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The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has urged qualifying students to open bank accounts to ensure a more efficient disbursement of funds from institutions.

NSFAS Administrator, Dr Randall Carolissen, said the scheme is working on a banking model that will eliminate all intermediaries in the disbursement value chain.

The model will also facilitate direct deposits from NSFAS into student bank accounts.

“At present NSFAS, through its NSFAS Wallet, is already paying directly to students from 32 of the 50 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. During this week, NSFAS will be extending this facility to three additional colleges to ensure improved flow of funds directly to students. Students will be informed accordingly,” Carolissen said.

Following the announcement of the countrywide lockdown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NSFAS activated a business continuity plan.

The plan aims to facilitate uninterrupted funding to students, the resolution of student applications queries, processing of appeals and general assistance to institutions with NSFAS administration.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Administrator emphasised that ensuring students receive their allowances during this time of general hardship and uncertainty is essential.

“Students are entitled to their allowances in order to sustain themselves, continue with academic activities online, as well as to pay for learning materials.”

Carolissen explained that students are funded once a registration template has been received, which will allow for a proper determination of their allowance structure.

From end of March 2020 to date, Carolissen said NSFAS received registration data for 614 986 students from TVET colleges across the sector, and was able to process virtually all of the 150 000 applications received from the walk-in application process.

Carolissen said the walk-in process in the first quarter was developed as a special consideration to assist students that registered for the 2020 academic year, but had not applied during the application cycle.

“This is a legacy issue that NSFAS has improved considerably, as the large number of walk-ins from TVET colleges was the de facto situation prevalent in prior years. Another important milestone is the record number of South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries now funded by NSFAS of 334 868 — a massive increase from that received in 2019,” Carolissen said.

Over R7 billion paid out

By 17 April 2020, NSFAS disbursed over R7.2 billion (some 20% of the total Higher Education and Training grant) for tuition and allowances to public institutions and qualifying students.

Carolissen said in the week starting from 20 April 2020, NSFAS will distribute April allowances, based on actual registration data received from 376 659 university students and 202 681 TVET college students.

“For applications with outstanding and incorrect documents, NSFAS made significant strides in reducing the number from over 42 000 prior to the lockdown, to just under 12 882 to date. NSFAS would like to urge the remaining applicants, who have been contacted to resubmit these documents to do so, as soon as possible through provided and authenticated platforms.

“For 9 224 applicants, additional information was required, as the income verified by NSFAS exceeded income declared by the applicant. Cognisant of the fact that household circumstances can change over a relative short time, NSFAS contacted these applicants to re-submit additional information, to which just under 3 000 had responded in the affirmative,” Carolissen said.

Meanwhile, NSFAS has approved 4 980 appeals from first time entry applicants and approved 14 117 of returning student appeals, as recommended by the institutions.

Operations during the lockdown

Carolissen said the process of engagement with institutions is ongoing as some institutions are ham-strung by the lockdown to convene appeals committee meetings.

“Through an establishment of a virtual contact centre for operations during the lockdown, NSFAS has been processing 4 390 inquiries daily, with a large number emanating in case finalisation.

“We remain fully functional and accessible through these platforms to ensure that students’ inquiries are attended to as soon as possible,” Carolissen said.

NSFAS is accessible on the below platforms from 8:30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday:

• Email: info@nsfas.org.za

• Facebook: National Student Financial Aid Scheme

• Twitter: myNSFAS

• Instagram: myNSFAS

• NSFAS Connect: www.nsfas.org.za and log into your myNSFAS account.

Students, who do not have myNSFAS accounts, need to register to track their funding decisions, and to receive regular updates.

Police in Gauteng have launched the 72-hour Activation Plan to find the suspects behind the killing of a Sebokeng-based Detective Sergeant.

National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, has assigned the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner to immediately mobilise the 72-hour plan.

According to a police report, at about 7:10pm, the police official had just been picked up by two colleagues — a Detective Sergeant and Detective Constable — and they were on their way to report for duty at their station in Sebokeng.

As they were travelling, they noticed suspicious activity around a vehicle outside a house. It appeared that a person was being forced into the boot of the vehicle.

The SAPS members reversed to investigate but they were fired upon by the men that were at the suspicious vehicle.

The 40-year-old Sergeant was sitting in the back seat of the car when the bullet struck her in the back of her head. The driver immediately drove off to a nearest hospital, where the wounded Sergeant died.

The other two officials escaped the attack unharmed.

Sitole has condemned the attack on the police officers.

“I have tasked the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner to immediately mobilise the 72-hour Activation Plan in an effort to find those responsible for the death of the Sergeant. I have also tasked the management of the police in Gauteng to provide all the necessary support to the family of our fallen colleague,” Sitole said.

