Category: Key Issues

While locals and holidaymakers continue to enjoy the remaining festive season, authorities in the City of Cape Town have urged the public to behave responsibly to ensure the safety of all.

“This long weekend was certainly quieter than the one before and I want to thank the public for heeding my appeal to celebrate responsibly.

“There are still some concerns and the New Year weekend wasn’t without incident. Officers arrested 66 drunk drivers, and given the carnage on our roads, there can be no leniency for those who put their own lives and those of others at risk when they are behind the wheel,” said the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith.

The city’s enforcement agencies arrested 121 suspects and issued nearly 18 000 fines for various transgressions.

Smith urged everyone to play their part in ensuring safety.

“Help us keep the number of incidents down, even as you let your hair down. The holiday continues, as many residents have not yet returned to work. Schools are not in session and our recreation areas are flooded with visitors for weeks to come.

“If everyone behaves responsibly, this festive season will be memorable for all the right reasons,” he said.

On Sunday, 1 January 2023, the Metro Police Special Operations Unit recovered an illegal firearm and ammunition in Hanover Park when they were flagged down by a resident while busy with crime prevention patrols.

They were tipped off about the whereabouts of a person who was involved in a shooting incident at Soetwater Court a few days prior.

The officers responded and found the suspect after he tried to flee. When he was searched, officers discovered a 9mm pistol with 13 rounds in the magazine and a sealed box with another 50 x 9mm live rounds wrapped with a cloth in the yard.

The 25-year-old suspect was arrested for the illegal possession of ammunition and a firearm and detained at Philippi SAPS.

Metro Police officers also arrested an arson suspect on Saturday, 31 December 2022 after they received a complaint of a Wendy house alight in Blue Downs.

Upon arrival, the complainant pointed at the suspect, who had set the house alight. The 26-year-old was arrested for malicious damage to property and detained at Kleinvlei SAPS.

Visible policing

Cape Town Traffic Services held integrated roadblocks, vehicle checkpoints and speed control operations in the week of 25 December 2022 to 31 December 2022.

A total of 29 398 speeding offences were recorded. Officers impounded 75 public transport vehicles and executed 357 warrants of arrest. They also arrested  72 motorists, 59 of whom were driving under the influence of alcohol and six for reckless and negligent driving.

Metro Police officers made 49 arrests and issued 2 903 fines. Officers also responded to 24 domestic violence calls, while seven of the arrests were for drunk driving.

The city’s Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC) recorded just over 1 000 calls, less than a third compared to the previous week.

During the period 30 December 2022 to 2 January 2023, the PECC recorded 2 717 incidents. Just over 40% of these incidents were requests for medical assistance.

Call-takers also recorded 215 assault incidents, 277 nuisance complaints, and 76 domestic violence incidents.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has announced that the price of both grades of petrol will decrease by R2.06 per litre, while diesel is to drop by between R2.68 (500ppm) and R2.80 (50ppm).

The new prices, effective from Wednesday, mean that a litre of 95 unleaded petrol will now cost R20.75 at the coast and R21.40 inland. 93 unleaded now costs R21.10.

The wholesale price of 50ppm diesel is set to drop to R20.79, although retail prices, which vary between outlets, will be higher.

The price of Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale) will drop by R1.93, while the Single Maximum National Retail price (SMNRP) for Illuminating Paraffin will drop by R2.58 per litre.

The Maximum LPGas Retail Price, on the other hand, will increase by 82 cents per kilogram.

The department attributed the adjustment in prices to various international and local factors, including the decrease in the Brent Crude oil price and international petroleum product prices; the slight appreciation of the rand against the US dollar, and the implementation of the slate levy (a decrease of 21.90 c/l — from 83.28 c/l to 61.38 c/l – which will be implemented into the price structures of petrol and diesel effective 4 January).

As a precautionary measure, visitors are advised that the main bathing area section at Fish Hoek Beach between the lifeguard station and Jager Walk is temporarily closed to the public from Monday, 2 January 2023, until further notice.

