Day: November 11, 2021

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his condolences to Elita De Klerk, the wife of the late former President FW de Klerk, and her family following the news of his passing.

De Klerk, who presided over a bloody state of emergency during the apartheid era in the 1980s until his party lost power to the ANC in 1994, passed away earlier on Thursday morning after an extended period of illness.

“I have learned with great sadness of the passing of former Deputy President and former State President Frederik Willem “FW” de Klerk.

“The Former Deputy President passed away earlier today, Thursday, 11 November 2021, after an extended period of illness. He was 85 years of age.

“I offer my sincerest condolences to his wife, Elita, his children Jan and Susan, and his grandchildren.

“My thoughts are also with Mr de Klerk’s friends and associates and the management and staff of the FW de Klerk Foundation.”

President Ramaphosa said while de Klerk was a leader of a party that was “vastly discredited” in relation of the role the party played in enforcing apartheid, he played a vital role in South Africa’s transition to democracy in the 1990s, which originated from his first meeting in 1989 with President Nelson Mandela who was a political prisoner at that stage.

“He took the courageous decision to unban political parties, release political prisoners and enter into negotiations with the liberation movement amid severe pressure to the contrary from many in his political constituency.

“The Deputy President was a committed South African who embraced the democratic constitutional dispensation and placed the long-term future of the country ahead of narrow political interests.

“Serving as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996, Mr de Klerk played an important role in the Government of National Unity, dedicating himself to the constitutional imperative of healing the divisions and conflict of our past.

“Deputy President de Klerk’s passing, weeks before the 25th anniversary of our democratic Constitution, should inspire all of us to reflect on the birth of our democracy and on our shared duty to remain true to the values of our Constitution.”

The President said the FW de Klerk Foundation will in due course make announcements regarding funeral arrangements.

Source: South African Government News Agency

If government is to maximise the value of its constrained spending, it will need to contain costs, exercise prudent and compliant financial management as well as eradicate wasteful treatment of public funds and resources.

The National Treasury emphasised this in the 2021 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Thursday in Parliament.

The Treasury said this was amid the realisation that municipalities had insufficient capacity to fulfil their financial responsibilities, with the report indicating that councils were over reliant on external financial consultants.

“Municipalities spent over R1 billion on financial reporting consultants in 2019/20, even though financial reporting is a core responsibility of their internal finance units,” it states.

National government provides a range of support and resources to help municipalities to build capacity.

In 2021, the National Treasury reviewed the system of capacity-building for local government. It found that the focus needs to shift from building capacity to a broader measure of developing capability.

The Treasury said while capacity was closely linked to individual improvements – such as developing skills – measures of capability considered a larger context and range of factors, including the environment in which the individual works, and the systems and processes they use.

“This has implications for the way the state designs support and the type of resources it provides to local government.

“Capacity-building programmes often fail because the problem is inadequately diagnosed, and there is a fragmented approach to building capacity. These programmes cannot create an internal culture of accountability and commitment: that is the responsibility of political and administrative leaders in local government,” reads the document.

The department said substantive changes were required to improve municipal capabilities.

The review proposed a new framework to build a capable local government by improving the current system incrementally and identifying pilot sites for innovation and experimentation

The 2022 Budget would detail the next steps in this project.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Government, through Operation Vulindlela, has made progress on several key reforms outlined in its October 2020 economic recovery plan, says the National Treasury.

The 2021 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Thursday, reveals.

In the document, the department said the amendment of Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act (2006), raising the licensing threshold from 1 to 100 megawatts (MW), had made it possible for private power generators to sell directly to customers.

This, it states, would reduce pressure on the national grid and alleviate the risk of power cuts.

It said the pace and scale of private generation would largely depend on the ease of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa registration process, which needed to be streamlined.

“Amended regulations also enable municipalities to self-generate or procure power directly from independent power producers.

“Over the longer term, creating a competitive energy market will help contain the costs of generating electricity and support GDP growth.”

On the front of Transnet, government has announced the corporatisation of the Transnet National Ports Authority as an independent subsidiary of Transnet and appointed an interim board.

Treasury said the separation of port infrastructure and operations would create incentives for efficiency and competitiveness between port service providers – reducing delays, improving services and introducing cost discipline.

However, it said “critical reforms” in the telecommunications space had been delayed, constraining innovation and access to better-priced data.

It said these reforms included the release of spectrum through an auction and digital migration, delayed due to recent legal challenges launched by mobile operators.

In addition, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s possible recall of temporary spectrum at the end of November will affect the quality of digital services for those working from home and leave millions of households without free access to educational and health websites.

Government assigned this spectrum in April 2020 to alleviate pressure on digital services in light of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The department said the durability of the recovery would depend on the implementation of a broad range of structural reforms that inspire confidence and create an enabling environment for accelerating and sustaining economic activity.

“In the context of limited fiscal space, reforms that require little budgetary support – including regulatory reforms that enhance competition – are being prioritised,” it said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

POTCHEFSTROOM – A 27-year-old man is expected to appear before the Ganyesa Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 12 November 2021, on a charge of stock theft.

The suspect’s court appearance stems from his apprehension on Wednesday, 10 November 2021 at about 15:00. It is alleged that police in Morokweng received information about goats that were hidden in a certain house in Lokalaneng Section in Morokweng. The information was operationalised and the swift reaction by Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Detectives and members from Vryburg Stock Theft and the Endangered Species Unit (STES) pounced on the suspect. Out of 18 goats that were reported stolen at Caffhill Farm, near Morokweng on Friday, 5 November 2021, 13 were recovered and will be handed back to the lawful owner.

The arrest of the suspect coincided with the Provincial Commissioner’s stock theft awareness campaign that was held earlier on the same day in Ganyesa. The event was aimed at combatting stock theft as well as to activate the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati Rural Safety and Community in Blue Priority Committee. After the release of Crime Statistics for the 4th Quarter of 2020/2021 by the Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele indicated an increase of cases, related to stock theft in Ganyesa.

The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, has applauded members of the community for their vigilance. He urged them to continue reporting suspicious criminal activities within their communities and said this success is a perfect example of Police/Community partnership where crime is combatted, leading to a safe environment. During the event, the Provincial Commissioner emphasised that stock theft is a high priority for police as it threatens food security, which is a basic human need.

Source: South African Police Service