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Deputy President David Mabuza says the implementation of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan should respond to young people, who are digitally adept in ICT.

Responding to oral questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the Deputy President said this also demands skills and expertise, which will enable young people to adapt adequately to a changing workplace and technological demands.

“It is a fact that young people have immense potential that should be harnessed, especially for the poor majority who need us to address the structural factors pertaining to skills development, education and economic inclusion.

“No society should allow young people to wallow in hopelessness when there are possible solutions that can change the prevailing situation,” he said.

The Deputy President said the potential to recover and reconstruct the economy lies in recognising that in order to reconstruct, there is a need for a youth-centric, multi-sectoral, strategic and innovative ethos that guides massive employment, impacting positively on the demand and supply side of the labour market.

“This new approach sees youth as not only potential beneficiaries of jobs, but as co-creators of a new economy as well.

“A study into Youth Labour Market Transitions by the National Planning Commission concluded that there needs to be a change in approach to the pathway management of youth – from education to active economic participation. Youth development programmes must account for their different circumstances, constraints, needs and aspirations.”

Private sector role in aiding youth jobs

The Deputy President said, meanwhile, that the private sector also has a responsibility to contribute to making South Africa better.

“We must also look at young people as creators of industry.”

The Deputy President lauded the Department of Tourism for implementing empowerment programmes for the youth in areas such as culinary, food safety, sommelier and hospitality.

“Young people in these programmes also receive stipends as part of a comprehensive poverty alleviation response.

“The non-financial business support provided to SMMEs is critical in ensuring their sustanaibility,” said Mabuza.

The Deputy President said that at the same time, the stimulus contributes to catalysing economic recovery through the multiplier effects of spending in local economies.

He said this spending directly supports small enterprises and the informal sector in townships and rural areas.

“In the current phase of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which was announced by the President, the target is providing 700 000 directly-funded opportunities.

“These range from public employment to livelihood support for vulnerable categories of the self-employed and job retention schemes.

“By the end of February this year, more than 550 000 opportunities were being implemented to support the employment of education and teacher assistants.

“Of this, more than 300 000 young people were employed as teacher and education assistants across 20 000 schools.”

The Deputy President said in addition to these interventions, government has over the past year laid the foundation to address the barriers facing young people in order to shift their trajectory from learning to earning, so that they are able to gain a foothold in the economy.

“We are mindful of the dictates of the Future of Work, which requires us to adapt to the changing environment in the workplace.

“This means embracing digitisation, upgrading of workforce planning and reskilling, targeting of high growth sectors and roles, as well as finding opportunities for entrepreneurship.”

South Africa’s COVID-19 cases have increased to 1 532 497 after 1 531 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 74 more people succumbed to the infectious disease, which brings the death toll to 51 634.

Of the latest fatalities, 38 are from Gauteng, 15 from the Free State, seven from Mpumalanga, six from the Western Cape, two from the Northern Cape and one each from the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased,” said Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize.

In addition, the recovery rate stands at 95% after 1 459 056 patients recovered, while 21 807 people are currently battling with COVID-19.

“The cumulative total of tests conducted is 9 524 854 with 34 419 tests completed since the last report.”

Meanwhile, the number of healthcare workers vaccinated stands at 168 413 as of 17 March 2021.

Globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO), said there are 120 383 919 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2 664 386 deaths.

“As of 16 March 2021, a total of 363 691 238 vaccine doses have been administered,” the WHO added.

Global view

According to the WHO, new infections continue to rise globally, increasing by 10% in the past week to over three million new reported cases.

“The number of new cases peaked in early January 2021 when there were just under five million cases reported in one week. New cases then declined to just under 2.5 million cases by the week commencing 15 February.”

However, the world has been experiencing a surge in the past three weeks.

This week alone, the Americas and Europe continue to account for over 80% of new cases and new deaths, with rises in new cases seen in all regions apart from Africa, the agency reported.

In Africa, the WHO said the incidence rates remained similar to the previous week.

Meanwhile, new deaths on the other hand continue to decline and are now under 60 000, since peaking in the week commencing 18 January, when there were over 95 000 new fatalities in the week.

“The last time when there were fewer than 60 000 new weekly deaths was four months ago, in the week commencing 9 November.”

This week, although new deaths declined globally, they rose in two WHO regions, including the Eastern Mediterranean (by 7%) and the Western Pacific (by 14%).