The temporary closure is due to a sewer overflow caused by a blocked sewer pipe that has now been cleared.

“Items such as plastics and materials were removed from the sewer pipe. The public is reminded to not dump illegally, and rather dispose of their waste using available solid waste services or take recyclables to the City’s drop-off facilities,” the City said in a statement.

Various City departments have been activated to respond to this incident including to clear the blockage. A jet truck has also been dispatched to help reduce the impact of the overflow.

As a precaution, the above-mentioned section of Fish Hoek Beach has been closed until further notice.

City Health will be taking water samples on a daily basis for water quality testing until such time as the levels are within the minimum requirement for recreational activities as determined by the National Water Quality Guidelines.

In the meantime, the public is advised to avoid contact with the water in this section until further notice.

“This is a precaution as contact with the water could result in potential gastro-intestinal issues and therefore any person who enters the water does so at their own risk.

“Health Warning signage has been erected, advising the public of the situation.

“We appreciate the public’s cooperation during this time,” the City said.

The City regrets any inconvenience caused to beachgoers during this time.

Jubilation and ululations were the order of the day for over 400 families from various mass care shelters as they packed their belongings in preparation to move to their new homes where they will spend Christmas.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, assisted the flood victims from the Tshelimnyama shelter when they packed and loaded their belongings into trucks that were provided by government.

This week, the provincial government, led by Dube-Ncube facilitated the process of moving over 1 600 flood victims from various mass care shelters to more dignified accommodation.

To-date, 96 out of 135 mass care shelters that were housing families since the April flood disasters, have been permanently closed.

Dube-Ncube said that over the next couple of days, the provincial government will facilitate the relocation of all families to ensure that there will be no flood victims living in mass care shelters in KwaZulu-Natal on Christmas.

“We have mobilised all available resources and are undertaking every effort to ensure that we rebuild and rehouse flood victims. We thank all our citizens for their patience because every day we are seized with the task of ensuring that our province fully recovers from the flood disasters,” Dube-Ncube said.

The Premier acknowledged that their capacity to meet all the needs at once has often been stretched and at times, “we have had to attend to lifesaving and critical areas first”.

She reaffirmed that government is working tirelessly to fast-track the relocation of all flood victims to end all the frustration and anxiety.

“We have made significant progress if you consider that over 14 449 people were displaced after the flood disasters with 4 983 people left homeless. Seven months later, we are very close to closing down all mass care shelters.

“We made the commitment to the people of KwaZulu-Natal that as their caring government we will do everything in our power to ensure that before Christmas all flood victims move out of mass care shelters and are housed in decent accommodation.

“From the agony of being deprived of privacy and uncertainty, we have practically restored the dignity of our flood victims became families will now be able to regroup and plot their future in a safe and habitable place,” Dube-Ncube said.

The Premier also express profound appreciation to all the communities for the patience, calm and understanding, as the provincial government continues to work tirelessly to rebuild the province.

Eskom has eased load shedding to Stage 4 until Sunday morning when it will then reduce further to Stage 3.

The power utility warned however that electricity generating capacity remains constrained.

“Since Tuesday morning, a unit each at Camden, Kriel, Majuba, Matla and Duvha power stations were taken offline for repairs and maintenance. In addition, the delay in returning to service a generating unit each at Arnot, Duvha and Hendrina power stations has contributed to capacity contraints.

“A generating unit each at Grootvlei, Camden, Kriel and Majuba power stations returned to service,” the electricity supplier said.

Eskom currently has some 6618MW of capacity offline due to maintenance with a further 15 996MW unavailable due to breakdowns.

“Eskom requests the public to reduce to the usage of electricity and to exercise patience and tolerance during this difficult period. Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generating capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns,” the power utility said.

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula has encouraged motorists travelling this festive season to embark on their journey during the daylight as it enhances alertness and visibility.

This comes after 13 people died and three were severely wounded in an accident involving a mini bus taxi and a heavy motor vehicle, which took place in the early hours of Monday morning.

The horror crash occurred at approximately 3:15am on the N1 between Winburg and Verkeedevlei in the Free State.

