Month: June 2024

The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has responded to several incidents caused by heavy rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms that battered parts of the province, which have resulted in extensive damage to households and infrastructure.

According to reports, six people lost their lives following a tornado which ripped apart homes and infrastructure through uThongathi in the north of Durban on Monday.

The storm has also left extensive damage to schools and power lines, leaving many parts of eThekwini without electricity.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) on Sunday issued a Level 4 alert warning of disruptive rains along the coast of the province, with a high probability of flooding.

In a statement, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government said the eThekwini Metro has been hardest hit, and dozens of people are being treated for injuries in health care facilities.

‘Early reports indicate that several areas within eThekwini Metro have been affected, with some roads flooded, trees fallen,
and significant damage to infrastructure such as power lines and roads. The uThongathi area, in the north of Durban, has recorded the most incidents, with several homes severely damaged, roofs blown off, and trees falling on electricity lines causing power outages.

‘Other areas around Durban, including Umgababa, Durban Central, and the western parts of the city, also experienced heavy rainfall, leading to flooding of some households and roads. The strong winds also affected communities in the Amajuba District and Umzinyathi District, where houses were damaged by the strong winds in Newcastle, Dannhauser, Nquthu, and surrounding areas,’ the provincial government said.

Disaster teams are currently assessing the extent of the damages, while providing immediate relief, including accommodating displaced residents in government buildings.

The provincial government, through the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), has also coordinated the disaster team from affected municipalities
to provide temporary shelter to those who may need it.

‘Public facilities have been opened as safe havens for the affected communities as the assessment continues. Roads are being cleared using TLBs [tractor loader backerhoe] to ensure that rescue workers are able to attend to the injured,’ the provincial government said.

READ | Heavy rain warning for KZN south coast

KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube is expected to lead a government delegation to visit the uThongathi area for assessment and provision of disaster relief today.

Source: South African Government News Agency

As part of ongoing efforts to reduce new Tuberculosis (TB) infections and deaths, the country is hosting the 8th SA TB Conference in Durban.

The gathering is an opportunity to track progress towards achieving the 2025 targets set at the United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting and the 2030 target to end the epidemic in line with the pragmatic End TB Strategy by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The conference, said the Department of Health, is being held at the International Convention Centre in KwaZulu-Natal from Tuesday to Friday. The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, is expected to deliver a keynote address to officially open the conference on Tuesday at 3pm.

Globally, TB is still a leading cause of death from a single infectious agent and one of the greatest public health threats in South Africa.

South Africa remains one of the 30 high-burden TB countries contributing to 87% of the estimated incident cases worldwide.

‘It claims approximately 54 000 lives annually or around 148 liv
es daily in South Africa,’ the department said.

However, government believes it has made strides to ensure that all people with TB have equitable access to high-quality diagnosis, treatment, care and preventive therapy.

‘Data shows that 56% of TB patients experience catastrophic costs as per a recent WHO survey. These include a rollout of shorter regimens with better drugs for the treatment of drug-resistant TB, and the notable launch of the bedaquiline-pretomanid-linezolid-levofloxacin (BPaL-L) programme.’

Other innovative interventions include the introduction of targeted universal TB testing regardless of symptoms among high-risk groups, the introduction of SMS notifications for reporting test results, and the use of artificial intelligence such as digital chest X-rays in TB screening and diagnosis.

The four-day biannual conference is expected to ‘re-energise the TB community’ through in-person interactions between local and international stakeholders consisting of policymakers, academics, research
ers, government officials, and members of civil society organisations.

The conference is being held under the theme: ‘Accelerating progress to end TB’, which serves as a call for all sectors of society to join hands to prevent avoidable deaths from a preventable and curable disease.

The meeting will consist of insightful sessions designed to cover diverse aspects of the disease and control discussions.

These include the TB vaccine, infections in mines, insights and innovations towards ending TB, stigma measurement among people, care services and treatment response in children with presumptive pulmonary TB over six months.

The panellists will also look at the results of community-based TB services targeting migrant workers in the South of Mozambique.

The department in collaboration with stakeholders in the sector including the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) is currently implementing the national TB Recovery Plan, which aims to reverse the losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

T
he aim is to accelerate efforts towards attaining the National Strategic Plan, UN High-Level Meeting, Sustainable Development Goals and End TB targets will be strengthened.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Water users in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality have been informed of the upcoming three-month shutdown of parts of the Lower Sundays River Canal for urgent rehabilitation work.

