Day: July 28, 2022

POTCHEFSTROOM – The police in Ganyesa once again appeal for the community’s assistance in locating Tshwarelo Makati (08), from Tlakgameng village, who is still missing.

According to information, she was last seen on Tuesday, 02 November 2021, when she left home to go to school and never returned home.

A search was conducted around the village and surrounding areas of Tlakgameng without any success. Extensive investigations were done and all leads were followed up with no success.

At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a school uniform consisting of a white shirt, dark blue skirt and black school shoes. She is fair in complexion, slender build, and one meter in height and brown eyes.

Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts can contact the Investigating Officer, Captain Jannie Haasbroek of Vryburg Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) on the following cellphone number: 071 354 8102 or Crime Stop on ?08600 10111. Anonymous tip-offs can also be communicated via the MySAPS App from your smart phone.?

Source: South African Police Service

Eskom and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have signed a letter of intent which will pave the way forward for a pre-feasibility study for what it calls a “climate-smart, labour intensive agriculture/horticulture development” at the site of the Grootvlei Power Station in Mpumalanga.

According to Eskom, the development study will explore an integrated and sustainable approach for the repurposing of the coal fired power station in accordance with the power producer’s commitments towards greener energy production and South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET).

“We are keen to assess all options for repurposing our sites that will ensure greater community involvement, innovative revenue creation and upliftment of the socio-economic standing of these areas.

“The aim of the study is to determine the most applicable, climate-smart, labour intensive farming and agricultural related repurposing opportunities for the Grootvlei Power Station site to create positive social, economic and environmental impact on the surrounding area whilst ensuring local community involvement and empowerment,” Eskom said.

These repurposing opportunities will be employed in addition to the renewable energy repowering options that are currently being assessed for the site.

“These activities are complimentary and fulfil the aim of Eskom’s JET strategy to meet both decarbonisation and socio-economic goals,” the power utility said.

According to Eskom, the collaboration between it and the Netherlands is already beginning to bear fruit.

“The collaboration thus far has resulted in a Geographical Information Systems study of the Grootvlei area, a repurposing options assessment, a preliminary situational analysis of the property by horticulture experts and soil and water quality analyses by specialists,” Eskom said.

It is envisioned that employees at power stations and surrounding local communities will be socially and economically impacted as coal fired power stations wind down operations in favour of green energy and Eskom said it is committed to making sure that they are not left behind but are empowered in different ways.

“Eskom’s Just Energy Transition Office places equal importance on the transition to low carbon technologies and the ability to do so in a manner that is just.

“Eskom is therefore committed to ensuring that socio-economic and environmental benefits of transitioning are realised, that employees and communities are involved in finding the solutions and that the transition does not exacerbate the already high unemployment rate in our country but results in a net increase in sustainable jobs,” the power supplier said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

DURBAN – On 26 July 2022 at 20:00, Malvern police arrested a 30-year-old man for possession of stolen property and damage to infrastructure. The suspect was found in possession of a copper metre tap, copper fittings and copper pipes valued at R2000-00. He was caught on Morrison Road in Queensburgh.

On the following day, a police officer was with the suspect conducting further investigation when the suspect attacked him. The suspect attempted to flee from the community service centre and he ran towards the street. He was swiftly apprehended and was also charged for escaping from lawful custody. He will appear before the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court today.

Source: South African Police Service

The National Treasury has invited the public to make comments on the country’s Fiscal Policy in its pre-budget consultation process.

South Africa is one of five pilot countries that are participating in the Fiscal Openness Accelerator Project (FOA) that was launched in 2019 by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT).

In a statement on Thursday, the Treasury said the project’s overall objective is to build the technical capacity of selected governments, enhance fiscal transparency and to support the implementation of a public participation pilot in the national budget cycle.

“This is the second and final year of the FOA pilot and a slightly different approach will be taken. This year, we will focus on written submissions on a broad range of themes.

“An online platform will be provided for respondents to discuss and debate issues raised in the submissions. The written inputs will be analysed and the recommendations will be shared with Medium-Term Expenditure Committee (MTEC).”

The Treasury said all submissions would be published on the Vulekamali budget data portal.

“The lessons drawn from the two-year pilot will be used for future developments of public participation in the budget process,” it said.

Submissions of a maximum of ten pages, including an abstract and a conclusion with specific recommendations, should be emailed to FOAsubmissions@treasury.gov.za by 19 August 2022.

Guiding themes:

(a) Fiscal policy (debt management, budget deficit)

(b) Cross cutting (climate change financing, gender responsive budgeting)

(c) Topical Issues

• • Unemployment

• • Social security funding

• • Energy choices and fiscal subsidies

• • Safety and crime

• • Health

• • Food security

The department urged the public to complete the biographical and contact information when submitting, so that it could be contacted.

Written submissions can be submitted on one or more themes by 19 August 2022 to FOAsubmissions@treasury.gov.za .

“Citizens without access to emails can drop off their clearly written submissions at the National and Provincial Treasury offices.

