Archives

The Information Regulator is in support of key amendments to South Africa’s Electoral Laws Amendment Bill, which will allow the voters’ roll to continue to be accessed by the public.

“The Information Regulator (IR) has come out in support of amendments to section 16 of the Electoral Act, 73 of 1998 – in clause 8 of the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill, proposed by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which will allow the voters’ roll to continue to be accessed by the public,” said the regulator.

In a statement on Tuesday, the regulator said the current bill, the public’s right to access the voters’ roll is removed entirely.

“In the new amendments supported by the IEC and IR, the roll will remain accessible by the public, but the full ID numbers of the voters will be redacted,” the regulator said.

The IR said its supports the IEC amendments on the basis that the voters’ roll must in some part be made available to the public, in order to guarantee that steps taken to ensure the integrity of the roll have been given effect to.

The IR’s comments come as it has been invited to appear before the Select Committee on Security and Justice of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) led by the Chairperson of the IR, Advocate Pansy Tlakula on Wednesday.

The regulator will make a submission to the Committee.

“Amendments as proposed by the IEC, strike the correct balance between access to information and privacy in this context that is to allow the voters’ roll to be accessed, but requiring the electoral officer to remove the part where the ID number of the voter is visible and accessible.

“Furthermore the IR agrees with the proposed additional measures to ensure that those who access the roll only use it for lawful processing in terms of Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA),” the regulator said.

In order to ensure processing and release of information that is lawful, electoral laws need to meet the requirements of POPIA.

“In terms of the amendment, the Chief Electoral Officer must provide a certified copy of, or extract from, a segment of the voters’ roll as it exists at that time, to any person who has paid the prescribed fee only if the Chief Electoral Officer is satisfied that it is required by such person for the purpose of – monitoring the accuracy of the information in the voters’ roll,” the regulator said.

This also includes it being for statistical or research purposes, or any other purpose that is prescribed and in doing so would not involve unlawful processing of personal information in terms of POPIA.

Additionally, the Chief Electoral Officer must also redact the identity numbers of voters, excluding the six digits indicating the voter’s date of birth, appearing on the voters’ roll provided the requester satisfies the electoral officer that; exceptional circumstances require the full identity number to be disclosed; and doing so would not involve unlawful processing of personal information in terms of POPIA.

North West Health MEC, Madoda Sambatha, has ordered the closure of the Wolmaranstad Post Office and Home Affairs offices after they failed to comply with COVID-19 regulations.

The two institutions are reportedly not meeting the requirements of social distancing, wearing of masks in public and sanitising.

The closure of the Wolmaranstad Post Office and Home Affairs office follows the closure of a supermarket in Zeerust and one store in Tlokwe by the MEC last month.

Sambatha continues to criss-cross the province, raising awareness on COVID-19, encouraging public compliance to prevention measures, and checking businesses for compliance with the regulations.

“We will continue to enforce compliance with COVID-19 regulations to prevent the further spread of the virus. We will not hesitate to order closure of any business or facility where there is complete disregard of COVID-19 prevention measures,” Sambatha said on Tuesday.

Sambatha has committed to continue with the compliance and awareness campaign drive.

“Though we are about to roll out the vaccine, it does not mean other prevention measures like social distancing, wearing of masks and sanitising are to be abandoned. They remain key to prevent the spread of the virus. Vaccination should be considered one method of prevention.

“The wearing of masks in public is still mandatory, and so are social distancing and sanitising. All residents are requested to comply with the regulations,” the MEC said.

He reminded citizens that their personal care and health are their responsibility.

“There is a need for all members of the community to continue to comply with the regulations to minimise the impact and spread of this contagious disease.”

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) will increase to R21.69 per hour from 1 March.

The 93c increment was announced by Employment and Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi, on Tuesday.

This development is in line with the NMW legislation that came into effect on 1 January 2019, at a level of R20 per hour. In terms of the NMW Act of 2018, the policy framework is a floor level below which no employee should be paid.

According to the Act, it is illegal and an unfair labour practice for an employer to unilaterally alter hours of work or other conditions of employment in implementing the NMW. The NMW is the amount payable for the ordinary hours of work and does not include payment of allowances (such as transport, tools, food or accommodation), payments in kind (board or lodging), tips, bonuses and gifts.

The Act requires that the NMW Commission review the rates annually and make recommendations to the Minister on any adjustment of the national minimum wage, while also reflecting on alternative views, including those of the public.

