Category: News

The Department of Human Settlements has approved over R16 million towards the rebuilding of houses in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality.

The houses were destroyed during the recent floods in the Eastern Cape.

Human Settlements Deputy Minister, Pam Tshwete, made the announcement during the handover of houses to destitute families at Ludeke village in Mbizana on Thursday.

Tshwete announced that the department will on Tuesday transfer R8.5 million of the total amount to Alfred Nzo District Municipality.

“These funds can only be used for human settlements development and not for anything else,” Tshwete warned.

She said the allocation will be used for affected households in Ntabankulu, Umzimvubu, Matatiele and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Local Municipalities.

Eastern Cape is among the provinces that were recently affected by disasters, including KwaZulu-Natal and the North West.

Delivery of houses to vulnerable groups remains a priority

While handing over the houses to beneficiaries, which included 81-year-old Hlushiwe Masoso,Tshwete emphasised that the delivery of houses to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, child-headed households, military veterans and people with disabilities, remains one of government’s priorities.

Eastern Cape Human Settlements MEC, Nonceba Kontsiwe, said the provincial department’s budget allocation of R1.4 billion, which is expected to deliver over 7 000 housing units, will also prioritise vulnerable groups.

“Our priority is to ensure that indigent households and vulnerable groups have shelter over their heads. We appeal to those who are on the waiting list to bear with us. We shall deliver on our promises,” Kontsiwe said.

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Ronald Lamola says just over 250 people have been prosecuted and convicted of crimes related to tempering with essential infrastructure, like cable theft.

He said this when he participated in a debate on the Presidency Budget Vote on Thursday.

“This President is focused on building capable institutions. He has appointed the ID head, head of SAPS, the head of the defence force and the head of State Security.

“In this sixth administration, prosecutions on matters which relate to the theft or tampering with essential infrastructures, like copper cables, have been prioritised. This crime has often had the effect of plunging our communities into darkness, train stoppages and lack of network connectivity,” he said.

Lamola said to date, 172 cases were prosecuted and 251 accused were convicted.

He said in the matter of State vs David Jenkins, the Cape Town Regional Court sentenced Jenkins to an effective term of 13 years imprisonment after convicting him of 25 counts of theft.

“In the past week, the Newcastle Magistrate Court sentenced five accused to 10 years imprisonment for theft of essential public infrastructure. The Bronkhospruit Regional Court sentenced two accused in the same period to 15 years of direct imprisonment.

“These are issues that should occupy public discourse as they affect the well-functioning of rail, electricity and telecommunications infrastructure,” he said.

Lamola said the Investigative Directorate has brought seminal corruption cases within a period of three years before court.

“We welcome the arrests of the two Gupta brothers by authorities in the UAE [United Arab Emirates]. As the South African government, we will continue to cooperate with our UAE counterparts to ensure that the fugitives from justice are brought to book, they will account in our courts.

“We know that extradition by its nature can be a protracted legal process but we want to assure South Africans that the Guptas will definitely return to our shores to face trial.”

He said the same goes for Chipiliro Gama, known by the name Shepherd Bushiri, whose matter will soon be heard in the courts of Malawi.

Eight contractors have been appointed to build much-needed Temporary Residential Units (TRUs) to assist communities displaced by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal and currently sheltered at mass care centres.

Highlighting government’s interventions to assist displaced communities, Human Settlements Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said the provincial Department of Human Settlements has reprioritised R515.976 million — R367.013 million from the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) and R148.963 million from the Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant (ISUPG).

“The provincial Department of Human Settlements has been able to appoint eight contractors from its panel to construct much needed TRUs to accommodate affected families in eThekwini Municipality, ILembe, Ugu and uMzinyathi Districts.

“A social facilitator has been attached to each mass care centre to identify affected families who have their own sites available to construct houses. In addition, the department is issuing orders for building material vouchers for residents who are rebuilding their own homes,” Kubayi said.

She said based on the disaster management cycle (mitigation, preparedness, initial response, recovery, and rehabilitation), the funding framework responds accordingly by making funds available for immediate relief, followed by funds for recovery.

“Funding for immediate response for KwaZulu-Natal, following the recent floods, includes own budget reprioritisation, immediate disaster response grants, and the reprioritisation of existing conditional grants,” she said.

Over 30 land parcels identified

Regarding progress on the land assembly, Kubayi announced that 38 land parcels were identified from the National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, KZN Department of Public Works and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, totalling 78 hectares.

Furthermore, she said a team of officials is conducting assessments on the 38 recommended properties.

“These sites are being released by the Department of Public Works through Power of Attorney. Of the 64 mass care centres, which have been used to temporarily house affected families, 38 have been linked with possible land parcels.

“All in all, about 3 385 people who were affected by the floods will be accommodated through the identified land parcels,” the Minister said.

During a meeting held on Tuesday night, Kubayi received a progress report on the purchase of land owned by Tongaat Hullet in La Mercy to build houses for the displaced communities.

In order to speed up the process of the construction of the TRUs and homes in acquired land parcels, the meeting agreed that the provincial Department of Human Settlements must be involved in the planning and provision of bulk infrastructure, including water and electricity.

Kubayi assured that the National Department of Human Settlements will continue to provide support with all its agencies.

“We acknowledge the frustration expressed by communities and assure them that all of us are committed to improve performance in addressing the plight of affected households,” Kubayi said.

Almost 200 serviced sites within eThekwini completed

Meanwhile, Kubayi said the physical verification of 199 serviced sites within eThekwini Metro has been completed and 65 sites were found to be suitable for the development of a permanent housing solution.

“Necessary assessments are also to be conducted on privately-owned land with a potential total yield of 1 172 houses,” she said.

The Department of Employment and Labour is currently operating within the vacancy target rate of 9% as set by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), a meeting was told in Bloemfontein on Thursday.

Deputy Director General: Corporate Services (DDG:CS), Bahumi Matebesi, said that in 2022/2023, the department set its target at 8% – less than the target set by the DPSA.

“I have faith in the ability of the province to help us reach the target we have set for ourselves.

“At the same time, we have to be cognisant of the reality that filling of posts is a moving target as people resign, retire or are being transferred as we are busy dealing with the filling of vacant posts. It is indeed a tricky situation,” Matebesi said.

Matebesi was speaking at the Department of Employment and Labour’s Provincial Management Committee meeting in the Free State.

She reminded the meeting that the turnaround time for the filling of posts in the civil service is six months but the department has decided to reduce its turnaround time to four months.

“I urge you to do all you can to help reduce the unemployment ravaging the country,” she said.

Matebesi said the department was on track to ensure female representation of 50% was achieved by 2023 at Senior Management level.

“This also means that we must consciously create a layer at Middle Management level (DD level) to create the pool for upward mobility,” said Matebesi.

She said in support of the above, the short listings have to be mindful of the department’s goals in terms of gender responsiveness.

Her visit formed part of the interactions with provinces to bridge the gap between Head Office and provinces. Among provinces she has visited are Western Cape and Limpopo.

Matebesi said the department was intent on ensuring the DPSA vacancy rate was respected.

Deputy President David Mabuza says government has begun implementing solutions to ensure that there is energy security at power utility Eskom.

Participating in a debate of the Presidency budget vote on Thursday, the Deputy President said as a caring government, the Presidency was aware of the inconvenience and hardship that load-shedding caused to people’s lives.

“As government, we are well aware of the detrimental effect load-shedding has on the economy, as well as the inconvenience and hardship it causes for the country, its citizens, and businesses.

“Under the stewardship of the Eskom Political Task Team, we have begun implementing solutions to ensure energy security and long-term viability of Eskom.

“Government will also continue to support Eskom’s implementation of a credible and transparent national maintenance programme, which will ensure that power generation plants operate at optimal levels to reduce the negative impact of electricity supply interruptions,” he said.

The Deputy President said government was also exploring and implementing alternative energy generation measures to enhance the nation’s capacity to provide uninterrupted electricity for economic growth and development.

Accelerating Land Reform Programme

The Deputy President said linked to the provision of energy supply is the creation of a predictable environment for investment by ensuring that land reform is accelerated to unlock economic development prospects.

He said this will be accomplished through the redistribution of land for agricultural production to ensure food security for the country, human settlements provision and industrial development.

“These efforts are also about resolving historic challenges to achieve spatial justice towards the realisation of this right for all people.

“The implementation of our land reform programme continues along a constitutionally-defined path, hence the unfolding parliamentary process of addressing land inequality, displacement, and dispossession.

“As government, we will continue to respond to the imperatives of restorative justice, economic inclusion, and social cohesion,” he said.

The Deputy President said considerable progress is being made in the implementation of the recommendations of the Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture to address land injustice.

He said government has since enacted a number of legislative and policy interventions, including but not limited to:

•       The Land Allocation and Beneficiary Selection Policy;

•       The Comprehensive Producer Support Policy;

•       The Land Donations Policy;

•       The Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Amendment Bill of 2020; and

•       The Expropriation Bill.

“We have travelled the length and breadth of our nation to promote the programme of accelerating restitution and redistribution, and this year will see the introduction of numerous similar initiatives.

“Government will release land parcels in the hands of State-Owned Companies and Municipalities for integrated human settlements and socio-economic development.

This work also entails integrating rural areas into global value chains, thereby ensuring that the people drive the economic growth we seek.”

A 43-year-old woman from Bethelsdorp in the Eastern Cape has been arrested after she was found in possession of copper cables worth over R600 000.

In a statement, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said the copper cables, with a total weight of 2 591kg, were found inside and outside the premises. Some of the cables were identified by Transnet as belonging to them.

Eastern Cape SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, said while the estimated scrap metal value of the copper was R168 415, the replacement value was estimated to be over R600 000.

A joint multi-disciplinary non-ferrous metal operation was conducted under Operation Vuthu Hawe.

SAPS Bethelsdorp’s designated Second Hand Goods Officer (DSO) received information of an illegal scrap yard operating in Bloem Road in Bloemendal. The information was operationalised and on Thursday, a team comprising the Nelson Mandela Bay District’s SAPS Non-Ferrous Metal officers, representatives from Transnet, Telkom, Eskom and NMB municipality swooped in on the residential property.

“The owner of the house was arrested and detained in terms of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act and possession of suspected stolen property. She is expected to appear in court soon,” said Naidu.

Acting Nelson Mandela Bay District Commissioner, Brigadier Thandiswa Kupiso, commended the team for the excellent execution of the operation.

“Combatting non-ferrous metals and essential infrastructure related crimes must be continuous, as these crimes lead to a multitude of economic and socio-economic strains and continue to threaten key industries. The second hand goods environment is seen as a potential market for stolen goods, including the sale of non-ferrous metals. Operations such as this will be continuous and those responsible will be harshly dealt with.”

The SAPS said the threat of non-ferrous metals, as well as essential infrastructure related crimes, remains its priority.

“It is therefore crucial that multi-disciplinary disruptive operations are conducted to combat and address ferrous and non-ferrous and infrastructure related crimes.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government has finalised its “bounce-back loan scheme” which is set to give businesses a much-needed cash injection to create jobs.

He said this when he participated in a debate on The Presidency Budget Vote during a sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday.

“The broader context of the reform process is to improve the overall business operating environment and to improve our country’s competitiveness as an investment destination.

“To this end, we have finalised the bounce-back loan scheme, which gives additional funding to businesses to grow the economy and create jobs,” he said.

According to information from the National Treasury, the bounce-back scheme comprises two mechanisms – the first is a loan guarantee which facilitates loans guaranteed by government to eligible businesses.

The loans will assist eligible businesses in recovering from constraints in accessing finance due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the July 2021 civil unrest and disasters like the floods affecting KZN.

Funds borrowed from this scheme, through participating banks, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and non-bank Small Medium Enterprise (SME) finance providers, can be used for growth and expansion and to foster job creation.

The bounce-back scheme benefits from lessons learnt from the 2020 Loan Guarantee Scheme to provide for greater take-up including by DFIs and non-bank SME finance providers which will participate on the same basis as participating banks.

The President said, meanwhile, that in March the employee tax incentive was expanded to make it easier for employers to hire more young people.

Support for black industrialists

As part of government’s drive to create a new generation of black industrialists, create jobs and transform the economy, government last year approved R2.5 billion in new support to about 180 black industrialists in the form of loans and grants.

“Over the next three years, a further R21 billion has been committed to support black industrialists and an additional R25 billion to support black, women, youth and worker-owned companies,” he said.

Mining Exploration Strategy

The President said policy certainty in the mining sector has been bolstered by the publication of the long-awaited Mining Exploration Strategy.

The Infrastructure Office continues with its work of oversight and coordination over a number of catalytic infrastructure projects.

These include the Welisizwe Rural Bridges Programme, the rural roads programme, social infrastructure, bulk water, and others, the President said.

“To address onerous bureaucracy that impedes business growth, the Red Tape Reduction team is working with other departments to identify priority interventions and remove obstacles to growth.

“These initiatives take a collaborative and supportive approach, because ultimately it is departments and not the Presidency that implement policy.”

Interventions to address unemployment

The President said one of the tasks of government is to devise innovative solutions to address joblessness, particularly in a climate where there is a shortage of employment opportunities at a time when the private sector is not creating enough jobs at scale.

He said that the Presidential Employment Stimulus has enabled the rapid expansion of public employment and provided much-needed relief to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

“To date, the Presidential Employment Stimulus has created 879 000 opportunities. Of the participants across both phases, 84 percent are youth and 62 percent are women.

“These programmes, which range from waste collection to small-scale farming, have provided work and an income for hundreds of thousands of people in both urban and rural areas.”

The President said the programme has provided livelihood support for people working in the arts and culture sector as part of our commitment to support the recovery of this vital sector of our economy and society.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, from her position with immediate effect.

This after the National Assembly’s 194 committee moved to hold a motion for her removal from office.

Some two weeks ago, the Presidency announced that President Ramaphosa had received representations from the Public Protector on why he should not suspend her.

The President’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said President Ramaphosa has paid careful consideration to Mkhwebane’s representations.

“In considering each element of the Public Protector’s submissions carefully, the President has taken into account the nature of the Public Protector’s office and his own Constitutional obligations,” he said.

Magwenya said the President has given the Public Protector a “fair hearing by according her sufficient time and opportunity to make submissions” regarding the then pending suspension.

“Section 194(3) (a) of the Constitution provides that the President may suspend the Public Protector (or any member of a Chapter 9 institution) “at any time after the start of proceedings by a committee of the National Assembly for [their] removal,” he said.

He assured that the work of Mkhwebane’s office will not stall in her absence.

“Section 2A (7) of the Public Protector Act states that whenever the Public Protector is, for any reason unable to perform the functions of his or her office, or while the appointment of a person to the office of Public Protector is pending, the Deputy Public Protector shall perform such functions.

“President Ramaphosa and Advocate Mkhwebane are both obligated to act in the best interest of the country, in compliance with the Constitution and mindful of the need to protect all Constitutional institutions. The President’s decision to suspend Advocate Mkhwebane is the best manner to fulfil these obligations,” Magwenya said.

The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport has opened a first of its kind, smart Driving Licensing Testing Centre (DLTC) at the Gautrain Midrand station.

The new pilot DLTC, which was built using alternative building materials, is completely off the grid, guaranteeing customers minimal disruptions and a quick, convenient service along the Gautrain line.

“This state-of-the-art facility gives us an opportunity to efficiently deliver licences and other related services to the people. Working together with GMA and RTMC, in just over two months we have delivered this facility,” MEC for Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure, Jacob Mamabolo, said on Thursday.

The centre is part of four new stations set to be delivered by the department, together with the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), to add capacity that will help to address the driver licence card renewal backlogs in Gauteng.

Through the use of smart technology, the new DLTC promises to halve the time it takes for customers to complete the process of renewing their driver licence cards while on the move.

“This additional capacity will make it more convenient for customers to access services. Last year, we introduced two new smart DLTCs at Waterfall Estate, City of Joburg and Eco Park in the City of Tshwane. These new generation DLTCs are the benchmark we are setting ourselves as we look at modernising all our facilities across the province,” Mamabolo said.

The centre will also provide full online and cashless services as part of the provincial government commitment to exploring new technologies and process optimisation.

The centre will operate from 8am – 5pm from Monday – Friday, and from 9am – 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Ronald Lamola says the President, as a victim of crime, has a right to be treated fairly by the justice system.

The Minister said this when he participated in a debate on the Presidency budget vote during a sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that we are not dealing with a situation where the money that was stolen is not from the fiscus, this money was stolen from the farm of the President, he [the President] is a victim of crime,” he said.

Lamola said the President has committed to the nation that he will cooperate with the investigation.

“He is not evading nor interfering with the work of law enforcement agencies. He has no history of such interference.

“The President also has a right to be treated fairly by the system, his side of the story must be heard, the basic principle of audi al patrem must also be applicable to him,” he said.

Lamola said when the constitution says everyone is equal before the law, it also means a President must also be treated fairly like any other citizen.

Due process must be allowed to take its cause, he said.

“We must not jump the gun, we must be patient as we would have demanded if it was us involved.

“Our constitution and resilient institutions will not enable any form of interference.”

Government pursuing state capture beneficiaries without fear or favour

Lamola said former government communicator, Joel Netshitendze, famously said the beneficiaries of state capture would not go down without a fight.

“I dare say they will not succeed, our institutions have proven over time that they are resilient. The 6th administration as led by the President has allowed the law enforcement agencies to do their work without any fear, favour or prejudice.”

He said the institutions are attending to matters irrespective of any political affiliation, the facts and the law guide them.

“The Special Investigating Unit [SIU] is clawing back on malfeasance and corruption, the HAWKS and the ID are at work.

“The era of impunity is gone, and the rule of law is reigning supreme.”