Category: General

Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has emphasised that the agreements signed in the past week with Chinese state owned entities and the donation by the People’s Republic of China are to address this country’s emergency energy solutions.

South Africa concluded a significant amount of agreements with Chinese state owned entities (SOEs) with the signing of two overarching memoranda that were witnessed by President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Xi Jinping.

South Africa hosted the 15th BRICS Summit last week and the country also hosted President Xi on his fourth State Visit to South Africa ahead of the Summit.

Addressing the media on the Energy Action Plan on Sunday, Ramokgopa explained that the two agreements include amongst others, addressing issues of green energy solutions, exploitations of renewable energy sources and the use of modern technology.

“The two agreements – the first one addresses issues around green energy solutions- the partnership agreement we will be entering in relation to the exploitation of renewable energy sources in our country; the use of modern technology and the degree to which we are able to connect renewable energy onto the grid.

“The rationale for entering with the Chinese in this regard is because they are a dominant player on the renewable energy space. They have 688 gigawatts of installed capacity of renewables, a combination of PV and wind. They have done one of the biggest expansions of transmission and they have also worked on the kind of transmission modernisation required to be able to accommodate the intermittency of renewable sources,” the Minister said.

In regards to the donation by the People’s Republic of China, the Minister said this is aimed at addressing South Africa’s emergency energy solutions, which is targeted at key public facilities such as police stations, health institutions and correctional centres.

Minister Ramokgopa emphasised that provincial departments will play a role in identifying the key public areas.

“The second one, was an exchange of letters in relation to a donation that we are receiving from the People’s Republic of China that is meant to help us in addressing the emergency energy solution in the country.

“I did indicate that it’s likely going to be targeted in key public facilities such as hospitals, clinics, correctional services, and police stations. In this regard, we will be working with the nine provincial governments for them to be able to identify sites that are suitable for this.

“We already have a technical capacity that is supporting us in relation to the appropriateness of the technology solutions that are given to us and those that have been agreed upfront,” he said.

Ramokgopa further announced that the first shipment of the technology solutions by China is en route and an announcement will be made when it arrives in the country, having left Chinese shores on 14 August.

“We will announce at the right time when the first shipment lands and give an indication of the first public facilities that will benefit from this generous donation.”

Turning to the performance of the system for the past week, the Minister said that the available capacity has come down.

“I did indicate that we are beginning to normalise being above 28 000 megawatts on average. We have kept close to that most of the week and the average is about 27 561 megawatts,” he said.

“We did indicate that we were going to slow down planned outages and once we get out of a very difficult winter we are going to ramp up because we need to protect these machines, generation and units to ensure their sustainability and reliability going into the future.

“We still remain above 15 000 megawatts in relation to unplanned capacity lost factor. I made a point that we want to bring it down,” the Minister said.

Load shedding

On load shedding, Ramokgopa said government was confident the system was stabilising and the country will continue to have lower stages of load shedding as the system recovers.

“On the issue of performance, we are more that satisfied. We have shown where we moved from a historic low of 48% of energy availability factor. We have been averaging 60% energy availability factor.

“When we went to the winter period, the worst case scenario was Stage 8. We only had 30 hours of Stage 6. You can see the intensity of load shedding is coming down. The issues of outage slips, I have shown to you, they have come down from a high of 3 300 megawatts to 766 megawatts,” the Minister said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Makhotso Sotyu has called on all South Africans to do their part in keeping the environment clean and habitable.

“All South Africans have the responsibility to ensure that their environment is clean, green and habitable. Poor waste management poses health and environmental risks. Everyone can do something to attain clean-living spaces.”

The Deputy Minister made this call during a clean-up and greening activity in Bothaville in the Free State on Friday.

The Constitution of South Africa guarantees everyone the right of access to an environment that is not harmful to their health and well-being and to have the natural environment protected for the benefit of current and future generations.

She said the collaborative effort between the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and Lejweleputswa District and Nala Local Municipalities aims to emphasise the importance of active citizenry involvement in safeguarding natural resources and curbing waste pollution in communities.

“What we are doing here today epitomizes the Good Green Deeds programme, a ground-breaking Presidential initiative that seeks to mobilise all sectors of South Africa to become more environmentally conscious, leading to a deal for nature.”

The Good Green Deeds programme seeks to change people’s attitudes, behaviours towards responsible management of waste, and keeping their neighbourhoods clean, green and safe.

“This is a clarion call to all sectors in society to do their part to contribute to Good Green Deeds. Where there is litter, society is urged to work together to clear litter and rubble that threatens our efforts to build a healthy South Africa.”

She added that illegal dumping and littering are some of the most common problems in the country and affect all municipalities alike.

“The prevalence of ineffective waste management practices is being witnessed in many parts of the country. This trend, unfortunately, affects the well-being of communities, as it has indeed resulted in the mushrooming of pockets of illegal dumping and littering sites.

“More emphasis is required to ensure that citizens are mobilized to take a firm position against such activities in their respective communities.”

She said a departmental team working together with the provincial Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Lejweleputswa District Municipality and Nala Local Municipality, has spent the past few days conducting clean-up and greening activities at different identified spots in this municipality.

In-House Model

In addition to Friday’s clean-up, the Deputy Minister also handed over personal protective equipment (PPE) to the In-House Model participants to heighten the cleaning and greening programme.

“Through the environmental programmes, we have conceptualised the In-House Model which allows the department to implement and manage its projects using its own staff. This model enables the department to employ more Expanded Public works Programme (EPWP) participants due to ‘savings’ on project management fees. It enables the department to be in control and ensures timely payment of wages.”

The In-House model facilitates direct partnership with local government. In so doing, the department pays stipends, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Compensation for Occupation Injuries and Diseases (COID) whilst the municipalities provide PPE, tools of trade and commit to pick up collected waste.

“I am pleased to announce that we have recruited 517 participants as part of the In-House Model to address service delivery and waste management in partnership with the Lejweleputswa District Municipality,” she said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel arrived in Namibia on Saturday for an official State visit and Heroes’ Day celebrations.

Diaz-Canel is on a three-day visit to Namibia as a guest of honor to the 33rd Heroes’ Day celebrations, held at Independence Stadium in Windhoek on Saturday, as well as scheduled bilateral discussions with President Hage Geingob.

His visit also includes meetings with the Cuban health volunteers and the Cuban community in Namibia and Namibians who studied in Cuba.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services has a total of 92 volunteers from Cuba, of whom the majority are specialists (59 per cent), pharmacists (16 per cent) and biomedical engineers (13 per cent), while others include, dentists, anesthetists, physicians, gynecologists, maxillofacial surgeons, pediatricians, surgeons, dermatologists and prosthodontists.

Diaz-Canel accompanied by his spouse, Madame Lis Cuesta Peraza, is expected to leave on Monday.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

A 28-year-old man was arrested at Otavi in the Otjozondjupa Region on Friday afternoon for the alleged murder of his two-year-old baby boy at the town.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) head of community affairs in the region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha, in an interview with Nampa on Saturday said the deceased toddler has been identified by his close relatives as Jason Muronga.

Mbeha said is alleged that the boy’s biological father on Friday morning was seen forcefully removing him from his 24-year-old mother.

The suspect allegedly left the place and took the child along facing the direction of the railway line not far from the Saamstan Informal Area, where their house is situated, said Mbeha.

‘At the railway line, the suspect allegedly was seen hitting the child’s head twice against a concrete electricity pole and threw the injured boy there before fleeing the site,’ said Mbeha.

The child was picked up by some close relatives and taken to the Otavi Clinic, where it was discovered that the baby had suffered serious head injuries.

He was transfered to the Otjiwarongo State Hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries on Friday afternoon, said Mbeha.

The suspect was then arrested on the same day at Otavi on a charge of murder and is expected to appear in the Otavi Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Police investigations continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State says the state government has so far spent N7.6 billion on constructing and equipping the ultra-modern motor park in the state.

Yahaya stated this while inspecting facilities at the park on Saturday.

He queried the contractor for working behind schedule saying that such would no longer be condoned by the state government as his administration is eager to ensure the utilisation of the project for the benefits of the people.

“We have invested N7.6 billion on this project and the contractor had been lagging behind and that would no longer be tolerated.

“We are eager to put the facility to use for the benefit of our people,” he said.

On the contractor’s pledge to deliver the project by September, Yahaya said “I will charge you if you don’t deliver by September ending because N7.6 billion is no small money.

“We are not owing you a kobo and so there is no reason why you shouldn’t deliver by that September,” he added.

The governor said that the state government had set up a committee to ensure seamless relocation of all existing parks in the metropolis, hence the need for the contractor to deliver by the September deadline.

He said that critical stakeholders in the transport sector in the state had given their supports as the project would be beneficial to them, create more jobs and make movement in the state easier.

According to him, the relocation of the Bauchi motor park was to give room for more developmental projects in the state, adding that a three arm zone would be cited at the location after its relocation.

“Once the motor parks are out, we shall see where we will utilise to take care of the interest of everyone as we are expanding and growing towards making Gombe a modern city,” he said.

On how the state government raised the N7.6 billion, Yahaya said the project was financed through a bond, adding that the government had commenced a post-dated payment and had been paying in installments.

He stated that the management of the motor park had been ceded to Gombe Revenue Optimisation Company Limited to work with the unions in the transport sector to recoup the money over time.

He said that the investment in the project is huge and expected to benefit the people of the state and impact positively on the economy.

Yahaya also inspected ongoing projects in the state capital which include the ongoing construction of the Sharia Court of Appeal, Bauchi Motor Park and some road projects in Gombe metropolis.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor had on Thursday set up a taskforce to facilitate the smooth transition of operations from three major motor parks to the ultra-modern park.

The three major motor parks to be relocated to the new park along Dukku Road when completed are Bauchi Motor Park, Dukku Motor Park and Dadinkowa Motor Park.

The ultra modern motor park has the following facilities: road networks, 250 shops, clinic, hotel with 100 people capacity, fire service station, trailer park which can contain 2,500 trailers at a time, police outpost amongst others.

The project, awarded by Ibrahim Dankwambo’s administration since 2012 at the initial contract sum of 3.2 billion naira is said to have gulped almost 2.8 billion billion naira and attained 43 per cent completion status before being allegedly abandoned.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno has announced the donation of N36 million to be shared at N30,000 each to the 1,215 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members deployed to the state.

A statement on Saturday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, said that Zulum made the donation during his visit to the NYSC orientation camp in Maiduguri.

Gusau said that Zulum also allocated 100 bags of rice, 10 cows, 10 bags of 100 kg of beans and 10 gallons of cooking oil for special meals to be prepared for the corps members during their ongoing three weeks orientation.

“We want to extend palliatives to members of the National Youth Service Corps.

“Each one of you will receive the sum of N30,000, that amount will be credited to your accounts as soon as your bank details are provided to me.

“In addition to that, we have provided you with 100 bags of rice, 10 bags of 100kg beans, 10 gallons of cooking oil and 10 bulls,” Zulum was quoted as saying.

He urged the corp members to adhere to camp rules by living peacefully among themselves and engaging in acts that would foster peace in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NYSC orientation resumed last week in Borno after 13 years of suspension due to insurgency.

During the swearing-in ceremony at the orientation camp, Zulum announced the commitment of his administration to make the state the most friendly to corps members.

He also assured them that they would have good memories to share about Borno after their service year.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria