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Community broadcasters have been reminded that applications for pre-registrations of Class Community Sound Broadcasting Service and related Radio Frequency Spectrum Licences will close at end of the month.

These licences are for providing community sound broadcasting services.

“This licensing process commenced as far back as November 2019 and this closing date will not be extended further. All interested prospective applicants are encouraged to ensure that they submit their applications within the stipulated deadline,” the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) CEO, Willington Ngwepe, said on Tuesday.

Initially, the closing date for pre-registrations was 30 March 2020 but this was extended following the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus and the declaration of the national State of disaster by the President.

“For over three decades, community broadcasting has encouraged grassroots participation through the selection and provisioning of programmes, forged networks and alliances between people of diverse backgrounds, and has given a voice to minorities such as the youth, women, people with disabilities, as well various cultural groups,” said Ngwepe.

The licensing process will be undertaken in the following manner:

• Phase 1: Consideration of the applications for pre-registration of a Community Sound Broadcasting Service licence, in line with the provisions of the Community Service Broadcasting Regulations. This process will be concluded within 90 working days of the closing for receipt of the applications.
• Phase 2: Registration of a Community Sound Broadcasting Service licence to be submitted 30 days after the decision on pre-registration. The registration phase will be completed within 30 working days of receipt of the application.

ICASA may hold public hearings in respect of received applications during Phase 1 of the process.

“It should further be noted that the Authority reserves its right not to consider any applications that do not meet the requirements, as set out in this Invitation to Pre-Register (ITP-R) or applicable legislations and regulations,” ICASA said.

All interested communities and/or stakeholders can submit an electronic copy (one copy) through the dedicated mailbox – ITP-R@icasa.org.za by no later than 11am on 30 June 2020.

For further information, the broadcasting community can contact Thabo Ndhlovu via email on tndhlovu@icasa.org.za.

Walk-ins are still prohibited at ICASA offices.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel says a scaled-up reconstruction plan is necessary to address the growth and jobs impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

He said this when Ministers in the Economic Cluster fielded oral questions in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Patel said the plans government put in place before the pandemic, as recently as February, while appropriate for that time, will no longer be sufficient to address the new circumstances and challenges.

“The President announced a R500 billion package of immediate actions in April to support workers, firms and vulnerable communities.

“Clearly, a scaled-up reconstruction plan will be necessary to address the jobs and growth impact of the pandemic, and building on the interventions that were put in place.”

Patel said pandemics, like wars, change and reshape societies.

He said this pandemic has had serious and deeply damaging effects on jobs, growth and transformation.

“On top of the challenges that we have been addressing before COVID-19, the pandemic also disrupted the supply lines across the world, which closed local car factories even before our lockdown started.

“It affected our pace of reindustrialization, as key programmes were slowed down. It dampened global demand for our commodities. It affected business confidence, which may discourage investment that would have otherwise taken place, and it knocked vulnerable firms and communities harder than others.”

The reconstruction plan would comprise five elements, including:

– Infrastructure-led recovery measures that focus on critical economic, social and industrial infrastructure in order to build and rebuild local supplier industries;

– An import replacement programme and more resilient supply lines to avoid the gaps and disruptions faced by global supply chains, so that the country produces PPE, medical equipment, basic foods and the other products needed domestically and on the continent;

– Deepening digitisation and the economy, bringing more small players and township enterprises into the new digital platforms and speeding up green economy measures;

– Transformation of economic structures to create more economic inclusion and stepping up the pace of transformation, with targeted measures for small businesses and black industrialists. There is also a need to address the issue of worker participation in company boards to truly transform the workplace; and

– Building opportunities on the African continent, with a greater focus on innovation and industrialisation backed by the African Continental Free Trade Area and accompanied by investment in factories and infrastructure in the continent.

R358 million to support youth, women empowered enterprises

Over a period of five years, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) will scale-up its investment in youth and women empowered enterprises.

Patel said since April this year, the IDC has approved a total of R358 million to fund women and youth empowered companies.

“These include a youth-empowered business, which makes PPE masks and seven involve women-empowered businesses, including companies that make PPEs, sanitisers and disinfectants, and also companies that make products such as plastic containers for cosmetics, cleaning products, roller towels, facial tissues, serviettes and napkins.”

Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says her department has formalised over 2 000 spaza shops during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to oral questions in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Ntshavheni said this would assist the newly formalised businesses to build a credit profile, which would make them viable to access financing with banking institutions.

“We were able to formalise 2 242 spaza shops and [we] are processing applications from 4 406 spaza shops. We are already processing applications from 31 small-scale and informal bakeries, some of which are run by cooperatives. We have 33 applications from motor mechanics and panel beaters, and also from 15 enterprises that are making clothing and garments for our people,” she said.

The Minister’s response comes after it emerged that when government rolled out relief measures to individuals and small businesses during the early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic, many small businesses were operating informally.

Ntshavheni had been asked to indicate what additional measures her department would initiate and implement to sustain formalised small businesses going forward.

She said the dedicated informal and micro business support schemes, which are targeted at spaza shops and general dealers, mechanics, panel beaters and fitment centres, micro agri-businesses and chesa nyamas, are not once-off interventions.

She said these small-scale businesses will be supported for the next 12 to 24 months through a support programme that will help them to get business support, business management, financial management and access to the market.

“The importance of formalisaton is that during this difficult period, you are able to assist these businesses to build a credit profile, and then they can be able to access credit from financial banks without being dependent on government.

“We are supporting these small enterprises to formalise and we will stay with them for the next 24 months because we want them to build a credit profile and run profitable businesses. We have also partnered with the banks to make sure they can create products that are suitable and less costly to the small and informal businesses.”

Two female officers and one senior male officer from the Tshwane Metro Police Department have tested positive for COVID-19.

The 51-year-old, a senior superintendent and a 37-year-old female constable, tested positive on 17 June 2020 at Number 1 Madiba Street.

The building was closed for two days to allow for the disinfection process to take place before other staff members could return to work.

The other 31-year-old female constable, stationed at the Mercedes Benz Building in Francis Baard Street, tested positive on 22 June 2020.

The constable went to hospital for medical consultation when it was discovered that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

She has since been admitted to hospital, while the other two officers are in isolation for 14 days.

Another staff member, a female admin officer in Akasia, also tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week. She is also in isolation for 14 days.

The building in which she was working was disinfected, following precautionary measures to keep other employees safe.

The Mercedes Benz Building is closed until 26 June 2020 as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all employees and customers.

The building will be disinfected during the temporary closure for the safe return of staff members on 26 June.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille says government has so far spent R17 million to procure quarantine sites.

Responding to a question when Ministers in the Economic Cluster fielded oral questions in the National Assembly, De Lille said there was a need to find a bigger balance between finding private and public sites for quarantine purposes.

“The private sites that we are currently using and have procured are the rate that National Treasury has negotiated with the industry, which is between R850 and R1 250.

“So far, we have spent just over R17 million of the projected R27 million for quarantine sites,” she said.

De Lille said in terms of the regulations, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is responsible for identifying sites and making them available.

“Once we identify sites [with over 3 000 sites having been identified by now, 630 of which are owned by the State], the Department of Health goes to inspect and assess the centres. Once the Department of Health approves them… for quarantine or isolation, it is only then as Public Works we procure the sites.”

To date, De Lille said the Department of Health has approved 403 facilities, which are being assessed, with about 37 000 beds. Currently, government has used about 136 of those facilities, representing about 12 000 beds.

“The sites that can be made available and can be made public are the responsibility of the Department of Health because they assess and confirm these sites,” the Minister said.

She said, meanwhile, that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure does not have a role insofar as the inspection of private-owned facilities is concerned.

Public Works is only responsible for the supply chain procurement processes for activation of compliant quarantine sites that are listed on the master database.

“National Treasury, the Department of Tourism, the Tourism Business Council SA and the industry represented by the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa have negotiated the rates paid by government and the rates were approved by National Treasury,” said De Lille.

Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has approved plans for the resumption of football.

“The plans of the Premier Soccer League have been approved, considering the mitigation strategies and plans in relation to the level 3 risk adjusted strategy in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture said on Wednesday.

The plans have further been subject to analysis by health authorities and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), who have recommended that the measures put in place by the organisation meet and in some instances, exceed, the required protocol for a safe return to training and to play in a biologically safe environment.