The police have appealed to anyone, who may have any information that can lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of this heinous crime, to send tip-offs on the MySAPSApp or to contact the SAPS Crime Stop number – ‪08600 10111.

“All information received will be treated with confidence and callers may remain anonymous,” National Commissioner spokesperson, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, said.

North West Premier, Professor Job Mokgoro, is today visiting Blydeville and Boikhutso townships near Lichtenburg, following a violent community protest.

The protest on Tuesday led to the torching of two police vehicles and an ambulance.

It is believed that the community protest was sparked by the death of two children, after allegedly being hit by a private vehicle and a police vehicle in two separate incidents in the Ditsobotla Local Municipality.

Mokgoro will visit the families of the deceased children to convey condolences on behalf of the people and the North West Provincial Government.

The Premier, who will be accompanied by members of the Provincial Command Council, will also witness first-hand the damage caused by the protest.

Mokgoro was initially scheduled to launch a post-lockdown housing development programme for 57 identified families in Coleridge, Vryburg.

Due to the developments in Ditsobotla, the visit to Vryburg has been rescheduled to a date that will be announced in due course.

Mokgoro recently visited Vryburg, where he launched a COVID-19 mass screening, testing and contact tracing campaign at the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District.

During the campaign, he noted with great concern the plight of Coleridge residents, who are staying in houses that are in a state of collapse, with asbestos roofs.

A total of 606 462 employees who have lost their income as a result of the lockdown imposed to mitigate against the spread of COVID-19 will receive their benefit from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

To date, the UIF has received just over 55 268 applications from employers representing about 1 601 767 employees. In total, the UIF has over 1 800 000 employers registered on its database representing more than 8 million workers.

Of the received applications, the UIF has processed 37 673 employer applications which means that 606 462 employees will receive their benefit.

“The UIF is working around the clock to meet the extraordinary volumes of requests for assistance presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 benefit scheme will provide much needed relief to employees who have been laid off work or unable to earn an income due to COVID-19,” said Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi.

As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the department issued a directive for relief to be provided to contributors who have lost income or required to take annual leave as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Following the directive, the Minister called on employers who are registered with the fund to apply for the COVID-19 benefits through the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) on behalf of their employees.

As of Monday, the cumulative amount paid from April 16 to date is R1.1 billion.

About 9 938 applications could not be processed due to errors and the affected companies have been notified to correct their applications and resubmit. Some of the errors identified relate to incorrect banking details, making it impossible for payments to be processed.

Minister Nxesi acknowledged that the UIF system is under pressure as the fund is currently experiencing extraordinary volumes of requests due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nxesi said the department is in discussion with other public entities and the private sector to build additional capacity in order to fast track the processing of applications and payments thereof.

“We have acknowledged that our system was not designed to accommodate the increased volumes of requests that we are witnessing due to the COVID-19. We have already taken steps to mitigate this risk. We have asked the South African Revenue Service to work with us to resolve the backlog we are currently experiencing,” said the Minister.

In response to the department’s request for assistance, SARS has sent a team to work with the UIF to ensure that funds are distributed to deserving beneficiaries in a swift and cost-efficient manner.

“We have equally engaged other private sector companies to work with UIF to enhance the capacity of our IT system to respond to the growing number of requests,” said Nxesi.

Besides the COVID-19 TERS benefits, the department continues to pay normal benefits.

To this end, people who have already been approved to claim do not need to phone or apply online. The continuation benefits will be paid at specified dates.

As part of being more responsive to claimants, the UIF call centre – which initially had 75 agents – has increased its capacity and now has 200 agents manning the toll-free number at 0800 030 007.

The Minister said the more call centre agents will be added should the need arise.

“These are important interventions that would go a long way towards alleviating some of the challenges we have been experiencing. The President has enjoined all of us to ensure that citizens are not unnecessarily inconvenienced as a result of the pandemic.

“As the Department of Employment and Labour we realise the critical role we have to play and we are encouraged by the spirit of solidarity both in the public and private sector and we are doing our utmost best to ease the hardship on workers,” he said.

Employers can apply via www.ufiling.co.za or contact the UIF on 0800 030 007.

Stats SA today released the results of a rapid response survey conducted with businesses during the lockdown.

Businesses were asked how the current crisis affected their operations in the two-week period from 30 March to 13 April 2020.

More than 700 businesses in the formal sector responded to the survey, outlining the pandemic’s impact on turnover, trading, workforce, imports and exports, purchases, prices, and business survival.

According to the report, five in six businesses surveyed experienced a drop in turnover over the reference period.

About 85.4% of businesses surveyed reported turnover below the normal range. Respondents in the construction, real estate and other business services, and transport industries were the most affected by lower than expected turnover.

The report further shows that 42.2% of respondents indicated that they are not confident that they have the financial resources to continue operating through the COVID-19 outbreak.