“In considering the annual adjustment, the Commission considered the following factors: inflation, the cost of living, and the need to retain the value of the minimum wage; gross domestic product; wage levels and collective bargaining outcomes; productivity; ability of employers to carry on their businesses successfully; the operation of small, medium or micro-enterprises and new enterprises, and the likely impact of the recommendation adjustment on employment or the creation of employment,” said the Department of Employment and Labour in a statement.

The department said following a transitional phase, the farm worker sector has been aligned with the NMW rate of R21.69 per hour. The domestic workers sector will be entitled to R19.09 per hour and could be expected to be aligned with the NMW when the next review is considered.

Workers in the Expanded Public Works programme are entitled to R11.93 per hour and workers who have concluded learnership agreements are entitled to allowances, as determined by the national qualifications framework level.

“In line with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the increase in the NMW will mean that wages prescribed in the sectoral determinations that were higher than the NMW at its promulgation, must be increased proportionally to the adjustment of the National Minimum Wage. Therefore, the Contract Cleaning and Wholesale and Retail Sector will also have their wages upwardly adjusted by 4.5%,” reads the statement.

Eskom says the stage 2 loadshedding, which will be implemented today, has been exacerbated by the forced shutdown of five generating units at the Medupi Power Station.

The units tripped as a result of the inability to get coal into the units due to the heavy rain in the Lephalale area on Thursday evening.

“The area experienced 65 millimetre of rain, which added to the constraints caused by the heavy rains due to cyclone storm Eloise over the past two weeks.

“Eskom has implemented contingency plans and deployed additional resources to deal with the heavy rainfalls in the Mpumalanga, and Limpopo areas, and the teams’ area working hard to return as many of these units to service as soon as possible,” Eskom said.

Currently, Eskom has 4 114MW on planned maintenance, while another 15 739MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned maintenance.

Eskom urged the public to reduce electricity usage in order to help us minimize loadshedding.

“The system remains vulnerable and unpredictable. Loadshedding is implemented as a last resort in order to protect the integrity of the system. As previously communicated, Eskom continues to implement reliability maintenance during this period, and thus the system will continue to be constrained, with the risk of leadshedding remaining elevated,” Eskom said.

Eskom will communicate timeously should there be any significant changes to the power system.

A 36-year-old suspect, alleged to have been involved in the murder of an elderly woman, is expected to appear before the Witbank Magistrates’ Court today.

The man handed himself over to officials at the Mondeor Police Station in Gauteng on Wednesday, following the 86-year-old woman’s murder at an old age home in Mpumalanga on 31 January 2021.

“This was after a manhunt was launched by police following an incident in which the elderly woman was murdered,” said the South African Police Service.

The woman had been robbed of her vehicle and several other belongings.

“The investigation revealed that her vehicle, a white Honda Jazz, and her belongings were stolen during the incident, and fortunately the vehicle became a positive catalyst for the investigation, as it was later recovered abandoned in Krugersdorp on Monday. After finding the car, they then strongly believed that the suspect could also be around Gauteng,” said the police.

The suspect handed himself over to the Mondeor police station, while the search for him was still underway.

Four suspects are expected to appear before the Polokwane Magistrates’ Court on Monday for possession of an allegedly hijacked truck.

The four, aged between 27 and 33 years, were arrested on Thursday in Nirvana, outside Polokwane, for possession of suspected stolen properties, including the truck.

The arrest was made after members of the Crime Prevention Unit received information about suspected stolen groceries at a supermarket in Nirvana.

“Four suspects were arrested on the spot and a large amount of an assortment of groceries, with the estimated value of over R1 million, were recovered inside the truck trailer, some of which were already offloaded and were found inside the shop.

“The preliminary investigations established that a truck loaded with groceries was allegedly hijacked in Delmas and the groceries were then delivered to the supermarket.

“The truck, with the estimated value of over R900 000, was later recovered in the Bela-Bela policing area without the trailer,” said the police.

The Limpopo Commissioner of the South African Police Service, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba, has commended the members for their swift action in apprehending the suspects.

The COVID-19 second wave is showing signs of slowing down in South Africa, with 3 754 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours.

A reported 261 people succumbed to the respiratory disease, official data showed on Thursday.

Of the recent deaths, 56 were reported in KwaZulu-Natal, 53 in Gauteng, 44 in the Eastern Cape, 42 in the North West, 41 in the Western Cape, 12 in the Free State, 11 in Limpopo and two in the Northern Cape.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the country now stands at 1 466 767, while the death toll has jumped to 45 605.