Mthethwa published gazetted directions relating to COVID -19 level 3 regulations on 28 May 2020, which cover the resumption of sport activities.

“The different sport bodies are submitting their plans, indicating their state of readiness and the stringent health protocols they will implement, in accordance with the prescribed regulations and directions,” the Ministry said.

South Africa recorded 111 additional COVID-19 related fatalities on Tuesday, the biggest single-day increase since the outbreak, bringing the death toll to 2 102.

Of the new deaths, 78 are from the Western Cape, 28 from the Eastern Cape, four in KwaZulu-Natal and one in Mpumalanga.

The number of COVID-19 infections has jumped to 106 108 after 4 518 new cases were reported.

According to the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, 4 000 people are in hospital due to COVID-19 and are receiving different levels of treatment.

Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries is 55 045, which translates to a recovery rate of 51.9%, while the mortality rate is 2%, Mkhize said.

The country has conducted 1 382 772 tests, 29 596 of which were done in the last 24 hours.

The hardest-hit provinces include the Western Cape with 53 512 cases, followed by Gauteng with 24 041, Eastern Cape 18 108 and KwaZulu-Natal 5 625.

The North West has 2 454 cases, Free State 814, Mpumalanga 622, Limpopo 622 and Northern Cape 270.

During the Eastern Cape visit this week, Mkhize said more than 6 000 additional medical personnel have been employed to assist in the fight against the pandemic.

The department has increased bed capacity to over 27 000, secured 400 quarantine sites, deployed over 50 000 community healthcare works and screened almost 20 million people.

The department said the country currently has a capacity of 7 134 ventilators, while 20 000 more have been ordered.

According to the World Health Organisation’s latest statistics, there are 8 993 659 positive cases reported and 469 587 deaths globally.

It’s goodbye to bad hair days as salons and many other personal beauty services are now free to operate, under strict conditions.

The Minister of Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has given the green light for formal and informal salons to open under strict conditions after closing their doors since March due to lockdown.

The Minister gazetted guidelines on Friday following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that many industries would now reopen under level 3.

According to Ntshavheni, services deemed safe to resume operations with immediate effect include hairdressing, barbering, nail and toe treatment, facial treatment and make-up, body massage, tattooing and body piercing.

“All personal care businesses, which are allowed to operate, will adhere to the following basic principles applicable to all salons: hand washing, social distancing between customers and staff wherever possible, the use of cloth masks at all times, and more protective masks for close facial contact, and cleaning and disinfecting of touch areas and equipment,” she said.

Ntshavheni also encouraged contactless payment where possible.

Meanwhile, employees should be equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE), including visors, while stylists should wear facemasks at all times,” said the Minister, adding that PPE must be cleaned after serving each customer.

“No customer will be served without wearing a mask. Aprons must be changed after serving each customer and reuse can only be done after the apron has been washed with water and soap. Where gloves are required for treatments, they should be changed after each client and should not be shared under any conditions.”

Ntshavheni urged businesses to work by appointment to avoid long queues, while queuing customers must maintain social distancing.

“Employees and owners above the age of 60 or with comorbidities must be discouraged from working,” the Minister said.

Also, any owner, worker or customer, who has flu-like symptoms, should be barred from the premises.

A register must be kept of customers and persons who enter the salon on each day for traceability.

Meanwhile, the provision of all snacks and drinks is prohibited, as beverage and food amenities for customers is suspended.

All bottled products must be wiped down with a 70% alcohol solution after serving each customer, and fresh and clean towels must be used for each customer.

With regards to standard operating procedures for informal tattooing body piercing studios, owners must only admit to the premises customers who are to receive treatment.

“Needles, razors and [other equipment] must be provided for each work area,” the Minister said, adding that no face and neck treatments allowed.

In the President’s address last week, he acknowledged that the disease and the measures taken to fight it have caused a massive disruption in the lives of the people, bringing the economy to a standstill and threatening the livelihoods of millions.

Therefore, he said, through the easing of the lockdown, government continues to balance the overriding objective of saving lives and preserving livelihoods.

For more on the gazetted guidelines, go to https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202006/43459rg11135gon696.pdf.

South Africa’s COVID-19 infections have surpassed the 100 000 mark after 4 288 new cases were reported on Monday.

The positive cases are now sitting at 101 590, while close to 2 000 people have lost their lives.

