Category: News

President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the decision by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries to focus on price stabilisation in their management of oil production.

In a statement on Sunday, The Presidency said rising oil prices contribute to higher fuel costs in South Africa, which exerts further pressure on small businesses, consumers and households. The burden is heavier for the working class and unbearable for the poor, the high office said.

“During the recent wide raging bilateral talks held in Jeddah, HRH Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud briefed President Ramaphosa about a number of economic initiatives the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is embarking on, including the intentions of the Kingdom to ensure oil price stability.

“President Ramaphosa appreciated the development as a measure that could provide relief to South Africa’s pressured economy,” the Presidency said.

Eskom says Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented between the hours of 5am and 4pm, thereafter increasing to Stage 4 until 5am on Wednesday morning.

This after a tumultuous weekend for the power utility, where it was forced to implement load shedding despite, its suspension on Friday.

Eskom said its emergency generation reserves “are almost depleted” and load shedding is required to build up these reserves.

“During the weekend, the breakdown of a generating unit each at Duvha, Kriel and Medupi power stations, as well as the delayed returns of a generating unit each at Camden, Kusile, Komati and Kendal power stations have exacerbated current generation capacity shortages, forcing the escalation of load shedding.

“Eskom will publish a further update as soon as any significant changes occur,” the electricity supplier said.

By Sunday afternoon, Eskom said although some units had returned to service, at least 14 961MW of capacity unavailable due to breakdowns, with a further 6 004MW taken off for maintenance.

“Eskom teams have returned a generating unit each at Grootvlei, Hendrina, Majuba, Matla and Tutuka power stations to service. Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns,” it said.

State-owned rail and ports company, Transnet, says it is ramping up recovery plans across its operations after it reached a wage agreement with labour unions following nearly two weeks of industrial action.

The accepted wage offer includes:

• Year 1: a 6% increase in the basic wage for levels H to L, and 6% on the annual cost-to-company package for level G.
• Year 2: a 5.5% increase in the basic wage for levels H to L, and 5% on the annual cost-to-company package for level G.
• Year 3: a 6% increase in the basic wage for levels H to L, and 6% on the annual cost-to-company package for level G.
• An increase in the medical aid subsidy, in line with the increases in the basic wage, over the duration of the agreement. The increase on the medical subsidy for the 2022/23 financial year will be implemented from 1 October 2022.
• An increase in the housing allowance commencing from year 2023/24 and 2024/25.
• The back-pay for the period 1 April to 30 September 2022 will be paid in two tranches.

“Transnet continues to prioritise the safety of employees and assets, as operations prepare to ramp up. Engagements with customers and industry are ongoing, with joint planning to clear backlogs created as a result of the industrial action.

“On the rail side, trolley trips are being undertaken to assess the safety of the railway network, as well as inspection of rolling stock to ensure trains are declared safe before services resume fully. Repairs to sections of the network affected by theft and vandalism are also being undertaken,” the company said.

Transnet said the bulk of the work at the ports will be on ensuring that backlogs are cleared.

“At the ports, focus remains on clearing the backlog of vessels at anchorage and alongside the quay, including bulk, break bulk and containers. Evacuation of imports out of the port is underway in order to create fluidity within the terminals, with the immediate focus being on perishable and time-sensitive cargo.

“All eight commercial ports remain accessible. Transnet Pipelines continues to transport fuel to the inland market, with contingencies in place to ensure security of supply,” Transnet.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says more cases have been enrolled against some service providers of the North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management, which have allegedly been unlawfully overcharging the department.

This after the Special Tribunal ordered that service provider, Maczola Tours CC, pay back illegal gains from inflated school transport monies paid to it to transport children in a rural part of the province.

SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, explained that the corruption busting unit’s mandate to look into the affairs of the department was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s proclamation following allegations of “irregularities concerning the appointment and overpayment of service providers contracted in terms of the tender”.

“The SIU investigated to establish whether there were any irregularities and unlawfulness in the procurement process that led to the appointment of service providers in terms of the tender, lack of departmental oversight in respect of services rendered, the inflation of kilometers travelled by service providers when rendering the services and the resultant overpayment by the second applicant to service providers,” he said.

Kganyago said investigations into Maczola Tours found evidence that the service provider had overstated kilometres travelled for nearly seven years to the financial loss of the department.

“The SIU investigations revealed that Maczola Tours inflated the kilometers travelled when rendering the service…[and] claimed excess payment from the Department when they provided scholar transport between October 2010 and June 2017. The SIU’s evidence suggests that Maczola Tours benefited unlawfully from the Department by an excess amount of R180 793.20,” Kganyago said.

He added that there is still a way to go until the money is back in the department’s coffers.

“The Special Tribunal ordered the SIU to file an affidavit explaining how it determined the figure in question by Friday 28 October 2022. While Maczola Tours also needs to submit an affidavit responding to the costs in line with the SIU’s calculations by 4 November 2022.

“The Special Tribunal will make a final decision on the payable amount after the submission of the affidavits. There are other cases enrolled in the in the Special Tribunal awaiting adjudication and will result in recoveries for the department,” he said.

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture will host one of its healthy lifestyle flagship events on Sunday – the National Big Walk.

The Big Walk is one of the department’s healthy lifestyle flagship programmes with the intention to inspire the public to take up the practice of walking as means of achieving a healthy lifestyle.

The National Big Walk event is held annually every October to coincide with the World Walking Month.

“The Big Walk has seen massive growth since its debut back in 2012 by gradually turning into a 365-day call for action being led by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture with the objective of urging all South African citizens to choose an active lifestyle,” the department said on Wednesday.

Sunday’s walk will be hosted under the theme “IChoose2BActive, how about you?”.

The event will commence at Fleur Primary School and finish off at Fountains Valley Pretoria, with 5km, 10km, and 15km routes that end with an aerobics session and live musical performances.

Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, David Mahlobo has urged Kgabo Park residents in Moletji, outside Polokwane in Limpopo to play their part in safeguarding water and sanitation infrastructure, which is meant to benefit them.

“As a department, we are worried about the vandalism occurring currently to the water and sanitation infrastructure, and we appeal to you as a community to look after it as it belongs to you,” Mahlobo said.

The Deputy Minister made this call during the recent official launch and handover ceremony of three solar-powered boreholes in the area.

The handing over of the boreholes came through a private public partnership between Coca-Cola Beverages of South Africa (CCBSA) and the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), dubbed Cokeville Project.

The project was initiated by Coca-Cola, as a direct response to the water shortages in the country, particularly distressed rural communities.

This innovative, solar-powered groundwater harvesting system, is aimed at addressing water shortages in the country and seeks to provide water access to distressed rural communities.

The newly launched project has a total capacity to pump, treat, store, and distribute 30 mega litres of clean water per year and will benefit over 200 000 households in both Ga-Ramoshwane and Kgabo Park villages.

Mahlobo thanked Coca-Cola for their partnership, noting that water is a matter of life and death.

“We are aware that this intervention is not going to resolve all our water related challenges, but it will assist a big deal. South Africa is a water-scarce country with water shortages being experienced in many parts of the country and more so in Limpopo.

“Both DWS and CCBSA consider reliable access to good, safe water as essential to life, nature, and the health of our communities, hence it is important to support local water access projects that help bring safe, clean drinking water to communities in need,” Mahlobo said..

A total of 100 water wheelers were also donated to 100 identified households, to help them when fetching water from the boreholes to their homes.

Eskom is expected to implement Stage 2 load shedding from 4pm to midnight this afternoon following further challenges at its power stations.

Load shedding is expected to continue until Wednesday when further updates from the power utility are published.

“Since [Saturday] afternoon, two generation units at Grootvlei, as well as a unit each at Kriel and Majuba power stations, were returned to service. A generation unit at Lethabo power station was taken offline for repairs.

“Load shedding is required to help manage emergency generation reserves during the evenings,” the power utility said.

Load shedding had been suspended on Friday evening due to lower weekend demand, while two generation units also returned to service.

On Saturday afternoon, load shedding was once again implemented.

By Sunday, the electricity supplier was battling breakdowns equating to some 15 612MW of generation capacity with a further 5 244MW out on maintenance.

“Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns,” Eskom said.

The South African Post Office (Sapo) has warned customers of fraudulent emails requesting outstanding customs fees for parcels to be paid for online.

“Members of the public receive an email stating that a parcel addressed to them is being retained because customs fees on it are outstanding.  The notice entices them to click on a link that leads them to a website where they can make a payment to release the fictitious parcel,” Sapo said on Monday.

If there are customs fees payable on a parcel posted from abroad, the client pays the fees when they collect the parcel.

“The Post Office gives customers the opportunity to check a parcel before they officially take it into possession, and therefore does not require the payment of any fees before the time of collection.

“The Post Office normally sends a SMS when a parcel is ready for collection and never requests an EFT or online payment before a parcel is collected. Any request for an electronic payment should be viewed as a scam,” Sapo said.

Emails sent from the Post Office are identifiable by “@postoffice.co.za”.  The scam emails are sent from different servers.

The email includes a parcel number starting with the letters ZA, which was not generated by the Post Office.  When tracked on the Post Office website, the parcel number does not give any result.

When members of the public receive the notice, they should delete it immediately.

The Post Office encourages members of the public with any information about postal crimes to contact its toll-free crime hotline on 0800 020 070.

The Department of Public Service and Administration has refuted media reports that it has withdrawn the wage offer it tabled at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).

This comes after some media houses reported that since the withdrawal of the 3% wage offer, unions are pondering strike action to “get government, through the Public Service and Administration Department, to give a better offer to public servants”.

In setting the record straight, DPSA Director-General, Yoliswa Makhasi, said it is not true that government has withdrawn the offer.

“What has happened is in line with what we call, by operation of law/provisions of the PSCBC constitution, section 17.10 (b), which states that ‘if there is no majority support at the council within 21 days, the draft resolution falls away’,” Makhasi said.

The Director-General said government has been negotiating in good faith and the door of government is still open for labour to consider accepting the offer.

During the negotiations, there have been numerous rounds of discussions, with offers and counteroffers between the employer and the unions, including areas of significant disagreement.

As part of negotiating in good faith, government proposed a facilitation process as part of deadlock-breaking mechanisms. Facilitation took place on 26 – 30 August 2022.

Government had earlier proposed that employees continue to be paid a non-pensionable cash gratuity, which amounts to an average of R1 000.00 after tax to all employees across salary levels 1 – 12.

This amounts to an average of 4.5% of the R20.5 billon allocated for salaries in the 2022/23 compensation budget.

Organised labour rejected this offer.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has started public consultations on a draft National Faecal Sludge Management Strategy (NFSMS) to improve sanitation.

The strategy is in response to the 2016 National Sanitation Policy and Water and Sanitation Master Plan requirements.

The consultations commenced in the Western Cape, with the first discussions held in George, followed by Stellenbosh on Friday.

The department is developing the National Faecal Sludge Management Strategy for onsite sanitation systems throughout the entire sanitation value chain.

Department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said the second draft of the NFSMS has been completed, and is currently being presented to stakeholders to obtain inputs.

“The intention is to provide an opportunity to the sector to discuss the results of Status Quo Analysis from data received from provincial stakeholders and identify key issues and root causes contributing to the status of sanitation,” Ratau said.

At the heart of the NFSMS are the sanitation value chain positions of capture and containment, including emptying and transportation to ensure safe, affordable, and sustainable services are available to all users of onsite sanitation systems.

It also includes treatment to ensure that all faecal sludge is safely received and treated at appropriate treatment facilities.

Ratau said the strategy will be finalised early next year and implemented immediately.

Meanwhile, the department is reviving Provincial Sanitation Task Teams, which will comprised various national government departments, provincial government, local government, non-governmental organisations, and institutions of higher learning.

“The Provincial Sanitation Task Teams will, among other things, ensure coordinated efforts geared towards ensuring improved sanitation to restore the dignity of communities,” Ratau said.