Day: November 15, 2022

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has recovered at least R33 million from a technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college that was meant for students on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
According to SIU spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, the college – Northlink College – informed the unit about the money after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation authorising the corruption busting unit to investigate the affairs of NSFAS.
“[The] college informed the SIU that it received over R33 million from NSFAS that was not allocated to students between 2017 and 2021 and had invested it without authorisation.
“The TVET college stated to the SIU that it is fully aware that the funds should have been returned to the NSFAS, but Northlink College failed to do so and instead decided to invest the funds and would return the funds on request from NSFAS,” he said.
Kganyago said the SIU is calculating interest “earned from the investment from the commencement date”. When calculated, the interest is expected to be paid into the SIU Trust account.
NSFAS Investigation
Kganyago explained that the proclamation signed by President Ramaphosa allows the unit to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration at NSFAS and to “recover any financial losses suffered by the State through corruption and negligence”.
“The SIU investigation focuses on maladministration at NSFAS regarding two functions of the organisation. The first part will look into the management of NSFAS’s finances. The second part will investigate the allocation of loans, bursaries, and any other funding payable to students in terms of the provisions of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme Act.
“Furthermore, the SIU is also investigating related unauthorised, irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred by the NSFAS or the State, including the causes of maladministration. The SIU is also probing any unlawful or improper conduct by employees or officials of the NSFAS or the service providers in question, their employees or any other person or entity,” he said.
Kganyago explained that the proclamation covers a period of some six years from 2016 to August this year and will also look into allegations of “unlawful and improper conduct that took place” at the financial aid scheme.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The North West provincial government under the stewardship of Premier Kaobitsa Bushy Maape in partnership with the Moses Kotane Foundation and the North-West University will on Friday, 18 November 2022, host the first Annual Moses Kotane Lecture.

Set to be an annual event, the Moses Kotane Lecture aims to preserve Kotane’s legacy and borrow from his wisdom in finding lasting solutions to challenges of socio-economic concerns afflicting many communities across the province and country.

Moses Kotane was one of the figures who were instrumental in the struggle for liberation in South Africa. He was incorruptible and believed in good governance and ethical leadership. In 2015 his remains were repatriated from Moscow, Russia and buried in his home village of Phela in the North West.

The lecture which is held under the theme: “Resetting South Africa’s journey towards recovery and rebuilding”, will be delivered by Prof Somadoda Fikeni, an author, researcher and renowned political analyst who is currently the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission of South Africa.

Other guest speakers include Prof Dirk Kotzé, a Lecturer from the University of South Africa who specialises in South African politics and conflict resolution; Prof Kedibone Phage, a Director in the School of Government Studies from the North-West University whose areas of specialisation include Local Government, Public Policy and Public Governance, as well as Mr Solly Mapaila, the General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP).

Amongst other invited dignitaries are members of the Kotane family, Moses Kotane Foundation Board members, Members of the Provincial Legislature, Members of the Executive Council, former Premiers of the North West Province, the Provincial House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, civil society and different political organisations.

The Inaugural Annual Moses Kotane Lecture will be delivered as follows:
Date: Friday, 18 November 2022
Venue: NWU Potchefstroom Campus, Sanlam Auditorium
Time: 14h00 – 18h00

Members of the media wishing to attend and cover the Lecture are requested to send their details for RSVP to [email protected](link sends e-mail) by 16h00 on Wednesday, 16 November 2022.

Members not able to attend physically can follow the proceedings which will be streamed live on the North West Office of the Premier and North-West University Facebook pages, as well as the North West Provincial Government YouTube channel.

Source: Government of South Africa

Western Cape is committed to the mainstreaming of GIS Technology
“The WCDoA’s Cape Farm Mapper application has become synonymous with evidence-based and spatially informed decision-making in the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, ” said the Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer, as the world celebrates GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Day on 16 November 2022.

GIS Day is an annual event held worldwide to celebrate the rapidly evolving technology of GIS. Initiated by spatial analytics world leader Esri(link is external) (Environmental Systems Research Institute), it first took place in 1999.

Dr Ivan Meyer says that the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) has been active in GIS for over three decades.

Dr Meyer said, “during that time, we have developed a vast resource of spatial information related to agriculture in the province. Analysis of the data regularly helps provide information to support decision-making amongst stakeholders, planning partners, our officials and management.”

According to the WCDoA’s GIS specialist scientist, Dr Mike Wallace, GIS allows us to integrate various data types from multiple sources.

Dr Wallace said, “GIS is used in almost every sector of the economy, science, and government. But, more specifically in agriculture, it can be used for many applications. These range from simple farm mapping to monitoring agricultural production with the aid of satellites, complex modelling of crops in response to natural resources and support management of natural disasters. In addition, GIS helps us understand how climate change will affect our world and keep tabs on agriculture’s dynamic “footprint” in our province.”

The latter is supported by a 4-yearly airborne census of agriculture (the so-called “Flyover”) which places a wealth of information at the fingertips of our administrators & regional planners, agribusinesses, researchers, and producers.

Dr Wallace highlights the popularity of the WCDoA’s innovative web application, CapeFarm Mapper (CFM).

The application allows free access to much of our local data to non-specialist users – even facilitating their production of report-quality maps.

Dr Wallace said, “GIS technology helps organisations track, analyse and visualise data in a way that has never been done before. As a result, it has become much more integrated into the mainstream IT infrastructure and architecture of many organisations – including the WCG”.

“Our department is committed to mainstreaming GIS. We recognised the value of recording geographic location for its activities to facilitate spatial analysis and decision making, ” concluded Dr Meyer.

Cape Farm Mapper can be accessed at: https://gis.elsenburg.com/apps/cfm/(link is external) or via the Agri-Tools menu on the department’s website elsenburg.com.

Source: Government of South Africa