and a better quality of life.

Over R52 billion has been transferred to the EPWP participants as wages for work done in Phase 4. In addition, over 600 businesses were established through the programme.

Cabinet has commended the South African Police Service for their tireless work which has led to the arrest of seven people in connection with the murder of South African rapper, Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, known as AKA, and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane.

Forbes was gunned down in Durban’s Florida Road on 10 February 2023 as he was leaving the Wish restaurant. His friend, Motsoane was also murdered.

KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, announced the arrest of the six suspects during a media briefing held at the SA Police Service provincial headquarters in Durban.

A seventh suspect was arrested on Wednesday morning.

At the briefing, which was also attended by Police Minister Bheki Cele and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, Mkhwanazi said Forbes was the main target of the shooting, and not Motsoane, who was “at the wrong place at the wrong time”.

The suspects were arrested on Tuesday evening and are facing charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, among others.

The suspects arrested included a coordinator, shooters, spotter and person who hired the vehicle and firearms.

“The arrests are as result of months of painstaking police work,” Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said during a media briefing on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, five suspects made a brief appearance at Durban Magistrates Court on Thursday morning.

The case was postponed to 6 March 2024 for bail application.

Ntshavheni said two of the suspects, who were arrested in Eswatini, are still to be extradited to the country.

While unemployment figures may cause despair, KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, says the rate of investment into the province is a sign that tomorrow will be better than today.

“As KwaZulu-Natal, we faced an uphill battle in ensuring that investor confidence is unwavering, despite challenges with load shedding, the civil unrest, ageing utilities’ infrastructure, some of which could not withstand the recent floods. Yet we remain determined to continue in our quest to ensure that investors know that KwaZulu-Natal is and remains the most favoured investment destination in Southern Africa,” Dube-Ncube said.

The Premier made the remarks when delivering the State of the Province Address (SOPA) at the Oval Cricket Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.

Dube-Ncube said during the South African Investment Conference (SAIC) held last year, where President Ramaphosa’s target was exceeded by some R306 billion, KwaZulu-Natal’s share included 55 companies in the province, which invested over R300 billion.

Dube-Ncube said some of the investments are located in the province’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Richards Bay and Dube Trade Port, and around the province.

“Targeted business expansion and retention support activities amounted to over R23 billion, resulting in 37 201 jobs being created. Added to this are investments attracted by Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) over the last two decades, amounting to over R60 billion and creating over 95 000 jobs,” Dube-Ncube said.

The Premier said KwaZulu-Natal is committed to the establishment of new leather and textile Special Economic Zones in the Newcastle and Ladysmith corridor, which are estimated at R600 million.

She said the two new SEZs will add to the two provincial SEZs of Dube Trade Port and Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ), and will create 4 500 employment opportunities.

According to the Premier, 35 Black Industrialists have been supported by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and for grant funding, and they will create approximately 4 000 jobs. She said the target is to support 10 new Black Industrialists in the coming financial year.

“KwaZulu-Natal has 35 small scale fisheries cooperatives comprising 1 000 small scale fishers registered by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Government has rolled out training to capacitate these fishers in the variety of Ocean Economy and Maritime technical skills,” the Premier said.

Dube-Ncube also highlighted some government-led projects to create jobs, including the Port of Durban’s R1.34 billion investment programme aimed at upgrading port facilities to mainly increase port capacity. This created 1 328 jobs.

The Passenger Rail Agency South Africa (PRASA) has also spent over R900 million in KwaZulu­-Natal through its capital programme on investment and infrastructure works.

“This includes projects on rolling stock upgrades, including the Bridge City Development with a new rail network, new access gates and CCTV cameras and stations, and the Dalbridge turnaround facility and general infrastructure station improvement. These were never there prior to this government.

“In 2023, the R2 billion Dr Pixley ka lsaka Seme Regional Hospital was officially opened with 500 beds and a full package of regional services provided. This hospital has changed lives, especially in the Phoenix, lnanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (PINK) area, and created 5 312 jobs during construction,” Dube-Ncube highlighted.

