Day: July 15, 2023

President Cyril Ramaphosa will Saturday lead the 8th District Development Model (DDM) Presidential Imbizo and interact with communities in Sekhukhune District Municipality in Limpopo.

Themed ‘Leave No One Behind’, the Imbizo will be held at the Motodi Sports Complex in Ga-Motodi Village in the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality under the Sekhukhune District Municipality.

The President will begin with an inspection site visit to the R37 Driekop-Steelpoort Interchange Road Project, followed by a community engagement.

During his visit, President Ramaphosa will engage directly with the communities and stakeholders in Sekhukhune, addressing their concerns and seeking solutions to unblock challenges hindering integrated service delivery.

Just as in many provinces, basic services such as a shortage of water and electricity, dilapidated roads, poverty and unemployment, are some of the challenges that community members expect the three spheres of government to address today.

The DDM is an integrated planning model for Cooperative Governance which seeks to ensure an integrated, district-based, service delivery approach aimed at fast-tracking service delivery.

The Imbizo is a platform for face-to-face engagement between citizens and senior government leaders that holds the administration to account and allows government to consult and brief communities on development and service delivery in the relevant area.

The engagement is also aimed at fostering collaboration between government, residents, business, community-based organisations and traditional leadership in transforming all districts in South Africa.

With the participation of leadership from the National, Provincial, and Local spheres of government, the President’s visit will facilitate meaningful community engagement, ensuring that government programmes and initiatives are tailored to meet the needs and priorities of residents.

Sekhukhune District has been identified by the Limpopo Provincial Government as a district with immense potential for economic growth, given its abundant mineral resources and water supply.

Leading up to the dialogue with the community at the DDM Presidential Imbizo, government leaders from all three spheres have interacted with key stakeholders and paid visits to service delivery projects within the four local municipalities in the Sekhukhune District Municipality.

To date, President Ramaphosa has visited seven provinces – namely the North West, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal where he interacted with residents.

Source: Nam News Network (NNN)

South Africa has deployed the army in four of its provinces after at least 21 trucks carrying goods were set on fire on national roads in various parts of the country over the past week.

Authorities have not established the motive for the attacks but Police Minister Bheki Cele said there is a possibility of economic sabotage against South Africa. He did not say who might be behind the campaign but police are hunting for at least 12 people believed to be linked to the attacks.

“These are organised and sophisticated operations,” Cele said in a statement released by the South African government’s official news agency.

Cele said there was no evidence that the truck burning was connected to the week-long violence and unrest in July 2021, when more than 350 people were killed and businesses were looted in a wave of protests sparked by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court.

That case was back in the headlines on Thursday when South Africa’s apex Constitutional Court upheld a ruling that Zuma’s early release from prison on medical parole was improper and he should serve the remaining 13 months of his 15-month sentence. South Africa braced itself on Friday for more violent unrest over the decision.

The Department of Corrections has not said if it will order Zuma back to jail or if the time he spent on medical parole will count as him having served his sentence. South African media reports said the 81-year-old former president was in Russia receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Soldiers were deployed in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal where Zuma is from, and the central province of Free State. The army would support police in their response to the truck attacks, the South African Department of Defence said.

Cele said 21 trucks had been burned down since Sunday in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Sunday, when the truck burning apparently started, was the second anniversary of the start of the 2021 violence.

“No matter the motive, the country’s law enforcement remains on high alert and is hard at work at preventing more attacks but also finding these individuals or gangs of thugs who are hell-bent on causing havoc on our roads,” Cele said.

Authorities have not reported any deaths or serious injuries related to the torching of trucks.

Source: Nam News Network (NNN)

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) says staggering “I am Alive Confirmation Solution” for pensioners’ verification is to avoid network failure.

Dr Chioma Ejikeme, Executive Secretary, PTAD, gave the explanation at the South-East Stakeholders Engagement Forum in Awka.

Ejikeme said the agency came up with the “I Am Alive Confirmation Solution”, to transit from manual to automated system of verification.

According to her, for efficient and effective delivery, and prevention a heavy traffic on the website, PTAD has staggered the use of the Confirmation Solution as follows.

“Police Pensioners (April 14 to October 13, 2023), Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pensioners (June 1 to December 31), Civil Service Pensioners ( July 1 to January 31, 2024) and Parastatals Pensioners; August 1 to February 28, 2024”, she said.

She urged pensioners to note the scheduled dates as they concern their respective departments.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by pensioners and Stakeholders from Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Anambra.

Ejikeme, who reviewed the activities of the agency since she took over four years ago, said PTAD had achieved a lot in 10 years of its establishment.

“No pensioner who is alive should be left out of this very critical and important exercise that would determine a pensioner’s eligibility to continue to receive pension.

“Our resolve is to ensure that no eligible pensioner is left out. PTAD wishes to inform all our pensioners in the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom, that a survey is being carried out by the Directorate to ascertain the number of pensioners in those countries,” she said.

She advised pensioners living in those countries to visit the PTAD website and take part in the survey, saying “they should log on to our website – www.ptad.gov.ng to access the link for the survey”.

Chief Godwin Abumisi, President, Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), commended the transformational leadership of PTAD, saying that pensioners are better treated now than before.

Abumisi particularly praised the “I Am Alive Confirmation Solution” initiative by PTAD, noting that the policy has reduced the sufferings of pensioners.

Mrs Nneka Obiamulu, a director in the agency, said there was a lot of mistrust and aggression in the way pensioners related with pension managers, but said that much has improved.

She noted that the huge debt owed pensioners due to challenges in the verification and profiling of pensioners before the establishment of the agency have been resolved.

“We have visited more than 800 pensioners who are incapacitated in their homes and hospitals and our plans is to continue to improve,” she said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, a faith-based organisation, have entered into partnership to galvanize support for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The National Chief Imam of Al-Habibiyyah, Imam Fuad Adeyemi, made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

He said currently there were over 3.3 million IDPs in the country.

He explained that the IDPs cut across different regions of Northeast, Northwest, and Northcentral.

” As a part of this partnership, Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society will organise fundraising activities to mobilise resources to support internally displaced persons in Nigeria.

” This partnership with UNHCR is an expansion of the work Al-Habibiyyah is doing to support the less privileged in society. In Ramadan, we fed at least 2,000 people every day with our Food Bank Programme in Abuja.

” Moreover, we have over 20 years of experience in fundraising as evident in our annual distribution of Zakat,” Adeyemi said.

He said that the perennial farmers-herders clashes in the Northcentral as well as the banditry and kidnappings in the northwest added to the displacement emergency in the northeast caused by non-state-armed groups.

” These displaced communities are in dire need of support for basic amenities such as shelter, health, education, access to clean water, and protection from sexual violence.

” UNHCR has been at the forefront, responding to the needs of these IDPs, but the increasing number of displaced persons in Nigeria has exacerbated resources.

” This partnership between UNHCR and the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society intends to mobilise support from Nigeria’s Muslim community and galvanise the spirit of Islamic philanthropy as a tool to support some of the most vulnerable populations amongst us.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society is a faith-based organisation in Nigeria whose mandate includes the propagation of Islam in Nigeria and beyond.

The society also promotes Islamic and secular education, inter-religious dialogue and provision of social services such as health care, education and welfare assistance to people in need

The organisaion also ensures advancement of Islamic culture in all facets of human activities.

Al-Habibbiyyah collaborates with fellow Muslims, Islamic organizations and other reputable impact-making organizations whose vision and mandate match theirs to deliver interventions that promote the well-being of the people and human dignity.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The new Commander, Army Headquarters Garrison, Maj.-Gen. Koko Isoni, has assumed office following the recent appointment and redeployment of senior officers across Nigerian army formations and units.

Isoni took over from the erstwhile Commander, Maj.-Gen. Kabiru Garba, on Friday at Mogadishu Cantonment, Asokoro, Abuja.

The new commander was until his recent appointment the Deputy Theater Commander Joint Task Force Northeast, Operation Hadin Kai.

He commended his predecessor for doing a good job during his tour of duty and urged officers and men of the command to support to him to achieve more.

The immediate past Commander, Maj.-Gen. Garba, in his valedictory speech appreciated officers and soldiers for their support, loyalty and commitment throughout his tour of duty.

He urged them to continue to work together as a team in order to make his successor’s tenure worthwhile.

Highlights of the event were signing of handing and taking-over notes, decoration of the new Commander with AHQ Garrison Insignia, hoisting of new command flag at the quarter guard and group photograph to signify a new era.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria