Category: News

Government has procured and connected more 7 000MW of generating capacity onto the grid through its Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP).

This is according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.

The Minister was speaking during the debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) held in Cape Town on Tuesday.

The government-driven REIPPP aims to bring much needed additional megawatts onto the grid through private sector investment in renewable energy such as wind, biomass and small hydro.

Mantashe said that since the programme’s launch in 2011, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has procured some 13 266MW from 140 Independent Power Producers (IPPs) whose technologies are based on renewable energy, diesel and battery energy storage.

“From these capacities, 7 362MW was from 95 IPPs, who are currently connected to the grid and supplying the much needed electricity. A combination of [renewables and base load] is required to deal with the challenges facing us. The remaining 45 IPPs, with a combined capacity of 5 904MW, are either in construction or preparing to reach commercial close.

“NERSA [National Energy Regulator of South Africa] has concurred with the Minister of Electricity [Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa] that 2500MW of nuclear capacity has to be connected,” he said.

Under the current administration, some 5 939MW has been procured from 46 IPPs, with some 150MW already connected to the grid and a further 1 587MW expected to supply electricity from September this year.

The Minister said South Africa has the potential to lead the way in the global energy transition.

“We firmly believe that South Africa holds significant quantities of minerals needed for the transition from high carbon emissions to low carbon emissions, which informs the view that our mining industry is a sunrise industry,” he said.

Delving deeper into mining, Mantashe said over the past 30 years of democracy, government has done much work in transforming the industry.

“When we did research two years ago… we discovered that at the nine major mining companies that we studied, each one of them didn’t have less than 50% of the management structure being black. We did see that in procurement initiatives created, a lot of business people who are not necessarily seen as part of the mining sector but who have developed on the back of mining.

“If you talk coal, only one major company is white, the majority of them are black. In the manganese sector… black ownership in mining companies is a long list. In gold…ARM is dominant, Harmony is dominant. In the PGMs [platinum group metals] …[there is] black ownership. If you look at all these companies, you can see that there is practical progress being made,” Mantashe said.

He said for the sector to continue growing, exploration is needed.

“Cognisant of the fact that mines are born out of exploration, we have just launched an exploration fund. It is important that we invest in exploration so that the future of this very important sector continues to be bright,” Mantashe said.

The Western Cape provincial government says it is ramping up efforts to step in to support Eskom to fix the electricity outage in the Central Karoo.

This comes after a thunderstorm ravaged the district municipality earlier this month, damaging infrastructure.

According to the Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, the Central Karoo is currently facing hard rock formations, faulty equipment, and Stage 6 load shedding.

“Staff across the Western Cape provincial government have been assisting with all sorts of support that Eskom needs to expedite this issue, from procuring drilling equipment to transporting and moving generators and equipment to the affected areas, they are working tirelessly,” Winde said, thanking all their staff and partners.

“I want to reassure the residents of the Karoo that we are working flat out to help Eskom restore electricity to you.”

Eskom, said the provincial government, reported that a hard rock formation on the site between Touws River and Laingsburg led to the breakdown of its rock drill, which is now preventing the completion of the last four 2.4 metres deep holes that are needed to anchor the remaining temporary poles to support the new electrical lines as part of the outage repair work underway in the Karoo.

Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC, Anton Bredell, said the provincial government has already at the weekend reached out to equipment and transport contractors to assist Eskom in procuring another drilling rig as well as an additional 20-ton and 35-ton excavator.

“The faulty rock drill is currently being fixed but we need to do everything in our power to avoid delays on this project. As such we will support Eskom where we can with procurement and logistics,” Bredell said.

However, he said the rapid acceleration of load shedding to level 6 has further compounded matters for the affected Karoo towns, as generator availability in the province is stretched to the limit.

“Many of these generators are from an R88 million allocation that the WCG made to municipalities at the beginning of 2023 when they needed to secure safe drinking water and water treatment as the worst impacts of Eskom’s load shedding were becoming increasingly felt.

“I never anticipated that this intervention would be so deeply needed under circumstances like this where entire Karoo towns have been without Eskom power since Saturday, 3 February,” said Winde.

He said the province is also seeing loan generators being called back from the Karoo towns as they are needed by their owners to cope with the extended load shedding.

“We must allocate generator capacity where it is being utilised optimally at this stage. As such, it was worrying to learn of a large 65kVA loan generator from the Garden Route District Municipality that broke down in Kannaland over the weekend. We will investigate the cause of the breakdown.”

Bredell explained that at least four additional generators are required to provide power to critical infrastructure in Leeu Gamka and Prince Albert Road at this stage.

