Author: newsnote correspondent
The beleaguered effort to develop an HIV vaccine has yielded yet another failure in the final stage of testing a candidate. An efficacy trial of a complicated vaccine regimen, developed by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary in cooperation with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, stopped early because an interim analysis showed it offered no protection, sponsors announced last week. The placebo-controlled study, dubbed Mosaico, assessed whether a series of six different shots could prevent HIV infection. Four shots delivered adenoviruses carrying a “mosaic” of genes from different HIV subtypes, and the final two contained two versions of HIV’s surface…
ActionSA declared that it had given up trying to save the coalition government of the City of Johannesburg and its former mayor, Mpho Phalatse, after exhausted all of its options. Phalatse has lost her position as executive mayor of the city. This comes after she was the target of three resolutions of no confidence at the first regular council meeting of the year on Thursday. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is at fault, according to the party. After scuttling an agreement with the Patriotic Alliance, whose votes were required to stop Phalatse’s ouster, it claimed that it had ignored Phalatse and…
South Africa’s worst power blackouts are threatening platinum and palladium supplies at the country’s leading mining company, Impala Platinum Holdings, both now and in the years ahead. Power cuts last year curbed output of the metals and the energy crisis that is crimping the economy has worsened in recent months. The nation’s platinum-group metal production will likely fall this year, the company said. The electricity crunch is damaging South African industry and agriculture and blackouts are expected for at least two more years, jeopardising output in Africa’s most industrialised economy. It is yet another headache for major mining companies such…
Lyle Foster has signed for Burnley from Belgian side KVC Westerlo for an undisclosed fee. His fee is expected to be around €7 million, which may rise to €10 million including add-ons, making him the most expensive player in South African history. In the January transfer window, the Clarets signed a bumper four-and-a-half-year contract for the 22-year-old forward. “I’m very happy to be here,” he said on the clubs official website. “I’m blessed and thankful for the opportunity and I just can’t wait to get started. “From the moment I heard that there was interest from Burnley, my heart and…
In response to the nation’s energy problem, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has been charged with grandstanding by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). The official opposition has started marching towards the ANC’s Luthuli House in Johannesburg to demonstrate against power cuts. Numerous ANC Youth League members, meanwhile, have congregated in front of the offices of the ruling party and have vowed to keep the DA at bay. Therefore, it said, the ANC was to blame for the regular blackouts and demanded that it accept responsibility. The ANCYL, however, said the DA was mistaken. “There is no political party anywhere that must think…
According to South African netball coach Norma Plummer, their team has what it takes to reach the third and fourth playoffs of the Quad Series. In Tuesday’s final group game at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Plummer’s side lost 65-48 to Australia. With a draw against England on Sunday and losses to Australia and New Zealand, the SA women are yet to win a game at the tournament. There were several turnovers and some quick ball-passing that Plummer liked, but he felt more game time before the Netball World Cup in July was needed. According to Plummer, England is…
From dairy farms unable to keep milk refrigerated to chickens suffocating en masse as ventilators fall idle, an energy crisis is taking a heavy toll on South Africa’s food sector, industry groups say. Record power cuts have caused shortages of some staples, threatening price rises that could make some popular items too expensive for poor families, agricultural industry body Agri SA said. “The affordability of food is going to be a challenge, particularly to the lower income household, especially with chicken, which is one of the cheapest protein staples in the country,” Agri SA’s chief economist, Kulani Siweya, said. Scheduled…
The South African Defence Ministry has stuck by its guns that the maritime exercises will take place in Durban and Richards Bay in Kwa-Zulu National from 17 to 27 February 2023. The International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor confirmed this at a press briefing on Tuesday where she was hosting her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for bilateral political consultation on Monday in Pretoria. This follows reports that the United States government had expressed its unhappiness at the scheduled maritime exercise with Russia in South Africa. America and Nato have been giving financial and military support to Ukraine since the invasion of…
Lesufi visited Zola 3 in Soweto this week, where he addressed the community on the problems of electricity and security in the area. Community members from neighbouring parts of Soweto voiced their grievances on several concerns, including electricity, safety, high drug use, and a lack of proper housing. They expressed frustration with Eskom for cutting off their power due to nonpayment. Panyaza said Soweto’s electricity problems would not be resolved until the debt is removed. He asked residents who could afford to pay for services to do so. “Until we remove the debt of electricity in Soweto, we are not…
By November 24th, 2024, the nation’s present prepaid power voucher system will run out of voucher sequences for the special tokens made for each meter. Since 1993, voucher sequences have been issued using a Standard Transfer Specification (STS) mechanism, which will no longer be used after this date. The STS offers the option of creating tokens that are exclusive to the intended meter and, in the case of credit tokens, are only ever used in that meter once. Prepaid meters will eventually cease taking new credit tokens, and once the remaining credits have been used up, they will also stop…