The highest numbers of new cases were reported from Brazil (494 153 new cases; 20% increase), the United States of America (461 190 new cases; 8% increase), France (161 159 new cases; 12% increase), Italy (155 076 new cases; 12% increase), and India (148 249 new cases; 30% increase).

Deputy President David Mabuza says government has developed an awareness campaign aimed at educating members of the public on the dangers of utilising unregistered COVID-19 vaccine centres.

The Deputy President said this when he replied to oral questions at the National Assembly on Wednesday.

As part of its agenda, not only does government want to acquire COVID-19 vaccines that are manufactured abroad, there is also an intention to locally manufacture them.

Against this background, and to be successful in such aspirations, government must counter illegal activities such as the production of sub-standard or falsified vaccines.

“Furthermore, we have through the communication workstream of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on COVID-19 vaccines, developed a public awareness campaign to conscientise the public on the dangers of utilising unregistered vaccine centres.

“There are also webinars and radio programmes that are being utilised to engage various stakeholders on vaccine corruption risks, as well as in how we could jointly implement mitigation measures.

“Communication of detection and prosecution of any corruption will be done on a regular basis to enhance transparency and public accountability,” he said.

The Deputy President said all registered vaccine centres will be published on various platforms to that all citizens can have access to this information.

He said government is working towards increasing the number of testing laboratories to expedite quality assurance of all vaccines produced.

All suppliers will be requested to produce regulatory certificates to buyers, providing a unique identifier on delivery of the vaccines and online verification of that certificate.

“Ultimately, we are confident of the effectiveness of the plans we have made and the measures we have put in place to combat any form of corruption.”

The most important intervention at this first phase, which is targeted at vaccinating healthcare workers, is to require those being inoculated to produce proof of employment. “This means that people cannot jump the queue by falsely claiming to be frontline workers in the healthcare sector.”

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu will on Friday lead a human rights walk against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).

The walk coincides with Human Rights Month which is observed annually in South Africa.

The month-long observation seeks to remind South Africans about the sacrifices that accompanied the struggle for the attainment of freedom and democracy that the country enjoys today.

As part of this year’s Human Rights Month programme, which is celebrated under the theme “The Year of Charlotte Maxeke: Promoting Human Rights in the Age of COVID-19”, Zulu will lead the walk from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, to the Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg.

In a statement on Wednesday, the department said that the walk aims to raise awareness about gender-based violence as a gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls who are entitled to the full enjoyment of their rights free from any form of violence.

“South Africa has one of the highest GBV rates in the world, with the femicide rate that is reportedly five times higher than the global average (Stats SA, 2018). One need not look any further than the recent crime statistics released by the South African Police Service, which revealed a five percent increase in reported sexual offences between October-December 2020.

“These violations took place as the country was under the national lockdown to contain the spread of [the] Coronavirus. The very fact that women and girls live in fear of violence in their own homes where they are supposed to feel safe and protected, especially in the midst of a devastating global pandemic is an affront to their human rights,” the department said.

The walk coincides with the 65th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, currently underway to review the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which South Africa has ratified.

“The walk is part of the 365 Days of Action to expedite the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (2019-2024).”

The Minister will be joined by Gauteng MEC for Social Development Morakane Mosupyoe, representatives of human rights and advocacy organisations, including United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the South African Human Rights Commission, National Prosecuting Authority and ACT Now.

The walk will culminate into a dialogue with community-based organisations that render child protection and victim empowerment services in Diepsloot.

Diepsloot has been identified as one of the 30 GBV hotspots across the country.

Eskom will suspend load shedding this morning to allow the nation to mourn the passing of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu.

“To allow the nation to participate in the memorial service of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu, Eskom has decided to suspend the implementation of load shedding,” said the power utility ahead of the start of the memorial service on Thursday.

The King of the Zulu Nation met his death on Friday at a Durban hospital after battling with his health for a while.

Eskom announced on Wednesday night that it will suspend load shedding between 10am and 2pm.

The State-owned entity said this “extraordinary” move has been implemented to allow the nation to witness a key and significant historical event at this difficult time in the life of the Zulu nation.

“Afterwards, load shedding will then be implemented and continue as previously communicated.”

