Month: June 2024

The Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform will this week award top performing women in the agricultural sector, as part of the department’s programme to recognise the contribution of women in agriculture.

The department said the objective of the awards is to empower and honour women in agriculture and agro processing.

‘The awards are an instrument through which the contribution of women in the fight against poverty, hunger and joblessness is recognised. This will increase participation and visibility of women in the sector,’ the department said.

The thrust of the programme is to underscore the fact that women play a significant role in food security, job creation, economic growth, and poverty alleviation.

The programme has a long-term ambition of leveraging women entrepreneurs from being subsistence and smallholder producers to commercial and/or processing entrepreneurs who also venture into export markets.

‘The programme is also in line with the objectives of the Women Empower
ment Strategy (WES) of promoting inclusive development for women in the agricultural, land reform and rural development sector so that they can contribute their full potential towards building a better life for all.

‘The strategy advocates that, women should be prioritised in various agricultural and land reform programmes, through which it will provide direction for sound and coherent empowerment intervention,’ the department said.

The first award ceremony to honour women in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality took place on 11 June 2024 at Maluti Civic Centre in Matatiele.

In the OR Tambo District Municipality, the ceremony will be held on Thursday, 13 June at the Town Hall in Libode.

‘The district winners will compete with other women from the rest of the province. The provincial winners will compete for top honours at national level,’ the department said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has appealed to the public to extend a helping hand to flood victims by donating essential items such as building materials, as restoration work is underway in the northern parts of eThekwini Metropolitan.

The provincial government is currently on the ground providing relief and humanitarian services to hundreds of people of uThongathi, who lost most of their belongings during the storm that hit the area.

‘The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government is currently coordinating humanitarian aid relief in uThongathi following the disastrous freak storms, which caused loss of life, damage to property, and left many members of the community without food, clothing and shelter.

‘You are urged to help those in need by donating what you can, particularly building materials,’ the provincial government said.

Donations can be delivered at the KZN Provincial Disaster Management Centre at 66 Shortts Retreat Road, Pietermaritzburg, 3212. The donations can also be delivered at the uThon
gathi Sports Centre in Gandhi’s Hill, uThongathi, 4399.

Power supply restored

The eThekwini Municipality reported that power supply has been restored to most areas where electricity infrastructure was severely damaged when the storm hit.

‘Affected areas include Burbreeze, Sandfields, Greylands, eMagwaveni, Maidstone and La Mercy. Electricity teams have restored power supply to most of areas in Fairbreeze, Sandfields, Jan Roz and Burbreeze.

‘Temporary arrangements are still in place for a continuous supply of electricity. Repair teams are working round the clock to ensure power restoration to Magwaveni area,’ the municipality said.

Search for two missing people continues in Kariega

Meanwhile, the search for two missing people following the recent floods in Kariega in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) is still underway.

The municipality’s Disaster Management Official, Thomas Cameron, said the metro’s Fire and Emergency Services and lifeguards had joined the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI),
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Coastal Water Rescue in the intensified search efforts.

“Currently, we have the SAPS [South African Police Service], who are still busy with the search operations. They are assisted now by other organisations, including our NMBM teams. Their team has now increased to make the search more efficient,’ Cameron said.

While a total of 575 residents have been moved from halls and churches and accommodated at lodges and student accommodation facilities, Cameron said more residents were expected to be relocated to newly identified facilities from Sunday.

Cameron said joint operation centres are still running and meetings are being held daily.

‘A few people in Gqeberha were displaced and moved to the accommodation centres. There are also two accommodation centres in Gqeberha and six accommodation centres in Kariega,’ Cameron said.

Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Zolile Williams, said it will cost the provincial government an estimated R6 billio
n to repair damaged infrastructure.

Williams said government will find permanent accommodation for displaced communities by 31 July 2023.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has announced that one of the five Mpox patients in South Africa passed away on Monday at Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng.

This comes after two cases were confirmed in Gauteng and three in KwaZulu-Natal.

‘In all cases, patients are males aged between 30 to 39 years without travel history to the countries currently experiencing an outbreak, which suggests there is local transmission of this infectious disease in the country,’ the Minister said on Wednesday.

According to the Minister, the deceased was originally from KwaZulu-Natal but has not been at home since December last year.

The Minister made these announcements during a media briefing on Wednesday centred on the management of the monkeypox outbreak in the country.