The Premier acknowledged that government alone cannot address the enormous developmental challenges faced by the province.

“In order to accelerate development, we have partnered with the private sector to stimulate our economy. The public and private projects, worth over R129 billion, have created over 339 000 jobs,” the Premier said.

National Treasury has noted that whilst South Africa is on track to address all the outstanding action items by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) with regards to the country’s grey listing, it remains a challenge to address all 17 of the remaining action items by February 2025.

“All relevant agencies and authorities will need to continue to demonstrate significant improvements, and also for such improvements are being sustained,” National Treasury said on Thursday.

The FATF is the international standard-setting body that oversees global compliance with anti-money laundering rules.

“The February 2024 FATF Plenary adopted a report by the Joint Group, confirming that five of the 22 action items are now addressed or largely addressed. These relate to the legal provisions criminalizing terrorist financing and underpinning South Africa’s targeted financial sanction regimes related to terrorism financing and proliferation financing, increasing the use of financial intelligence  from the Financial Intelligence Centre to support money laundering investigations, and increasing the resources of AML/CFT [Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating of the Financing of Terrorism] supervisors,” National Treasury said.

The FATF grey listed South Africa at its February 2023 Plenary meetings where a jointly agreed Action Plan was adopted listing 22 action items linked to the strategic deficiencies identified in the AML/CFT regime.

The FATF grey list refers to the FATF’s practice of publicly identifying countries with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The FATF maintains two such lists with one being jurisdictions under “increased monitoring” that are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes” and secondly “high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action” that are not actively engaging with the FATF to address these deficiencies.

South Africa is required to address all 22 to exit the FATF grey list.

“The deadlines for addressing the action items fall between January 2024 to January 2025. Should South Africa be assessed to have largely addressed all 22 Action Items in February 2025, the FATF will schedule an onsite visit in April/May 2025, to confirm that assessment and make a recommendation to the June 2025 FATF plenary.

“In this cycle of reporting, the FATF also considered that two further action items that were previously not addressed, have now been partly addressed, confirming that 14 of the 17 outstanding action items have now been partly addressed.

“Three action items still have not been addressed as yet. The deadline for South Africa to address (or at least largely address) four of the outstanding action items in the Action Plan, is May 2024,” National Treasury said.

The FATF will consider South Africa’s progress on these action items at its plenary meeting in June 2024. A further eight action items are due in September 2024, and the final five items are due in January 2025.

The process in addressing effectiveness deficiencies is distinct from the process in addressing technical compliance deficiencies (related to the adequacy of the country’s AML/CFT laws and policy frameworks).

“The October 2023 FATF plenary formally re-rated 18 of South Africa’s 20 deficiencies, based on the progress made by the South African authorities in the two-year period following the 2021 mutual evaluation. Of these, 15 were upgraded to a point where they are no longer deficient, as 14 Recommendations are now fully or largely compliant, and one Recommendation was deemed to be inapplicable to South Africa.

“Following these re-ratings, South Africa is now deemed to be fully or largely compliant in 35 of the 40 FATF Recommendations, including in five of the six core FATF Recommendations. South Africa will apply for further re-ratings of technical compliance deficiencies, for the consideration of the October 2024 FATF Plenary,” National Treasury said.

KwaZulu-Natal has made strides in the delivery of housing units, with a total of 690 000 housing units having been built since the dawn of democracy in 1994.

This is among the province’s achievements highlighted by Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, delivering the State of the Province Address on Wednesday.

“We have built 690 000 housing units in KwaZulu-Natal, which means more than 2.8 million KZN citizens live in houses built by this democratic government. This excludes the 130 000 sites that have been made available over the same 30-year period,” Dube-Ncube said.

Reflecting on the strides made towards the provision of decent housing and housing opportunities, Dube-Ncube said a total of 52 974 fully subsidised houses were built for qualifying destitute families in various parts of the province, with 36 400 of the housing units replacing mud houses.

Dube-Ncube also noted the breakthroughs made in the delivery of houses for military veterans, as well as 16 973 serviced sites that were made available to people who could afford to build their own top structures.

She said the 19 social housing projects have delivered 2 532 rented units, targeting people that can afford to pay rent in the social housing schemes.

This is in addition to 1 116 rental units that were delivered in community residential units (CRU).

The 22 priority development areas were declared to support targeted areas, including KwaDukuza Town/Hyde Park-Nonoti Area, Empangeni, Richards Bay, eSikhaleni Vulindlela Corridor, Msunduzi North and East Development Areas, uMlazi/Austerville, Ladysmith Development Area and Newcastle, among others.

“In order to address the upgrading of informal settlements and farm workers’ challenges, vast land parcels have been acquired in areas, including 51 6817 hectares in Emadlangeni; 132 6170 hectares in Newcastle (Farm Boschhoek); 57 2682 hectares in Abaqulusi, and 86 5623 hectares in lnkosi Langalibalele, among others,” the Premier said.

Dube-Ncube also announced that the rented buildings, known as Transitional Emergency Accommodations (TEAs), have been closed in all other municipalities, except eThekwini Metro.

During the 2023 SOPA, Dube-Ncube reported that all 135 halls (Mass Care Centres) were closed prior to the deadline of 2022 Christmas eve.

The Premier reported that the so called “Truro Hall Northdale Flood Victims” are now happily integrating with the community of Copesville where their permanent homes are being provided.

“Through subsidised housing, our cities are slowly being transformed while we are addressing the formation of informal settlements and providing housing for our military veterans. One of these projects is the Vulindlela Rural Housing Project, at R2.4 billion, which has created over 1 832 jobs,” Dube-Ncube said.

Households vulnerable to hunger drop to 12%

Noting another milestone since the advent of democracy, Dube-Ncube said the number of households in the province that are vulnerable to hunger has decreased to 12%.

“A total of 50% of the province’s households were vulnerable to hunger in 2004, but this figure dropped to 12% in 2022. Since 2019, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development supported 17 266 smallholder producers and through the Multi-Planting Season programme, 150 000 hectares were planted for food production across the province to support food production.

“Through the One Home One Garden, Seed and Seedlings Multiplication Programme, and other food security interventions, the department supported 128 205 food insecure households from 2019 to date, and supported a total of 79 142 subsistence producers,” Dube-Ncube said.

The Premier said she has tasked the Agriculture and Rural Development MEC to set up a special purpose vehicle, and transfer the Agri-Hubs and Commercial Mechanisation Programme to speed up implementation.

“This special purpose vehicle will attract investment, increase production, and create domestic and export markets for our farmers and be self-funding.”

KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, says despite various challenges, including  floods that hit the province, the provincial economy is back on its feet.

The province is gradually addressing the damage which is estimated in the region of R33 billion.

“At times, we felt we were on the verge of collapse while at other times we felt we could touch the sky. The circumstances around the sixth administration tested our steely resolve and we chose to soldier on,” Dube-Ncube said as she delivered the State of the Province Address (SOPA) at the Oval Cricket Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.

The Premier said following the destructive floods in April 2022 and the July 2021 civil unrest, government implemented a package of recovery programmes to rebuild a number of infrastructure, including shopping malls and factories, which were torched or looted.

She said the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (SASRIA) has spent over R20 billion rebuilding shopping malls and businesses affected by the social unrest, with more than R2 billion spent on rebuilding economic infrastructure damaged by the floods, resulting in over 192 000 jobs being saved.

“The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) relief measures implemented through the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Critical Infrastructure Reconstruction Programme, saw a total of 118 applications from affected businesses approved with a value of R1.9 billion.

“The IDC further partnered with the province in allocating R30 million support to SMMEs [Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise], township and rural businesses affected by the civil unrest. IDC allocated R10 million to support the informal businesses that were impacted by the floods of 2022,” Dube-Ncube said on Wednesday.

Furthermore, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairs allocated R67 million towards flood relief for businesses affected by the 2022 and 2023 floods.

The Premier also acknowledged President Cyril Ramaphosa for visiting Richards Bay in November 2023. The President visited the Port of Richards Bay to assess the state of the port and efforts underway to address congestion.

Following the President’s oversight visit to the port, Dube-Ncube said the province has witnessed a significant decrease in road truck traffic leading to the Port of Richards Bay as congestion decreased.

The Premier attributed this to a collective achievement to the introduction of the Truck Management Strategy, championed by the Ports Authority.

“At the Port of Durban, after having received word on the introduction of the container surcharge by shipping lines because of the container backlog in our ports, we are delighted to report that the number of vessels at anchorage has reduced from more than 60 ships in mid-November, to just 12 ships at the end of January 2024.

“We recognise, with appreciation to the role played by the industry, as well as local businesses in ensuring our ports are held accountable and deliver on their intended mandate of facilitating international trade.”

Dube-Ncube also highlighted that the provincial government is strengthening its support for businesses, by ensuring that enterprises doing business with government are paid on time.

She said a province-wide programme, Operation Pay on Time, assists with resolving payment queries from suppliers that do business with government.

“From April 2023 alone, the total number of cases and queries received is 288. Of this number 216 were resolved with a value of R281 million paid to suppliers,” she said.

The six suspects arrested in the murder case of musician Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, known as AKA, and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane are due to appear in court on Thursday.

The suspects were arrested on Tuesday evening. They face charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, among others.

The announcement was made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, at the SA Police Service provincial headquarters in Durban.

The briefing was also attended by the police top brass, including Police Minister Bheki Cele and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola.

Mkhwanazi said Forbes was the main target of the shooting, and not Motsoane, who was “at the wrong place at the wrong time”.

“The six suspects have played different roles during the operation. We have the coordinator, who is the master of everything. We have two shooters that we all saw on social media. We have two spotters. One of the spotters was inside the restaurant observing Mr Forbes and his friends, as well as the organiser of firearms and vehicles used as getaways,” Mkhwanazi said.

Mkhwanazi said the spotter initially followed Forbes from the airport to the hotel and to the restaurant where he was fatally shot.

Forbes was gunned down in Durban’s Florida Road on 10 February 2023 as he was leaving the Wish restaurant. Motsoane was also murdered.

According to Mkhwanazi, some of the cars used at the time of the murder were rented.

On 22 April 2023, the first suspect was arrested in Belhar, Cape Town. He was the alleged organiser who hired vehicles and guns. He was also in police custody for several unrelated murders.

On 24 October 2023, the second suspect, who was an alleged spotter, was arrested. He was linked to another unrelated murder in the Berea area.

Mkhwanazi said the suspects were linked to the AKA murder through four vehicles that were used in the planning, spotting and getaway, including a Mercedes Benz, BMW, Hyundai i10 and VW Polo.

Two of the vehicles had been rented and have since been returned to their owner, who has furnished the police with a statement.

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety has strongly condemned the recent tragic murder of a medical doctor in Dobsonville, Soweto.

Well-known Dr Michael Isabelle was tragically shot during an armed robbery at his medical facility and succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital on Saturday.

“It is deeply troubling that he lost his life simply for refusing to surrender his laptop and phones to the suspects,” the committee said.

The committee has described the incident as utterly unacceptable and regrettable.

“This heartbreaking incident serves as a sad reminder of the pervasive violence that plagues our communities, with innocent individuals bearing the brunt of heinous crimes.

“Despite concerted efforts by government and civil society to combat crime in Gauteng and across the nation, criminals continue to wreak havoc and instill fear among South Africans.”