Meanwhile, Eskom announced that while the country had been on Stage 1 of load shedding for the majority of Wednesday, there has been a further loss of generation capacity and has had increase load shedding to Stage 2 until 5 am on Saturday.

“This escalation in the stage of load shedding is required to safeguard the power system after a further loss of generating capacity at the Medupi, Arnot, Duvha and Kendal power stations.”

Also, Eskom said the utility’s inability to supply the full demand due to an increase in demand, has put further strain on the emergency generation reserves.

“The contributing factors for the losses are boiler tube leaks and units tripping, as well as the delay in the return to service of a single unit at the Kendal power station.”

The power utility is working hard to return the units to service as soon as possible.

“Eskom would like to apologise for the inconvenience and uncertainty caused and requests the public to continue using electricity sparingly. The system remains vulnerable and unpredictable.”

Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister, Fikile Majola, says companies must take seriously the role of building staff capacity and formal training.

“The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission, when allocating bonus performance points to companies based on training compliance, must interrogate the kind of training that has been administered by each company,” Majola said.

Speaking at the B-BBEE Commission annual conference held under the theme, ‘Skills Development: What is at stake’, Majola said some companies appoint training service providers, sometimes working with SETAs, to do a “box-ticking exercise” at the expense of the people.

“They know exactly that nobody can have upward mobility within a company with those certificates. Some of those certificates are as good as “certificates of attendance”, yet money has been paid to service providers in the name of training workers from that 6% budget of skills training,” Majola said.

On the other hand, the Deputy Minister said there are companies that are not complying with the dictates of the Skills Development Legislation, unintentionally so.

“Most of those entities are small and medium, with less technical capacity to drive training processes and they require handholding’ from other industry players.

“The çommission itself may have to share its own rich experiences from monitoring information it receives from companies to empower those that are struggling.”

Majola said government and companies must avail more bursaries for training and development.

He said from the learning programme matrix, it is evident that more learnerships, apprenticeship and internships are needed.

“No country can experience peace and stability, including low levels of crime, when the economy is jobless. As we are putting in place all the measures as government, working with the private sector to recover the economy [from COVID-19], such an economy will still require skilled individuals,” Majola said.

He expressed concern about graduates who receive internship appointments, train for a year, and companies submit good compliance reports to government and in the end, leave these young people with no progression plan.

“The following year, the company does the same to others. This system is reduced to a temporary job for a year type and then, young people are back to the same unemployment position.”

Majola said an absorption plan and even a referral system to other companies must be established for graduates who have acquired skills and work experience.

The purpose of the B-BBEE conference is to create a dialogue on advancing skills development as one of the priority elements within the B-BBEE Act.

Speakers and panellists at the conference consisted of representatives from diverse areas of training and development, inclusive of organs of State, public entities, the private sector, SETAs, associations and NGOs, amongst others.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has approved the Section 21 application for Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

“This approval is subject to conducting a post Section 21 authorisation efficacy and safety surveillance of Comirnaty vaccine in South Africa,” said SAHPRA on Tuesday.

According to SAHPRA, the main purpose of Section 21 is to provide access to medicines on an exceptional basis, where conventional therapies have been ruled out, have failed or are unavailable as marketed products.

“This must always have regard to the safety, efficacy and quality of medicines accessed through Section 21 which are set out in Regulation 29.”

South Africa has ordered 20 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.

Early this month, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the country was anticipating about 600 000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to land in South Africa before the end of March.

Pfizer/BioNTech is 95% effective, requires two shots and efficacy was consistent across age, gender, race and ethnicity demographics, according to the phase three study.

According to the American multinational pharmaceutical corporation, it is expected to produce up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, more Johnson & Johnson doses of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive this week.

According to the latest data, the number of healthcare workers vaccinated has now risen to 157 286 as of 16 March.

The South African National Parks (SANParks) on Wednesday commended the National Prosecuting Authority in Mpumalanga on the successful prosecution of two long-standing rhino poaching trials in the Mhala Regional Court.

In February 2021, three accused persons who were arrested in August 2018 were sentenced after a long trial by the Mhala Regional Court.

They were all found guilty of rhino poaching related charges, including the possession of two sets of rhino horns, a high caliber hunting rifle, ammunition and trespassing in a national park with the intention of committing crime and the illegal hunting of an endangered animal.

Accused number one, Peter Mathebula was given an effective sentence of 23 years behind bars while the two co-accused, Mustard Mathebula and Artur Valoyi, were sentenced to an effective four years in jail.

The three were arrested by SANParks Rangers in the Houtboschrand section of the Kruger National Park (KNP) after reacting to shots that were fired.

On 15 March 2021, the court concluded yet another long running rhino poaching case dating back to 2016.

Two accused persons Bennet Martin Lubisi and Bennet Johannes Bendane were sentenced to an effective eight years behind bars for poaching related charges.

They were found guilty of trespassing in a national park, possession of an unlicensed fire arm, ammunition with the intention to commit a crime. They were arrested before they could kill an animal.

The Managing Executive of the KNP, Gareth Coleman, praised those who made the initial arrests, the investigative and prosecuting teams.

“Although it has taken some time, we are proud of the work done by the rangers, the investigating and prosecuting teams under very difficult circumstances.

“Successes of this nature show the importance of co-operation between the various state agencies to help combat the assault on the rhino population in the Kruger National Park.

“We hope that the many outstanding cases can be concluded as soon as possible so as to act as a clear deterrent to those involved,” Coleman said.

Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister, Fikile Majola says the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) programme will play a critical role in supporting the implementation of South Africa’s economic reconstruction and recovery plan.

“The SEZ programme is at the core of the reimagined industrial strategy, which is purposefully structured to stimulate local and foreign direct investments. The SEZs are also going to play an important role in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement as we position our country to become a vibrant manufacturing hub of the African Continent,” Majola said.

Majola was addressing the Select Committee on Trade and Industry, Small Business Development, Tourism, Employment and Labour on Tuesday.

The Deputy Minister briefed Parliament on progress of the implementation of the Special Economic Zones and the Industrial Parks Revitalisation Programmes which are both driven by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.

Majola also noted that the implementation process of the SEZ programme requires collaborative efforts from all spheres of government to ensure that the roll-out of the programme is efficient, integrated and well-coordinated.

“It is only through cooperation at national, provincial and local government levels that we can successfully build an inclusive economy.  Inter-governmental relations, both horizontally and vertically, are important in us achieving the set objectives of the reimagined industrial strategy.

“The efforts of pursuing a coordinated framework through the District Development Model approach has presented an opportunity for the creation of a balance ecosystem for an integrated development,” Majola said.

The Deputy Minister further commended the implementation of the new integrated approach of ensuring that national, provincial and local government work together and share responsibility for the implementation of the SEZ programme is bearing fruit.

He said the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone clearly illustrated the positive impact of the implementation of this approach.

“The success of the Tshwane Automotive SEZ has reignited the desire and the vision to turn the Gauteng city region into a single multi-tier and integrated SEZ.  This is one of our recent shining examples of successful SEZs, joining the likes of Coega, Dube Trade Port and East London SEZ,” Majola said.

The department’s presentation to the committee showed that, despite the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies throughout the world, the value of private investments in South African SEZs increased by R1.8 billion in March 2019 to R17.7 billion in March 2020.

It is expected that the number and value of operational investments will also increase by almost R10 billion when the next financial year ends.

Special Economic Zones offer various incentives such as reduced corporate tax rates, VAT and customs relief, building allowances and an employment tax incentive.

SEZs are defined as a geographically designated area of a country set aside for specifically targeted economic activities, which are then supported through special arrangements and support systems to promote industrial development.

A total of 24 920 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, according to Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, with 934 new cases reported, representing a 4% positivity rate.

Meanwhile, a further 139 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing the tally to 51 560 to date.

Limpopo recorded the highest number of deaths after 57 people succumbed to the infectious disease on Tuesday.

The province is followed by Gauteng which recorded 29 deaths, there were 20 in KwaZulu-Natal, 13 in Free State, nine in the Western Cape, six in Mpumalanga, three in the Northern Cape and two in Eastern Cape.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers who treated the deceased,” said Mkhize.

In addition, there are currently 21 405 people who are infected, with KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Gauteng, having the most recorded active cases.

The recovery rate is holding steady at 95% after 1 458 001 patients beat Coronavirus.

The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 9 490 435.

Meanwhile, the number of healthcare workers vaccinated has now risen to 157 286 as of 16 March.

Globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said there are 119 960 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2 656 822 deaths.

“As of 16 March 2021, a total of 326 858 656 vaccine doses have been administered,” the WHO added.