Author: Kgaogelo Magolego
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has given its online portal the thumbs up following a voter registration weekend which was a resounding success. The commission addressed the media on Monday and said while people still presented themselves physically at voting stations, the online portal continues to record increased voter activity as well. The IEC said just under 200 000 people used the online portal to register and verify their particulars this weekend, with Gauteng reporting the most online registrations. The portal was launched in 2021 and was piloted during the local government elections. “Over the registration weekend 196 000 transactions…
The government hopes a meeting with entities running shelters that accommodate vulnerable groups will help come up with solutions for Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF). The social development department is scheduled to host a two-day Shelter Indaba in Sandton, Johannesburg where experts from both the public sector and civil society who are organised under the National Shelter Movement are expected to exchange ideas on how to tackle GBVF. The scourge of GBVF, is a national problem which is deeply rooted in a patriarchal system which manifests through multiple socio-economic and cultural behavioural patterns such as high levels of inequality,…
The ANC displayed its popularity during the voter registration weekend as new parties formed ahead of the 2024 elections. Although most of the new parties did not even mention having a desire to oust the ANC as their main reason for existence, the ruling party showed off its electioneering apparatus. While President Cyril Ramaphosa got negative feedback in some parts of Soweto, his party was warmly received in most parts of the country with supporters vowing to bring it back to power. “My mother was shot in the leg by the boers whilst pregnant with me and still had a…
While rival political parties went all out to register voters for the 2024 general election, they showed tolerance among each other. Representatives of the ANC and the EFF have embraced each other regardless of political differences at voting stations across the country. The leaders of both parties were deployed in Gauteng townships that hold the deciding vote and have a large number of voters. “We are all Africans, it’s just the party T-shirts that make us different so we should not fight, we all want to live better,” said an EFF activist standing alongside an ANC volunteer. The ANC volunteer…
In a bid to drastically improve the quality of health care in Gauteng, provincial authorities have embarked on a massive recruitment and training programme as well as a smile campaign. MEC Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko launched the Serve with a Smile campaign in Randburg, Johannesburg on Friday where she pleaded with hundreds of nurses, admin and other support staff to return the province to “its glory days”. The provincial health department is also hoping the smile campaign will also result in reduced patient complaints which the MEC says are already on a decline. “And in those instances where we had a…
A multi agency government drive is underway to ensure infrastructure is a at the required standard for the Mahika-Mahikeng Arts Festival scheduled for December. The North West provincial government says it has mobilised the local municipality, the Ngaka Modiri-Molema District Municipality, the police and other stakeholders to ensure the four-day event is held without hustle. The provincial arts and culture department held a media launch of the festival in Maboneng, Johannesburg on Thursday promising that includes award-winning American RnB singer Kerry Hillson, local police veterans Thebe and and Judith Sephuma who were both at the pre-festival event. Arts and Culture…
The Gauteng provincial government has underplayed the backlash over its planned partnership with Dutch brewer Heineken. The office of the Premier said in a comment to Newsnote that widespread condemnation of the partnership on social media is based on a lack of information. Spokesperson for Premier Panyaza Lesufi Sizwe Pamla said the criticism was premature as well as baseless and that once the government released details of the deal many people will have a change of heart. “We are still consulting so many stakeholders including liquor traders before we can make an announcement. Taverns are in place already; we are…
An independent probe has cleared Deputy President Paul Mashatile of any involvement in the granting of loans to a company belonging to his son Thabiso Mashatile and son-in-law Nceba Nonkwelo. Gauteng Housing MEC Lebogang Maile ordered a probe into loans of an estimated value of R30 Million extended to Nonkwelo Investment by the Gauteng Partnership Fund which are yet to be settled. Mashatile held various leadership positions in Gauteng, both in the ruling ANC as well as the government and online publication News24 ran a series of articles claiming he had used his influence to secure the loans for Nonkwelo.…
Former ANC Northern Cape Provincial Chairperson John Block is a free man. Block was sentenced to fifteen years at the end of 2016 after being convicted of corruption and money laundering. Kimberley – Former Northern Cape ANC provincial chairman, John Block, and the CEO of the Trifecta group of companies, Christo Scholtz, were each sentenced to an effective 15 years imprisonment in the Northern Cape High Court on Tuesday after a four-year-long trial. The court found that Block had used his power and influence to get the government to lease properties at prices of over a hundred million ran in…
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has called on the state security to probe if there’s been discussions between businessman Mthunzi Mdwaba and any cabinet ministers. Mbalula took particular exception to Mdwaba’s claim that he was privy to cabinet discussions relating to a botched deal between his company and the department of employment. Mdwaba accused Mbalula, Enoch Godongwana, Blade Nzimande and Thulas Nxesi, the ministers of finance, higher education as well as employment respectively, of soliciting a half a billion rand bribe for him in turn for making the deal possible. Mbalula on Thursday laid charges of crimen injuria and of…