The Lower Sundays River Canal forms part of the Lower Sunday’s Government Water Scheme (LSGWS).

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Lower Sundays River Water User Association, and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) has announced that the planned shutdown of the LSGWS canal is scheduled for 10 June to 15 August 2024.

The LSGWS canal system supplies two main users with bulk water, including agricultural users, Sundays River citrus producing area, and domestic users, Kirkwood, Uitenhage, Enon, and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro amongst others.

The LSGWS forms part of the greater Orange-Fish-Sundays Inter Basin Transfer Scheme and it transfers 740 million kilolitres of water annually from the Gariep Dam to the Eastern Cape through the 80 km Orange-Fish Tunnel.

The repair of the canal is
a result of a May 2017 incident, where a section of the canal embarkment slipped, about 4.4km south of Enon.

The department then had to construct a temporary embarkment using a plastic membrane to ensure the continuous supply of water to users. However, a secondary embankment failure has occurred, with 200m downstream of the initial embankment and canal failure.

In a joint statement, the DWS, Association and NMBMM said the rehabilitation work to be carried out is critical for the reliable and sustainability of supply to users, warning that if the damaged canal is not repaired, the water scheme will be at risk of collapse.

The work on the canal includes demolishing the existing canal at the upstream and downstream tie-in sections, surface preparations, and the placement of a High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) liner over the upstream and downstream tie-ins.

‘It is important to note that during the construction of the tie-ins, the canal will not be completely shut down, but there will be intervals at which,
upon completion of certain segments that are being repaired, water will be allowed to flow through to the dams to supply end users. The major domestic users to be impacted by the shutdown will be the towns of Addo, Paterson and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro,’ the statement said.

Minimising interruption

However, the stakeholders have assured the public that measures have been put in place to minimise interruptions to water supply in these areas, and Kirkwood, which is located upstream of the shutdown point, will continue to be supplied from the main canal.

The stakeholders said the Caesar’s Balancing Dam, which supplies Addo and Paterson, will be filled prior to canal shutdown, and will be continuously recharged during the intervals when the canal is opened.

They explained that the NMBM, which ordinarily receives 70% of water supply from the scheme through the Nooitgedaght Water Treatment Works, will be supplied from the Scheepersvlakte Balancing Dam for the duration of the canal shutdown period.

‘The
reduced supply to the Nooitgedacht WTW [Water Treatment Works] will also be offset by increased supply from the western systems through Loerie and Churchill Dams, and Loerie and Elandsjacht Water Treatment Works managed by Gamtoos Water User Association and the Metro respectively.

‘The Loerie and Scheepersvlakte Balancing Dams will be filled to 100% capacity before the shutdown commences and refilled during open flows,’ the statement said.

The DWS said it has consulted extensively on the planned shutdown, to bring all its stakeholders on board and for them to plan for this period and inform their customers.

‘The department continues to hold meetings with these stakeholders to discuss action plans to mitigate any possible challenges and bottlenecks as the planned shutdown gets implemented,’ the department said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Consumers are expected to feel some relief this month as the price of all grades of fuel are expected to fall.

This was announced by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in a statement on Tuesday.

The decreases are as follows:

Petrol 93 and 95 (ULP and LRP): R1,24 decrease.

Diesel (0.05% sulphur): R1,18 cents decrease.

Diesel (0.005% sulphur): R1,08 cents decrease.

Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): 80 cents decrease.

Single Maximum National Retail Price for illuminating paraffin: R1,07 decrease.

Maximum LP Gas Retail Price: R1,35 decrease.

The department explained the factors influencing the adjustments in prices.

‘The average Brent Crude oil price decreased from 88.10 US Dollars (USD) to 82.98 USD per barrel, during the period under review.

‘The average international product prices decreased following the lower Brent Crude oil prices during the period under review. Furthermore, petrol prices were also affected by the release of inventories by the US ahead of the Memorial holiday.
The movement in product prices has led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Price (BFP) of petrol by 76.16 c/l, diesel by 60.00 – 71.00 c/l and illuminating paraffin by 50.20 cents per litre.