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

The worst-hit regions continue to be KwaZulu-Natal with 42 016 active cases, followed by the Western Cape with 12 631.

Meanwhile, Gauteng has 9 115 patients who are currently infected, 8 771 in the Free State and 7 943 in the North West.

In addition, 1 327 186 people have recovered from COVID-19 to date, representing a recovery rate of 90.5%.

The data is based on the 8 400 319 tests conducted, 31 032 of which were done since the last report.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported 103 989 900 cases globally, including 2 260 259 deaths.

Vaccination

According to WHO, COVAX expects to start sending millions of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa this month.

The global initiative – led by the WHO, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) – aims to start shipping nearly 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the continent in February, in what will be Africa’s largest mass vaccination campaign.

“Africa has watched other regions start COVID-19 vaccination campaigns from the sidelines for too long. This planned rollout is a critical first step to ensuring the continent gets equitable access to vaccines.

“We know no one will be safe until everyone is safe,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti.

COVAX notified countries through letters, which were sent on 30 January 2021.

According to WHO, the final shipments will be based on the production capacities of vaccine manufacturers and the readiness of countries amid surging demand for vaccines.

In addition, around 320 000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries – Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia.

This vaccine has received WHO Emergency Use Listing but requires countries to be able to store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

Moeti has urged African nations to ramp up readiness and finalise their national vaccine deployment plans.

“Regulatory processes, cold chain systems and distribution plans need to be in place to ensure vaccines are safely expedited from ports of entry to delivery. We can’t afford to waste a single dose,” said Moeti.

The initial phase of 90 million doses will support countries to immunise 3% of the African population most in need of protection, including health workers and other vulnerable groups in the first half of 2021.

“As production capacity increases and more vaccines become available, the aim is to vaccinate at least 20% of Africans by providing up to 600 million doses by the end of 2021,” said Moeti.

The African Union has secured 670 million vaccine doses for the continent, which will be distributed in 2021 and 2022 as countries secure adequate financing.

WHO said the African Export-Import Bank will facilitate payments by providing advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to US$2 billion to the manufacturers on behalf of countries.

The Department of Health has invested in oncology services infrastructure in order to address challenges related to cancer related services in the public sector.

The investment includes the acquisition of equipment for diagnosis and treatment at existing and new cancer treatment centres, and an increased number of new linear accelerators.

Health spokesperson, Popo Maja, said the department is finalising innovative processes to decentralise access to chemotherapy, especially in rural areas, and is also engaging private and other partners to address backlogs that existed previously, and were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The process of developing and strengthening palliative care services in provinces has commenced, and the National Cancer Registry is establishing Population Based Cancer Registries, which will inform enhanced planning and monitoring of services,” Maja said.

Maja acknowledged that more work still needs to be done to “create access to human rights-based cancer care to all communities on an equitable basis”.

As the country kick-starts the COVID-19 vaccine rollout programme, the department urged citizens to continue to access other health services, including regular screening and testing for cancer for early detection and effective treatment.

The department reminded people about the significance of regular cancer screening and testing, together with treatment adherence, during the period of the pandemic to achieve better health outcomes.

The department acknowledged the disruptions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in accessing essential health services along the continuum of cancer care and other non-communicable diseases.

Catch-up plan to address backlogs

Maja said catch-up plans have been developed, in cooperation with provinces, to address the backlogs.

“It is an undisputable fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our normal lives, including access to healthcare services, which resulted in referral pathways interruptions and delayed cancer diagnosis and treatment.

“However, the public is reminded that healthcare facilities remain accessible at all times and compliance with COVID-19 prevention methods is always enforced. In this regard, we express appreciation to many cancer care teams in the public sector, who worked tirelessly to ensure the continuation of services under difficult circumstances,” Maja said.

He said health service delivery, including oncology services, was significantly impacted during the early months of the pandemic, as some patients avoided crowded public spaces, including health facilities, due to fear of possible infection.

Maja urged patients with cancer, including patients with other non-communicable diseases, to maintain a healthy lifestyle and treatment adherence while complying with all preventative measures.

“All our communities must be made aware that many of the leading causes of cancer, including use of tobacco and tobacco products, harmful use of alcohol, air pollution and obesity are avoidable.”

World Cancer Day

Meanwhile, South Africa joined the rest of global community on Thursday to commemorate World Cancer Day.

