Day: June 14, 2022

Government has allocated R22 billion for the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) in the current financial year to assist the insurer in settling claims and guaranteeing that it has adequate capital to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Speaking at the debate on the Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill (2021/22 financial year) during the National Assembly hybrid sitting on Tuesday, Acting Finance Minister, Mondli Gungubele, said the amount includes R3.9 billion through the Second Special Appropriation Act (2021), R11 billion through the Adjustment Budget, and R7.1 billion through Section 16(1) of the Public Finance Management Act to respond to unforeseen and unavoidable events.

“Beyond the financial responsibility, Sasria will also revise premiums, evaluate reinsurance agreements, and explore opportunities to expand its customer base to bolster its ability to respond to risks,” Gungubele said.

Gungubele highlighted that since its establishment in 1979 and its 43-year existence, Sasria has never experienced an event on the scale of the 03 July 2021 unrest, and has thus far been able to honour its financial obligations.

He said public unrest, strikes, rioting, and acts of terrorism are encompassed in the risks covered by Sasria's short-term insurance.

“Government has reaped dividends amounting to R12.8 billion from Sasria. However, in 2021, Sasria faced its gravest challenge yet, because of the July unrest, which resulted in R32 billion worth of claims.

“This left Sasria technically insolvent and unable to satisfy its financial commitments nor sustain its regulatory obligations such as a minimum solvency cover ratio (SCR) of 100% mandated by the Prudential Authority. Our goal as government is to ensure that Sasria is financially stable,” Gungubele said.

Turning to the Adjustment Appropriation Bill, Gungubele said the provision of an adjustment Bill is an important piece of legislation in the country that allows the state to react with agility to deploy financial resources to cater for adjustments due to significant and unforeseeable economic and financial events.

The Minister said the debate was set under a global economy with the Russia-Ukraine conflict resulting in higher fuel and food prices and mounting inflationary pressure.

This, he said, was in addition to a local economy that is experiencing low growth and high unemployment, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the riots of July 2021, and most recently, the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape and the North West.

“This Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill is necessitated on two grounds. The first is an additional deployment of financial resources towards the sourcing of vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a further R500 million to the National Department of Health to pay for COVID-19 vaccines and associated costs of logistics.

“Secondly, the Appropriation Bill is about deploying financial resources to Sasria. This adjustment is due to the financial impact of the 2021 July civil unrest. It is a fact that 2021 was a difficult year for our country, as we struggled to navigate our way through and mitigate the adverse economic and social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We were faced with unanticipated violence, looting and destruction of public infrastructure that took place in July,” Gungubele said.

The Appropriation Bill, which was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana on 23 February 2022, provides for the appropriation of money by Parliament from the National Revenue Fund (NRF) as required by section 213 of the Constitution and section 26 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

Source: South African Government News Agency

Address by Minister Gungubele, Acting Minister of Finance, on the occasion of the debate on the Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill (2021/2022)

Honourable Speaker of the National Assembly,

Honourable Members,

Fellow South Africans.

Thank you for the opportunity to engage the house on the 2022 Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill (2021/22 financial year).

The Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill (2021/22 Financial Year) gives effect to adjustments to the appropriation of money from the National Revenue Fund for expenditure approved in the 2021/22 financial year and provides for matters incidental thereto.

The provision of an Adjustment Appropriation Bill is an important piece of legislation in our country. It allows the state to react with agility to deploy financial resources to cater for adjustments due to significant and unforeseeable economic and financial events.

On that note, I would like to outline the global and domestic context under which this debate is set; a global economy with the Russia-Ukraine conflict resulting in higher fuel and food prices and mounting inflationary pressure. This is in addition to a local economy that is experiencing low growth and high unemployment, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the riots of July 2021, and most recently, the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape and the North West.

This Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill is necessitated on two grounds.

The first is an additional deployment of financial resources towards the sourcing of vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a further R500 million to the National Department of Health to pay for COVID-19 vaccines and associated costs of logistics. Again, we must encourage all South Africans to vaccinate and get booster shots.

Secondly, the Appropriation Bill is about deploying financial resources to Sasria.

This adjustment is due to the financial impact of the 2021 July civil unrest. It is a fact that 2021 was a difficult year for our country, as we struggled to navigate our way through and mitigate the adverse economic and social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We were faced with unanticipated violence, looting and destruction of public infrastructure that took place in July.

Sasria is a non-life insurer founded to cover losses, including those arising from public unrest and civil disobedience. Since its establishment in 1979 and its 43-year existence, Sasria has never experienced an event on the scale of the July unrest. Thus far, Sasria has emphasized that it has always been able to honour its financial obligations.

Public unrest, strikes, rioting, and acts of terrorism are encompassed in the risks covered by Sasria's short-term insurance. Government has reaped dividends amounting to R12.8 billion from Sasria.

However, in 2021 Sasria faced its gravest challenge yet as a result of the July unrest which resulted in R32 billion worth of claims. This left Sasria technically insolvent and unable to satisfy its financial commitments nor sustain its regulatory obligations such as a minimum solvency cover ratio (SCR) of 100% mandated by the Prudential Authority.

Our goal as government is to ensure that Sasria is financially stable. In the current financial year, the government has given R22 billion to Sasria to assist in settlement of claims and guarantee that the insurer has adequate capital to fulfil regulatory requirements.

This comprises R3.9 billion through the Second Special Appropriation Act (2021), R11 billion through the Adjustment Budget, and R7.1 billion through Section 16(1) of the Public Finance Management Act to respond to unforeseen and unavoidable events.

Beyond the financial responsibility, Sasria will also revise premiums, evaluate reinsurance agreements, and explore opportunities to expand its customer base to bolster its ability to respond to risks.

Honourable Members, it is important also to state the current socio-political context in which Sasria is operating. The macro-economic conditions of low economic growth, rampant inequality and high unemployment are taking place in tandem with the report from the Zondo Commission on State Capture.

As indicated during the budget speech, corruption is a major blight on the economy, it dilutes limited resources meant to serve the people of South Africa, weakens the capacity of the state to deliver, renders us fiscally more vulnerable, and erodes public trust in the state. Therefore, it must be eroded at all costs.

Thank you, Honourable Members, I now hand over to the Speaker.

Source: Government of South Africa

A total of 85 280 people have been affected by floods which wreaked havoc in KwaZulu-Natal, leaving thousands of people in five districts and eThekwini Municipality homeless, and 461 fatalities.

Giving an update on the progress made by the province following the April and May flood disasters, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala reported that 23 unidentified bodies with DNAs are still not collected.

“A total of 87 people are still reported missing. There are 6 895 people homeless and 50 injured. In all, a total of 27 069 households were affected with 8 584 houses totally destroyed and 13 536 partially destroyed.

“During the disasters we rescued a total of 249 people alive through our search and rescue operations. We currently still have on the ground a total of 3 941 teams involving the SANDF [South African National Defence Force], SAPS [South African Police Services], disaster teams and Road Traffic Inspectorate teams involved in the sectoral responses to this disaster,” Zikalala said.

Zikalala said the demobilisation, especially in the SANDF will happen in a phased manner, but the specialised teams including the engineers and others will remain behind.

The Premier added that while search continues for missing people, the Department of Justice and Correctional Services is being engaged on the process of presumption of death, where it is proven that “we have no prospects to find the missing persons alive”.

However, he said this would be used as the last resort to assist the families to find closure.

R25 billion to repair damaged infrastructure networks

Zikalala announced that the cost of the flood damage is officially at R25 billion, affecting mainly infrastructure networks, manufacturing and agriculture.

“The impact of the floods on eThekwini has been massive and we believe that while we attend to the entire province, we should speed up our response in eThekwini because this is where we are to make the greatest impact on reversing the destruction,” Zikalala said.

He said the settlements located close to rivers and waterways in the coastal areas, including informal settlements, were among the most affected, especially those located in poor terrain.

“We have learnt through a joint study by the eThekwini Metro and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research that 1.3 million people live within the flood line in the city. We are also told that 33.2% or more than a quarter of all dwellings in the city are informal structures and this excludes rural dwellings.

“This poses a major challenge to the recovery programme and calls for a long-term approach which will protect our communities from such emergencies in future,” the Premier said.

Major progress in rehabilitation and reconstruction

The Premier also highlighted that major progress has been made to get the province fully back on its feet, and now entering the second stage, which is to restore infrastructure and revive the economy.

“While immediate humanitarian relief has been secured, we are certain that all affected persons are safe and that their basic needs have been met. The focus has now shifted to stabilisation, rehousing people who have lost homes and restoring provision of services as well as rehabilitation and reconstruction (Building Back Better) programme.

“This will involve the construction and repair of major infrastructure. It will also involve the construction of permanent houses in suitably located areas and measures to protect the residents of these areas from such adverse weather events in the future,” Zikalala said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Minister Blade Nzimande welcomes the visit by the WHO technical team on traditional medicines to South Africa

The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, welcomes the visit by the World Health organisation (WHO) technical team on traditional medicines to South Africa.

A panel of experts from the World Health Organisation focussing on Traditional African Medicines is visiting South Africa led by the WHO Regional office for Africa.

The technical mission also includes officials from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, the African Union Commission, and the WHO Regional Expert Advisory Committee on Traditional Medicine for Covid-19 Response (REACT).

The WHO REACT has been visiting African countries that are conducting clinical trials on African Herbal Medicines for COVID-19, e.g., Madagascar, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Uganda. South Africa is one of the two countries in the African Region, apart from Tanzania that are conducting multicenter clinical trials.

Minister Nzimande, said the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), has made significant investment in using traditional African medicine against Covid-19 and the investment has seen significant research being conducted.

“Two multi-herbal formulations and three mono-herbs reached essential pre-clinical stages, PHELA, was approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) for clinical trials,” said the Minister Nzimande.

The WHO will visit among others these clinical trial sites and will also visit the African Medicines Health Research Unit of the University of the Free State (UFS), funded by the DSI. At the end of the mission a report will be produced and presented to the WHO and relevant stakeholders.

