South Africa Vision

GQEBERHA – Determination and commitment towards their vocation paid off when dedicated detectives from SAPS Motherwell followed up on various leads, which led them to the successful apprehension of an alleged business robbery suspect.

It is alleged that the suspect was involved in a business robbery at PEP Stores, at NU9, Motherwell during July 2021. During the robbery more than 60 cellphones and cash were stolen. Detectives worked tirelessly and finally made a breakthrough when they obtained sufficient evidence to link the suspect to the scene. On Friday, 10 September 2021 at about 00:10, detectives pounced on the suspect and arrested him at a residence in Motherwell. Detectives also confiscated cash that was allegedly stolen during the robbery.

The 29-year-old suspect is due to appear in the Motherwell magistrate’s court on Monday, 13 September 2021 on a charge of business robbery. More arrests are expected as the investigation unfolds.

Source: South African Police Service

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development says it is working with State agencies to investigate a ransomware attack on the department’s Information Technology systems.

Ransomware is often in the form of infectious software unwittingly downloaded by a user, which blocks access to a computer usually until a ransom is paid.

In a statement, the department said its IT systems were compromised following a security breach on Tuesday evening.

“This has led to all information systems being encrypted and unavailable to both internal employees, as well as members of the public. As a result, all electronic services provided by the department are affected, including the issuing of letters of authority, bail services, email and the departmental website.

“Child maintenance payments for month-end have already been processed and will therefore not be impacted by the current system outage,” the department said.

The department said that so far, no data has been compromised. It assured the public that its IT teams are working to restore electronic services.

“The department has activated its Business Continuity Plan and put contingency measures in place to ensure that the IT system challenges do not affect court operations around the country. Manual recording equipment will be used to ensure that court sittings continue as scheduled.

“The Office of the Chief Master is currently using a manual process to provide bereaved families with the necessary documentation that they need to bury their loved ones,” the statement said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

National Treasury has invited the public to participate in pre-Budget consultations.

South Africa is one of the five pilot countries that are participating in the Fiscal Openness Accelerator (FOA) project that was launched in 2019 by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT), Treasury said in a statement on Friday.

“The project’s overall objective is to build the technical capacity of selected governments, enhance fiscal transparency and to support the implementation of a public participation pilot in the national budget cycle,” it said.

The purpose of the initiative is to, among other things, “enrich the national budget process and/or policy/ies with inputs from non-government stakeholders, and other relevant sectors towards better alignment of national government fiscal policies with citizens’ needs and concerns”.

The department said the initiative is also aimed at improving government practice and policy/ies on public participation and closing the feedback loop on the budget process and increased government responsiveness and public accountability.

Budget 2021, said Treasury, “confirmed government’s fiscal strategy of returning public finances to a sustainable position through ongoing restraint in expenditure growth and implementation of structural reforms to support economic growth”.

In this context, the fiscal strategy aims to narrow the deficit and stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio, primarily by controlling non-interest expenditure growth.

The strategy also seeks to provide continued support to the economy and public health services in the short-term without adding to long-term spending pressures.

“[It also seeks to] improve the composition of spending, by reducing growth in compensation while protecting capital investment,” Treasury said.

The 2021 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, Treasury said, allows for the opportunity to review this policy position.

National Treasury said it is soliciting the public’s views on South Africa’s Fiscal Policy on what improvements can be made to the Budget to deal with the challenge of long-term fiscal sustainability, and in light of limited resources, how should South Africa finance key priorities.

Written submissions, of not more than three pages, may be made on line.

The Treasury will also host a one-day virtual public consultation meeting to discuss the ideas put forward.

The online format for making submissions may be found on: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=jzRFGrQCmk-nqHeG9t0yRTqZ86WzI7JHvRvFVz0vJUhUMDZERUtNMVgyVDI3S0VYQkdYVlJGOE40Ny4u

The department said while it is its wish to respond to each submission in writing, this is not practically possible, and a summary report will be published. All submissions will be published via the Vulekamali online portal, where they may be viewed.

The outcomes from the public consultation meeting are intended to inform National Treasury’s proposed budget strategy to be considered by Cabinet in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, which is an important step in the planning phase of the budget process.

The deadline for written submissions is 17 September 2021. The registration for the online public consultation will be opened prior to the meeting, which will be held in the fourth week of September 2021.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has warned the public to tread with caution when doing any financial services with businessman Mandla Lamba.

In a statement, the FSCA on Thursday said it had received information that Lamba was conducting unregistered business and offering shares to members of the public on social media and other broadcasting platforms, promising them unrealistic returns.

Lamba recently received extensive media coverage on his business venture for which he sought investors. He has previously had run-ins with law enforcement agencies.

“The FSCA points out that Mandla Lamba is not authorised in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002 (FAIS Act) to render any financial advice and intermediary services,” the statement reads.

Flagged companies linked to Lamba include the Mandla Lamba Billionaires Club, Agilitee (Pty) Ltd, Verityhurst Academy (Pty) Ltd, Verityhurst Capital (Pty) Ltd.

“Members of the public should always check that an entity or individual is registered with the FSCA to provide Financial Advisory & Intermediary Services, and what category of advice it is that the entity is registered to provide.

“There are instances where persons are registered to provide basic advisory services for a low-risk product and then offer services of a far more complex and risky nature,” said the Authority.

The FSCA urged consumers who wish to conduct financial services with an institution or person to check beforehand with the FSCA on either the toll-free number 0800 110 443 or on the website www.fsca.co.za as to whether or not such institution or person is authorised to render financial services, and in particular, which financial products they are licensed for.

Source: South African Government News Agency