Month: April 2024

Cabinet has welcomed the opening of the R3.4 billion Newlyn Park Bayhead Rail Terminal project at the Port of Durban, which consists of 640 000 square metres of warehousing, rail sidings and open storage.

‘The new terminal will facilitate the efficient movement of sea, rail and road cargo through the Port of Durban, and help address the recent challenges experienced in the logistics, infrastructure and network industries,’ a Cabinet statement said on Monday.

The investment resulted in 4 013 direct construction jobs and the full-time employment of more than 1 000 people, with this number expected to grow as the facility handles more cargo.

‘In revitalising our country’s rail network, Cabinet also welcomed the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA) successful restoration of five crucial Metrorail services across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

‘PRASA effectively brought 31 of its 40 lines back into partial operation and is working on achieving full operational status. The milestone dem
onstrates government’s commitment to revitalising passenger rail services and providing an efficient public transport option for South Africans,’ Cabinet said.

WATCH | Transport Minister briefs on improvements at PRASA | Transport Minister briefs on reopened PRASA lines.

Cabinet held a special Cabinet Meeting on Wednesday, 10 April 2024.

In a related development, Cabinet welcomed the announcement by the South African National Roads Agency that it would inject over R50 billion into road infrastructure development in the Eastern Cape.

This infrastructure investment is geared towards the construction of new facilities, road improvements and strengthening, and special maintenance of the national road network in the province.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Cabinet says it has noted the Road Accident Fund (RAF) turnaround strategy which has resulted in major improvements in the settlements of claims within 120 days and reduced legal costs by 75 percent.

The strategy has also seen a reduction of medical costs from R3.6 billion in the 2019/20 financial year to R2.1 billion in the 2023/24 financial year.

Cabinet, in a statement on Monday, said it had received a briefing on the implementation of the turnaround strategy for the RAF, aimed at simplifying the funds system, while also improving the administration of benefits and payouts to accident victims.

Cabinet noted that a key intervention has been the launch of the RAF contact centre which provides a platform for RAF claimants to have access to their claims information without having to solely rely on their legal representatives.

The platform also allows claimants the opportunity to verify the payments made by RAF to their legal representatives.

‘The interventions also led to cumulative legal costs savings of
over R23 billion in the three years of implementing the strategy. Moreover, the strategy interventions resulted in the reduction of claims paid to claimants/ short term liability to R9.3 billion for the period ending 31 March 2023,’ Cabinet said in a statement.

Cabinet was also updated on legislative amendments to the current RAF Act, which are at an advanced stage.

‘The RAF Amendment Bill will be considered by the 7th administration of government. The bill is aimed at refining the benefits and the payment of certain products in annuities and making it equitable,’ Cabinet said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Police are urging residents to refrain from illegally connecting electricity because of the serious danger it poses and possibly death.

This after three people lost their lives at the weekend in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.

According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), a property owner from Greenbushes in Gqeberha found her tenant’s lifeless body clutching on to wires on Saturday at around 2am.

The police believe that the 26-year-old man was attempting to connect electricity to his flatlet when he was electrocuted.

An inquest docket was opened and is being investigated by SAPS Kabega Park.

Meanwhile, later that evening around 9pm, a 24-year-old female in Rabie Village, Wells Estate, allegedly touched an illegal connection while crouching and died.

‘An inquest docket was opened and is being investigated by SAPS Swartkops,’ the SAPS statement read.

On Sunday, 21 April 2024, an 18-year-old girl allegedly stepped on an illegal connection and was electrocuted to death around 4:30am.

The police said the
teenager and her friends were walking through an open space on Auburn Street, Booysens Park, when the incident occurred.

‘One of the male friends attempted to help her, but after he was also shocked, he moved away.’

The police are currently probing the matter.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Eskom’s performance over the past three weeks – which has seen no load shedding being implemented – is a result of concerted and deliberate plans by the power utility and government to deal with load shedding.

This according to Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who was briefing the media on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan on Monday.

‘The kind of progress that we are seeing today is largely as a result of the exceptional work that has been done by the team at Eskom. We are turning the corner and making significant strides to ensure that finally we get to see the back of load shedding. Of course we are not yet out of the woods.

‘There’s been significant recovery as a result of the execution of the Generation Operational Recovery Plan…[and] as a result of, first, at the national level, the Energy Action Plan,’ he said.

Ramokgopa added that there have been ‘phenomenal improvements in relation to the unplanned capacity loss factor’ during the past week.

‘We are
beginning to see the kind of improvement that we are desiring. The period of March, the Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor [UCLF] – the rate at which we are losing these units, the rate at which these units are not efficient – is coming down.

‘The baseline of May [2023], we were sitting at about 18 000MW, we are bringing it down. The average of the week from the 8 to 12 April [2024], we were sitting at about 13 900MW. The week after, again at 14 000MW. Today, we are still at about 13 000MW. We want to maintain that…even bring it sub-13 000MW but it’s a function of a steady, orchestrated and deliberate effort on the part of Eskom,’ he said.

The Minister emphasised that although the improvements are commendable, focus is still firmly on the work that still needs to be done.

‘We are keeping focus on the bouncing ball, the resolution of load shedding. I must emphasise that in the nature of this space, you are likely to have setbacks. We are still working on the reliability of these machines and that’s why you can’
t speak with great confidence that load shedding is behind us.

‘We are making the kind of progress that, in many instances, far exceeds where we thought we will be, but we are not yet where we want to be,’ he said.

Renewable energy

Minister Ramokgopa highlighted that the Energy Action Plan is also beginning to bear fruit which is exemplified in the contribution of renewable energy projects.

‘We are seeing exceptional performance of renewables. As a result of the reforms that the state has introduced…the contribution of renewables is on the back of state incentives. It’s part of that orchestrated plan. If you go to the Energy Action Plan, outcome number four stated explicitly that part of this Energy Action Plan is to ensure that we accelerate the rollout of roof top solar solutions for both households and industries.

‘When we are out of this load shedding situation, we will still encourage people to rollout rooftop solar solutions because we want to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and we want to en
sure that households, small and large industries contribute to this green transition we have committed to,’ he said.

Prospective view

The Minister said the prospects in the immediate future look bright with several generating units coming back online over the next coming months.

‘We are on track to recover Unit 4 of Medupi [Power Station] and that will be coming on stream in September of this year. We are on track to ensure that we return – as part of the extension of the life of our only nuclear power station – Koeberg Unit 2…we are confident that we will return it in September 2024. We are confident of synchronising Kusile [Power Station] Unit 6 in October of this year.

‘In the next six months, we are going to get an additional 2580MW just on the Eskom fleet. We will continue to ensure that we sustain these efforts of improved performance,’ Ramokgopa said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is proud of its ongoing support for the efforts of fellow African countries to emerge from conflict to rebuild and consolidate democracy.

The President returned from a working visit to South Sudan last week.

READ | SA supports efforts for consolidating peace in South Sudan

The northeast African country has emerged from the ravages of civil war to become one of the world’s newest independent nations – a feat that President Ramaphosa said is much akin to South Africa’s own journey.

‘Much like our own experience as South Africa, the people of South Sudan were faced with the task of constructing a new nation in the midst of conflict and social divisions, all the while contending with a legacy of racial discrimination and oppression.

‘The South Sudanese set out to do so in the face of the most extraordinary, challenges. The incoming government of the newly independent country of South Sudan had to build an economy and institutional capacity from the ashes of their s
ad past,’ he said.

The President recalled that when internal conflict broke out in South Sudan, South Africa joined the ranks for peace efforts.

These efforts, in part, resulted in the 2018 signing of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, which still holds to date.

‘It is admirable that the permanent ceasefire continues to hold and that the parties to the agreement have honoured their commitment to end armed conflict and engender national security by seeking to form a united national defence force through the cantonment and training of former combatants.

‘This political and legal framework that is being implemented outlines the aspirations of the people of South Sudan to bring a permanent end to armed conflict, consolidate democracy and determine their collective destiny. Included in the agreement are commitments to adopt a permanent constitution and create unified security services,’ President Ramaphosa said.

Upcoming elections

President Ramaphosa e
mphasised that South Sudan now stands at a ‘crucial point in its journey towards consolidating democracy’ with elections expected to be held this year in that country.

‘Parties are hard at work to ensure that the necessary preconditions are in place for the holding of elections that are free, fair and credible,’ he said.

The President explained that during the working visit to South Sudan, he met with President Salva Kiir Mayardit, First Vice-President Riek Machar and other South Sudanese political leaders.

‘I also met with representatives of the African Union (AU), monitoring bodies and international development organisations. I was glad to see the progress that has been made in the run-up to the elections, including the establishment of a national elections commission and the registration of political parties.

‘What is pleasing is that the South Sudanese are working together to address the outstanding issues on the agreed Roadmap as the country advances towards elections. This proves that the adage, ‘Af
rican solutions for African problems’, is truly at work in South Sudan. The best we can all do is to encourage and support the process,’ he said.

The President insisted that the African continent and the international community ‘owe it to a people, who have suffered so much and for so long, to support South Sudan’s journey towards becoming a fully-fledged democracy’.

‘Thirty years since we attained our freedom, we are proud of our ongoing support for the efforts of fellow African countries to emerge from conflict to rebuild and consolidate democracy.

‘Despite the ravages of a bitter war, South Sudan was remarkably able to emerge and join the community of nations.

‘With the ongoing political and material support of the international community, the United Nations, the AU and other countries supporting the peace process, stability, prosperity and a sustainable peace in South Sudan are well within reach,’ President Ramaphosa said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has warned the public not to fall for a scam involving the impersonation of SIU head, Advocate Andy Mothibi, and other members of the unit.

‘The scammers are trying to solicit funds from members of the public in the name of Advocate Mothibi and the SIU.

‘The SIU has taken steps to investigate and determine who these people are and their motives. We urge the public to be cautious and not fall prey to these scammers,’ the unit said.

The unit said it will take legal action against those impersonating its members.

‘Adv. Mothibi and the SIU staff members will never ask any member of the public for funds, especially for bribery or to make investigations disappear.

‘The SIU will not hesitate to take legal action against anyone impersonating the SIU and its staff members,’ the SIU said.

Source: South African Government News Agency