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Committee sends condolence on passing of Mintek Board Chairperson

The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, Sahlulele Luzipo, has extended his heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mintek Board Chairperson, Dr Vanguard Mkhosana, following his untimely death.

Dr Mkhosana was appointed to serve a three-year term as Mintek board chairperson by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, starting from 1 June 2020.

Luzipo said Mkhosana contributed to the entity his vast knowledge on matters related to corporate governance, including organisational performance, risk control and organisational sustainability.

He said Mkhosana’s untimely passing has robbed the country of a man of great stature and sound leadership acumen.

“Dr Mkhosana demonstrated a commitment to Mintek’s principles of integrity, accountability and openness each time he led the entity to appear before the committee. He was also passionate about transformation, and he was aiming for at least 46% women representation during his tenure as board chairperson,” Luzipo said.

Throughout his career, Dr Mkhosana served as member and chairperson of boards in both public and private companies, including, among others, the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency, Human Capital Group (Pty) Ltd, Mayibuye Transport Corporation (MTC), and Zizi-Consulting (Pty) Ltd.

He is also the former Director-General of the Department of Employment and Labour.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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PSC notes with concern irregular payments to public servants

The Public Service Commission (PSC) says it has noted with concern the announcement by Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu that 15 711 public servants were irregularly paid the R350 COVID-19 grants meant for the unemployed citizens.

This is not the first time such irregularities in the public service have been reported as evidenced by a number of investigations conducted by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) and other law enforcement agencies, particularly on corruption relating to the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and Unemployment Insurance Funds’ Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme and others, following the COVID-19 outbreak.

With the high level of unemployment and the devastation that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused in South Africa and around the world, the commission said it is disheartening to know that individuals that are supposed to promote professional ethics and act in an ethical manner are the ones stealing from the vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society.

“Public servants have a duty to act morally and humanely as outlined in the Constitutional Values and Principles found in section 195 of the Constitution.

“Ethical conduct and organisational integrity are key to eradicate fraud and corruption in the Public Service.

“It is therefore important, more than ever, to professionalise the public service so that through relevant training, public servants can be equipped with skills and competencies to make ethical decisions, develop organisational integrity and apply the core ethical values and standards in and outside the workplace,” the Public Service Commission said in a statement.

“To this end, the PSC hopes that the professionalisation of the public service programme and other public sector reforms being undertaken, when adopted and implemented by government, will among others, go a long way in making it impossible for acts of unethical conduct to take place in the public service,” Commission said.

The PSC further hopes that the heads of affected government departments will speed up the recovery of the R350 paid to their officials and that relevant disciplinary processes will be instituted against the culprits.

“As part of its constitutional mandate, the PSC will closely monitor this process to ensure that indeed funds are recovered from the culprits and will also report progress to Parliament including the public,” the Commission said.

The PSC encourages members of the public and public servants to report any wrongdoing or corrupt activities through the National Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 701 701.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Most provinces reaching red alert as third wave takes grip

While Gauteng remains the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has warned that many provinces in the country are almost at red alert as infections continue to increase.

“The trends are clearly showing that other provinces which are currently lagging are going to experience the trend we are seeing in Gauteng, most notably in the Western and the Eastern Cape. What worries us as well, is the positivity rate. If you look at Limpopo, it has almost 42% of positivity rate, which is leading in terms of positivity rates,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

Briefing the media on government’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19 and the rollout of vaccines on Friday, Kubayi-Ngubane said the COVID-19 situation in the country remains of great concern, as the numbers continue to increase at a very rapid rate.

“In the last 24 hours, there are 21 584 new cases, which is higher than the average number of new cases per day over the seven preceding days measured at 16 916 cases. The positivity testing rate has also increased from 27.6% the previous day to 28.4%.”

Gauteng continues to be the epicentre of new infections with the number of new cases having risen to 12 806 which represents 60% of the total new infections.

“We remain very worried about the rise in hospitalisations, which is putting a lot of strain on the health facilities in Gauteng. The private health hospitals are currently operating at more than 100% capacity and public health hospitals are edging closer to full capacity,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

She said nationally the third wave numbers have surpassed the first wave peak and are likely to surpass the second wave peak.

The new variant, called the Delta variant, is quickly becoming the dominant variant in the country, replacing both the Alpha variant experienced in the first wave and Beta variant experienced in the second wave.

However, the Minister reminded the public that the Beta variant is still prevalent and spreading.

“An important characteristic of the Delta variant is … those who were previously infected by Beta were immune from reinfection by both the Alpha and Beta variant – it is not the case with the Delta variant.

“This means that those who have had COVID-19 are at a risk of reinfection by the Delta variant,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

Over 120 000 people vaccinated in last 24 hours

Over 120 000 people were vaccinated in the last 24 hours, with KwaZulu-Natal leading the pack, followed by Gauteng, then the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

“The vaccination of educators is progressing well and we have so far vaccinated just over 300 000 educators. We had more educators registering in KwaZulu-Natal and followed by Gauteng,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

A total of 354 504 people aged between 50 and 59 registered for their vaccination when the system opened on Thursday. The group will start receiving their jabs on 15 July 2021.

“In parallel to this process, we are also finalising the details for the commencement of vaccinations of other frontline sectors such as the police, defence, the security cluster and we will provide more details soon,” she said.

Two million Pfizer doses expected in July

The Minister said almost 2.1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive in July.

She said Pfizer has delivered nearly 4.5 million doses in quarter two and they have committed just over 15.5 million doses in quarter three, of which “we are expecting nearly 2.1 million doses in July”.

“Johnson and Johnson have so far delivered 500 000 early access doses used for Sisonke, 300 000 market doses two weeks ago and 1.2 million doses landed last week. These doses all need to be used by 11 August.

“We are awaiting confirmation for delivery of 500 000 doses (these expire later than the previous doses mentioned), and this makes up the two million to replace those that were lost to the contamination incident.

“We make a clarion call to all those who qualify, to register and vaccinate,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

The Minister used the opportunity to thank scientists who continue to make world class scientific findings that are helping to fight the pandemic.

She also thanked the healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and all supporting stuff in health care centres for continuing to be in the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Johnson & Johnson vaccine works better against Delta variant

A study on vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 variants has shown that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine works better against the Delta variant, and gets better over time with both Delta and Beta variants.

This follows a study conducted where 10 participants received one dose, and 10 participants received two doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine up to eight months.

The study which was completed on 17 May 2021 was presented by South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) CEO, Professor Glenda Gray, during a media briefing on Friday.

According to the study, recipients of Johnson & Johnson vaccine produced strong neutralizing antibodies over the course of at least eight months.

“The study shows that the single shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine works against the Beta and Delta variants at eight months. All the immune response data indicate good immediate and sustained immune response against Delta.

“We don’t need to boost the Johnson & Johnson vaccines just as yet, but we need following up participants to see when the durability in the immune system responds,” Gray said.

Vaccine efficacy

Also presenting laboratory studies on vaccines used in South Africa, Professor Penny Moore, from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), said that a net study of several COVID-19 vaccine trials suggest that neutralising antibody levels, are highly predictive of immune protection from symptomatic COVID-19 infection. It also suggests evidence for neutralising antibodies as a protective correlate for COVID-19 vaccines.

“Neutralising antibodies correlates with vaccine efficacy [and] laboratory studies provide a measurement of how well vaccines will work, complementing clinical studies. Existing laboratory data suggests that vaccines in use in South Africa will work better against Delta than Beta variant,” Moore said.

Plenty vaccines to rollout vaccination programme

On the status of the vaccination rollout programme in the country, Dr Nicholas Crisp said South Africa has received plenty of vaccines to rollout its programme for the next few weeks.

Crisp said in order to scale up the vaccination from 20 000 people currently vaccinating per day to 200 000 and 300 000 people, more vaccination sites are needed to be opened and more people in the remote areas were routinely coming in for vaccination.

“We are already planning for the uptake of the next age of cohorts which is the 40-49, and has seven million people on it. The reason we are targeting age groups, is because there is plenty clinical evidence that age is a major factor more than any factor in keeping people well and out of hospital with severe infections,” Crisp said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Motshekga appointed as acting President

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to serve as Acting President on Friday, 2 July 2021.

In a statement, the Presidency said the appointment has been made in view of the President’s visit today to Lusaka, Zambia, to attend the State Funeral Service for the late President Kenneth Kaunda.

