Category: Industry

Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, says the second Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of South Africa (SIDSSA21) is intended to contribute to industrialisation and job creation as envisaged in the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.

“The interventions identified will boost demand and ensure effective coordination of all infrastructure players and it will also formalise systematic engagements of all the role players. It is envisaged that these interventions will contribute to building a resilient economy by accelerating the delivery of infrastructure,” the Minister said on Wednesday.

He was addressing a media briefing on SIDSSA21 where he unpacked the thematic focus areas of the symposium and, by extension, the 2021 infrastructure pipeline.

“The SIDSSA21 is focused on three focal areas as they have critical relevance to our country and to sustainable infrastructure delivery, namely development, which relates to development and delivery of infrastructure and the development of our people through infrastructure delivery,” the Minister said.

The symposium will also focus on the recovery of the economy through infrastructure delivery as well inclusive growth, which relates to redressing spatial imbalances between urban and rural areas through infrastructure delivery programmes.

“The entire population should be included in the benefits associated with the infrastructure investment and subsequent gross fixed capital formation,” he said.

Since SIDSSA20, government has embarked on visits to all nine provinces to ensure that the infrastructure pipeline of the country includes all the provincial infrastructure priorities as well.

“Our plans today will speak of the key progress and success areas, which further boosted the funding and investment case for the projects. One of these projects was South Africa’s emergence as a global exporter of green energy with major investment support from Sasol and Anglo American giving boost to the country’s green hydrogen projects.”

Water infrastructure projects with the potential of achieving savings in excess of R400 billion and massive job creation possibilites are also set to benefit from the infrastructure initiative.

“Transport programmes like the N2 Wild Coast development, which brings development, and job opportunities are also involved.

“The programme also covers 18 long-standing strategic integrated projects focusing on social and economic infrastructure to assess progress and apply remedies where necessary to fast-track their implementation,” Gungubele said.

Areas the symposium will tackle are on increasing infrastructure funding in the face of low economic growth, limited private sector participation and constraints on public borrowing as well as the role of investment attraction and retention strategies, regulatory reforms and critical skills.

Digital enablement also features on the agenda and delegates will take a look at the socio-political factors that impact on infrastructure provision and maintenance.

The two-day symposium is organised by the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Presidency.

It is taking place under the theme: “Quality infrastructure for development, recovery and inclusive growth”.

The Minister said the symposium is preceded by a series of targeted engagements aimed at soliciting important feedback from financing institutions on potential projects for showcasing at the symposium on funding in the short to medium term.

“The sessions are also able to give an indication of projects that will still need project preparation,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has unveiled four bridges connecting the North West province with the Free State across the Vaal River.

Addressing the launch of October Transport Month on Tuesday in Vermaasdrift, North West, the Minister said the first bridge is located on Road SD860, with a span of 180 meters and is located approximately 20km southwest of Klerksdorp.

“The second bridge is located on Road D836, with a span of 180 meters and is situated southeast of Orkney. The third bridge is located on Road D642 also with a span of 180 meters and is situated southeast of Stilfontein.

“The fourth bridge is where Road P89/2 crosses the Vaal River approximately 34km southeast of Potchefstroom and has a span of 246 meters,” Mbalula said.

The bridges will enable the farming communities to transport their various produce from the farms to the local markets.

The four bridges forms part of the labour Intensive S’hamba Sonke programme, aimed at addressing the maintenance backlog in the secondary network and contribute to sustainable livelihoods through job creation initiatives.

The Minister said the initiative allows that national and provincial spheres of government work towards common road maintenance targets while augmenting funding through the Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant.

“The conceptualisation of the S’Hamba Sonke Programme was premised on the reality that while South Africa’s national road network is in good to very good condition, this is not the case with our secondary road networks, or provincial roads.

“Over the medium term, the maintenance of provincial roads, largely funded through the provincial roads maintenance grant, is set to receive R37.5 billion over the MTEF period,” Mbalula said.

The Department of Transport will use the Transport Month campaign to showcase flagship projects intended to create more jobs in South Africa.

The S’hamba Sonke programme is one of the projects that will accelerate efforts to meet the government’s target of creating 11 million job opportunities by the year 2030 as outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).

Source: South African Government News Agency

The South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) has to date paid out R5.8 billion in claims to businesses that suffered damages during the July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

This was on Monday revealed by the National Treasury and Sasria in a joint statement. The two said that work had been underway to address the damages incurred and assist businesses to start operating again.

In the wake of the unprecedented chain of events that saw businesses looted and razed, government unveiled various interventions to support the affected establishments.

Sasria has made important business interventions, namely capital and reinsurance restructure, and government, as the sole shareholder, has committed to stand in as the entity’s insurer of last resort. Government committed to enable Sasria to meet all its policyholder commitments.

In the statement, Sasria Managing Director, Cedric Masondo, said: “Our discussions with National Treasury are in line with the desired determination of the best medium that can inject capital, as we look at how to be future-proof ready and acknowledge the lessons learnt during the unfortunate unrest in July.”

The National Treasury has indicated that R3.9 billion will be disbursed to Sasria following the conclusion of the recently tabled Special Appropriation Bill parliamentary processes. This was intended to assist Sasria in meeting its obligations until the end of the current financial year, which ends on 31 March 2022.

The National Treasury said it was aware that additional government support would be required and was working closely with Sasria to finalise the actual financial support need.

They said the final additional support was dependent on how swiftly Sasria can finalise the total claim amounts.

“It is expected that the additional support which has been flagged in the recent special appropriation will be concretised in the 2022 Budget,” reads the statement.

They reiterated that Sasria had sufficient reserves, including through its reinsurers, to meet all valid claims. While the parliamentary processes for additional government support is being finalised, Sasria remains liquid and continues to trade as usual.

Sasria in the statement said almost 100% of claims notifications had been received and were in the process of loss adjustment. Since July, the two revealed that claims amounting to over R5.8 billion had been paid.

“All claims below R1 million to be settled and paid in full quicker, and the Agent companies are working extremely hard to make sure that these claims are paid as quickly as possible,” they said.

Sasria and Treasury said the Association was determined to settle 80% of all claims between R1 million and R30 million by the end of October 2021.

Sasria has started paying interim payments as proposed by Loss Adjusters on all big claims (above R30 million) and is determined to make sure that at least 30% of total claim value for big claims is paid in the next couple of weeks.

“We would like to assure clients that we have added resources to reduce any possible delays in the processing of claim payments. We are confident that in two weeks, we would have attended to all outstanding reports and made necessary payments,” Sasria said.

It has engaged with industry partners and reached an agreement that the damaged properties will rather be rebuilt, than do cash in lieu payments. Collaborative work with loss adjusters and the industry would be done to ensure that the buildings are rebuilt.

“Sasria continues to play a key role in the insurance industry. We urge clients to continue and maintain their policies with Sasria and would like to assure them of our determined resilience to maintain our excellent relations,” said Masondo.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Establishing strong partnerships and getting to know your community well, is sure to make a difference in combatting crime in any area. SAPS Kwazakele has built a sturdy relationship with its community and this partnership has resulted in all role-players working hand in hand to ensure the safety of their citizens and businesses.

In the last two years, criminal activities near a garage in the area was a hype for criminals robbing and hijacking commuters in that area. Due to these criminal activities the owners of the garage fostered a relationship with SAPS Kwazakele, the Community Policing Forum as well as Community in Blue with the aim of eradicating the problem. Once that partnership took off, there was a drastic decrease in crime in that area.

On 30 September at about 10:00, the garage management in partnership with Eyona Energy handed over 200 reflector jackets and 80 beanies to the Community Policing Forum to be utilised during their patrols with the Community in Blue patrollers to enhance visibility when performing their duties.

A soccer kit was also donated to a soccer club known as Carvella Stars to encourage the youth to get involved in crime prevention initiatives through sport against crime. The club coach Mr Savoy Mazwi was overwhelmed at the sponsorship and vowed to ensure to increase the membership of the club by engaging with the youth to participate and show an interest in the sport thus luring them away from crime and criminal elements.

SAPS Kwazakele Station Commander, Brigadier Lindelwa Vellem extended her appreciation to the business fraternity and reiterated that,’in order for us to reduce crime and criminal activities, we need the support and cooperation of every citizen and business in the Kwazakele area. Businesses are an integral part of society and are one of our key stakeholders in combatting crime. Enhanced co-operation between the SAPS and companies will ensure that our communities are and feel safe,’ added Brigadier Vellem.

Source: South African Police Service

The trial of seven Chinese nationals arrested for alleged human trafficking and child labour will resume in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday.

This after it was postponed, due to the ill health of a Mandarin interpreter.

The seven accused Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian appeared in Court on Monday.

The Department of Employment and Labour said that in their last appearance on 16 August 2021 the trial was also postponed after the presiding Judge, Mhango could not attend due to other commitments.

The Chinese nationals are facing schedule six offences and are facing 160 counts of contravening of South Africa’s labour laws, trafficking in persons, contravention of Immigration Act, knowingly employing illegal foreigners, kidnapping, pointing a firearm, debt bondage, benefitting from the services of a victim of trafficking. Offences also include conduct that facilitates trafficking, illegally assisting person(s) to remain in South Africa, and failure to comply with duties of an employer.

The Chinese nationals were arrested for allegedly running an illegal enterprise called Beautiful City Pty Ltd located at Village Deep in Johannesburg.

The arrest was yielded by a joint operation by the Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch in Gauteng together with the South African Police Services (SAPS), Department of Home Affairs and the Hawks Unit.

The accused have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

To date, three former employees of the illegal enterprise have taken to the stand. The witnesses are Malawian nationals.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Department of Water and Sanitation says it will fully support the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government in all its efforts and interventions to ensure that everyone has access to clean water in the province.

In a statement on Wednesday, the department said that it welcomes the ongoing and consistent efforts made by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, under the leadership of Premier Sihle Zikalala to alleviate water challenges still experienced in some parts of the province.

“As a department, we welcome the great strides being undertaken to ensure long-term interventions are put in place to address water security in the province,” departmental Spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said.

Premier Zikalala officially launched the province’s Water Master Plan and Borehole Intervention Programme on Tuesday.

“The launch is timely as the province’s dam levels are declining on a weekly basis. A weekly status of reservoirs report issued early this week has shown a decline from last week’s 66.5% to 66.3%,” Ratau said.

Admitting that the drop is minimal, Ratau maintained that given the extreme and unpredictable weather patterns experienced in many parts of the country because of the effects of drought, dam levels can take any turn.

“Our hydrologists are telling us that we must expect the unexpected this rainy summer season. Dams can further decline or fill up to the maximum. It is for this reason that we should not let any drop of water go to waste. Hence we say the intervention by the KwaZulu-Natal government is timely,” Ratau said.

The Provincial Water Master Plan and Borehole Intervention Programme was launched in the Harry Gwala District Municipality and aims to improve access to safe and clean running water in rural communities.

Ratau said that the plan is impressive as it outlines KwaZulu-Natal’s water-related challenges and most importantly, it has the necessary framework, which spells out the short, medium and long-term solutions that are required to address the backlogs.

Meanwhile, he said the Department of Water and Sanitation is prioritising the completion of ongoing bulk water projects while also ensuring that others are upgraded to increase their capacity.

One of the department’s successful project upgrade is the Lower Thukela Water Treatment Works, which was commissioned in September 2017.

“The water treatment works produces 34 million litres per day and is one of the biggest bulk potable water infrastructure in the province. The plant abstracts raw water from the Tugela River, which is then processed and stored at a 30 megalitres reservoir. The reservoir supplies potable water to about 28 000 households and approximately 140 000 people in iLembe District Municipality,” Ratau said.

The department has urged residents to continue using water sparingly as most of the province’s dams are minimally declining.

Source: South African Government News Agency