“I would like to convey my heartfelt condolences to the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives due to a fatal head on collision which took place on the N1 in the early hours of this morning. It is incredibly saddening that we continue to mourn the loss of loved ones as a result of road carnage,” the Minister said.

Law enforcement agents are investigating the cause of the accident.

“I would like to implore South African motorists to exercise great caution when driving during the night time. Road accident statistics continue to highlight to us that a lot of fatal crashes occur in the night time. I would therefore like to continue to echo the importance of daytime driving, especially for long distance trips,” the Minister said.

South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grant beneficiaries using the Postbank-issued gold cards have been requested to withdraw their benefits from retail merchants this month.

This as the withdrawal of funds at ATMs has been suspended for the month of December.

The suspension of the service comes after the Postbank uncovered a series of network attacks by criminal elements on its system.

SASSA beneficiaries using the Postbank-issued SASSA gold cards are requested to withdraw their social grant monies at any retail outlets nationwide that provide the cashback functionality. These include Shoprite, Checkers, Usave, Pick n Pay and Boxer.

These SASSA grant recipients can also use the SASSA gold cards to make purchases at any place that accepts bank card transactions as the SASSA gold cards function fully within the national payments system similarly to any other bank card.

“In the recent months, Postbank has been experiencing a number of technical glitches that disrupted the smooth withdrawal of social assistance benefits.

“Following extensive investigations, we have now uncovered a series of network attacks by criminal elements determined to commit systematic ATM card fraud related crimes on Postbank payments using sophisticated modus operandi, which require further investigation.

“As a mitigating exercise, and in consultation with our partners following the resurgence of these criminal activities at the inception of the December payments, it has become necessary that Postbank suspends SASSA grant withdrawals at ATMs for those clients using the PostBank issued SASSA gold cards,” the Postbank said on Tuesday.

The Postbank has assured customers that a dedicated team of professionals, assisted by experienced external experts as well as law enforcement agencies, have been assigned to deal with this challenge.

Great progress has been made to close down all avenues used by these criminals.

“Postbank is aware of the impact that this change in payment channels will have on the social grant beneficiaries and other stakeholders, and we apologise for the inconvenience.

“Social Grant beneficiaries are also assured that the Postbank-issued SASSA gold cards are still valid and have not expired. Therefore, beneficiaries should not be misled into changing the cards unless if they wish to do so on their own accord,” the Postbank said.

Postbank will notify social grant beneficiaries when ATM transactions via the SASSA gold cards are available again.

There will be relief for some consumers from tomorrow when the price of all grades of diesel and illuminating paraffin decrease.

Petrol and LP Gas consumers, however, will have to dig deeper into their pockets as prices of the two are expected to increase.

The new prices, as announced by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), are as follows:

• All grades of petrol will increase by at least 59c
• Diesel 0.05% sulphur will decrease by some R1.57
• Diesel 0.005% will decrease by R1.52
• Wholesale illuminating paraffin decreases by 57c
• The Single Maximum National Retail Price for illuminating paraffin will go down by 57c
• Maximum LP Gas Retail Price will increase by 95c

The department explained the factors behind the increase in petrol prices.

“Petrol prices increased due to higher demand by motorists travelling for the thanksgiving season in the US amid limited supply emanating from the Russia Ukraine conflict. Increased demand resulted in a decrease of gasoline inventories and higher prices.

“Refiners are producing more middle distillates, such as diesel, illuminating paraffin and gas to meet extra winter demand in the Northern Hemisphere and consequently producing less petrol.

“These factors led to higher contributions to the Basic Fuel Price of petrol by 64.87 cents per litre and lower contributions to diesel and illuminating paraffin by 122.47 c/l and 9.09 c/l, respectively,” the department said.

Higher gas prices has been driven by the increase in propane and butane prices.

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, has led a multi-disciplinary team meeting with stakeholders from uMkhanyakude District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal to discuss water challenges in the agriculture sector.

