Posts tagged with 'government'

 

Cape Town Municipality demolishes shacks at illegal informal settlement

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Spokeswoman refuses to say how many shacks in Zweledinga were destroyed after the Cape Town municipality decided to demolish parts of it.

The shacks were flattened over the weekend in the Khayelitsha area, but municipal officials refuse to say what the number was destroyed.

Councilor Malusi Booi responded elusively, saying it was operational information that could not be provided.

He says the city council rejects any attempt of land occupation and this also applies in urban areas as has been the case, and has therefore acted purposefully.

Booi confirmed that they had a court order permitting them to demolish the shacks, and after Saturday’s clearing of the site, building materials and corrugated iron lay everywhere with other illegal squatters’ property.

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R11m from SA Lottery goes to cousin of National Lotteries Commission boss

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The National Lotteries Commission has given more than R11m to a non-profit organisation (NPO) called I Am Made for God’s Glory, which has in turn paid R2m to a private company of which the sole director is the cousin of the chief operating officer of the National Lotteries Commission.

According to leaked bank statements, R2m was paid to Upbrand Properties by I Am Made For God’s Glory (IAM4GG), which received a R11 375 000 grant from the Lottery to develop an “integrated sports facility” in Limpopo.

The sole director of Upbrand is Kenneth Tomoletso Sithole, first cousin of NLC chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba.

GroundUp has previously revealed how Upbrand received a R15m contract to build a rehabilitation centre near Pretoria at a time when Letwaba’s brother, Johannes “Joe” Letwaba, was a director of the company. Johannes Letwaba subsequently resigned, leaving Keneilwe Constance Maboa, the wife of Karabo Sithole, another first cousin of t
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State-owned Landbank become the first SOE to be downgraded to junk by Moody’s

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The Land Bank has become the first big state-owned company in SA to be relegated to junk status by Moody’s rating agency. The New York-based agency, which is the last remaining among the big three to rate SA as investment grade economy, said given government’s fiscal challenges, it expected less financial support for the Land Bank from the state.

The agency downgraded Land Bank’s long-term issuer ratings to Ba1 from Baa3. This is a notch below investment grade. It’s also a notch below SA’s sovereign rating, which the agency affirmed at Baa3 with a negative outlook in November, and also below Transnet and Eskom, who continue to enjoy a Baa3 rating from Moody’s, despite the latter’s debt and solvency woes. Land Bank’s short-term issuer ratings were downgraded to “Not Prime” from P-3.

“The ratings downgrade reflects Moody’s assessment that ongoing fiscal challenges suggest that the South African government will be more selective in dispersing finan
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Cash-strapped SAA cancels 38 domestic and international flights

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SAA has confirmed its cancellation of 38 domestic and international flights between OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town, as well as between Johannesburg and Durban’s King Shaka airports.

In a statement, the airline said: “These decisions are in line with SAA’s usual policy of reviewing flights and consolidating services with low demand. Furthermore, during the current process of business rescue, these cancellations represent a responsible strategy to conserve cash and optimise the airline’s position ahead of any further capital investment.”

The airline said it would be reviewing further schedule amendments over the coming days and would communicate any operational changes to its customers.

Those who have already booked the cancelled flights will be re-accommodated on alternative services including Mango.

Below is a list of all the cancelled flights:

The following domestic flights operated by SAA have been cancelled:

Johannesburg (JN
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Eskom drops electricity price bombshell – Consumers will pay ‘50% more’ for electricity if Eskom beats Nersa in court

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The power utility is challenging tariff increases approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for 2019 to 2022. If Eskom gets its way, consumers will pay 50% more for electricity.

Eskom contends that approving increases by 9.41% for 2019-2020, 8.10% for 2020-2021 and 5.22% for 2021-2022 instead of the requested 16% was insufficient.

At the core of the recent court challenge is a R23billion cash injection it received from the government that Nersa deducted when approving tariff hikes for three financial years.

In its court application, Eskom contends that the alleged inadequate increase provided by Nersa presents a “material risk of potential catastrophic consequences”, not only for the power utility but for the country.

