Day: July 9, 2024

President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent his condolences to the families of four South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members who passed away while on duty overnight on Friday.

The four members were deployed to a mine in the North West and their lifeless bodies were found inside a container structure they had used as a guard house.

‘As Commander-in-Chief of the SANDF, President Ramaphosa offers his condolences to the families of the victims as well as to their commanders and colleagues.

‘The President’s thoughts are with the team of soldiers who discovered their deceased colleagues in a container at a disused mine shaft at Orkney in the North West province,’ the Presidency said in a statement.

An inquest into the deaths has been opened by the South African Police Service.

‘While police are investigating the matter, the deceased troops, who showed no injuries and were fully kitted and armed, are believed by the police and the SANDF to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from a fire they m
ade to keep warm.

‘The troops were part of Operation Vala Umgodi which is directed at combating illegal mining,’ the statement read.

READ | Inquest into deaths of four SANDF members

In a statement at the weekend, the SANDF said the members were stationed on a 24-hour shift at Shaft 3, a dormant mining shaft in Orkney, North West, next to the abandoned Harry Oppenheimer stadium which has been a hotspot for illegal mining.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Eskom has announced that it will resume load reduction in some areas due to network overloading with the onset of winter.

Load reduction is implemented in areas when the demand is higher than the infrastructure – such as transformers – is able to handle. It is not load shedding.

Eskom Group Executive for Distribution, Monde Bala, explained that overloaded transformers can leave customers without electricity supply for an extended period.

‘Overloaded transformers as a result of electricity theft present a serious risk to human life. We only implement load reduction as a very last resort for the shortest periods possible after all other options have been exhausted.

‘A transformer damaged by overloading can leave an area without power for up to six months, protecting Eskom’s assets is in the best interest of all South Africans,’ Bala said.

The power utility said the challenge is particularly prevalent in supply areas in Limpopo, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West.

A
ccording to Eskom, overloading mainly occurs during peak morning and evening times.

‘About 94% of the total overloaded transformers are in these areas as a result of electricity theft and indiscriminate use of electricity.

‘Despite continued public information campaigns to customers about the implications of electricity theft activities, Eskom has no other option but to implement load reduction to protect its assets from repeated failures and explosions, which pose a risk to human live,’ Eskom said.

Mitigating risk

Eskom revealed that some 2111 transformers across the country are ‘frequently overloaded’ and are at risk of damage with a further 900 already awaiting replacement.

The power utility called on consumers to heed warnings regarding the risks of overloading.

‘Eskom’s electricity infrastructure is designed to handle loads based on known demand, which is legally connected customers and actual sales for specific areas.

‘Exceeding these loads through electricity theft can overload the equipment, po
tentially causing explosions that may lead to electrical fires in the surrounding areas. Thus, overloading presents a serious risk to lives and equipment, particularly mini-substations and transformers.

‘To prevent load reduction and abrupt loss of supply, Eskom has launched the ‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign that urges customers to reduce their consumption, ensure that the electricity they consume is legally connected, paid for, purchased from legal vendors, and to report illegal activities,’ Eskom said.

According to Eskom, the winter season presents a particular challenge due to ‘exponential increase in energy demand in areas prone to electricity theft, as electricity is often used indiscriminately, leading to network failure due to extreme overloading’.

‘Over time, Eskom has invested resources and increased capacity to meet the exponential demand in these areas prone to overloading. Despite these investments, the demand has continued to grow, rendering the situation unsustainable.

‘Eskom
has been engaging with various communities, educating them on the safe and efficient use of electricity. In some areas, Eskom has removed illegal connections; however, network overloading persists,’ the power utility said.

The electricity supplier explained that, regretfully, paying customers cannot be excluded from load reduction.

‘While Eskom aims to exclude paying customers from load reduction, the network’s configuration does not allow for dedicated supply lines to paying customers, making it impractical to service them separately.

‘To prevent load reduction and abrupt loss of supply, customers are urged to reduce their consumption, ensure that the electricity they consume is legally connected, paid for, and purchased from legal vendors, and to report illegal activities. Additionally, customers are encouraged to switch off non-essential appliances, such as heaters and geysers, and use alternative heating methods,’ the power utility said.

To report criminal activities such as illegal connections, theft
and vandalism that can damage transformers, mini-substations and other electricity infrastructure contact the Eskom Crime Line on 0800 112 722.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Swift and agile action by the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) elite Special Task Force unit on Monday afternoon, led to the rescue of two kidnap victims at an informal settlement in Crystal Park, Benoni.

A 64-year-old man and a 34-year-old man were kidnapped while driving along Putfontein Road in Crystal Park on Sunday.

According to the police, the kidnappers immediately began making ransom demands to their families.

The police were notified and a team, led by the Special Task Force, was mobilised.

On Monday afternoon, the team pounced on the kidnappers where a shootout ensued. One kidnapper was shot and killed; one was wounded and taken to hospital and the other four were arrested and taken into police custody.

‘The SAPS assures communities that may become victims of this type of crime that it has the necessary expertise and capabilities to intercept and takedown syndicates involved in kidnappings where ransom demands are made,’ said the police in a statement.

Last week, six kidnappers were arres
ted and two businessmen were rescued.

Communities are urged to immediately report to their nearest police station or call the Crime Stop hotline number 08600 10111 if any of their relatives or friends fall victim to kidnappers.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Newly appointed Employment and Labour Minister, Nomakhosazana Meth, says the department is facing a mammoth task of ensuring that it continues in earnest to usher in, not only hope to citizens, but substantive positive change in their lives.