For more information, please contact Veronica Mohapeloa at 083 400 5750 or veronica.mohapeloa@dst.gov.za

Source: Government of South Africa

KIMBERLEY - The Northern Cape Acting Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection, Brigadier Nicky Mills welcomed the jail term handed down on James Esau, Nicolaas Smous, Hendrick Boesak, Julian de Koker, Christo Titus, Shepherd Mienies, Elvis Duiker, Isaak Obuseng and Thabang Mienies accused of public violence and malicious damage to property.

The nine were convicted by the Kuruman Regional Court on Monday, 13 June 2022. They were sentenced to six years imprisonment, which was suspended for five years.

The court granted them 15 days of leave to appeal the sentence. It came to light during court proceedings that the nine accused committed public violence in Olifantshoek in June 2012.

The accused were arrested and later released on bail. The trial resumed in 2017. On Friday, 08 April 2022 the accused were found guilty of public violence and malicious damage to property and were remanded in custody until they were sentenced.

The case was transferred to the Kuruman Regional Court for sentencing. The accused were the ring leaders of the Olifantshoek community members that set alight the property of the then ward councillor in Olifantshoek. A house worth R1.1 million belonging to the then ward councillor including the house contents to the value of R590 000-00 and a motor vehicle were gutted in the blaze caused by the accused.

The court heard that community members went on a rampage destroying infrastructure, closed down the streets and brought everything to a standstill, in demand of service delivery.

“The jail sentence will serve as a deterrent, to those who destroy property during service delivery protest”, says Brigadier Mills.

Brigadier Nicky Mills praised the investigating officer, Sergeant J.A.M Tyers for the meticulous investigative work and commended the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) including the Department of Justice (DoJ) for their contribution in ensuring the incarceration of the accused.

Source: South African Police Service

The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, calls upon the young and black academics to participate in the Department of Higher Education and Training research support provided to South African public universities.

The research support is implemented through the department’s “Policy and Procedures for Measurement of Research Output of Public Higher Education Institutions”.

Minister Nzimande said in the 2022/23 financial year, the Department invested R5 226 955 000.00 on research productivity in the university sector, from R1 124 807 000.06 in the 2004/05 financial year.

The policy uses research publications in peer-reviewed journals; published peer-reviewed conference proceedings; peer-reviewed books; research Master’s and Doctoral graduates as proxy for research activities within universities.

The subsidy also includes the creative and innovations research which are subsidised through the Policy on the Evaluation of Creative Outputs and Innovations Produced by Public Higher Education Institutions.

“Since the inception of the research policy in 2003, the number of units (used to calculate all the research outputs as enumerated above – publications, graduates, artefacts and innovations) grew from 12 051 in the 2004/05 financial year to 40 847 units in the 2022/23 financial year,” said Minister Nzimande.

In the earlier years of the implementation of the policy, the Department made available developmental funds to institutions that struggled to meet their set research output norms. The subsidy formula allowed for such funding. This has since been converted into the University Capacity Development Grant, which covers several projects within institutions, including the development of researchers and young academics.

Minister Nzimande said the Sibusiso Bengu Development Grant allocated to the institutions defined as historically disadvantaged allows for coverage of such a need, depending on the priorities the affected institutions identify.

Since its inception of the “Policy and Procedures for Measurement of Research Output of Public Higher Education Institutions” since 2003, the policy aimed to sustain current research strengths and to promote research and other knowledge outputs required to meet national development needs.

“The purpose of the policy is to encourage research productivity by rewarding quality research output at public higher education institutions. Therefore, the Department has been subsidising research productivity at the universities through this policy,” said Minister Nzimande.

The Minister says the policy was revised and improved and now with a new title: Research Outputs Policy, 2015. However, the original aim and objectives have been maintained.

Furthermore the Minister said the independent analysts have associated the growth of research productivity in the higher education sector in recent years to the positive impact of the above-stated policies. Thus, it is believed that the policies and projects of the Department have instilled a research culture at the universities. However, institutional policies and practices do also play a role too in this regard.

Plans are underway to also deal with its unintended consequences, such as predatory publishing and a focus on quantity rather than quality.

Source: Government of South Africa

DURBAN – Berea detectives are requesting assistance in locating a fraudster who uses a police officer’s photograph to solicit “donations.” The fraudster contacts businesses pretending to be a Captain in the South African Police Service and claims that he works with a non-profit organisation.

His modus operandi is to claim that he has been let down by his sponsors at the last moment and he requires 85 loaves of bread to feed the poor. When the owner of the business agrees to the sponsorship, he forwards them a bank account number via WhatsApp using a serving police officer’s picture as his profile picture to con the sponsor. He does not provide the sponsor with his NPO registration details and insists on cash instead of collecting the bread when sponsors make that suggestion. We believe that he has been operating in Ethekwini and surrounding areas.

We are appealing to anyone who has been approached by this fraudster or knows of his identity to contact Captain Thamie Khoza from the Berea police station on 082 411 6408. We once again urge communities to be mindful of such scams and not to hand over cash to people that they have not met in person. There are a number of registered charities and one should always verify their particulars before making donations.

Source: South African Police Service