World Cancer Day is observed annually on 4 February to raise awareness about cancer and the stigma associated with the disease.

This year’s World Cancer Day was commemorated under the theme ‘I Am and I Will’, which serves as a commitment to act and encourage everyone to rally behind government, the private sector and civil society in their efforts to reduce cancer risk factors, overcome barriers to screening, early diagnosis, effective treatment and palliative care, and rehabilitation.

Deputy President David Mabuza, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on COVID-19 Vaccines, has engaged various sectors of society on government’s vaccination rollout  plan.

The Deputy President held meetings on Thursday with the aim of mobilising support from social partners.

During the consultations with traditional leaders, inter-faith leaders and social partners at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), the Deputy President was joined by Ministers, who are members of the vaccines IMC.

In welcoming the consultation, traditional leaders said they were encouraged by government’s initiative to meet with them early on in the process.

“With these engagements, they expressed hope that all of society will get behind government’s vaccines rollout plan. They all committed to be part of the rollout and work in partnership with government in encouraging their communities and constituencies to take part in the vaccination programme,” the Presidency said on Thursday.

Traditional leaders called for the implementation of stringent measures to prevent any possible acts of corruption in the rollout of the vaccines.

“It was also agreed that through Government Communication and Information Systems, a communication toolkit in all official languages will be developed for communities in order to enhance social mobilisation and garner support for vaccination.

“Equally so, the consultations with inter-faith leaders were positive and they were all united in their commitment to partner with government, including availing their facilities as vaccination sites should such a need arise,” the Presidency said.

They further called on government to involve young people in the religious sector to counter negative sentiments and fake news about vaccines.

Social partners in Nedlac, namely organised business, labour and community constituencies, reaffirmed their commitment to continue working with government in the fight against COVID-19 and to build on existing initiatives of fighting the virus, including the rollout of vaccines.

“Organised business also reaffirmed their support of the government-led and centralised vaccine procurement, and their participation in both resource and social mobilisation programme. In this regard, they expressed their full confidence in government’s ability to secure the adequate amount of doses required to achieve population immunity,” the Presidency said.

Organised labour encouraged government to draw on the lessons learnt in the rollout of anti-retroviral drugs and use this opportunity to build the capacity to manufacture vaccines locally.

The Community Constituency committed to partner with government to mobilise civil society to participate in the vaccination programme and stem the tide of fake news within society.

“We are encouraged by the positive spirit of cooperation that we received from traditional leaders, inter-faith leaders and social partners at Nedlac. We appreciate that this process does not end here, but it is ongoing engagement and partnership, as we work together towards population immunity.

“We are grateful for the commitment to partner as expressed by social partners at Nedlac, traditional leaders and inter-faith leaders,” the Deputy President said.

The IMC on vaccines was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to provide political oversight of the vaccination programme, including its acquisition, distribution and rollout.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has commended the Indian government and its people for the gift to the world in the form of vaccines and scientific knowledge.

The President applauded India during a telephonic conversation with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on Thursday.

The telephone call follows the arrival in South Africa of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from the Serum Institute of India on Monday.

In a statement on Thursday, the Presidency said President Ramaphosa conveyed the profound gratitude expressed by the people of South Africa to India for its solidarity with South Africa in fighting the pandemic.

The leaders also shared their concern that the COVID-19 virus is mutating constantly, presenting more challenges and new waves in all countries.

“Prime Minister Modi indicated that India will be developing one or two more vaccines and that India will continue to support countries in Africa with a special package of vaccines. India will also support the COVAX facility – a joint initiative of The Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organisation – with 13 million doses by the end of February 2021.

“The two leaders noted that there is growing support internationally for the proposal submitted by South Africa and India to the World Trade Organisation’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council for a temporary waiver of certain TRIPS obligations. The waiver will make vaccines more affordable and enable local production,” the Presidency said.

Strong bilateral relations

President Ramaphosa and Prime Minister Modi further reflected on the strong bilateral relations between South Africa and India, highlighting the importance of the strategic partnership that exists between the two countries.

The leaders acknowledged the importance of economic cooperation to address the devastating impact the pandemic has had on the global economy.

Prime Minister Modi commended the able leadership demonstrated in South Africa’s containment of the pandemic in the face of a continually mutating and highly transmissible virus.

“South Africa congratulates India on assuming a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. South Africa will work with India to address peace and security issues as part of building a better world,” the Presidency said.