Meanwhile, the provincial Department of Social Development is providing food relief to indigent households across the Central Karoo.

The department has also enabled three old age facilities in Prince Albert, Laingsburg, and Ladismith, to buy diesel for generators as their diesel supplies have been running low.

Social Development MEC, Sharna Fernandez, said food relief efforts were taking place over the weekend.

“DSD staff have been working around the clock on assessments and vetting processes to ensure food relief goes to the residents who need it most.

“Hundreds of beneficiaries were assisted through this weekend’s efforts, in various towns, and the work continues. Thank you to the incredible staff on the ground, and the municipalities and stakeholders for working with us to help our vulnerable residents for whom these power outages have been especially hard,” Fernandez added.

According to the province, Eskom has indicated the project is still scheduled for completion by Thursday, 15 February.

Over 1 000 suspects have been nabbed in the North West under Operation Shanela, which was conducted between Thursday and Sunday.

The suspects were arrested for rape, murder, assault grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property, burglary residential and business premises, theft of motor vehicle and theft out of/from motor vehicle, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Of the 1 009 arrested suspects, 248 were wanted for contact crimes including murder, attempted murder, rape, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, assault common, house robbery and business robbery.

Also, 20 undocumented persons were taken in for processing.

The arrests were made through the execution of several actions, which included stop and searches, roadblocks, vehicle checkpoints, inspection of licensed liquor premises, second-hand goods dealers, tracing of wanted suspects.

The operation also resulted in the confiscation of 170 cell phones, seven unlicensed firearms, drugs such as crack cocaine, crystal meth, nyaope, seven rounds of ammunition, liquor and dangerous weapons.

The provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, commended the police officers, who worked with other law enforcement agencies, including the Traffic Department and Home Affairs, for the successes recorded in the operations.

The Department of Correctional Services is conducting a widespread search operation to locate and apprehend Clatta Gumbo, an offender who escaped on Monday.

Department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Gumbo – who is serving a life sentence for rape, kidnapping and assault – escaped from the grounds of Mamelodi Regional Hospital.

“He was escorted to the hospital for a consultation with a dietician when he attacked the guarding official, disarmed him and escaped from the hospital premises.

“Immediate action has been taken to initiate a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the escape,” Nxumalo said.

Members of the public are asked to report any sightings of the escaped convict.

“Correctional Services is appealing to anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the escapee to contact the nearest correctional facility or police station. Crucially, we encourage members of the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities.

“Public safety is our utmost priority and every effort is being made to effect the rearrest of Gumbo,” Nxumalo said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed Proclamation R151 of 2024 authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate allegations of corruption in the affairs of Northern Cape Economic Development and Trade and Investment Promotion Agency.

According to a statement by the unit, these include seven contracts and serious maladministration of salary adjustments and to recover any financial losses suffered by the State.

Proclamation R151 of 2024 authorises the SIU to probe the procurement and/or contracting of seven contracts. These are for the procurement of the following goods and services:

• Legal services

•Event organising and management services

• Consultancy services

• Security services

• Services relating to the Riemvasmaak Tourism Master Plan

• Catering services

• An audio-visual system

Furthermore, the SIU will also investigate allegations of serious maladministration in connection with the affairs of the agency for salary adjustments that were not duly authorised.

The SIU will also investigate any unauthorised, irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred by NCEDA or the State.

“The scope of the investigation also covers any unlawful or improper conduct by officials or employees of NCEDA, the applicable suppliers or service providers or any other person or entity.

“The Proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that took place between 1 March 2012 and 9 February 2024, the date of the publication of the Proclamation or before 1 March 2012 and after the date of the Proclamation that are relevant to, connected with, incidental to the matters or involves the same persons, entities or contracts investigated.

“In addition to investigating maladministration, malpractice, corruption and fraud, the SIU will identify system failures and make systematic recommendations to improve measures to prevent future losses,”  said the unit.

In line with the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act 74 of 1996 (SIU Act), the SIU will refer any evidence pointing to criminal conduct it uncovers during its investigations to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for further action.

The SIU is empowered by the SIU Act to institute civil action in the High Court or a Special Tribunal in its name to correct any wrongdoing uncovered during its investigation caused by acts of corruption, fraud or maladministration.

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) continues to deliver free disposable sanitary pads to indigent/poor girls and women since 2019.

The department has since 2019 been delivering the sanitary products through its sanitary dignity programme.

From 2019 to 2023, the programme has benefited 4.3 million learners.