Deputy President David Mabuza is currently receiving medical treatment in the Russian Federation.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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SASSA remains open under Adjusted Alert Level 4

Under Adjusted Alert level 4, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) will remain open and operate with a reduced staff complement as per the Department of Public Service and Administration circular.

“Applications for social grants at all local offices will be staggered according to grant type, for instance Mondays will be for older persons, Tuesdays for disability grants, Wednesdays and Thursdays for child grant applications, and Fridays for appointments and spill over from the week,” Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, said on Friday.

She was addressing members of the media in Pretoria on her department’s response to COVID-19 and on the Level 4 Risk Adjusted Strategy as announced by the President.

Some of the changes that were made by the Department of Social Development during its response to COVID-19 has enabled the department to fast-track digitisation of its services.

These include the online booking system for disability grants, which has significantly cut down on the amount of time and costs for both SASSA and grants applicants.

“We take great pride with the significant progress we have registered since the launch of the online booking system in April this year. We therefore would like to encourage disability grant applicants to make use of the SASSA online booking system, which can be accessed through the agency’s website on www.sassa.gov.za.

“This will allow applicants to book assessment dates for the disability assessments. Our staff at SASSA offices can also assist clients with this system to ensure that they avoid repeated visits to local offices,” the Minister said.

SASSA will continue with the staggered payments of grants, with the first payment date reserved for older persons, followed by disability grants and the payment of all child grants.

“This month, payments of social grants will start on Tuesday 6 July. Once again, we appeal to all grant recipients that they do not need to collect their grants on the day it becomes available, but can collect their grants on any day as their monies will remain in their accounts and will not be taken away from them,” Zulu said.

Community Nutrition and Development Centres

The department’s 250 Community Nutrition and Development Centres (CNDCs) across the country will remain open to provide the much-needed relief, but this will be under strict COVID-19 regulations compliance and will be limited to take-away meals only.

“We have also adapted our operations to new and innovative ways that include knock-and-drop approach of cooked meals to minimise the health risks of those aged 60+.

“Our CNDCs assist with food storage and distribution to poor households, and are also part of community driven Food and Nutrition Security Programmes, which increase access to food security to vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, especially at this time of need,” the Minister said.

All CNDCs have amended their operations to ensure precautions that prioritise the health and safety of recipients and staff who are at the frontline.

“It is important to stress that these measures are no substitute to other COVID-19 protocols as beneficiaries have equal responsibility by continuing to follow the guidelines which, include; the – regular sanitising and washing of hands, wearing of a mask that covers both mouth and face, and maintaining a distance from others at all times. On a related matter, we will continue utilising a hybrid model of providing food parcels, such as cash, food parcels and vouchers throughout the nine provinces and through SASSA’s Social Relief of Distress (SRD) programme for eligible households in distress,” Zulu said.

Registration of NPOs

All in-person Non-profit Organisations (NPOs) services have been suspended.

For NPO registrations and submission of annual reports, citizens are encouraged to use the department’s online platform: www.npo.gov.za

“We reiterate our call for NPOs to ensure that they remain compliant with the NPO Act to avoid being de-registered. We further would like to assure all NPO applicants that their temporary certificates will be issued to them via email whilst the original certificates will be provided at a later stage,” Zulu said.

Provincial departments are making progress with the transfer of funds to NPOs whose efforts are more important than ever during this pandemic.

“However, we are mindful that some provinces are experiencing delays attributed to system changes, delays in finalisation of Service Level Agreements and human resource shortages, amongst others.

“I have directed all provincial departments to ensure that they move with greater speed in processing these subsidies. We take this opportunity to call upon the NPO sector to comply with all accountability requirements, including timely submission of progress reports as required by law,” the Minister said.

Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs)

All ECDs remain open and in full operation in compliance with all COVID-19 protocols and guidelines as previously provided to the sector.

“Our Provincial Departments will also continue to pay full subsidy to ECD programmes. We are aware that we did not complete payment through the stimulus package to all qualifying applicants at the end of March 2021.

“To this end, all Provincial Departments have applied for the rollover of funds as per the budget process. Let me take this opportunity to assure all qualifying ECD services that they will definitely receive their payments,” the Minister said.

Source: South African Government News Agency