When asked how long business can continue without turnover, 54% of respondents indicated that they can survive without turnover between 1 to 3 months.

“Half of the businesses surveyed have temporarily closed their doors, the industries reporting the highest percentages of temporary closure or paused trading activity were construction, manufacturing, trade and mining,” Stats SA said in a statement.

In terms of workforce size, 50.4% of respondents expected no change, while 36.8% anticipate a decline.

“Respondents indicated that they have implemented a range of measures to cope with the impact of the pandemic on their workforce, including decreasing working hours and laying off staff in the short term. Only about one in four businesses indicated that they had not taken any measures yet.

“Most businesses (65%) anticipate that the COVID-19 pandemic will impact their business substantially worse than the 2008/09 global financial crisis. Only 4.3% of respondents indicated that the impact will be the same,” Stats SA said.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development requests all interested wholesalers, distributors or agribusiness outlets to provide a list of specific agricultural production inputs they have in stock.

This, according to the department, will assist in the emergency procurement of these inputs to enable smallholder and communal farmers to complete the current production cycle.

The department intends to procure by means of issuing purchase vouchers to approved farmers. Farmers will purchase from the nearest wholesaler, distributor or agribusiness outlet.

“The department requires a typical “cash and carry’’ set up, not a middleman. Interested suppliers should, therefore, provide a physical address of their business from where farmers can cash and carry products using vouchers,” the department said in the statement.

The support will be capped at R50 000 per approved farmer.

Commodities to be supported and prioritised are as follows:

•            Poultry: Day old chicks; point of lay chickens; feed; medication; and sawdust.

•            Vegetables: Seedlings; fertiliser; pesticides; herbicides; and soil correction.

•            Fruit: Fertiliser; pesticides; and herbicides.

•            Other livestock: Feed and medication.

•            Winter field crops: Soil correction, fertiliser, seeds, herbicides and pesticides.

Suppliers can express interest by completing the vendor form, available at www.dalrrd.gov.za.

The due date to submit the vendor forms is 23 April 2020 at 16:00. Interested suppliers can submit per e-mail to any of the provincial offices for the attention of the Director: Finance and Supply Chain Management.

The One World, Together at Home global concert – organised to raise funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic – has raised over US$127 million.

The eight-hour concert which took place on Saturday was co-organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with Global Citizen’s Hugh Evans and musician Lady Gaga.

“I’d like to start by thanking the many musicians, comedians and humanitarians who made Saturday’s ‘One World, Together at Home’ concert an enormous success. So humbled, and the whole WHO community is very grateful for the support that poured over 8 hours.

“The event raised more than US$127 million to support several organizations responding to COVID-19, including US$55 million for WHO’s Solidarity Response Fund.

“The fund has now raised more than 194 million dollars from more than 270 000 individuals, corporations and foundations,” said the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, on Monday.

Thanking his co-organisers, the WHO DG paid a special tribute to his colleague Paul Garwood who was the brains behind the concert.

Ghebreyesus’s media briefing on Monday, followed his address to health ministers from the G20 countries on Sunday, where he advised countries on factors they must consider as they plan to start lifting so-called lockdown restrictions.

“We want to re-emphasize that easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country.

“Ending the epidemic will require a sustained effort on the part of individuals, communities and governments to continue suppressing and controlling this deadly virus.

“So-called lockdowns can help to take the heat out of a country’s epidemic, but they cannot end it alone.

The WHO DG urged countries to ensure they can detect, test, isolate and care for every case, and trace every contact.

WHO increases distribution of diagnostics

One of WHO’s priorities is to work with partners to increase the production and equitable distribution of diagnostics to the countries that need them most.

To achieve that, WHO has worked with FIND, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, to identify and validate five tests that can be manufactured in large quantities.

“Working together with the Global Fund, UNICEF and Unitaid, we have now placed orders for 30 million tests over the next four months.

“This is part of the overarching drive to keep supply chains moving and ensure key supplies reach 120 priority countries,” said Ghebreyesus.

Through April and May, WHO intends to ship almost 180 million surgical masks, 54 million N95 masks and more than 3 million protective goggles to countries that need them most.

“I also want to highlight the Jack Ma Foundation’s donation of 100 million masks, 1 million N95 masks and 1 million test kits to WHO.

“We had a very productive discussion with Jack Ma yesterday and he would like to continue to support countries in need. We are also continuing to lead research and development efforts,” said Dr Tedros.

So far, more than 100 countries have joined the Solidarity Trial to evaluate therapeutics for COVID-19, and 1 200 patients have been randomized from the first 5 countries.

This week, more than 600 hospitals are set to start enrolling patients.

Government has gazetted a regulation banning the sale of hot cooked food during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In a statement on Monday, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said the amendment seeks to clarify the exclusion of hot cooked food from the classification of essential goods.

“Annexure B to the regulations is hereby amended by the substitution in Part A for item (i) of subparagraph (1) of the following item: any food product, including non-alcoholic beverages, but excluding cooked hot food.” said CoGTA.

This amendment came after it emerged that some retailers have been selling hot cooked meals during the lockdown.

During a press briefing last week, Dlamini-Zuma had indicated that this was incorrect.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday expressed concern at the alleged theft of food parcels meant to assist distressed families and individuals during the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown.

“A number of provinces have received reports that callous individuals, some of them allegedly government officials, are hoarding or selling food parcels earmarked for the needy and destitute, or diverting them to their friends and families,” said the President in his weekly newsletter.

In the letter, the President vowed to deal with individuals harshly, should the allegations prove to be true.

Like many other countries around the world, South Africa has imposed the lockdown with a hope to save lives from the life-threatening COVID-19 that has killed 54 people in the country.

“We have done the same in our country, but our lockdown has revealed a very sad fault line in our society that reveals how grinding poverty, inequality and unemployment is tearing the fabric of our communities apart,” he said.

The President has been moved by images of people desperate for food parcels at distribution centres and of community protests against food shortages.

“There can be no greater anguish than that of a parent whose children cry out to them for food, but they have none to give. There can be no greater injustice than a society where some live in comfort and plenty, while others struggle at the margins to survive with little or nothing at all.”

While he has attributed this to the “residual effects of a fractured and unequal past”, he also said they are also a symptom of a fundamental failure in post-apartheid society.

“The nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus has gravely exacerbated a long-standing problem.”

The President said that while National State of Disaster and the imposition of a nation-wide lockdown has been put in place, the support of vulnerable citizens has been slow.

“We had to act quickly to save lives. And we must acknowledge that in the days and weeks that have followed, the provision of support to our country’s most vulnerable citizens has been slower than required and that lapses have occurred,” he said.

Grants

On the payment of social grants, President Ramaphosa said he was pleased to see that this proceeded relatively smoothly, and after a number of technical challenges, the food distribution system is being streamlined.
“And as the presentation by the Ministry of Health, last week indicated, enforcing a lockdown at the time we did has slowed down the rate of infection and, more importantly, bought us time to prepare for a probable surge in infections in the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Impact on the economy

President Ramaphosa said they had to consider the impact on an already floundering economy in both the long and short term, and the impact of this substantial disruption on the livelihoods of millions of people.

“We had to consider what weeks of confinement to the home would mean for the employed not paid regular salaries, for the unemployed and those seeking work, for those in casual or seasonal employment, for those in the informal sector, for the indigent and for the vulnerable.”

He said the cabinet will finalise a set of measures to respond to the impact of the lockdown on livelihoods, preceded by a range of engagements with a number of stakeholders including business, labour, religious organisations, civil society and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

“The social partners have put forward a number of proposals on interventions that could address the immediate vulnerability of the poorest of the poor, most of whom rely on social assistance to survive.”

He said government will also scale up welfare provision during this period to help households living below the poverty line.

He said even when the nation-wide lockdown is lifted, its effects will continue to be felt for some time to come.

“Those fortunate to have a steady income will be able to return to their jobs; but for millions of others this will be a lost month where they would otherwise have found temporary work, done business in the informal sector or saved money earned to meet their family responsibilities.”

While he concedes that food support is a short-term emergency measure, it needs to be matched by sustainable solutions that help vulnerable citizens weather the difficult times that are still to come.

President Ramaphosa also thanked non-government organisations, religious groups and ordinary citizens who are donating money and volunteering to help feed the hungry and destitute.

“Alleviating hunger is not an act of charity. It is imperative for any society that is founded on respect for human rights,” he said.

The North West is undertaking a drive that will see places of trade, including shops, being decontaminated.

This is part of wider efforts to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The North West MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, Kenetswe Mosenogi, is leading the drive.

On Friday, 17 April, the MEC also handed out sanitisers to informal traders and communities with poor access to water at Ikageng location and Khuma in JB Marks Local Municipality, respectively.

“We want all our people to know that we are a caring government that is reaching out to everyone to assist in whatever way possible.

“We are also thankful for the continued generosity displayed by business working together with us to achieve a common objective of safeguarding our people’s lives,” Mosenogi said.

The North West trade areas decontamination initiative is being done in partnership with the private sector.

“Decontaminating places of trade will also create a deep sense of security and improve the confidence level of both our local businesses and communities,” Mosenogi said.

She urged retailers, including spaza shops, to ensure that they comply with the regulations and directives of the lockdown.

She reminded all informal traders selling essential goods to obtain a trading permit from their respective municipalities to ensure safe and fair trading.