Month: August 2023

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and KwaNongoma Local Municipality have committed to work together to accelerate service delivery, especially the delivery of transport infrastructure projects.

This follows a meeting where Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC, Sipho Hlomuka, led a team of departmental officials to engage with the municipality in a bid to identify areas of possible partnership.

During a meeting on Monday, KwaNongoma Local Municipality Mayor, Mshangane Ndabandaba and Speaker Babongile Sithole shared the challenges facing the municipality and pledged to work with the provincial and national government in promoting service delivery.

The Department of Transport introduced a team of fleet and personnel that is deployed to assist in improving local roads under the three various traditional councils in the area.

The team deployed will be working in the area for a month, where they will rehabilitate roads, including D1857, D1858 and D1858, which are located in Mthwadlana, KwaNongoma.

Hlomuka said government is exploring a number of innovations to support struggling municipalities like KwaNongoma, where key projects will be prioritised.

He said the department is going to identify critical areas of intervention.

“We will assist the municipality to fulfil its constitutional and political mandate to deliver services to the people. The Department of Transport has started, and we commit to reviving road infrastructure in KwaNongoma,” Hlomuka said.

The MEC said the team will do local roads but will also look at critical capital projects.

“Government, at a provincial level, has agreed that all departments will improve their service delivery roll-out in Nongoma. This will also culminate in the Premier-led Operation Sukuma Sakhe, which is a provincial government integrated service delivery programme,” Hlomuka said.

He said national departments have also committed to accelerate services to assist the municipality.

Ndabandaba commended the department’s intervention, saying that with a budget of R39 billion from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), the municipality is unable to cover all the wards within the local municipality.

“We welcome the involvement and partnership with the provincial government. This marks a new era for the people of KwaNongoma, and it is a start of more good things to come,” Ndabandaba said.

Hlomuka also expressed concern with the level of political intolerance and political killings in the area, saying more work will be done on crime, including political violence.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Government is deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict involving the minibus-taxi industry and the City of Cape Town, which has escalated into a strike as a result of impounding of taxi vehicles by the City of Cape Town.

We condemn the violence that has characterised this strike in the strongest possible terms. Those who perpetuate criminality must face the full might of the law. Government will not tolerate lawlessness, irrespective of who the perpetrator is. Our democracy is founded human rights and the exercise of those rights requires that we respect the rights of others. It can never be acceptable for those who are aggrieved by the actions of the City to blockade roads and undermine the rights of ordinary citizens to travel or access schools, places of work and economic activity. It is equally not acceptable for officers of the law to conduct themselves in a manner the violates the law and the rights of citizens including the taxi industry. We will therefore act decisively, working closely with law enforcement agencies and authorities to uproot this criminality.

We call on the taxi industry to denounce any form of violence or intimidation by its members.

I have personally intervened in efforts to find a lasting solution to the impasse through numerous engagements with the taxi industry under the leadership of SANTACO. I have also met with the Premier of the Western Cape, the MEC and the City led by the Mayor and the MMC. We have made strides in addressing the root cause of the current tensions, and we are confident that we will find each other in the process.

The City of Cape Town has introduced conditions of operating licences, which by-laws the taxi industry has expressed reservations on. The Task Team that was established to address the concerns has not made headway, resulting in the City implementing the impounding of vehicles based on these conditions.

It is an integral part of our legal system that administrative decisions must be based on the principle of legality. We have national laws in place that govern the infringements and penalties dealt with in the contested conditions of operating licences. The national laws are in place to ensure that fair rules are applicable to all citizens irrespective of the City or Province they reside in. This is a constitutional mandate to ensure order and effectiveness of the rule of law. It can never be that a City will define itself outside the parameters of national laws and implement penalties that are out of sync with these laws. We therefore call on the City of Cape Town to respect and uphold national laws as they currently stand.

To this end, we call on the City to return to the negotiating table to address the areas of disagreement and demonstrate a genuine effort to find a lasting resolution to the current challenges.

On the basis of these considerations, we therefore call on the City to immediately release without any conditions, all vehicles impounded based on operating licence and leave those impounded in terms of the National Land Transport Act of 2009.

We remain committed to moving with speed in finding an amicable solution that must enable the taxi industry to resume operation and call off the strike. Such an outcome is in the interest of the country and the industry.

Our efforts to regulate the taxi industry must be underpinned by mutual respect of the law and a genuine effort to uplift this industry and ensure that it assumes its place in the broader public transport industry, characterised by respect for the law and the rights of others.

Violence and lawlessness have no place in our society and government will not hesitate to unleash the full might of the law against those who believe they can perpetuate such conduct with impunity.

Source: Government of South Africa

Invitation of nominations or applications for appointment as members of the evaluation panel to assess the performance of the Chairperson, other councillors, and the Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies invites nominations/applications of interested and suitably qualified persons to serve as members of the Evaluation Panel to monitor and evaluate the performance of the Chairperson, and other Councillors of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is a Constitutional Institution, established through section 192 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act No. 108 of 1996. Section 192 states that national legislation must establish an independent authority to regulate broadcasting in the public interest and ensure fairness and diversity of views broadly representing South African society.

To promote good governance and accountability by ensuring that Councillors’ performance enables the achievement of organisational goals and targets, there is a need to obtain a mixed set of competencies, experiences, and skills to improve performance and ensure that the Authority achieves its objectives.

The nominated persons or applicants must be people with a high degree of integrity, honesty, transparency, ethical leadership, professional competence, and due care, confidentiality, accountability and must understand the public sector governance and legislative requirements. Candidate must have a proven/ successful track record of board/council pe of the following disciplines: –

Accounting and Auditing;

Corporate Governance, Legal, and Corporate Law; and

Civil society or Academia

Nominated persons or applicants must have a minimum of 10 years of Board/Council performance evaluation and at least 10 years of experience in an Executive or Senior Management role in the private and public sector preferably a regulatory environment. Candidates must understand the mandate of ICASA.

Nominated persons or applicants must have a bachelor’s degree; a post-graduate qualification will be an added advantage.

The nominated persons must provide the following:

A comprehensive curriculum vitae (CV) supported by a motivation why the candidate is suitable to serve on the Evaluation Panel; certified proof of academic qualifications and an identity document (ID). The CV must include the following information: physical and postal addresses; telephone and e-mail address, previous experience quoting dates, and institutions or organisations concerned and references to the successful board/council performance evaluation.

Preferred candidates will be subjected to security clearance and disclosure of business interests.

Correspondence will be limited to short-listed candidates only. Nominations/Applications must be addressed to:

The Director-General, Department of Communications and Digital Technologies

For attention: Thapelo Mokwana, Deputy Director: Ground Floor, Block B, iParioli Office Park, 1166 Park Street, Hatfield, Pretoria Or Private Bag X860, Pretoria, 0001

Email Address for nominations: [email protected](link sends e-mail)

Enquiries: [email protected](link sends e-mail) or [email protected](link sends e-mail)

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies reserves the right not to appoint applicants to the Evaluation Panel.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 08 September 2023

Source: Government of South Africa