The department revealed that the current budget for the programme in the 2023/24 financial year is R235 million, which will increase in the 2024/25 financial year as well as into the outer years.

The Sanitary Dignity Implementation Framework (SDIF) was developed and approved by Cabinet in 2017 to manage menstruation in a safe, knowledgeable, and dignified manner and to ensure that female learners attend school uninterrupted by the normal process of menstruation.

This therefore addresses menstrual health and sexual reproductive health rights of girl learners.

The provision of such well-needed products has enabled girl learners to reach their fullest potential at school, just like their fellow boy learners – therefore the programme provides equal education opportunities amongst all genders.

The department highlighted that in line with the implementation of the SDIF, provinces receive the allocation through a direct equitable share budget from National Treasury to roll out the programme to quintiles 1, 2, and 3 (no fee paying) schools, special and farm schools.

Another contributor to the programme is the Department of Higher Education, Training and Innovation through ensuring that the National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS) grant beneficiaries in post-education and training institutions (universities, colleges and technical and vocational education and training colleges) receive monthly stipends of R290 to purchase menstrual products of their choice, amongst other things.

The number of such beneficiaries reached in 2023 is 429,000 female students.

“Although provision is made to ensure that girls and women’s dignity is addressed and that menstrual products poverty is mitigated, many other indigent deserving women and girls cannot be reached due to budgetary constraints,” Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in a statement on Monday.

The Minister added that as the programme matures, the dignity of women and girls will be restored.

“That is why the Cabinet indicated in 2017 that the programme will take an incremental approach as far as budget allocation is concerned. As a result, the allocation was R 157 million in 2019/20 and by 2023/24 it had increased to R235 million,” she said.

Entrepreneurship

Another important development is that through the programme, women, youth, and persons with disabilities enterprises have emerged in the form of manufacturing and distribution of menstrual products through provincial government public procurement processes.

The department said that one of the highlights of this achievement has been assisting a small local brand called Lindiwe Pads to grow and create its own sanitary pads local manufacturing factory in Gauteng.

The company has impressive facilities, state-of-the-art machinery, and raw materials.

Apart from the owner’s bold initiatives, this has been through efforts to give strategic, operational and financial support to Lindiwe Pads provided by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, Department of Small Business Development, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the DWYPD.

The role of the DWYPD has been to provide policy clarity, and moral encouragement, introducing the owner to various platforms for publicity as well as engaging with the IDC to vouch for sustainability of the company.

Lindiwe Pads enterprise has been awarded a contract to distribute disposable sanitary pads that are South African Bureau on Standards (SABS) compliant in one of the education districts in the Eastern Cape.

The National Strategic Plan on GBVF (gender-based violence and femicide) calls for the economic empowerment of women and through the economic value chain of the sanitary dignity programme, women, youth and persons with disability-owned enterprises can benefit.

In 2019 a zero VAT rate was pronounced by the Minister of Finance on disposable sanitary pads to make them more accessible for women and girls.

Police in the Northern Cape have arrested 173 suspects for an array of crimes through Operation Shanela.

The suspects were nabbed for crimes including illicit dealing in liquor, dealing in drugs, robberies, murder, attempted murder, housebreaking and theft, malicious damage to property, assault common and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Undocumented persons were also part of those arrested during the weekly police operations.

The operations were conducted from Thursday until Sunday, and included stop and searches, vehicle checkpoints (VCPs), roadblocks, high visibility patrols, foot patrols, the tracing of wanted suspects, compliance inspections at liquor outlets, tuck shops, businesses, second hand goods dealers, scrap yards, visits to formal and informal businesses and farms and awareness campaigns.

Numerous vehicle check points and roadblocks were conducted in all five districts of the province, during which 1 601 vehicles and 2 499 persons were stopped and searched. Shopping malls and complexes as well as taxi ranks were patrolled to increase visibility in the hot spot areas.

Detectives traced and arrested 119 daily wanted suspects for failing to attend court appearances

During the operations, thousands of litres of alcoholic beverages, cash, drugs such as crystal meth (tik), dagga and dagga plants were seized.

As part of the Safer Schools Programme, South African Police Service (SAPS) members visited schools, and addressed learners and educators on safety issues.

The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Koliswa Otola, accompanied by the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, visited a rural school on Thursday in the Mothibistad policing precinct, where they handed over school shoes and goodie bags to the learners.

Otola thanked all SAPS members and external role players, including community policing forum structures, for their relentless efforts to fight crime.

Police in Berea, in KwaZulu-Natal, have opened cases of impersonating a police officer, possession of drugs and fraud against a 38-year-old foreign national on Vause Road in Musgrave on Saturday.

The suspect was also found in possession of rock cocaine and a fraudulent police identification card.

The police were executing their crime prevention duties when they stopped and searched the man.

A subsequent search at his place of residence on Okleigh Drive led to the recovery of fraudulent fishing permits, more fraudulent police identification cards, fraudulent refugee asylum work permits, a police date stamp, as well as 15 rounds of ammunition.

A computer and other equipment, believed to have been used in the production of fraudulent documents, were seized for further investigation.

The suspect is expected to appear in court today.

Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Nomthetheleli Mene, has commended the swift and decisive action by police officers in response to a shooting of a prominent attorney in Vincent, East London, on Friday.

Their immediate mobilisation and relentless pursuit resulted in the arrest of five suspects.

It is alleged that on Friday, at about 09:48, the attorney had parked his car and was about to enter his office when two suspects approached him and fired several shots, injuring him in his upper body. He was taken to hospital for treatment.

While police were still at the crime scene, East London Crime Intelligence was already hard at work gathering crucial information.

Within an hour and with the assistance of the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) District Detective Coordinator, their efforts led to the discovery of the silver Mercedes Benz getaway vehicle in Amalinda.

A 42-year-old male was arrested swiftly, when a second vehicle, a Renault Clio, was spotted at a complex on the beachfront.

Observation duties were held while waiting for back-up from the Flying Squad, East London Serious and Violent Crimes Unit and SAPS Cambridge Crime Prevention members.

Another two suspects, aged 35 and 41 years, were arrested while attempting to flee in a bus bound for Durban. The bus was stopped in Mthatha by members from the Mthatha Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.

At about 04:00 on Saturday morning, a further two suspects (ages unknown) were arrested at a house in Westville, Durban.

Two firearms were recovered at a house in Quigney. They will be sent to ballistics for testing.

All five suspects are detained on charges of attempted murder. The motive is still under investigation. The suspects are expected to appear in court soon. Additional charges may be added as the investigation unfolds.

Mene congratulated all the officers involved for their professionalism, bravery and dedication to duty.

“The team (BCM District Detective Coordinator, East London Crime Intelligence, East London and Mthatha Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, SAPS Cambridge and East London Flying Squad), led by experienced officers, showcased exceptional coordination and teamwork.

“Such exemplary work underscores our unwavering commitment to apprehending those responsible for this heinous act.  Due to the sensitive nature of the case, we cannot disclose further details at this time,” Mene said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government supports the call for a pledge that men in South Africa are invited to take to demonstrate their personal commitment to ending gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

“Our ultimate goal is to end gender-based violence altogether by mobilising all of society,” President Ramaphosa said during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night.

Highlighting government’s efforts and achievements to end the scourge, which he described as the second pandemic in the country, the Head of State said together with civil society, government developed the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on gender-based violence as a society-wide response to this pandemic.

“Around R21 billion was dedicated over the medium term to the implementation of the six pillars of the plan, including the economic empowerment of women.

“New laws were introduced to strengthen the response of the criminal justice system gender based violence and provide better support to survivors of such violence,” the President said.

The NSP on GBVF is driven by six pillars, including:
• Extensive legal reform;
• Support for survivors through the provision of evidence toolkits at police stations;
• Psychology and social services;
• The establishment of the GBVF Response Fund which commits both government and the private sector to fund the fight against GBVF;
• Support for Thuthuzela and Khuseleka Care centres, which provide vital services for GBV survivors; and
• The economic empowerment of women.

The President said women are also in the process of developing their own pledge.

As the country celebrates 30 years of freedom, the President noted that government has safeguarded and promoted the basic rights in the Constitution and these include freedom of speech, association, and belief.

“We have defended media freedom and the independence of the judiciary. We have protected and advanced the rights of members of the LGBTQI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex] community, and continue to combat all forms of prejudice and intolerance,” the President said.

President Ramaphosa further reaffirmed government’s commitment to continue to build an inclusive economy, focusing on the empowerment of black and women South Africans, advancing workers’ rights, intensifying land reform, and pursuing a just energy transition that leaves no one behind.

“We will continue to strengthen our law enforcement institutions, tackle gender-based violence and fight corruption to make South Africa a safe place for all. We will continue to strengthen local government, professionalise the public service and ensure that public officials are held accountable for their actions.

“We will continue to position our economy to grow and compete in a fast-changing world, to support small businesses, to give young people economic opportunities and to provide social protection to the vulnerable,” President Ramaphosa said.

This year’s SONA, which was the last one for the sixth administration, was held under the theme: “Following up on our commitments: Making your future work better”.