The committee has urgently called upon law enforcement agencies to swiftly apprehend those responsible for this senseless act of violence and ensure that they are brought to justice.

“It is imperative that we send a resounding message that senseless crimes of this nature have no place in our society and that perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions.”

The committee also extended its heartfelt condolences to Isabelle’s family.

“We stand in solidarity with them during this difficult time and recognise doctors’ invaluable role in saving lives and providing essential medical care to those in need.

“We urge the entire nation to unite in condemning violence and reaffirming our commitment to building safer communities for all.”

According to TimesLive Premium, Isabelle was also attacked and shot in the stomach soon after he qualified in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, 20 years ago.

A family spokesperson who spoke to the publication said Isabelle was a jazz lover, who was generous and principled with an uncompromising work ethic.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is injecting a R1 billion investment in its marine fleet renewal programme through the acquisition of seven tugboats aimed at enhancing marine operations at its commercial seaports.

“The seven tugboats will replace marine craft that has reached its operational lifespan at the ports of Durban [in KwaZulu-Natal] and East London [in the Eastern Cape]. TNPA has awarded two contracts to a shipbuilding company, Damen Shipyards Cape Town, to deliver the seven tugboats from April to August 2024,” Transnet said on Tuesday.

From this procured tug fleet, the Port of Durban has been allocated five tugboats and two will go to the Port of East London.

“This investment demonstrates TNPA’s ongoing commitment in providing reliable marine craft at our South African ports, which will enable us to effectively service the marine industry and respond to global shipping demands,” TNPA Chief Harbour Master, Captain Rufus Lekala said.

The procured tugboats boast the latest hull design and propulsion, as well as a 60-ton bollard pull, which is a much-needed improvement from the bollard pull of the existing tugboats that will be replaced that ranges between 32 and 40-ton bollard pull.

“The 60-ton pollard pull meets international standards and makes the craft highly manoeuvrable while guiding larger and newer vessels safely in and out of the ports.

“TNPA’s marine fleet programme demonstrates a reimagined focus in ensuring that the Ports Authority delivers on its mandate of providing a competitive port system in its role as an enabler of economic growth,” Transnet said.

In its ongoing drive for port expansion and operational performance improvement, the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is repositioning its Western Region ports of Cape Town, Mossel Bay and Saldanha for the provision of world-class port infrastructure to support the regions’ booming shipping demand.

Projects in the pipeline include Phase2B of the Cape Town Container Terminal expansion at the Port of Cape Town.

“As part of the project, TNPA is currently finalising a detailed design of the rail infrastructure upgrade – a key deliverable that will enable the construction phase. The design work will be completed by December 2024. The project scope also includes container stack upgrade as well as a truck staging area and automation.

“The expansion will see a capacity increase from 1 million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) to 1.4 million TEU, with an investment value of approximately R1.775 billion. Project commencement is planned for September 2025,” Transnet said on Monday.

TNPA is also reviewing and finalising precinct plans for the Culemborg Intermodal Logistics Precinct Development in the Port of Cape Town, and that will be followed by a request for proposals during the 2024/25 financial year.

“This project will culminate in the development of land parcels near the port to create additional back of port capacity. Key projects at the Port of Saldanha include the extension of the multi-purpose terminal and the development of berth 205, which will cater for rig repairs. The new berth will also provide additional capacity for break bulk operations,” Transnet said.

Meanwhile, strategic initiatives in the Port of Mossel Bay include the construction of the cruise reception facility to enable international cruise vessels to call to the port. The slipway rehabilitation project planned for 2024/25 financial year will increase the port’s slipway and cradle capacity from 200 to 500 tons.

“The execution of these projects is not only a demonstration of our commitment to investing in the creation of addition port capacity, but also critical for the Ports Authority to respond to the need to improve operational performance of the South African ports,” acting TNPA Managing Executive for the Western Region ports, Captain Vernal Jones said.