Energy expert Ted Blom said: “The contestation around the R23bn relates to the fact that at the time, Eskom and government said the money was to subsidise operating costs and Nersa dealt with it as an income state
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Alexkor, SA state-owned diamond company is on life support

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South Africa’s state-owned diamond mining enterprise Alexkor is desperately in need of cash to pay expenses, but does the struggling entity deserve more funding?

Its marine-based concessions stretch from Alexander Bay to Port Nolloth, while its land-based concessions span the equivalent of 865km2. It mines the latter through its Pooling and Sharing Joint Venture (PSJV) with the Richtersveld community.

Despite carat sales having increased from 41 941 units to 70 061 in the year to end-March 2019, diamond sales only amounted to R209.9 million (2018: R208.7 million). Cost of sales was R152.9 million (2018: R126.8 million).

The reasons given for this poor performance: an oversupply of diamonds in the market, as well as the quality and size of the diamonds produced.

Land and shallow water diamonds achieved an average of $456.77 per carat (2018: $718.86), while diamonds from its deep water mining concession achieved an average price of $305.64 (2018: $187.56).
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SAA director resigns from his post amid crisis at state entity

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SAA director Martin Kingston resigned from his post, and the move was welcomed by the communist-minded Numsa union as well as the trade union Sacca.

The two unions also said the rest of SAA directors should follow Kingston’s example and submit their resignations.

Kingston’s resignation comes after Bloomberg said in his report there is no reason why the director should be on the board.

Kingston apparently decided to resign when the company was placed under rescue because of the extremely poor results being delivered.

The shipping company is still waiting for Treasury to pay the promised R2bn earmarked to keep SAA afloat and is the second part of the R4bn initially promised to the shipping company by the government.

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Controversial Panyaza Lesufi’s online registration system plunges schools across SA into total chaos

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The placement of pupils by the Department of Education has created new crises, leaving parents and pupils furious.

Cases have been reported from certain schools in the Central Transvaal region that are hopelessly overcrowded, which have apparently been criticized for evading the truth many pupils have not even be placed yet.

What is alarming, however, is that pupils are so misplaced that they are now up to 40 km away from the school they have to travel to every day.

The chaos that prevailed at many schools on the first day of school was fiercely denied by Gauteng spokesperson Lesufi of the education department

Educators believe that whites should immediately take their children out of the crowded classrooms and place them in private schools where adequate space and good teaching methods are applied.

The excellent academic achievements of BCVO schools have shown that pupils not only receive excellent education but also broaden their knowledge in a safe, p
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SA in crisis while ANC eats cake, celebrating its 108 years

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The ruling Anc party,was holding a rally in Kimberley celebrating its 108 years.This celebration, which is usually accompanied by a jovial mood of song and dance by party leaders, members and supporters, happens during a time when the country has been plunged into several crises of epidemic proportions. Can the ANC really afford to celebrate? Can it afford to pop Champagne during such difficult times faced by the country?

Poverty levels are accelerating, inequality is deepening, unemployment levels have reached the highest percentage of 29.1% in the last quarter of 2019, the highest recorded by Statistics SA since 2008, with 9.6 million South Africans currently unemployed, 8.6 million of these being black.

The economy is battling to recover from a technical recession, with the country constantly facing a threat of being given junk status by rating agencies.

One of the major crises facing the country is the power utility Eskom, which has struggled to keep the l
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3000 Telkom employees face unemployment after telecommunications company decides to lay off a third of its workforce

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In a letter sent to unions on Wednesday, the telecommunications company says the decline in voice calls and landline data (ADSL), as well as “operational inefficiencies” are the main reasons why so many employees have become redundant.

The first of two rounds of retrenchments is at OpenServe, as well as information technology and consumer services. It is envisaged that these employees will leave Telkom’s service by the end of April this year.

OpenServe is Telkom’s division that provides wholesale services. It’s also its largest division, with 7,899 employees. Telkom says OpenServe’s operating structure is set up to support fixed-line services, as well as a large part of its consumer division.

The second round of retrenchments is at Telkom’s corporate division, where 310 people work. It is anticipated that this round will be completed by August.

The letter notifies unions of the restructuring in terms of sec. 189 and Art. 189A of the Labor Relations Act. The
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