Meth was speaking during a Ministerial Committee meeting to welcome new principals and to present to them the department’s programme.

Together with Deputy Ministers Phumzile Mgcina and Jomo Sibiya, Meth held a meeting with the Executive Committee, including the department’s Acting Director-General, Onke Mjo, and the department’s Deputy Director-Generals.

Monday’s meeting was also attended by heads of the Compensation Fund (CF) and Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), as well as heads of entities, such as Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE), Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), Productivity SA, and National Economic and Labour Council (Nedlac).

In her address, Meth said South Africa is still struggling with the stubborn triple challenges of po
verty, unemployment, and inequality.

She said the scourge of unemployment remains a huge hurdle that the country is facing, with the official unemployment rate currently standing at 32.9% while the expanded unemployment rate is at 41.9%, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Quarter 1 of 2024.

‘The picture becomes dire when it comes to the youth unemployment rate with youth aged 15 – 24 years standing at 59.7% and youth aged 25 – 34 years standing at 40.7%. These statistics should remind us that the stakes are still high, and we must hasten to strengthen the implementation of interventions to dent the unemployment rate.’

Meth maintained that substantive results can be achieved through an intensive and collaborative mechanism, ‘that will propel all of us to realise the department’s objectives”.

Priorities

She said in carrying forth its mandate, the department will be guided by a set of six priorities for the seventh administration, and these are:

Priority 1: Put South Africa to work.

Priority 2: Build our industries for an inclusive economy.

Priority 3: Tackle the prohibitive cost of living.

Priority 4: Invest in people.

Priority 5: Defend democracy and advance freedom.

Priority 6: Better Africa and the World.

‘These priorities must find expression in the work of the Department of Employment and Labour family.

‘The priority is to create and sustain 2.5 million work opportunities delivering public goods and services in communities; implement a cross-cutting industrial strategy that drives growth and creates opportunity for youth and other unemployed people; tackle the war on poverty by providing comprehensive social security and basic services through the Unemployment Insurance Fund and Compensation Fund; and continue enforcement of compliance with the National Minimum Wage across all applicable industries in South Africa,’ Meth said.

Through investing in people, the Minister emphasised that the department, as the custodian of employment law, has a responsibility to ensure work
places that are free of traumatic events and a deterioration in the quality of life of many workers; managing compliance with employment law and Immigration Act; and strengthen relations with stakeholders, internationally and at regional level.

‘Ours in the seventh administration is to ensure that we shift gears and embrace the principles brought about by the Government of National Unity (GNU). I require active and impactful participation in the District Development Model (DDM) as that will continue to expand our reach as the department,’ Meth said.

The DDM aims to improve the coherence and impact of government service delivery with a focus on 44 districts and eight metros around the country as development spaces that can be used as centres of service delivery and economic development, including job creation.

She also emphasised the department’s role at the International Labour Organization (ILO), which is a vehicle in building a better Africa and the world.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has committed to implementing the remedial actions of a Public Protector report into the construction of Mayibuye Primary School.

The report is a result of an investigation into allegations that the functionaries of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID) as well as the province’s education department built the school on an old sewer line without conducting a wetland study and spent millions of Rands on an incomplete project.

According to the report, the original cost of the project stood at just over R80 million. However, the revised contract ballooned the cost to an estimated R106 million.

‘This report, issued under Section 182(1)(b) of the Constitution and Section 8(1) of the Public Protector Act, scrutinises whether the GDID and GDE adhered to legal prescripts and procedures during the construction of Mayibuye Primary School and whether their actions constituted maladministration and undue delay.

‘The investigation found a lack of procedura
l integrity in the procurement and supply chain management procedures used in building the school. Additionally, the report alleges that a critical wetland study was not conducted before construction began, suggesting further improper conduct and maladministration,’ the department said.

The GDE has acknowledged the findings of the report.

‘The GDE… is committed to implementing the recommended remedial actions.

‘Such implementation includes ensuring continuous compliance and strict monitoring mechanisms of the Project Plan, which was already provided to the Public Protector on 14 June 2024, to ensure that the school is fully operational in line with the efficient and economic management of the working capital in terms of S 38(1)(c)(iii) of the PFMA,’ the department said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

An Eskom former employee and a service provider at the power utility have appeared in the Hendrina Magistrates’ Court to face charges of theft and fraud.

The two made separate appearances at the court and were released on bail of R30 000 each.

The power utility explained that an investigation had revealed that between January and April last year, the service provider had supplied five valve stems to the Hendrina Power Station.

According to Eskom the valves ‘were stolen from the same power station warehouse, as a result of working with the Eskom employee’.

‘An internal investigation revealed that the Eskom employee had misused company resources without authorisation for their own personal gain and also falsified documents as the end-user.’

The Eskom employee resigned while a disciplinary action was being instituted.

‘Eskom suffered a financial loss of R667 500 because of this criminal activity,’ Eskom said.

Eskom Acting General Manager for Security Botse Sikhwitshi vowed that the power utility will cont
inue to root out criminality in its ranks.

‘Eskom strongly condemns any fraudulent activity in its business operations and will not tolerate such behaviour. Our internal security investigations team will continue collaborating with the South African Police Service in ensuring that those who enrich themselves at Eskom’s expense are held accountable,’ Sikhwitshi said.

The two are expected back in court on 29 July.

Source: South African Government News Agency