Of the new 61 COVID-19 related deaths reported, 39 are from the Western Cape, 18 from the Eastern Cape, three from KwaZulu-Natal and one from Limpopo, bringing the death toll to 1 991.

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

According to the department, 1 353 176 tests have been completed, 25 116 of which were done in the last 24 hours.

While the number of infections is increasing, 53 444 people have recovered from the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.

The Western Cape continues to be the worst-hit province, with over 51% of infections and the highest number of deaths.

The coastal province has 52 554 positive cases, followed by Gauteng with 22 341, Eastern Cape 16 895, KwaZulu-Natal 5 278, North West 2 315, Free State 772, Mpumalanga 596, Limpopo 582, Northern Cape 254 and three are still unknown.

View full live Stats: Live Stats

With several businesses facing the bleak prospect of shutting down as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged that such decisions be carefully taken.

Writing in his weekly letter on Monday, the President said these decisions should be taken with due regard to balancing the sustainability of companies and the livelihoods of workers.

“It is important that whatever is done is underpinned by ensuring a just transition to all concerned,” the President wrote.

The pandemic has left the country’s economy in a precarious position since the first case was confirmed in South Africa on 5 March. South Africa has been on various levels of lockdown since 27 March in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

“Our economy is in the throes of the anticipated fallout from this global crisis. The predictions of businesses shutting down and jobs being lost are materialising,” President Ramaphosa said.

Last week, a number of companies announced plans to retrench staff. These companies, which ranged from aviation to construction, entertainment and leisure to hospitality, indicated the intention to retrench staff due to heavy losses incurred over the past three months. In other cases, businesses are closing permanently. Small businesses, whose turnover has been wiped out, will be even harder hit.

The President said for a country such as South Africa, which was already facing an unemployment crisis and weak economic growth, difficult decisions and difficult days lie ahead.

With Finance Minister Tito Mboweni expected to table a revised national budget in Parliament this week, the President conceded that revenue has plummeted.

“Difficult decisions will be made in the coming weeks and months, as we seek to reprioritise our programmes, manage public spending and scale back on projects where necessary.

“The economic hardship that has been forced on a number of companies in the private sector will be forced on a number of entities in the public sector as well. Government, business, labour and civil society will have to deepen their collaboration as never before in driving the national recovery effort.”

As more economic activity resumes, the President said, struggling businesses will be playing catch-up to recoup lost productivity and revenue for some time to come.

“As much as we seek to protect current jobs, we also need to create new ones, and attract new, greater levels of investment. It is imperative that we open avenues for self-employment and entrepreneurship, especially for young people,” he said.

In the past two years, the business community has made commitments to invest in various businesses in the country.

“It is our hope that our business community and international investors will honour the investment commitments made in a number of forums, such as the South Africa Investment Conference,” said the President.

“Coronavirus has resulted in companies around the world re-evaluating their investment and expansion plans, and we must anticipate that some of these commitments may be scaled back and even cancelled. South Africa still has great investment opportunities and assets to invest in.”

He said government remains optimistic normalcy will gradually return.

“As we forge ahead with the economic reform measures embarked upon earlier this year, the growing investment levels we were seeing before Coronavirus hit will slowly but surely return,” said President Ramaphosa.

He welcomed announcements last week that Amazon was on a drive to hire up to 3 000 South Africans for a variety of positions.

He also expressed delight at developments that local energy storage company, Metair, has secured a number of contracts from Ford Motor Company, and that the pan-African cloud and data solutions entity, Africa Data Centres, has acquired a hi-tech data centre in Johannesburg.

Several catalytic infrastructure projects in water, transportation, energy, digital infrastructure, human settlements and agriculture are set to be showcased at the inaugural Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of South Africa, which will be held on 23 June 2020.

“Project sponsorship has been sought from the private sector, multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, asset managers and commercial banks,” said the President.

Through the delivery of sustainable and fit-for-purpose infrastructure, he said, government is able to meet its developmental aspirations and revive economic activity, while also creating critically needed jobs.

“This infrastructure investment forms an integral part of our recovery effort. This will be bolstered by the reduction of interest rates by the South African Reserve Bank, support extended to businesses during the pandemic and regulatory relief for the financial sector, among others,” President Ramaphosa said.