‘The Rand appreciated, on average, against the US Dollar (from 18.90 to 18.45 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one. This led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of all products by about 30.00 cents per litre on all products,’ the department said.

The price adjustments are expected to take effect on Wednesday (tomorrow).

Source: South African Government News Agency

The results of the Gross domestic product (GDP) by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) show a decrease of 0.1% in the first quarter of 2024.

‘The manufacturing industry decreased by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2024, contributing -0.2 of percentage point to the negative GDP growth. Five of the ten manufacturing divisions reported negative growth rates in the first quarter,’ Stats SA said on Tuesday.

The motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment division and the basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery division made the largest negative contributions to the decrease in the first quarter.

‘The mining and quarrying industry decreased by 2.3% in the first quarter, contributing -0.1 of a percentage point. Decreased economic activities were reported for platinum group metals (PGMs), coal, gold and manganese ore. The construction industry decreased by 3.1% in the first quarter, contributing -0.1 of a percentage point,’ Stats SA said.

Decreases were
reported for residential buildings and construction works.

The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry increased by 13.5% in the first quarter of 2024, contributing 0.3 of a percentage point.

This was primarily due to increased economic activities reported for horticulture products.

Expenditure on GDP

Meanwhile, expenditure on real GDP decreased by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2024.

‘Expenditure on real gross domestic product decreased by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2024, following an increase of 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

‘Household final consumption expenditure decreased by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2024, contributing -0.2 of a percentage point to the total negative growth. Decreases were reported for durable goods, semi durable goods and services,’ Stats SA said.

The main negative contributors to the decrease in Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE) were expenditures on clothing and footwear (-7.0 and contributing -0.4 of a percentage point), transport (-1.3% and contributi
ng -0.2 of a percentage point) and the ‘other’ category (-1.3% and contributing -0.2 of a percentage point).

‘Final consumption expenditure by general government decreased by 0.3% in the first quarter, contributing -0.1 of a percentage point. This was mainly driven by decreases in purchases of goods and services and compensation of employees. Total gross fixed capital formation decreased by 1.8% in the first quarter of 2024, contributing -0.3 of a percentage point.

‘The main negative contributors to the decrease were machinery and other equipment (-1.4% and contributing -0.6 of a percentage point), residential buildings (-4.3% and contributing -0.5 of a percentage point) and construction works (-2.5% and contributing -0.4 of a percentage point),’ Stats SA said.

There was a R5.5 billion drawdown of inventories in the first quarter of 2024 (seasonally adjusted and annualised value).

Large decreases in three industries, namely manufacturing; mining and quarrying; and personal services, contributed to the inv
entory drawdown.

‘Net exports contributed positively to expenditure on GDP in the first quarter. Exports of goods and services decreased by 2.3%, largely influenced by decreased trade in pearls, precious and semi-precious stones and precious metals; vehicles and transport equipment excluding aircraft; chemical products; base metals and articles of base metals; and mineral products.

‘Imports of goods and services decreased by 5.1%, largely influenced by decreased trade in mineral products; vehicles and transport equipment excluding aircraft; and vegetable products,’ Stats SA said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) has welcomed the outcome of the 2024 National and Provincial Elections held last week.

SACCI said the outcome of the vote reflects the will of the people.

‘We congratulate South Africans who filed in the long queues to make their voices heard and did so in an orderly and peaceful manner. Our democracy is indeed a vibrant one with free political contestation and multi-party contestation,’ SACCI said in a statement.

It also commended the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), which, despite challenges, continues to execute its mandate with credibility.

SACCI said it is looking forward to working with the new administration.

‘Given the lack of an outright majority party to lead South Africa, we call on all the political parties to prioritise the interests of the people of South Africa first in putting together a coalition that will take the country forward. Foremost should be the alleviation of high levels of unemployment, building a meritocra
cy and sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and ridding the state and the private sector of corruption.

‘Political stability and policy certainty are the fundamental hallmarks that will drive business and investor sentiment. Political parties have an opportunity to unite South Africa for the better development of the republic and the continent,’ SACCI said.

It added that there are a number of successful developed countries that are run by coalition governments from whom ‘we can learn in managing the instability problems, inherent in coalitions’.

Source: South African Government News Agency