The meeting, held on Sunday, included Amakhosi and councillors. The multi-disciplinary team includes the Departments of Water and Sanitation; Agriculture, Land and Rural Development; KZN Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; uMkhanyakude District and Mhlathuze Water.

It was also used as a platform to give an update on government’s interventions to ensure water provision for sustainable livelihoods.

“In consultation with my counterpart responsible for Water and Sanitation, Minister Senzo Mchunu, we agreed that at the same time as we focus on overcoming the domestic water challenges of this region, we also need to ensure that there is sufficient water to drive agriculture,” Didiza said.

She said the consistent outcry from the community of uMkhanyakude is the dearth of access to water for emerging farmers.

In this regard, Didiza said, senior officials from Water and Sanitation, and Agriculture, Land and Rural Development Departments have been tasked with working with the newly established Lower Pongola District Water User Association and Infrastructure to overcome the region’s water challenge and ensure equitable access to water.

The Water User Association consists of various stakeholders drawn from civil society.

The Department of Water and Sanitation recently appointed Mhlathuze Water to act as the implementing agent under section 63 of the Water Services Act.

Under the directive, Mhlathuze Water has already begun working with the uMkhanyakude District Municipality to improve water infrastructure in the district.

Water and Sanitation (DWS) Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has called for collaboration from different stakeholders to expedite the improvement of water and sanitation infrastructure in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.

This follows a stakeholder engagement meeting with Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; KwaZulu-Natal COGTA (Member of the Executive Council) MEC, Sihle Zikalala; eThekwini Executive Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda; uMgeni Water and other stakeholders to discuss interventions in water and sanitation challenges faced by the metro.

Mchunu visited KwaZulu-Natal from 2 – 4 December 2022, to meet with various stakeholders, including all three spheres of government, water entities and water service authorities to assess progress on projects currently being undertaken in the province, and to discuss ways to address the state of water and sanitation provision.

During the meeting, Mchunu emphasised that the stakeholders collectively need to find mechanisms to deal with the challenges faced by the city.

“We need to start embracing collaborations and partnerships with the private sector as soon as possible, as a new way of dealing with service delivery, because depending only on fiscus alone, it will take us years to adequately address these problems,” Mchunu said.

Mchunu also recommended the establishment of a strong technical team to enable the municipality to work with other role players to carry out the work going forward.

“The importance of partnership is very crucial because all of us have to work together to enhance the provision of services to the people of eThekwini. The establishment of a technical team is also equally important to assist in identifying sources of money, allocate specific timelines to the projects, and deliver within those timelines.

“The technical team should be service delivery oriented and work with various stakeholders to determine a way forward in addressing issues of infrastructure in the municipality,” the Minister said.

Following the floods in the province, Mchunu said there is a need to strengthen capacity at municipal level to be able to address the concerns of poor infrastructure, and to ensure equitable access to water in eThekwini.

“Funding for infrastructure was also highlighted as the main critical issue during the meeting, and it was recommended that funding and the implementation of infrastructure investment should be prioritised.

“Funding is an enabler and makes things happen, and as DWS we need to come up with a model that will encourage partnership with the public sector. With the establishment of a technical team, there will also be will also be engagements with Treasury to iron out issues of funding,” Mchunu said.

He said there are masses of people who still do not have access to water in the municipality, and “the narrative must change”.

He said the department is concerned about the state of the infrastructure that has caused pollution in eThekwini rivers.

Kaunda reiterated the call to facilitate funding with various stakeholders and private entities.

He said the municipality will be working with various stakeholders to ensure that funding is secured for infrastructure development in eThekwini.

“We are also planning to accelerate this process by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Water and Sanitation,” Kaunda said.

Increase in non-revenue water remains a challenge

Meanwhile, Zikalala implored the city to prioritise the issue of Non-Revenue Water, which is also the main point of contention in eThekwini Municipality.

According to Zikalala, non-revenue water in the city is high at 57%, with only 40% of water that is purchased billed, and of that, less than 70% is paid.

“A factor contributing to high non-revenue water is [over] 80 000 customers that are illegally connected to the water network as well as leaks,” Zikalala said.