Posts

Posted on

KZN jump starts entrepreneurs’ entry into automotive sector

In a move that will drive economic transformation in the automotive sector, KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, has met with emerging entrepreneurs to assist them to unlock bottlenecks that are hindering business growth.

The strategic engagement follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the South African Technicians Association (SATA) with Ithala Development Finance Corporation Limited and its subsidiary, Ithala SOC — the financial service provider.

The MoU, signed in 2020, paved the way for the provincial Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs and its entities to collaborate with SATA to ensure that more than 36 members of the organisation are able to provide fleet service and maintenance; panel beating and spray painting; automotive mechanical workshops for heavy duty vehicles, and agricultural maintenance to all tiers of government within the fleet management value chain, amongst others.

Following up on these commitments, Dube-Ncube’s engagement with the association aimed to reengineer economic growth in the automotive sector and boost confidence in the province’s economic recovery, post COVID-19, the July civil unrest, and flood disasters.

During the meeting, SATA raised some challenges including inadequate financial support from Ithala, lack of access to market and unrealistic expectations from the association’s new business start-ups, which affected their long-term growth and sustainability.

Dube-Ncube committed to work with the relevant government departments and other organs of State in order to address challenges raised by SATA.

“Our focus as the provincial government is on reskilling people — be it unemployed graduates or those who have been retrenched or lost their jobs in both informal and formal economies. We want them to be re-absorbed in industries such as the automotive sector,” Dube-Ncube said.

She noted that there are over 7 000 unemployed graduates, and the provincial government believes that the automotive sector is an area where jobs will be created to absorb thousands of unemployed youth, as well as people who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

“We want rural and township based youth, who are trained as artisans and mechanics, to work in the automotive industry.

“We therefore commit that working together with the other government departments and the Ithala Development Finance Corporation Limited, we will implement measures to ensure the empowerment of entrepreneurs in the automotive industry,” the Premier said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Water dept takes notes from Netherlands

Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, David Mahlobo, is leading a delegation from the department and Umgeni Water officials to the Netherlands for a benchmarking exercise for the Umgeni Water Learning Academy.

The eleven-member delegation, which includes Umgeni Water Board chairperson, Gabsie Mathenjwa, will visit The Hague Academy and the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education to enhance bilateral engagements, and undertake benchmarking activities.

The visit takes place from 5 – 9 September.

In its five-year corporate plan (2022 – 2027), Umgeni Water has a vision to form a world class learning academy.

Mathenjwa said the plan’s targets are founded on the long-term aspirations, as articulated in Umgeni Water’s strategy, which commits to the following:

• In 2030, South Africa needs to be served by a set of sufficient, financially sound, and well governed State-owned enterprises that address the country’s developmental objectives;

• By 2030, all South Africans have affordable access to sufficient safe water and hygienic sanitation to live healthy and dignified lives, and

• By 2050, Umgeni Water will be a global leader in the sustainable provision of water and related services.

Mathenjwa said Umgeni Water has recognised the need to have collaborative efforts with leading institutions that will enable it to achieve these aspirations and targets.

“Our travel to the Netherlands, as led by Deputy Minister Mahlobo, will be beneficial in terms of understanding the critical components of establishing a learning academy, identifying business models and processes for sustainability, as well as entering into partnership agreements with leading world class institutions in this field,” Mathenjwa said.

The Hague Academy assists municipalities around the world with democracy and water governance, capacity building and training.

The academy mostly trains civil servants, municipalities, State-owned entities and NGOs.

The IHE-DELFT institution is an institute for water education and is the largest international graduate water education knowledge centre on water infrastructure, technology and sciences.

It attracts high-level students and scientists from around the globe, and offers approximately 80 courses, which focus on education, research and capacity building.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Have your say on energy generation licensing exemptions and regulation

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has called on interested parties to submit their comments on the proposed Licensing Exemption and Regulation notice published by Minister Gwede Mantashe.

According to the department, the notice seeks to operationalise the “various measures to address South Africa’s electricity challenges”, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the height of the electricity crisis in July.

“It outlines a set of electricity generation activities that are exempt from licensing and those that in addition to being exempt from licensing must also comply with the Code (distribution code, transmission code, or any code approved by the Regulator) and must be registered with the Regulator.

“Some of the activities exempt… include the operation of any generation facility with or without energy storage, of unrestricted capacity, with a Point of Connection on the transmission or distribution power system, and the trading of electricity by a reseller in circumstances respectively specified in sections 3.1 and 3.5 of the proposed Schedule 2 of the Electricity Exemption and Regulation Act,” the department said.

The exempt activities include:

Operation of a generation facility with or without battery storage for the sole purpose of providing standby or back-up electricity in the event of electricity supply interruption for a duration of no longer than the electricity supply interruption itself;

Operation of any generation facility with or without battery storage irrespective of capacity (MW) and the Facility does not have a point of connection, and

Operation of a facility with a capacity of no more than 100 kilowatts which complies with the code and has a Point of Connection, the distributor has prescribed the conditions relating to the continued use of the Point of Connection, and the Regulator has prescribed the manner in which the Distributor shall keep a register of each facility.

The gazette where the notice has been published can be accessed online at https://www.gov.za/documents/electricity-regulation-act-licensing-exemption-and-registration-correction-comments.

Written comments must be submitted to the Director General of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy

By Post to: Private Bag X96, Pretoria, 0001

By Hand delivery to: 71 Travenna Campus, Cnr Meintjies and Francis Baard Streets, Sunnyside, Pretoria

Email: [email protected] –

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Fuel price decreases from Wednesday

The Central Energy Fund has announced decreases across the board on the prices of fuel, gas and paraffin from Wednesday, paving the way for some relief for consumers.

This marks the second consecutive month of decreases following increases experienced this year.

The price adjustments per litre are as follows:

• A R2.04 decrease in both grades of petrol.

• Diesel 0.05% Sulphur will cost 56c less, while the price of diesel 0.005% Sulphur will decrease by 46c.

• Wholesale illuminating paraffin has decreased by 82c, while the retail price will cost R1.09 less.

• The maximum retail price of LP Gas will go down by R1.65.

The fund said several international and local factors contributed to the decrease.

“The average international product prices for petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin decreased during the period under review.

“The Rand appreciated against the US Dollar during the period under review, on average, when compared to the previous period. The average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate for the period 29 July to 01 September 2022 was 16.7016 compared to 16.8719 during the previous period.

“This led to a lower contribution to the basic fuel prices on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 12.97 c/l, 15.63 c/l and 15.90 c/l respectively,” the CEF said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Posted on

Tiafoe Ends Nadal’s 22-Match Slam Streak in US Open 4th Round

Frances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal’s 22-match winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments by beating the 22-time major champion 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the U.S. Open’s fourth round Monday.

Tiafoe is a 24-year-old from Maryland who is seeded 22nd at Flushing Meadows and reached the second major quarterfinal of his career.

He is the youngest American man to get that far at the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2006, but this was not a case of a one-sided crowd backing one of its own. Nadal is about as popular as can be in tennis and heard plenty of support in Arthur Ashe Stadium as the volume rose after the retractable roof was shut during the fourth set.

“I don’t even know what to say right now. I’m beyond happy. I can’t believe it,” said Tiafoe, who faces No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev next. “He’s one of the greatest of all time. I played unbelievable tennis today, but I don’t even know what happened.”

Here’s what happened: Tiafoe served better than No. 2 seed Nadal. More surprisingly, he returned better, too. And he kept his cool, remained in the moment and never let the stakes or the opponent get to him. The 36-year-old from Spain had won both of their previous matches, and every set they played, too.

“Well, the difference is easy: I played a bad match, and he played a good match,” Nadal said. “At the end that’s it.”

This surprise came a day after one of Tiafoe’s pals, Nick Kyrgios, eliminated the No. 1 seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev. That makes this the first U.S. Open without either of the top two seeded men reaching the quarterfinals since 2000, when No. 1 Andre Agassi exited in the second round and No. 2 Gustavo Kuerten in the first.

That was before Nadal, Novak Djokovic, who has 21 Grand Slam titles, and Roger Federer, who has 20, began dominating men’s tennis. Djokovic, who is 35, did not enter this U.S. Open because is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and was not allowed to enter the United States; Federer, 41, has undergone a series of operations on his right knee and has not played since Wimbledon last year.

Now come the inevitable questions about whether their era of excellence is wrapping up.

“It signifies that the years go on,” Nadal said. “It’s the natural cycle of life.”

Either Tiafoe or Rublev will advance to a first major semifinal. Rublev, who is 0-5 in Slam quarterfinals, beat No. 7 Cam Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 earlier Monday.

The No. 1 woman, Iga Swiatek, covered her head with a white towel during one changeover after falling behind by a set and a break in her fourth-round match. She kept making mistakes, then rolling her eyes or glaring in the direction of her guest box.

Eventually, Swiatek got her strokes straightened out and moved into her first quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows by coming back to beat Jule Niemeier 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

“I’m just proud,” Swiatek said, “that I didn’t lose hope.”

The 21-year-old from Poland will face another first-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist next. That’s No. 8 seed Jessica Pegula, the highest-ranked American woman, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova.

Nadal won the Australian Open in January and the French Open in June. Then he made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon in July before withdrawing from that tournament because of a torn abdominal muscle; that does not go into the books as a loss, because he pulled out before the match.

Nadal competed only once in the 1½ months between leaving the All England Club and arriving in New York while recovering from that injury. His play has not been up to his usual standards at the U.S. Open, which he has won four times.

The match ended when one last backhand by Nadal found the net. Tiafoe put his hands on his headm then he sat in his sideline chair with his face buried in a towel.

“When I first came on the scene, a lot of people had limitations on what I would do. … I wasn’t ‘ready for it mentally.’ I wasn’t ‘mature,’” Tiafoe said. But these days, he added, “I’m able to just do me and do it my way and enjoy the game I love.”

This represents the latest significant step forward for Tiafoe, whose only previous trip to a Grand Slam quarterfinal came at the 2019 Australian Open — and ended with a loss to Nadal.

Tiafoe thanked a long list of folks who were in the stands, including his parents — they emigrated from Sierra Leone in West Africa and his dad worked as a maintenance man at a tennis facility near the U.S. capital — his girlfriend and Washington Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal.

“To have them see what I did today means more than anything,” Tiafoe said. “Today’s an unbelievable day and I’m going to soak this one in, for sure.”

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

Five suspects arrested on alleged murders and others still at large

Bethlehem: The police have arrested five suspects following five murders reported from various towns within the Thabo Mofutsanyana District and another six murder incidents suspects are being traced.

Between 3 and 4 September 2022 places such as Phuthaditjhaba, Tseki, Makwane, Namahadi, Tseseng, Bohlokong and Ficksburg experienced murders which derived from the use of firearms and knives. Some of the murders took place in taverns, open fields and in house fights. At least five suspects has been arrested on five reported incidents from Tseki, Makwane, Phuthaditjhaba, Bohlokong. The outstanding suspects is where suspects are either unknown or known but still at large. The investigators from various police stations will be tracing the suspects. Most of the deceased were found either in hospitals brought by friends and others lying dead in the street or inside taverns.

The five arrested suspects will be charged and expected to appear before the various Magistrates’ courts on charges of murder.

We would like the community to assist on other incidents that they are aware of and give information to police for suspects to be arrested by calling Crime Stop on 08600 10111.

Source: South African Police Service