Author: newsnote correspondent
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…
Phala Phala investigation has been completed and an interim report has been submitted by the Office of the Public Protector In a letter on 20 January, Vusumuzi Dlamini, the acting executive manager of the office’s investigations branch, told ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula this. A complaint was filed with the Public Protector by ATM. According to the letter, Dlamini provided Zungula with an update on the investigation into allegations that Ramaphosa violated the Executive Ethics Code after dollars were stolen from his game farm, Phala Phala, in Waterberg, Limpopo on 9 February 2020. According to the letter, Dlamini said: “We would…
The Pretoria High Court today rejected Atul Gupta’s application to have his South African passport renewed for a further 10 years citing the fact that one of the three Gupta brothers – who ran away from South Africa in 2018, is a fugitive from justice. Atul Kumar Gupta, together with his two brothers, Ajay and Toni, took residence in Dubai in the United Arab Emirate after fleeing South Africa shortly before a warrant for their arrest was issued in connection with the Vrede Dairy Farm project in 2018. Atul Gupta was also charged with money laundering. Gupta, who became a…
Residents of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal should prepare to endure the heat a bit longer because heatwaves are anticipated to last in certain regions of the nation until Tuesday, according to the SA Weather Service (SAWS). Forecaster Mbavhi Maliage stated that “we will watch the situation as to how the temperatures are looking for today [Monday] and tomorrow [Tuesday],” and should it be necessary for us to prolong the heatwave [warning], we will do so and put out another alert. However, rain is predicted for this week in other regions of the nation. Maliage predicted that scattered showers would occur on…
A revenue collection process has been initiated by the Madibeng Local Municipality to recoup R3.2 billion in revenue. It is expected that Mayor Douglas Maimane will seek clarification from the municipal revenue office regarding his municipal account, and, if necessary, settle any outstanding amounts. The council speaker Ditshego Mbezi and chief whip Elsie Kgautle would follow suit. Mayor Kotsokwane, who is the spokesperson for the mayor, said members of the mayor’s committee would follow suit on Monday afternoon. The same will be expected of councillors from 24 to 31 January, according to Kotsokwane. According to him, people who do not…
Power utility Eskom says that it has not announced permanent stage 2 and 3 load shedding in South Africa. Responding to various reports on Sunday declaring permanent stage 2 and stage 3 load shedding is hitting the country for the next two years, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said that this was a measure that was considered but ultimately rejected. “Eskom has considered implementing permanent Stage 2 and 3 load shedding to give more predictability to the public. As (chief executive) Andrè de Ruyter stated during the session, this is not possible as it would not guarantee that load shedding would remain at the lower…