Category: General

The Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammed Badaru, on Monday paid a courtesy visit on the former Military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, in his Abuja home.

Badaru also paid a courtesy visit on the former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Martin Agwai.

The minister’s visit to the duo was to seek for professional advice on how to tackle and accomplish the task ahead of him.

This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Monday, by Mrs Victoria Agba-Attah, Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry.

Briefing the former Nigerian leaders, the minister said that his visit was in view of the task and responsibilities ahead of him in the strategic ministry.

He said in the light of that, it was imperative that he and his state counterpart consult and tap from the wisdom and wealth of their experience.

Badaru said that he would not relent in his efforts at wider consultations with elders and former Nigerian leaders on how to tackle the current security challenges facing the nation.

He commended the former Head of State, who was also the head of ECOWAS special envoy to Niger Republic for his gigantic efforts at restoring peace and overcoming the current political impasse in that country.

Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Military Head of State between 1998 and 1999 is a renowned elder statesman and a Peace Ambassador for ECOWAS and the United Nations.

Similarly, Agwai had served the nation at one point of his career as the Commander of the combined United Nations- African Union Peacekeeping Force in Dafur.

He also served as Chief of Staff and Chief of Defence Staff.

Both leaders commended President Bola Tinubu for appointing the minister, describing him as a great achiever.

They wished him a successful tenure as minister of defence.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Remarks by Deputy Minister in The Presidency Kenneth Morolong

Media briefing on the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention 28 August 2023

Members of the media,

Every year, about a million young people leave secondary school in South Africa – of these approximately 30% enter post-schooling education, another 10% find work, while 60% remain outside of employment, education or training.

We know that those young people who do manage to access opportunities tend to zig-zag on broken pathways, falling in and out of education and short-term work making it difficult for them to gain a foothold in the economy.

This situation calls for bold and urgent action.

It is for this reason that in his 2020 State of Nation Address, the President launched the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) as a direct response to the youth unemployment crisis.

The PYEI is a multi-stakeholder partnership that accelerates efforts to transition young people from learning to earning.

It is designed around young people and places strong emphasis on implementing what we know is effective in enabling these transitions.

This includes the following:

pathway management, which acknowledges that different groups of young people face very different barriers to productive earning and therefore require different types of support;

creating a direct link between skills development and demand in economy to unlock earning opportunities in growing sectors;

building mechanisms that enable local economies and support young people’s enterprises and self-employment and;

providing young people with paid community service and other temporary earning opportunities to gain experience, build their agency and contribute to their communities.

The PYEI recognises that the challenge before us cannot be addressed through isolated initiatives.

It brings together the strengths of numerous government institutions and social partners to open more pathways to earning for young people.

The Presidency’s Project Management Office (PMO) coordinates the intervention and provides strategic direction while key national departments and entities lead the implementation together with a diverse set of partners.

The desired impact is to contribute to a South Africa where young people are actively participating in the economy with greater dignity and a sense of agency over their contribution to society.

The PYEI has made significant progress to date with achieving this objective.

The National Pathway Management Network, a network of networks that aggregates opportunities into a single place and provides active support to young people to navigate pathways into the economy, now reaches more than 4 million young people.

Many of the young people who are joining the network through sayouth.mobi, face exclusion in the labour market.

The majority are young black women, a cohort we know experiences extensive barriers to accessing earning opportunities in the economy and requires targeted support.

Moreover, 73% of young people who responded to the question report that they attended poorer resourced quintile 1 to 3 schools and 65% report that they live in households where at least one member receives a social grant.

By connecting the sayouth.mobi platform to other platforms in the network such as the Department of Employment and Labour’s Employment Services South Africa (ESSA), JOBJACK and the National Youth Development Agency’s ERP platform, the National Pathway Management Network is providing young people with access to a wide range of opportunities across all partners.

Through this network, young people have been supported to access just over 1 million earning opportunities since the inception of the PYEI. This includes opportunities delivered through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the revitalised National Youth Service and private sector efforts such as the Youth Employment Service.

Young people such as Timothy who first joined the sayouth.mobi as a school assistant in the successful Department of Basic Education Employment Initiative programme have been able to find other opportunities on the network.

After the DBE programme ended, Timothy discovered an opportunity to make his own money on SA Youth, by selling goods using a digital app called Qwili (link is external)and quickly becoming a top earner.

As we come to the end of Women’s Month, it is also critical to highlight how the PYEI is responding to the vulnerability young women continue to face.

