Category: Speeches & Statements

Eskom Interim Chair Appointment

Following the recent resignation of Eskom Board Chairman Mr Jabu Mabuza, the government has appointed Professor Malegapuru William Makgoba as interim chair.

Professor Makgoba is a leading scientist and academic who joined  the Eskom Board as a non-executive director in 2018. He is the independent lead director.

His appointment as interim chair is consistent with the government’s commitment to good governance and the stability of the company.

The government is going through the process of putting in place a reconfigured board in line with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Friday (Jan 10).

President Ramaphosa announced the Government’s plan to introduce a reconfigured Eskom Board with the appropriate mix of electricity industry, engineering and corporate governance experience.

Enquiries:
Sam Mkokeli
Cell: 082 084 2051

Department distances itself from fake fumigation tender advert

The North West Department of Health hereby distances itself from an advertised tender for fumigation supposedly for a certain health facility in the Province. The said tender advert has been circulated on social media. It contains serious spelling and grammatical errors and social media users have been left to believe the officials of the Department are incompetent.

The advert is damaging to the image of Department and the North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha has called on Law enforcement agencies to pursue such scammers and bring them to book.

“We did a verification of current and advertised tenders and our Supply Chain Management has concluded the advert is fake and a scam. The department has not advertised any tender for fumigation. I therefore warn the business community and urge everyone to be vigilant about these scammers”, said MEC Sambatha.

All tenders below R2 million are done at the district, and below R500 000 at facility level. However, none of our districts and facilities have any knowledge of this advert.

MEC Sambatha has also warned young people especially matriculants and those looking for jobs to be vigilant against recent scams about intake of nursing students and advertisement of jobs in our health facilities.

At the beginning of every year there are scammers in the Province who claim that they can place students in our nursing college and demand a fee for forms and registration.

The Department wish to state that there is no amount requested for students for admission or for forms at the nursing colleges. The same is the case with advertisement of posts.

No money should be paid to anyone for employment in the North West Department of Health. Job seekers must also thoroughly scrutinize vacancies advertised online.

All government vacancies are advertised on newspapers and on the Department of Public Service and Administration website.

Enquiries:
Tebogo Lekgethwane, Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 929 9958
E-mail: tlekgethwane@nwpg.gov.za

Pounding rains improve South Africa’s dams slightly

Persistent rains in parts of South Africa have begun improving the country’s dam levels, which rose by one percent week-on-week, according to figures in the latest weekly report by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). The report reflects an average national level at 60,2%, a slight improvement from last week’s 59,2%.

Despite the improvement, however, the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has renewed her appeal to all South Africans to continue saving water as the country is not out of the woods yet, and some provinces are still trapped in the grip of severe droughts that have left communities with not a drop of water to drink.

Eastern Cape and parts of Northern Cape are among the worst provinces that are reeling from the effects of extremely dry conditions. Minister Sisulu recently announced a R300 million government funding to mitigate the effects of the drought in Northern Cape. In addition, the Provincial Government has declared a provincial disaster.

However, recently, provinces such as Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal have received consistent rainfalls that have slightly improved their water situation. As a result, Gauteng dam levels have increased to a whopping 101,2%, followed by Northern Cape and Mpumalanga at 77,5%and 73,3% respectively. Hydrologically, Gauteng and Northern Cape have fewer and smaller dams that fill up quickly by the slightest rains.

Free State which received hammering rains recently, has had its dam levels increasing from 65,6% to 67,7% this week. The province boasts some of the biggest dams in the country, including Gariep and Vanderkloof dams.

Limpopo has improved its water situation with dam levels rising from just below 50% two months ago, to 58,5% this week. According to the report, three of the province’s dams, Magoebaskloof, Flag Boshielo and Tonteldoos, are bursting at the seams following relentless rains last week. However, the situation remains dire in Mopani District where the Tzaneen and Middel-Letaba dams remain stagnant at 4,6% and 2,5% respectively.

The torrential rains also made a huge difference in Mpumalanga where the dam levels have risen by 11% from 60,2% to 71,3% this week. Nooitgedacht Dam in Nkomati rose to 100,7% while Vygeboom shot up by 12% to 102%. Inyaka Dam in Bushbuckridge and Westoe in Usutu region recorded 46,5% and 42,7% respectively. As a result of consistent rains, the province has 1 809,2 cubic metres of water in storage.

KwaZulu-Natal is also experiencing a steady rise in its dam levels. The province’s dam rose from 53,4% last week to 54,3% this week. Towns along the coastal belt of the Dolphin Coast, North and South Coast have benefitted immensely from last week’s rainfall. The Driel Barrage and Hluhluwe Dam in the North Coast recorded 100,3% and 101,4% respectively.

