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Minister De Lille to hand over bridge in Ndwedwe Municipality

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille will on Monday officially handover a recently completed bridge in the Ndwedwe Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Minister will be accompanied by KZN Transport Community Safety and Liaison MEC Peggy Nkonyeni and other local leaders.

The Welisizwe Rural Bridges Programme was gazetted as a Strategic Integrated Project in July 2020 as part of government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan approved by Cabinet in May 2020.

The department in an advisory said the programme was aimed at providing safe access to social amenities and further respond to potential disaster areas and emergency disaster situations.

“It ensures that community members especially school children can have safe passage to amenities such as schools and clinics and prevents devastating drownings which often take place in rural areas without proper infrastructure,” it said.

The intervention was done through the construction of Modular Steel Bridges.

The Department and its Defence & Military Veterans counterparts (DOD) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the implementation of the Welisizwe Programme. Subsequently, the DPWI and the KZN Department of Transport entered into a MOA on the implementation of the Welisizwe Programme within the KwaZulu-Natal province.

The province was identified as a key area for this intervention following inclement weather conditions caused by severe thunderstorm which resulted in adverse effects on both human life and property.

DPWI and SANDF undertook technical assessments in the identified potential disaster sites in KwaZulu Natal and the KwaZulu Natal Department of Transport committed funds for the installation of the fourteen (14) bridges in KZN. Teams from SANDF were deployed in 2020 with DPWI assisting in a coordinating role to install the bridges in the province.

Since April 2020, 11 of the 14 bridges have been completed in KZN at a cost of R103 million.

The project also forms part of government’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) to provide much needed financial relief and provide jobs and opportunities to community members and local companies.

To date the project has created 420 jobs in the various areas in the province thus far.

A number of local companies have also benefitted from the project through sub-contracting of goods and services during the installation of the bridges.

The programme is also contributing towards the skills development initiative as 23 graduates were appointed as part of the bridge assessment, project management team and maintenance team. These positions included engineers and candidate construction project managers.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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SAA cancels Mauritius flights following travel ban

South African Airways has cancelled all of its flights to and from Mauritius following the imposition of a travel ban on South Africa by the Mauritian government.

Restrictions were also placed on at least five other Southern African countries after the Omicron variant was identified by South African scientists last week.

SAA interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo said despite efforts to help passengers – who were still allowed to travel to the island by Sunday – the airline was forced to cancel the inbound flight.

“After long planning with the team in ensuring that we dispatch a bigger aircraft to and from Mauritius to ensure that we serve as many customers as possible…we’ve received notification from the Mauritian government imposing further restrictions prohibiting all incoming travellers from South Africa.

“The SAA team remains committed in fulfilling travel plans. We have made flexible changes to accommodate all our customers who have been affected by all these unforeseen travel restrictions,” Kgokolo said.

The CEO added that customers who were scheduled to travel to the island country will be assisted by the airline.

“Our customers are allowed one free change on their alternate future travel date. We regret the inconvenience caused to you and your loved ones. We hope to be able to revert to normal operations.

“It has been a long two days in the airline industry and it’s been no different for South African Airways,” he said.

The airline assured customers travelling to other countries that it will offer vouchers and refund to customers should any new travel restrictions be implemented on the country.

“We are mindful that change is our new normal, and we need to be as agile as possible to meet our customer needs and keep travellers informed of changes in regulations pertaining to travel restrictions as and when imposed by countries that SAA flies to,” Kgokolo said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Efforts to get the Clanwilliam Dam Project back on track

Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, has assured stakeholders of government’s commitment to resolve challenges related to the Clanwilliam Dam project.

During the stakeholders’ engagement on Sunday with local business leaders, Water and Sanitation Forums as well as the farmers of West Coast, an impassioned plea to the Minister to unblock challenges relating to the raising of the dam wall was raised.

“The raising of the Clanwilliam Dam wall is the second biggest infrastructure project being undertaken in the Western Cape and is part of the Olifants River Water Resources Project, valued at about R4-billion,” the Department of Water and Sanitation said.

The project entails raising the dam wall by 13 metres. The accrued benefits of the project include:

Creation of much-needed jobs for residents, especially during the construction phase.

Increased water yields for West Coast resource-poor farmers.

Developing skills that will enhance the abilities of locals beyond the project.

The Minister said the project team will also look for ways to reduce project time without compromising project integrity.

“The department is acutely aware of the inconvenience caused by delays in this project and will work hard to speed up construction.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Dikeledi Magadzi, engaged the traditional chiefs and the communities at the two villages of Maswanganyi and Homu, in Giyani Limpopo.

She led a series of community engagements as part of government’s continued effort in mobilizing community involvement and support in the implementation of the Giyani Bulk Water Supply Project.

The water pipe projects will bring bulk water to the Mopani District Municipality and Greater Giyani Local Municipality.

Water will be sourced from Nandoni Water Treatment Works to Nsami. The R971 million project is expected to be finished by end of June 2022.

The Deputy Minister called on Lepelle Northern Water and the department’s Construction North unit, as the implementing agents who will be responsible for the construction of the pipeline to engage with the community continually and update them of the progress of the projects.

“It is our responsibility as the Department of Water and Sanitation to ensure that bulk water supply is provided to Municipalities who will in turn ensure that there is reticulation of water to the communities they serve. Let us all work together as three spheres of government to ensure that there is water to our communities of Giyani. The Giyani Bulk Water Supply Project is now in full swing and will ensure that there is water in the area,” Magadzi said.

Hosi Khayizeni Maswanganyi of Maswanganyi Villages acknowledged the Deputy Minister’s swift handling of water challenges in their area.

“Deputy Minister Magadzi has promised to come back to us and she is here. This shows her Ministry’s commitment to resolve water challenges that have been going on in Giyani for a very long time. We really would like to thank Deputy Minister Magadzi, both local and district municipalities, including all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the Giyani Bulk Water Supply Project is completed to address our water problems,” Hosi Maswanganyi said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Protect domestic tourism during 4th wave, urges Minister Sisulu

Protecting the country’s domestic tourism has been identified as the main priority after South Africa was placed on a travel ban by several countries, following the identification of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

This was consensus reached by relevant stakeholders during an urgent meeting with the Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Sunday.

In a statement, the Ministry said the meeting was held to identify how public and private sector stakeholders could proactively collaborate to mitigate the effects instituted by the travel bans. The travel bans came after the South African Health Department revealed the discovery of the variant last week.

The Ministry said in the meeting that the red listing of South Africa and other SADC countries was a “knee jerk reaction” that would negatively impact the peak inbound tourism period.

Prof. Marc Mendelson, infectious diseases and HIV medicine head at the Groote Schuur Hospital, provided a scientific perspective on what the next steps would be in determining the extent to which vaccines would be effective against the new variant.

Minister Sisulu said the meeting was the first of many the Ministry would be holding as a public-private tourism sector war room to deal with crises such as this.

The team, she said, would also address legacy issues that hinder the extent to which tourism could contribute to South Africa’s economy.

The war room was expected to meet regularly to roll out and follow up on practical actions adopted by industry stakeholders to deal proactively with challenges that beset the sector.

She said the immediate priority was to preserve domestic tourism over the upcoming festive season to secure livelihoods.

“While we await scientific certainty surrounding this new variant, the impact to Brand South Africa and the deep tourism value chain has been devastating,” she said.

To this end, the Ministry said stakeholders in the meeting provided several alternatives. These included reducing the size of indoor gatherings, expanding curfew and prioritising vaccination to mitigate the impact on the country’s healthcare system.

Rosemary Anderson, chairperson of FEDHASA said there was no question that South Africans needed to get vaccinated as a “matter of urgency”.

She said: “We depend on tourism for jobs and livelihoods.”

Anderson added that the country could not afford a repeat of December 2020 where restaurants and hospitality businesses bore the brunt of COVID-19 regulations.

“Our industry has had to endure being thrust from wave to wave for the past 20 months and it simply isn’t sustainable to keep businesses open and livelihoods intact. It is up to South Africans to do their part and help us keep our doors open by complying with the protocols and getting their #jab4tourism,” she said.

TBCSA, SATSA, SAACI and Cape Town Tourism were among industry associations that attended the session.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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National Assembly disappointed by Omicron travel restrictions on SADC countries

National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has expressed disappointment at the travel restrictions imposed on certain African countries, including South Africa, by some countries in light of the identification of the new COVID-19 variant.

The Omicron variant was identified by South African scientists last week.

The identification of the variant has created panic around the world, resulting in inbound and outbound travel bans against southern African countries.

Mapisa-Nqakula expressed her disappointment at the 7th Brics Parliamentary Forum which was held on the side-lines of the 143rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) currently underway in Madrid, Spain.

She is leading a six-member multiparty delegation of the South African Parliament to the Assembly.

She said that COVID-19 was entrenching stereotypes in ways that could never have been imagined. The travel restrictions, which were not informed by science, were essentially a punishment for world class science and responsible global citizenship as well as transparency and openness, the Speaker said.

She concurred with the South African government’s assertion that, as a responsible global citizen, the country was duty-bound to report any new variants of concern to the international community, which has been done without fail due to country’s world-class expertise and monitoring.

The Speaker was accompanied to the meeting by other members of the South African Parliamentary delegation to the IPU, Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP Sylvia Lucas, House Chairperson for International Relations Madala Ntombela, EFF Chief Whip Mr Floyd Shivambu and ANC parliamentarian Judith Tshabalala.

Also making remarks to the meeting, Lucas stressed that women, African women in particular, continued to be disproportionately affected by the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, which include poverty, unemployment and economic exclusion.

“Women’s quality of life has depreciated as this pandemic threatens to reverse some of the important advances and gains that we have made as women,” she said.

During the same session, Shivambu cautioned against the agenda of certain nations to undermine the unity of the Brics.

The Brics Parliamentary Forum is constituted by the National Congress of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Parliament of the Republic of India, the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, and the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.

It was founded, among other things, to strengthen and promote contacts at the leadership level of chambers, committees and groups of parliamentarians; perform inter-parliamentary exchanges and hold regular expert consultations; and create and develop new inter-parliamentary cooperation mechanisms.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Pistorius transferred to facilitate dialogue with Steenkamp family

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has confirmed the transfer of convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius to a correctional centre in Gqeberha to start a dialogue with the family of his victim, model Reeva Steenkamp.

The disgraced Paralympic gold medalist was transferred from the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Facility in Tshwane where he is serving a 13-year sentence following the 2013 murder of Steenkamp – his girlfriend at the time.

“The transfer is necessitated by the need to commence with the processes of a victim offender dialogue as the victims are based in Gqeberha. Offenders participate in the victim offender dialogue as part of their rehabilitation path wherein they are able to acknowledge the harm they have caused to their victims and the society at large,” the department said in a statement.

The department emphasised that the move and victim offender dialogue is not a parole process but one that is undertaken prior to consideration for parole.

“This is an internal process and it is our humble plea that all participants be allowed to partake without undue pressure to disclose contents of the engagement. Victim offender dialogues are sensitive, emotional and inconsolable hence they are presided by highly-trained officials who ought to ensure that all parties derive value from the process.

“DCS is unable to pre-empt the timeframe as this will be guided by the level of preparedness by all participants”.

Source: South African Government News Agency