Phaahla stated that all cases were classified as severe cases, as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition requiring hospitalisation.

The patients have comorbidities and have been identified as key populations, including men who have sex with men (MSM)
.

The Minister told the media that one of the patients has since been discharged, one is isolating at home, while two are still in hospital.

Phaahla explained that the sequencing analysis of three of the cases revealed Mpox clade IIb, a variant dominant in the multi-country and post-outbreak, which began in 2022.

The last time South Africa recorded positive cases of Mpox was in 2022, when five cases were confirmed in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Gauteng, with no cases reported in 2023.

‘So, the one in our country is consistent with the multi-country outbreaks in various parts of the world and different from the strain variant in the DRC,’ he explained.

Contact tracing

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the Minister said, continues with epidemiological and surveillance activities to identify cases for investigation to estimate the magnitude of disease through systematic data collection and analysis.

He told the media that 38 contacts were identified in KwaZulu-Natal
, while one of the patients indicated to have had sexual contact with multiple partners, including both males and females.

Meanwhile, the Outbreak Response Team have embarked on contact tracing and case finding in the affected provinces.

‘Encourage people who may know that in one way or another have been associated with someone with the disease or showing any symptoms of skin lesions or rashes to approach their nearest health facility.’

Vaccine

Currently, there is no registered treatment for Mpox in South Africa.

However, the Minister said the WHO recommends using Tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, for treating severe cases, such as in individuals with a CD4 count of less than 350.

He announced that the department has obtained TPOXX via Section 21 South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAPHRA) approval on a compassionate use basis for known patients with severe disease.

The Minister said they are still looking at obtaining vaccines and considering various options, including who will be the
priority target in terms of immunisation.

However, he believes that high-risk groups should be prioritised, including sex workers, MSM, healthcare workers, and laboratory workers.

The department, working together with partner organisations, has intensified both targeted and public awareness to empower the citizens with crucial information related to Mpox.

The Minister also emphasised the importance of managing stigma for key populations at risk, while there have been no recommendations for any travel restrictions.

‘I think one can safely say that, especially for adults, anybody who develops those kinds of eruptions on their skin, even if you may think it might be chickenpox, even young people, should seek medical attention.’

He said government endeavours to prevent any further deaths.

‘We already have one fatality and he was quite sick, and were informed that even though the antiviral agent because of the severity of the sores, he could not swallow his treatment and died within a few days.’

Source: So
uth African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa has in terms of Section 79(1) of the Constitution assented to and signed into law the National Land Transport Amendment Bill, the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill and the Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill.

This in accordance with Section 79(1) of the Constitution.

The National Land Transport Amendment Bill

According to the Presidency, the National Land Transport Act was brought to the President’s desk in 2020 but was sent back to the National Assembly for reconsideration.

‘The revised Bill amongst other seeks to amend the National Land Transport Act, 2009, to insert certain definitions and amend others and provide for non-motorised and accessible transport.

‘The amendments bring the Principal Act up to date with new developments and provide for certain powers of provinces and municipalities to conclude contracts for public transport services. It further expands the powers of the Minister to make regulations and introduce safety measures,’ the Presidency s
aid.

The Economic Regulation of Transport Bill

The Economic Regulation of Transport Bill seeks to create economic growth and welfare in South Africa ‘by promoting an effective and productive transport sector’.

‘That includes establishing a Transport Economic Regulator responsible for regulating prices in the transport sector, investigate complaints, monitor and enforce compliance in the transport sector.

‘The Bill further seeks to establish a single regulatory body to focus on the economic regulation of the transport industry,’ the Presidency stated.

The Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill

The Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill according to the Presidency, ‘seeks to regulate the power of municipalities to levy development charges’.

‘It also establishes a system for the municipalities to impose levies for land development applications as a condition for granting or approval of such an application for persons to use or develop land in a municipality.

‘The Bill empowers
municipalities, where authorised by national legislation, to impose taxes, levies and duties appropriate to local government,’ the Presidency concluded.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), has urged organised labour and the Federal Government to respect human rights in their face off over a new minimum wage for workers.

Both parties are yet to agree on a new minimum wage with labour insisting on N250,000 while the federal government has offered to pay N62, 000.

The Executive Director of PLAC, Clement Nwankwo, said in Abuja on Monday during a Dialogue Session on Exploring Remedies for Human Rights Abuses that on no account should the face-off lead to human rights violation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event, organised by PLAC, is in partnership with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

He said the course of negations and even in the face of an industrial action respect for the human rights should be uppermost in the minds of the leaders of both parties.

‘There is a struggle about minimum wage, whether labour is getting government to pay about N200, 000 to the least person or not. ‘I
t’s going to be a turmoil and we must all prepare because it will come with challenges of human rights abuses.

‘The struggle for human rights is an important struggle to entrench democracy. We have several instances today where people are detained without been tried”, he said.

He urged security agencies to see human rights activists and CSOs as partners in progress rather than as detractors.

‘It is important to understand that our work as human rights activists is we can use the agencies and NGOs we represent to advance the cause of human rights to better the conditions of living in the country,’ he said.

See also Edun to chair South-West public hearing on minimum wage

Mr Simon Musa, who represented the Ministry of Police Affairs, said the police working to ensure that human rights violation by police personnel did not go unpunished.

He spoke as a panellist on `Assess to Recourse for Victims of Human Rights Violation`.

‘Any member of the public who feels that a police personnel has violated his or her
right can approach us. We have handled so many of those cases and come out with results,’ he said.

Also, Mr Okoro Obioha, who represented National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said the commission was ready to provide assistance to those whose rights had been abused.

‘If a person’s right is violated and you go to the police, if the state is not able to prosecute and the victim gets access to justice, the state is seen as the violator.

‘If a matter comes to us for instance, and it has to do with criminal prosecutions.

‘And the commission does not have power to prosecute, we ensure that such victim gets the needed service from the relevant agencies of government,’ he said.

Mr Maurice Chukwu, of Amnesty International, said in many instance, some state security agency do not want to collaborate with the CSOs on matters of human rights abuse.

‘The bottom line is that 90 per cent of the human rights abuses that we document are caused by the security agencies and the government and we ask them to be accountab
le’, Chukwu said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Nigerian Young Professional Forum (NYPF) has put forward a series of detailed recommendations for the National Youth Policy to pave the way for a more prosperous and inclusive future for Nigerian youth.

The forum in a communique issued after its meeting and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, noted the crucial role a comprehensive policy reform can play in shaping a brighter future reform were call to action for lasting positive change.

The proposed changes were carefully reviewed by some NYPF executive members, Chairperson Zaliha Lawal, Barrister Mayor Ndukaku, Dr Ekemini Udo and Media Consultant, Ere-ebi Agedah Imisi.

The forum stated that the policy recommendations have been forwarded to the Ministry of Youth as the recommendations include

‘Education and Talent Development, STEM Education Enhancement and Early STEM Education’.

Others recommendations were for Health and Well-being as well as Ensuring Participation and Inclusiveness.

Highlighting the critical role of educat
ion and skills, the NYPF suggested a multipronged approach involving vocational training and education, aimed at elevating the status of vocational education to eliminate existing stigmas.

The forum said that the approach would increase the number of highly skilled workers, transforming Nigeria from a consumer-driven nation to a manufacturing hub and innovation-led economy.

‘It will tackle youth unemployment by fostering entrepreneurship and providing incentives for businesses that hire young people.

‘It will emulate successful aspects of the Chinese economic model to build a robust manufacturing sector.’

For the STEM Education Enhancement, it said it would position Nigeria as a global leader in innovation and technology through scholarships and Incentives.

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‘Early STEM education will encourage activities at secondary school levels and foster early interest and proficiency in STEM subjects to develop essential skills and passion from a young age.

‘It will
also help implement successful strategies from China and Singapore to build a strong STEM foundation, while the health and Well-being emphasises the importance of health and well-being among young Nigerians, proposing.

‘It will enhance Physical and Mental Health and address the rising rates of drug and substance abuse among the youth.

‘It will enhance access to comprehensive healthcare services to ensure a supportive environment for overall well-being.

‘To ensure participation and inclusiveness, governments must promote participation, inclusiveness, and equitable opportunities for all youth.

‘Furthermore, the National Youth Policy should guide leaders to consciously address barriers to meaningful youth engagement in civil and political affairs,’

This, the forum said would also enhance opportunities for the constructive involvement of all youth in community and social development, political processes and governance.

The NYPF is a leading organisation dedicated to empowering young professionals across Nig
eria through advocacy, policy recommendations, and capacity-building initiatives.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria