Month: October 2023

Posted on

President Ramaphosa mourns soldiers who perished in military base fire

As the Commander-in-Chief of the nation’s armed forces, President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his profound sadness at the the deaths of six soldiers who died in a Northern Cape fire.

This comes after a blaze that struck the SA Army Combat Training Centre at the Lohatla military base on Friday.

The troops, according to the Presidency, were part of a military exercise named Vukuhlome.

“The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) announced on Saturday that a wildfire that had originated in Khathu in the Gamagara Local Municipality had reached the military base where six soldiers died in the blaze while three were injured and the army lost equipment including vehicles,” said the Presidency on Sunday.

President Ramaphosa has since offered his deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased SANDF members.

“The President wishes the injured SANDF members a speedy and comfortable recovery and his thoughts are with survivors who witnessed this tragedy,” said the Presidency.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Condolences for Eswatini top cop

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has announced the passing of Eswatini Police Commissioner William Dlamini, who passed away on Saturday morning at OR Tambo International Airport.

The top cop, according to a SAPS statement, was in transit to Eswatini from Angola where he attended the 26th Interpol African Regional Conference.

“The Commissioner collapsed and died at the airport. Both the family and the delegation that accompanied the late Commissioner on his official trip have received psychosocial services from psychologists attached to the SAPS Employee Health and Wellness unit,” the statement read.

National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, has since on behalf of the SAPS sent his condolences to the Royal Eswatini Police Service as well as the family of Dlamini.

Masemola described Dlamini as a soft-spoken and committed senior police officer who was dedicated to enhancing cooperation to counter transnational organised crime in the region.

“Our sincerest condolences to the Royal Eswatini Police Service and the family of the late Commissioner. Commissioner Dlamini was humble and dedicated to the cause of serving.

“He was always available to discuss collaboration in preventing and combating cross-border crime in the SADC region. The SAPS is providing the necessary support in line with its expertise through its Interpol office,” said Masemola.

Police at the airport have also registered an inquest docket to determine the cause of death.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

President Ramaphosa to receive Census 2022 results

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to receive South Africa’s Census 2022 national results from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

The Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke, will officially hand over the report to the President and announce the results of the population and housing count to the country at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday.

Census 2022, according to the Presidency, was the fourth population and housing count in post-apartheid South Africa, with the first conducted in 1996, with subsequent censuses being conducted in 2001 and 2011.

The population and housing census was conducted in February 2022 and will provide comprehensive data on population size, demographic trends, and other service delivery-related information.

Stats SA will be following the trend adopted by many countries and data will be released in phases.

For phase one, the Census 2022 launch will only cover reports and indicators at the national, provincial, district and local municipality levels.

“Census data is an important data source used for planning and evidence-based decision making by government and various sectors of society.

“The census population count provides data on the demographic, economic and social makeup of the country. Furthermore, findings from censuses are key in tracking service delivery programmes over time,” said the Presidency.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Eskom suspends load shedding

Due to improved generation performance, load shedding will remain suspended until 4pm on Monday, Eskom said.

Thereafter, Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm until 5am on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the state-owned power utility said load shedding will then be suspended from 5am until 4pm on Tuesday.

“This pattern of suspending load shedding from 5am until 4pm and implementing Stage 2 load shedding from 4pm until 5 am, will be repeated daily until further notice. Eskom will communicate should any significant changes, “said Eskom in an update on Sunday.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Phaahla to lead World Mental Health Day commemoration

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, will on Tuesday lead the World Mental Health Day commemorative event in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal.

The day will help improve knowledge, raise awareness and drive actions that promote and protect everyone’s mental health as a universal human right.

Phaahla will be joined by the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health Nomagugu Simelane, World Health Organisation’s Country Director Dr Owen Kaluwa, representatives from human rights bodies and local leaders.

The 2023 campaign will be commemorated under the theme “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right” theme, which serves as a clarion call for countries to improve access to quality mental health services and ensure that the human rights and well-being of people with mental disorders are respected and upheld.

The Department of Health has called on communities and organisations to create an enabling environment for people to openly discuss mental health challenges and share experiences to help break down barriers.

According to the department, this will also encourage health-seeking behaviour for early diagnosis and effective management.

“Stigma and discrimination can make mental health problems worse and delay a person from seeking help they need to recover,” it said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Health Council partners 3DATX on vehicular emission testing

The Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON), says it is partnering with 3DATX Africa, a US based organisation on vehicular emission testing.

Dr Yakubu Baba, Registrar of EHCON stated this at a media dialogue on de-carbonisation control measure on Friday in Abuja.

He said that the partnership would ensure an emission free society and safeguard the health of the populace.

Baba said the essence of the vehicular testing a technological device provided by 3DATX was to protect the health of humans.

According to him, the objective of the vehicular testing technology was to reduce emission to the barest minimum to mitigate the effect of climate change.

He said the project been piloted in Abuja has so far tested no fewer than 100 vehicles at no cost.

“This is a very important instrument and Nigeria is the first to start benefiting in the whole of Africa.

“The beauty of the technology is after identifying the problem the company, and council will also come up with a solution base to make all the Nigerian vehicles emission-free.

“This will enable the country meet global standard on emission free vehicles.

“We need to collaborate so that we can be able to face the issue of climate change squarely, because we have seen the effect.

“ We also want to make Nigeria to benefit from the incentive that is within the UN framework,” he said.

He described the vehicular testing technology as significant in the history of environmental health in the country.

Baba said EHCON had agreement with the company in four areas which included research and development.

“Another segment of our agreement with the company is to develop the capacity of our practitioners which are over 40,000 across the country so that the state government will follow suit.

“The last segment of our relationship is where we can be able to create advocacy to Nigerians on the importance of ensuring that they make their vehicle available for assessment and inspection through this technology, ” he said.

Earlier, Matthew Suleiman, General Manager, 3DATX Corporation identified the device as highly sophisticated for measuring emission gases coming out from vehicle.

He explained that it can be used on generator and has temperature adjustment that processes the gas.

“The whole system is controlled while it is connected to the laptop, so we have software that will show us real time the emissions coming out from the car.

“We are measuring particles, carbonmonoxide, sulphur among others coming out from the vehicle depending on the configuration of the devices, ” he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria