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Phoenix murders remain top of mind, says President

President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the people who lost their lives in Phoenix, north of Durban, in the past few weeks.

Speaking at the Gallagher Estate vaccination centre on Thursday, President Ramaphosa said the Phoenix matter is being examined.

“Obviously, we’re very worried about what happened in Phoenix. It has evoked a lot of feelings on all sides. People’s lives were lost.”

In total 330 lives were lost during the unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Of these deaths, 23 were in Phoenix, north of Durban, were suspected vigilantism trumped communities protecting their properties from the looting that left many businesses and buildings gutted.

President Ramaphosa acknowledged the deep hurt that many people are feeling and said government empathises with them.

“Some of the incidents that took place in Phoenix are simply what we don’t want to have in our country, where there was a measure of vigilantism and targeting of people.

“And so, I also pay my condolences to the people who have lost their loved ones.”

The looting and arson attacks are said to have cost the KwaZulu-Natal economy more than R20 billion, while 150 000 jobs are on the line.

He assured citizens that government was attending to the Phoenix matter at a political level and security and criminal justice structures.

“The Phoenix matter remains front of mind and we want to examine it in all its aspect to see precisely what type of way forward we chart.”

Digital Vibes report

In addition, the President said he has received the report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on an investigation into a contract between the Department of Health and Digital Vibes.

“Have I finished reading the report? Yes, I have. Certain aspects need to be completed and once those are completed I’ll be able to come out and give my view on it,” he told the journalists.

The matter relates to the R150 million COVID-19 and National Health Insurance communications service contract scored by Digital Vibes.

Last month, President Ramaphosa placed Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on special leave.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Taking vaccines to the people

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who visited two COVID-19 vaccination centres in Gauteng on Thursday, says South Africa is banking on mass vaccination sites to reach as many people as possible.

He said he was pleased the province was opening drive-through vaccine sites, where more people can be inoculated.

“The objective of coming here was to encourage South Africans to come forward and be vaccinated. We want as many of the age groups that are eligible to come through and be vaccinated,” he said on Thursday.

The President said these cohorts must register on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) and get an appointment or they can walk in at the centre nearest to them.

The First Citizen visited a public health facility in Tembisa and a private-public partnership centre at Gallagher Estate.

He said the Gallagher Estate centre can take up to 4 000 people a day, while the waiting period is no more than 30 minutes. It is also open on weekends.

“It’s been a good day in the office to come visit Tembisa and Gallagher Estate as well.”

He was pleased the vaccination numbers were increasing, as the country reached the milestone of over seven million administered vaccines on Wednesday.

The President told journalists that acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has promised him that the Department of Health will meet the target of 300 000 administered shots per day and even exceed it.

“We’re in full steam when it comes to vaccinations. I think we’re doing well and we now have a good surplus of vaccines.”

President Ramaphosa added that great work is being done in Gauteng and other areas.

Mobile sites

In addition, he said Gauteng will now look to set up mobile sites that will go where the people are.

“One of the complaints is a number of our people have to spend money to travel to the vaccination centres and I’ve said that I want the vaccination points and centres to go to our people,” he added.

“We’re all learning. This is a new process for all of us. This is the biggest campaign we’ve had in the history of this country, to vaccinate so many people at one go.”

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Mantashe monitors North West COVID-19 vaccination sites

As government’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is underway, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has visited the Sibanye-Stillwater mineworkers’ vaccination sites in the North West.

The Minister’s visit formed part of the mining sector’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout plan.

Though the country has been placed on Adjusted Alert Level 3, the mining sector remains operational as part of government’s overarching approach to saving lives whilst protecting livelihoods.

The vaccination of mineworkers – adding to the sectors’ vigorous screening and testing programme – seeks to ensure that mineworkers are protected against the pandemic whilst they convert investments into wealth and contribute positively to the country’s economy.

“Sustainability of the country is dependent on economic section of the population. We are in Rustenburg and Marikana to monitor the vaccination of mineworkers. We must ensure that the youth is vaccinated as the future belongs to them,” Mantashe said on Thursday.

The Minister declared the mining sector’s support for the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

“It is encouraging to have the mining sector leading the country’s economic reconstruction and recovery programme. We must save lives whilst protecting livelihoods. As we vaccinate, we must ensure that we continue adhering to health protocols, which include social distancing, wearing a masks, regular handwashing with soap or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser on our hands.”

South Africa’s vaccination rollout programme is accelerating, with over seven million vaccine doses administered to date.

According to the Department of Health, the country has now distributed 7 065 432 COVID-19 jabs, of which 194 891 people received their shot on Wednesday.

The recent statistics show that the total cumulative number of the administered Johnson & Johnson shots now stands at 1 386 580 and 5 678 852 for the Pfizer jab.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Transnet IT security back on track

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has commended Transnet employees for their hard work to have managed to restore full operations at the ports after a security breach on Thursday.

Transnet has managed to fully restore operations at the Ports which enables the country supply chain and logistics system to resume normal operations.

The return to operations is good news for the economy, as the Transnet ports and rail system are the backbone of the economy.

The preliminary assessment of the cyber-attack indicates that Transnet and its customer data has not been compromised.

Cyber-attacks have been on the increase in the country and globally. Investigations are underway into the events and due process will take place.

The main system responsible for the container operations, the NAVIS N4 terminal operating system has been fully restored and customers are now able to access the customer links to facilitate imports and exports.

The remaining systems will continue to be brought up in a staggered manner to minimize further risks and interruptions.

“Transnet Port Terminals, in collaboration with the shipping lines is facilitating the evacuation of urgent containers for the automotive, FMCG and agricultural sectors,” Transnet said in a statement.

As of last night, the Durban container terminals were fully functional on NAVIS with a few other interface systems progressing well.

This has brought back both the waterside and land-side operations and the truck booking system has been activated on Wednesday.

The vessels are operating alongside the berths and the shipping lines and cargo owners have partnered with the terminal management to ensure efficiencies are increasing.

In the Eastern Cape, the container operations working with some of the IT functionalities are still being restored and the vessels are working in parallel with the manual processes.

The Western Cape is fully restored and some of the IT functions are still being restored.

By today, the stack registration will be complete, and this will speed up the evacuation of containers in the Cape Town terminal.

Data has not been compromised in all the Transnet operations.

The Bulk, Break Bulk, Automotive sectors which include Iron Ore, Coal and Manganese, cars and some of the agricultural commodities that use the General Cargo system (GCOS) switched immediately to manual.

This resulted in minimal operational disruptions in these operations across the port system.

Rail operations also continue to run on schedule, as per the train plan. Business continuity plans are in place to ensure safe operations during this time.

Platform for engagement

Minister Ghordan started interactions with customers jointly with Transnet management and they established a platform for engagement with CEO’s and senior representatives of affected companies.

This platform enabled timeous communications and feedback from both customers and Transnet and enabled exchange of information and of similar experiences faced by other countries and how they resolved such challenges.

As feedback to the daily meetings held between customers and Transnet port management, the customers have expressed their satisfaction on how the process of recovery and contingency planning has been executed.

The shipping lines, accounting for 70% of the cargo moving across the ports, have given the assurance that the South African Ports will not be by-passed and they will continue to work with Transnet during this recovery period.

“Government commends the leadership of the affected companies for their patience while Transnet worked to restore full operations. Credit goes to the Transnet IT teams who have ensured that the systems is restored within a week,” Transnet said.

Transnet is accelerating the work on strengthening the weaknesses identified in the IT environment. The force majeure is currently in place and under review with the intention to lift it in the coming days.

The speedy recovery has mitigated against the possible job losses that may have been threatened by a prolonged disruption to the IT systems.

The Minister and Transnet management would like to thank the industry players who have taken the time to engage, offer support and collaborations during this difficult time.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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China’s IC industry speeds up advanced chip production: Expert

BEIJING, July 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — A news report by China.org.cn on China’s IC industry speeds up advanced chip production: Expert.

China’s integrated circuit (IC) industry is transforming from high-speed to high-quality development as more advanced homegrown chip-making processes make inroads across the whole industry chain, an expert said.

In an article published earlier this month at Guancha.cn, a Shanghai-based online news and comments aggregator, Dr. Bao Yungang, vice director of the Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), noted that China’s 14 nm and 28 nm chip-making processes are gaining ground and being used for many applications in various fields.

China's homegrown AI chips are on display at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, July 7, 2021. [Photo/VCG]

The country’s 14 nm process has navigated many technology difficulties with significant improvements to manufacturing techniques, packaging technologies and key equipment materials, said Bao.

He added that the 14 nm node is the most widely applied chip-making process in fields like high-end consumer electronics, high-speed computing, artificial intelligence and automobiles.

According to statistics, the global semiconductor market made around $200 billion in sales in the first half of 2019. The 14 nm chip-making process accounted for 65% of those sales.

Bao said China now has the capacity to mass produce 28 nm chips as it made important headway in developing some of the critical equipment and materials.

The 28 nm is the dividing line between low-to-mid range and mid-to-high end IC manufacturing, he explained.

Besides chips for central processing units, graphics processing units and artificial intelligence, other mainstream industrial products such as televisions, air conditioners, automobiles, high-speed trains, satellites, industrial robots, elevators and drones are the most common applications for the 28 nm technology process, Bao added.

“China urgently needs to move toward mid-to-high end chip production, and being able to produce 28 nm chips means that it can meet most of the demand for chips without relying on other countries,” said he.

In 2019, IC capacity for leading-edge (<10 nm) processes accounted for only 4.4% of the installed capacity across the industry, while processes above 28 nm accounted for 52% of the overall share, according to the IC Insights’ Global Wafer Capacity 2020-2024.

While the 14 nm and 28 nm chip-making process can meet much of domestic demand, China is eagerly promoting more cutting-edge processes to gradually break away from overseas reliance.

Wen Xiaojun, head of the Electronic Information Institute at the China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID), last month told China’s news portal huanqiu.com that the homegrown 14nm chip-making process is likely to be mass produced by next year.

As the world’s largest semiconductor market, China has been spending aggressively in semiconductor investment, acquisition, and talent recruitment to bolster the chip manufacturing industry and make it equal to those of the world’s top foundries.

A report by Goldman Sachs last year predicted that China may be capable of producing 7nm chips by 2023.

Given the dynamics of the chip production sector, domestic communication operators, equipment suppliers and communication service providers should explore new ways of service while innovating appliance architecture to gain trust from customers and boost technological improvement, noted Bao.

Bao believes that the key for new breakthroughs is to better integrate into the global innovation and collaboration system as the IC industry is truly a global industry and no country should be isolated from the industry chain.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1583059/China_org_cn.jpg

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Forty Surgeons to Receive Scholarships for Paediatric Needs

Charities Smile Train and KidsOR to Sponsor Surgeons Across Africa

TANZANIA, Africa, July 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Global charities Smile Train and Kids Operating Room (KidsOR) are partnering to support the training and education of 40 paediatric surgeons across Africa in partnership with the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) and the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA).

Smile Train and KidsOR

Candidates from South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi, Liberia and Tanzania are already in session at various training institutions under COSECSA and WACS, with additional candidates expected from Lesotho, Eswatini and Sierra Leone.

The scholarships, which support recipients for a duration of three to six years depending on the course of study, cover the cost of exam registration and fees, transport and visas for the country in which the recipients are training.

Smile Train Vice-President and Regional Director for Africa Mrs. Nkeiruka Obi celebrated the partnership, saying: “At the core of Smile Train’s ‘teach a man to fish’ model is capacity building and sustainably empowering local healthcare professionals in the cleft ecosystem.

“Smile Train is committed to supporting the education and training of medical professionals, and we are excited to expand this work with KidsOR to strengthen the surgical systems and increase access to safe, quality, surgical care in low- and middle-income countries thereby providing consistently available and cultural appropriate care for patients with cleft .”

Rosemary Mugwe, Africa Director of KidsOR, added: “KidsOR aims to give every child access to safe surgery. Through scholarships, we seek to find the gaps and identify the best ways to support junior doctors through their studies with resources to help drive the quality, skill sets and confidence of new graduates. We want to help strengthen local workforces to create sustainable healthcare systems.”

Worldwide, a severe shortage in the surgical workforce contributes to limited access to safe, affordable, and timely surgical care for an estimated five billion people. Smile Train partner Professor Roumanatou Bankole, who is a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons (FWACS), a Smile Train International Scholar, and Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Teaching Hospital of Treichville, welcomed the partnership, emphasizing the need for quality education and training for the surgeons.

“Africa is lacking in qualified paediatric surgeons and 143 million additional surgical procedures are needed each year to prevent disability in low- and middle-income countries. This partnership creates a lot of opportunities for education and training among younger surgeons to bridge the gap,” said Prof. Bankole.

Currently, Burundi has no paediatric surgeon in the country. That will soon change, however, as two doctors – Dr Alliance Niyukuri and Dr Carlos Nsengiyumva – are among the cohort that will be supported by the scholarships offered by Smile Train and KidsOR. Similarly, when scholarship recipients from Eswatini, Liberia, Lesotho and South Sudan complete their studies, they will be the first pediatric surgeons within their countries.

Dr. Alicia Messenga, a paediatric surgeon at Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza, Tanzania, has recently qualified as a paediatric surgeon on a KidsOR scholarship. She said: “Successful completion of my studies has benefitted our community as paediatric patients get the specialist care they need. As BMC is also a university teaching hospital, surgical students get exposure to paediatric surgery now that we have a paediatric surgery unit in the hospital thanks to KidsOR and Smile Train.”

Through funding from Smile Train, KidsOR is also implementing the remodelling of operating rooms in 23 hospitals across 18 countries over the next five years. The partners have successfully delivered state-of-the-art pediatric theatres at Bugando Medical Centre, (Mwanza, Tanzania); University Hospital Medical Centre (Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire); Armed Forces Specialist Hospital (Kano, Nigeria) and Bethesda Hospital (Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo).

Notes to Editors

  • An estimated 1.7 billion children lack access to safe surgery.
  • More children aged between five and 14 die every year from surgically treatable injuries than malaria, HIV and TB combined.
  • Death and disability from untreated surgical conditions drives a third or more families into poverty from a single hospitalization, leads to preventable pain and suffering, and even child abandonment and the fracture of families.

About Smile Train
Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally. We advance a sustainable solution and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, drastically improving children’s lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak, and ultimately thrive. To learn more about how Smile Train’s sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.

About Kids Operating Room (KidsOR)
Kids Operating Room is a global children’s health charity working to give every child access to safe surgery when they need it. Over two billion children lack access to safe surgery. Every year, more children die from not getting the surgery they need than from Malaria, HIV and TB combined. KidsOR saves the lives of children in low- and middle-income countries by installing and equipping state-of-the art Operating Rooms dedicated to children’s surgery, and training surgical teams to work in them. Since 2018, KidsOR has provided more than 40,000 life-changing operations across 30+ Operating Rooms in 14 countries.

Press contacts:

Smile Train
Emily Manjeru
PR & Communications Manager, Africa
+254 724 926 269
[email protected]

KidsOR
Muthoni Wahome
Communications Officer (Africa)
[email protected]

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1214558/Smile_Train_x_KidsOR_Logo.jpg