The good rains have also increased dam levels in North West from 56,3% to 61% this week. As a result, four dams, Swartruggens, Middelkraal, Bospoort and Klipvoor are full to capacity. However, the Klein Marico Dam recorded the lowest level at 7,1%. This is because of the poor rainfall that occurred in the region between Zeerust and Groot Marico.

With Western Cape having entered its dry hydrological season, dams have dropped to 60,5% in the province . Having recovered from a worst drought in 100 years, the province has stored 996 cubic metres in its reservoirs for use during the dry season. The storage figure indicates a three percent improvement compared to the corresponding period last year.

Enquiries:
Sputnik Ratau, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 082 874 2942

Launch of the 2020 SADC Media Awards Competition

The South African media are invited to submit their entries for the 2020 SADC Media Awards competition.

The Awards were established following a decision by the Council of Ministers in 1996 to establish a sector that deals with matters relating to amongst others, information, culture and sport. These awards serve as part of ensuring a link, coordination and synchronisation between formal structures of SADC governments, civil society, academia, labour and the media.

To promote regional integration and cooperation (cross-border issues), the awards aim to recognise excellence in journalism in the area of print, photo, television, radio as well as to encourage media practitioners in member states to cover issues pertaining to the region.

Journalists who wish to enter the competition can access more information about the competition from the www.sadc.int and www.gcis.gov.za websites.

The forms and the 2020 competition rules can be found on the links below:

Forms: https://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/2020%20Entry%20form%20English%20pdf.pdf

Competition rules: https://www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/2020%20Rules%20of%20Competition%20English.pdf

Entries need to be posted or delivered to MDDA or  any GCIS office nationwide marked:

MDDA                                                                          GCIS Offices
SADC Media Awards Entry                 or                  SADC Media Awards Entry
MDDA – 1ST Floor                                                     Government Communications
5 St Davids Place                                                       1035 Francis Baard Street
Parktown, Johannesburg                                         Hatfield, Pretoria
2193                                                                             0028

All entries must be submitted not later than 28 February 2020.

Enquiries:
Mr Ayanda Hollow
Cell: 061 488 0634

Ms. Mmemme Mogotsi
Cell: 072 856 4288

View Original Post @ SAGOV

Department prioritising appointments to NECSA Board

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) notes the resignation of the remaining members of the Board of NECSA.

From the time of his appointment, the Minister has stated as one of his key priorities the stabilising of entities, and ensuring good governance in entities in the minerals and energy portfolio. Governance must be stable and strengthened in order to adequately attend to operational and financial risks in the entities, including NECSA.

The Board of NECSA is therefore being replenished at present, to ensure that it is properly constituted, and also has the requisite mix of skills.

A list of proposed names for the NECSA Board has been finalised for submission to Cabinet for concurrence. It is the department’s intention to see a stable NECSA in the current financial year.

Enquiries:
Natie Shabangu: Media Liaison Officer – Ministry
Cell: 073 852 1922

Thandiwe Maimane: Head of Communications – Energy
Cell: 083 645 7837

Ayanda Shezi: Head of Communications – Mineral Resources
Cell: 082 308 1586

MEC Schäfer welcomes learners at the start of the 2020 school year

Today I visited St Mary’s Primary School in Gardens, Cape Town, to welcome some of the more than 1 million learners that will start the school year in the Western Cape today.

Of these, about 107 000 are just beginning their school career in Grade 1 – an increase from 104 336 learners in 2019. Fortunately, principals and teachers will be on hand to dry any learners’ (and parents’) tears.

Starting high school, a projected 93 000 learners are joining us for Grade 8. This is a significant increase from 85 771 Grade 8s in 2019. We’ve also welcomed 69 400 Grade R learners so far.

As learner numbers continue to increase in our province, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is pulling out all the stops to find space for new learners.

The WCED opens two new schools this year: Delft High School and Disa Rd Primary School. Learners from Crestway High School and Phillipi High School will also be moving into two new school buildings as part of our replacement programme.

There have been a number of expansion projects at schools across the Province. This includes the building of additional classrooms at schools to accommodate growth through a variety of means:

• eight schools received 40 new brick and mortar classrooms
• six schools received 18 Moladi classrooms
• 11 un-utilised classrooms were refurbished
• 103 mobile classrooms were built at 16 identified schools

Three schools received an additional 7 classrooms to accommodate more Grade R learners.

To parents who are having difficulties enrolling their child, or who have failed to enroll their child: I urge you to approach the local district office as soon as possible, for assistance with finding a place at a school.

Special walk-in centres have been set up to assist parents at district offices, and each office has identified specific officials who will assist parents who struggle to find a place when schools re-open. A list of these officials is available on the WCED website: https://wcedonline.westerncape.gov.za/admissions-201920

Safety will remain one of our key concerns in 2020. We will continue to work with partners at SAPS and the Metro police to ensure that our learners and teachers are safe at school.

The City of Cape Town’s Transport Enforcement Unit together with Law Enforcement, Traffic Services and Metro Police will also be patrolling to ensure that learners are safely travelling to and from school.

Learners, parents, teachers and the wider school community can call our Safe Schools Call Centre on 0800 45 46 47 toll free to report abuse, crime, and bullying, and for information about a host of social issues.

To all our learners: I wish you all the best for the school year. The WCED will provide the support you need to succeed, but equally we need a commitment from you to work hard, apply yourself to your studies and respect your teachers.

I also wish parents a productive and happy year playing an active role in your children’s education – your involvement will make the difference in how well the year goes.

Images from the visit are available here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=13-gRMhAHfmlxbbDebJ5U-LqQ_H3KHhks

Media enquiries:
Kerry Mauchline – Spokesperson to MEC Debbie Schäfer
Cell: 084 210 3003 (Whatsapp preferred)
Email: Kerry.Mauchline@westerncape.gov.za

View Original Post @ SAGOV

Gauteng ready for the 2020 academic year

Gauteng Premier David Makhura, accompanied by members of the Executive Council, will on Wednesday, 15 January 2020, visit various schools across the province to ensure that the first day of the academic year, gets underway without any glitches.

They will assess conditions in each of the schools to which they are deployed, as well as consult with communities on education related matters. In addition, for the first time, they will also asses Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre’s, as this function has been migrated from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Education.

One of the schools that will be visited is the newly constructed, Noorgisig Primary School, Johannesburg North District.

“This is an important milestone, as the school is among our newly designed and constructed mega school infrastructure, aimed at improving the quality of education in township schools. The school is a green technology infrastructure, which boasts state of the art facilities such as 6 classrooms per Grade (42), a Grade R block with 4 classrooms, 2 smart science labs, 2 smart multi-purpose rooms, dining hall and many more, at a cost of R 110 307 607.30”, said MEC Lesufi.

Premier Makhura noted that more focus will be given to basic education in the province, in a bid to eliminate the problem of underperforming high schools and deal with the backlog of primary schools.

“We will provide major support programmes and efforts on our primary schools and Early Childhood Development,” said Premier Makhura.

The Gauteng Department of Education continues to call on parents to take advantage of the late registration period which opens from Wednesday, 15 January to Friday, 24 January 2020.

Only schools with capacity will be availed in the system during this period. Applicants will provisionally be placed, until they submit documents to the school accordingly. No objections or appeals will be entertained.

View Original Post @ SAGOV

President Ramaphosa to attend inauguration of President Nyusi

President Cyril Ramaphosa will tomorrow, Wednesday 15 January 2020, undertake a working visit to Maputo in the Republic of Mozambique to attend the inauguration of His Excellency President-Elect Mr Filipe Nyusi.

Mozambique held Presidential, Legislative and Provincial elections on 15 October 2019. President-Elect Nyusi was the declared winner of the general election and will as a result serve a second term in office.

South Africa and Mozambique enjoy cordial bilateral relations, underpinned by strong historical and political bonds that date back to the era of the liberation struggle. The relationship is informed by historical, geographical as well as cultural affinities between the peoples of the two countries.

In his congratulatory message to the President-Elect, President Ramaphosa said he was looking forward to working with President Nyusi as the two neighbouring countries sought to enhance conditions for increased levels of domestic and foreign investment aimed at economic growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of poverty.

Media enquiries:
Khusela Diko, Spokesperson to the President
Cell: 072 854 5707

Minister Nzimande to host media briefing on the implications of matriculation results on the Post School Education and Training Sector in South Africa

The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Dr Blade Nzimande invites members of the media to a media briefing on the implications of matriculation results on the Post School Education and Training sector in South Africa. The media briefing will focus mainly on the availability of spaces and opportunities at our universities and colleges.

The media briefing will take place as follows:

Date:        Thursday, 16 January 2020
Venue:     Ronnie Mamoepa Media Room, GCIS Tshedimosetso House,1035 Cnr Francis Baard and Festival Street, Hatfield, Pretoria
Time:        11h00

NB: There will be a video link up to Imbizo Media Center, 120 Plein Street, Parliament in Cape Town