The recent release of quarter 2 results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey paint a grim picture of the state of women in the labour market.

Women are less likely to participate labour force compared men and those that do, face higher unemployment rates.

Of the young women aged 15-24 years, 36% are NEET compared to only 32.4% for young men.

The PYEI counters these effects by linking young women to programmes in the partnership such as the Basic Package of Support and the revitalised National Youth Service that provide targeted support and break down persistent barriers.

The Basic Package of Support reaches out to young people who are Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) and offers face-to-face coaching to help them solve for the multiple challenges that are keeping them trapped in the NEET status.

We know that young women are especially vulnerable to this as they are are more likely to live in income poor households and to carry a heavier burden of care in the household.

This is the case for Michaela, a 21-year-old young woman from Atlantis, who joined the Basic Package of Support in June 2022.

Michaela’s primary goal was to pursue her studies, but she also felt a responsibility to care for and financially support her grandmother.

She initiated a job hunt and achieved success. After securing employment, her Basic Package of Support coach encouraged her to pursue broader ambitions for higher education.

Michaela applied for a Foundation Phase teaching course and was unfortunately not accepted.

She persevered, having developed a Plan B with her coach and is now pursuing her studies in Human Resource Management.

As these results highlight, a substantial amount of energy has gone into bringing young people into the National Pathway Management Network, where they are supported to access learning to earning opportunities.

With this foundation in place, the PYEI is now placing greater emphasis on transitions into sustainable earning opportunities.

This involves both unlocking demand in priority growth sectors as well as developing effective mechanisms to track young people’s movements through the labour market.

In addition, we are focusing our attention on two critical priorities for the remainder of the year to ensure the sustainability of the PYEI.

Our first priority is to secure funding for the PYEI over the medium term.

Our second is to review and enhance the institutional arrangements to continue to embed this intervention in government and enable effective partnerships with the non-state sector.

This whole of society approach to delivery is central to the PYEI partnership and it is working.

It is must be prioritised for funding to scale up its efforts and ensure its continuity over long term.

The results and stories from young people demonstrate that by creating pathways to the opportunities, the PYEI is restoring young people’s hope and dignity.

Thank you

Source: Government of South Africa

Human Settlements Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, has called on the City of Johannesburg to increase the delivery of social housing units.

This is in response to the ever-increasing public demand, further exacerbated by in-migration to the economic hub of Gauteng.

Kubayi made the call during a community engagement and the launch of the Riverside View Social Housing Project in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, on Friday. The launch included the handover of the completed 180 units to beneficiaries.

The Minister was accompanied by Gauteng Human Settlements MEC, Lebohang Maile and Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda.

The Minister also led the sod turning ceremony to mark the commencement of construction of Phase 3 of the project, a Ward 96 mixed-income development. The development is meant to address social, economic, and spatial integration and substantially contribute to providing affordable rental accommodation in Johannesburg.

During an on-site briefing, Kubayi was encouraged to learn that since July, over 9 000 applications for housing were received by the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO), which is an entity of the City of Johannesburg.

While substantial, the figure is not unique to the city noted the Minister, as the Housing Company Tshwane had in 2022, also revealed that it had received over 7 000 applications from potential tenants who had shown interest in the Townlands Social Housing Project.

“The demand for social housing is huge. As the government, mainly the City of Johannesburg and the Provincial Department of Human Settlements, working alongside the private sector, we must strengthen working relations to increase social housing units in the city and other areas to benefit communities,” she said.

The construction of Phase 3 is expected to commence in September 2023, and the Minister said it must be launched as soon as in January 2024.

Overall, the project is expected to deliver 1108 units on completion. It will cater for low-income families and individuals from various backgrounds, while also providing adequate and affordable, safe, and comfortable homes to qualifying applicants.

The Minister underscored that most people living in informal settlements do not qualify for fully subsidised government houses, as they fall outside the qualifying income bracket of R0-R3500.

“Thus, a need to provide them with decent and affordable accommodation, through a social housing programme that offers rental stock for those earning between R3501 and R22 000,” she said.

She added that “we have a Constitutional obligation to provide housing for all” while also calling on renters to pay their rent.

“This is a rental stock, not a rent-to-buy. By doing so, you will be assisting the government in working with the private sector to deliver more affordable rental units.”

Land identified for social amenities

Meanwhile, responding to community concerns about the lack of facilities in Diepsloot and surrounding areas, MEC Maile indicated that there are pieces of land that have been identified to provide social amenities, including schools and clinics.

Maile also outlined plans to further expand the scope to cater for more people, amidst an increasingly high number of people flocking into the province to seek better opportunities.

“Those people inevitably need a convenient and comfortable place to live, thus making it more urgent for private sector partners to come on board,” Maile said.

Government remains committed to delivering 18 000 units between 2019 and 2024. To date, over 11 000 units have been handed over to the rightful beneficiaries.

“The Department of Human Settlements is working with the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) to de-risk potential beneficiaries who find themselves not qualifying for various housing opportunities because of their credit ratings,” Kubayi said.

The Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA), an entity of the department and delivery agent for the Riverside View Social Housing Project, indicated that 14 projects in total have been completed and are ready to be handed over by the end of 2023. These account for 4700 units across the country.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Between April and June this year, at least 135 000 earning opportunities were secured by young people through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative’s (PYEI) National Pathway Management Network.

Some 108 061 of these were accessed through the SA Youth platform with 27 088 opportunities scored through the Department of Employment and Labour’s Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) website.

This was revealed during a media briefing on Monday to update the nation on the progress made by the PYEI.

The PYEI was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during 2020 as an intervention to rising youth unemployment in South Africa.

Speaking to SAnews, Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Kenny Morolong said it is critical for the PYEI to receive more funding in order to reach more young people.

“That is why we are engaging [National] Treasury and are awaiting a pronouncement during the MTBPS period because the recapitalisation of the PYI programme will go a long way in reaching out to many other young people who have yet to transition from learning to earning.

“Over 4.1 million young people are participating in the platform at no cost. There is evidence that they are being linked to opportunities and those opportunities are critical for their livelihoods. It is a programme that we intend to sustain and that is why discussions are ensuing with National Treasury to recapitalise it,” Morolong said.

Reflecting on the current employment challenges, the Deputy Minister spoke on the need to create pathways into the economy for youth not only as employees but as entrepreneurs.

“It is important to get young people participating in the mainstream economy. This programme is also critical because it exposes young people to self-employment opportunities; that is why we encourage young people to take full advantage of it,” he said.

According to the PYEI dashboard, since its April 2020 inception, some 4.1 million people have registered and are accessing the SA Youth platform and more than 1 million earning opportunities have been secured by young people.

Young women taking opportunities

Director of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, Lerato Shai, told the media briefing that of the work opportunities accessed by young people, at least 70% of these were accessed by young women.

“What we are learning through SA Youth, is that young women continue to face specific barriers even as progress is being made. In particular…more young women are actually getting educated than young men. We are seeing more women that are educated, that are tenacious but they’re still facing substantial barriers once they enter into the labour market with many of them being far less employed and, where they are, earning far less than what men earn in the same jobs.

“What we do see is that if there is intentional design in the programmes to really tackle the barriers that are affecting young women, especially in male dominated sectors, women…take up these opportunities and they run with them and they create new pathways for themselves.

“What we really are seeing is that to tip the scale towards more equity, we need a systemic shift. So it’s not about jobs for girls, but employment systems that actually work for women,” Shai said.

Turning to the Youth Employment Service (YES), Shai said this initiative is also dominated by young women.

“They are supporting just over 58% of young women and since its inception, they’ve managed to really start to generate the kind of demand and access to opportunities we are wanting to see in the private sector with 42% of their alumni employed in permanent or contract roles.

“So YES really is starting to shift the trajectory and…create pathways to earning for young women,” she said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Nelson Mandela Bay District SAPS Commissioner, Major General Vuyisile Ncata, has commended the men and women in blue following significant arrests and confiscations that were recently made.

In a statement, the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Eastern Cape said the relentless crackdown on criminals sends a strong message that illegal activities will not be tolerated.

This as SAPS Humewood arrested a 20-year-old suspect allegedly involved in a business robbery at 12:06 in Govan Mbeki Street. It is alleged that the complainant was in the shop when the suspect entered and threatened him and demanded money. The complainant scuffled with the suspect and managed to apprehend him and confiscated a replica firearm. The suspect was arrested on charges of business robbery.

In another unrelated matter on Wednesday, near Truckers Inn, Public Order Policing were performing crime prevention duties when they noticed a suspect standing nearby. Upon being searched, the suspect was found in possession of a silver revolver (serial number filed off) with six rounds of ammunition. The 25-year-old was detained on charges of possession of a prohibited firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.

On Thursday night, police arrested two suspects involved in a house robbery in Perridgevale. It is alleged that the suspects entered a residence occupied by students in Haven Road and stole four cell phones and fled the scene in a blue Volkswagen Golf.

SAPS Mount Road members received information that the blue VW Golf was driving in Sydenham. Suspects were found in Milner Street. The two suspects aged 21 and 22 years were arrested.

On Friday, the SAPS Anti-Gang Unit executed a search warrant at a house in Bowles Street in Bloemenda. A revolver with its serial number filed off and eight rounds of ammunition were found. A 32-year-old suspect was arrested on charges of possession of a prohibited firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.

A firearm of which the serial number was filed off, was found when police responded to a complaint in Chase Street, Walmer Location. In addition, 82 rounds of ammunition were found at the scene and confiscated.

The suspect was arrested on charges of possession of a prohibited firearm and Illegal possession of ammunition.

Some of the suspects that were arrested over the course of last week have already appeared in court while others are expected to appear in various courts today, 28 August 2023.

“We are committed to upholding the law and ensuring the safety of our citizens. Your actions would not go unchecked,” Ncata said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo has called for a culture of work, service and professionalism within the public sector and key stakeholders.

Mahlobo made the remarks during the Emfuleni Section 63 Support Stakeholder Meeting held at Vereeniging, Gauteng, on Friday.

The meeting, which was attended by Emfuleni Local Municipality Mayor Sipho Radebe and stakeholders from various structures representing business and civil society within the Sedibeng District Municipality, aimed to provide an update on the progress made on the Emfuleni Section 63 Interventions, and the planned work leading up to the commissioning of pump station 5, which has a capacity of 150 mega litres a day.

In 2021, Minister Senzo Mchunu invoked and placed Emfuleni Local Municipality under Section 63 of the Water Services Act and took over water and sanitation services following the municipality’s failure to manage its water and sanitation services, which resulted in sewer spillages in communities and into the Vaal River, polluting the raw water source.

The objective of the Section 63 interventions is to address sewerage spillage in the Sedibeng District’s Emfuleni and Midvaal, as a result of lack of maintenance and aging infrastructure, and demand that is higher than waste water treatment capacity.

Rand Water was appointed as an implementing agent to deliver an effective solution that will eradicate pollution in the river and its tributaries, and address water and sanitation service delivery challenges, inhibiting both social and economic development in the region.

Mahlobo was appointed by Mchunu to chair the Political Stakeholder Committee of the project in the region to keep all stakeholders abreast of the progress in the implementation of the intervention.

Mahlobo noted the overwhelming progress on the work that has been done to address spillages, and urged the department and other water sector stakeholders to improve their work ethic, service delivery, and professionalism, stressing the significance of regular information sharing to demonstrate the progress being made, and to foster patience among the public.

He said this approach will ensure that stakeholders are well-informed about the ongoing developments, and can collaboratively address any challenges that arise.

The Deputy Minister also emphasised the importance of transparency in water management.

“The sharing of information plays a crucial role in informing the public about the measures implemented to enhance the provision of adequate water services. It also allows for clarification on the progress made in various water projects.

“This, in turn, helps to build trust and confidence within the public. Additionally, transparency holds all stakeholders accountable for their actions, thus enhancing good governance within the water sector,” Mahlobo said.

The Deputy Minister also highlighted a need for collaborative efforts with the private sector to succeed.

He said, it is through the collective efforts of the department, including stakeholders, and the public, that meaningful change can occur.

“By cultivating a culture of work, service, and professionalism, the water and sanitation sector can address existing challenges and pave the way for a future marked by sustainable and equitable access to water resources,” the Deputy Minister said.

A number of stakeholders also expressed their gratitude towards progress made by the intervention, adding that it has been evident that the Emfuleni Section 63 worked extremely well and that more opportunities must be availed for women.

Significant progress in water-related projects

The Rand Water, which is responsible for supplying potable water to the Gauteng Province, highlighted significant progress in various water-related projects.

In its reports, the utility noted that the refurbishment of pump station 2 is currently at 80% completion with pump station 9, which has reached 50% completion.

The utility also highlighted that the gravity main to pump station 2 is halfway through its renovation, while pump station 10 is nearing completion at 95%.

Another progress noted was the successful completion of the collapsed sewer pipeline at Union Street in Vereeniging, which is 100% completed.

Mahlobo concluded the meeting by directing the Department of Water and Sanitation Provincial Head for Gauteng, Justice Maluleke and his team to ensure that real issues are captured and site visits take place at the specific areas and feedback given.

Source: South African Government News Agency