Author: Silver Sibiya
The Gauteng government will use most of this year’s budget on social services, beef up infrastructure and crime fighting services as well as to uplift the township or kasi economy. Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo tabled his budget of just under R500 billion today at the Gauteng Legislature in Johannesburg. Gauteng contributes 35% to the country’s GDP which amounts to more than R1.2 trillion. The provincial economy is estimated to have grown by 2.1% in 2022 against an expectation of 1.8%. The province’s economic output is projected to moderate to 1.5% this year before stabilising at an average annual rate of…
The family of three-year-old Kganya Mokhele, who died tragically after a shelf allegedly fell on him on Tuesday at the Little Ashford Preschool in Bedfordview, are demanding answers from the school Yesterday the family met the MEC for Education Matome Chiloane at the preschool and while they were there drops of blood were still visible from the doorsteps of the classroom where the accident allegedly occurred. Mokhele’s grandfather Sipho Radebe accused the preschool of lying to them and demanded that they be held accountable for the tragedy. Radebe has alleged that the school refused to share footage of the incident…
Protesting Wits University students are calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa, to reshuffle the Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande, during his cabinet reshuffle this evening. The students have been protesting since last week, calling for an end to financial exclusion and provision of accommodation among others. The first call for Nzimande to step down was made by the historic Fees Must Fall protests in 2015 and now the Wits students are also joining in the calls for the Minister of Higher Education to be moved out. Wits University Chairperson of the Law Students’ Council Thato Lebitso said Nzimande must be…
Tensions finally exploded between Wits University students and security officers when the group started throwing objects towards each other during the second day of protests and demonstration by students against being excluded from the university because of historical debt. Tensions were raised when the guards tried to stop the students from entering the Wits administration building, the Great Hall. The pushing and shoving went on for a while but Nehawu workers who had joined the strike in sympathy finally succeeded in stopping both sides from fighting each other. Minutes after the violence stopped four police Nyalas came charging to disperse…
Businesses have shut down in and around Braamfontein, Joburg following a protest by Wits University students on Thursday. The students are demanding financial inclusion and enough funds for accommodation, and to be allowed to register for the 2023 academic year while NSFAS is still trying to clear their historical debt with the university. Traffic was disrupted in Braamfontein, Auckland Park and Parktown as the students embarked on a second day of demonstrations and this affected Empire and Jan Smuts; those roads were barricaded with burning objects and plastics. After much shoving and pushing, the police and the JMPD officers were…
Some of the Wits students who embarked on a protest this morning said they have been forced to sleep at libraries, as they cannot afford campus residence fees. Jackson Mdluli, said they are being marginalised and this has been happening for months where students without accommodation have been sleeping in the Wits library while some slept outside ATMs. BOwen Stuttgart said most of his classes were moved online due to protests and some students were denied access but that didn’t happen to him. However, he said he was unhappy with how the students conducted themselves. “They have valid issues, many…
Members of the Westbury, Joburg community are living in fear following clashes between rival gangs that have claimed the lives of 2 people and left 13 others injured. The community fears venturing out in the streets when it is dark and barricades themselves behind closed doors as sounds of gunfire echo on the streets especially over the weekends. The gang-related killings in the Coloured community has been triggered by the murder of an alleged Fast Guns leader Keenan Sheldon Ebrahim who was shot in a suspected hit while travelling in a car in Constantia Kloof, Roodepoort last Thursday. Rumour has…
The victims of the recent torrential downpours in Vanderbijlpark near the Vaal River, Lochvaal, Rietvlei, and the neighbouring districts are still picking up the pieces after water from the sluice gates inundated their houses and belongings like cars and trailers. The roads and bridges in some parts of the area have been completely destroyed leading to several road closures. The R42 bridge in Rietvlei which joins N1 road from Vanderbijlpark is one of the impassable roads. The Vaal Dam was flooded on Saturday as a result of the heavy rains, forcing authorities to open sluice gates at Bloemhof Dam. By…
Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development, Lebogang Maile said the housing backlog continues to be a massive challenge in Gauteng with more than a million in need of homes because of the influx of people coming to the big city looking for job opportunities. Maile was yesterday speaking in Randfontein in Mogale City, at a place named after the late freedom fighter, Dan Tloome. He officially opened a community hall and handed over 370 units known as RDP houses for low-income beneficiaries. “We started this project because there is a big housing problem in our country, especially in…
Gauteng Premier Panyaza outlined his ambitious plan to reclaim township economies by using 60% of the Provincial’s R34 billion budget allocation to fund enterprises for the procurement of goods and services, he said during his maiden State of the Province Address (Sopa) on Monday at the Legislature. Lesufi spoke about providing basic services at hostels to transforming taxi ranks at the Sopa which comes less than 18 months before the National General Elections. The ANC won the country’s richest province by a nail-biting 50.2% in the last general elections in 2019 and the party is under pressure to deliver tangible…