“The National Treasury is responsible for Fiscal Policy. Therefore, public consultation is not intended to inform sector policy priorities as this goes beyond the mandate of the National Treasury, which is to ensure transparency, accountability and sound financial controls in the management of public finances,” it said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Water and Sanitation Department is currently conducting emergency repairs to the water supply main in the Glencairn and Glencairn Heights areas, this after it completed the repairs to the pipeline late last night. The repairs, which involved replacing two faulty valves and working in uneven mountainous terrain, continues after the pipe burst earlier this morning. This has again necessitated the shut off of the water supply to these areas to enable the work to be done safely as well as to prevent water loss and/or damage.

‘This has once again resulted in the temporary disruption in the water supply to these areas until the repairs are completed. The Simon’s Town Main Road at Dido Valley Road also had to be closed temporarily due to the resultant mud having covered the roadway.

‘We consider the impact on residents and possible water losses carefully when we do infrastructure maintenance and repair work. The duration of the repairs, especially emergency repairs, is however dependent on the complexity of the task at hand and I would like to sincerely thank residents for their patience while the maintenance crew attends to the repairs,’ said Councillor Zahid Badroodien, Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.

Residents are kindly requested to ensure that all taps are closed to prevent water loss and/or damage when the supply is restored.

A water tanker is located at the Glencairn Hotel in Glen Road to provide water for domestic consumption where required

The City sincerely regrets any inconvenience caused, but it is imperative that it maintains its water supply infrastructure to benefit its consumers.

Source: City Of Cape Town

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has condemned the ongoing scholar transport disruptions in Sedibeng, following an incident where a Grade 11 boy learner from Meyerton High School died after being accidentally run over by a scholar bus.

According to information at the department’s disposal, the incident occurred at approximately 07:05 AM on Tuesday when learners were boarding the department’s scholar transport bus to school.

It is reported that the boy was trying to board the bus when it accidentally ran him over.

Emanating from the sad incident, MEC Lesufi said the department has learnt with concern about scholar transport disruptions in Sedibeng which began on Wednesday.

It is alleged that scholar buses are not allowed to transport learners in De Deur, Meyerton and Sharpeville, Rusoord and Panfontein.

Lesufi added that further reports allege that some members of the community were stoning buses and intimidating drivers, not to transport learners.

“We send our deepest condolences to the family of the learner who succumbed to this gruesome incident. We also condemn the ongoing scholar transport disruptions in Sedibeng which are also impacting negatively to the education of our learners. We call upon members of the community to allow our learners to use scholar transport accordingly,” MEC Lesufi said.

Lesufi said the department’s Psycho-Social Team was deployed to the school on Wednesday and provided trauma counselling to all those who were affected by the incident.

The department said investigations are underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate is serious about tackling pollution. One of the key interventions in its multi-pronged approach is the Water Pollution Control Unit, which investigates cuplrits of pollution and takes action where possible as well as proactively tries to identify defects on infrasctructure to help reduce the risk of sewer overflows.

The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate’s Water Pollution Control Inspectorate is committed to tackling pollution and protecting the physical integrity of water and sanitation infrastructure and the environment.

They do this by ensuring that the public, including residents, businesses and industries, comply with the Wastewater and Industrial Effluent By-law and the Stormwater Management and Treated Effluent By-law.

This is done through door-to-door visits at properties as part of daily activities to check compliance with the said by-laws relating to water and respond to service requests logged by the public about pollution incidents.

The team further conducts proactive blitz operations within its regions fortnightly and at times with other City departments/enforcement agencies. The Western Cape Government’s Green Scorpions or National Department of Water and Sanitation are at times invited when the planned blitz and/or nature of the transgressions may cover their mandates in respect of the National Environmental Management Act and the National Water Act, respectively.

Some of the methods to investigate pollution , illegal connections/cross –connections and infrastructure integrity/condition include:

Visual inspections such as illegal connection/discharges of stormwater to sewer connections and vice versa.

CCTV camera inspections to see the internal condition of pipes and whether there are factors such as cracks, tree roots and other items that are blocking the pipes or causing stormwater to enter the sewer pipes.

Smoke detection technology to identify illegal stormwater to sewer connections

Portable devices/tools to do on-site water quality tests to check whether samples contain sewage, the pH levels and others. Where necessary, samples will be taken to the City’s Scientific Services Branch for further analysis.

Over the past year, they have issued 12 fines where evidence was acquired and successfully linked to offenders and 142 notices. Unfortunately, the time between receipt of a complaint and attendance/response is a critical element that impacts the success of acquiring evidence that can be linked to an offender or not. Recently, the Water Pollution Control Unit took swift action and fined some businesses for discharging substances that are not allowed into the sewer and stormwater systems, the latter would have ended up in our rivers.

Some of the City’s R1,6 billion budget for water and sanitation in this 2022/2023 financial year will be spent on improvements in respect of wastewater treatment plants, pump stations and the pipe replacement programme. These interventions will lead to a decrease in pollution incidents relating to infrastructural challenges.

‘The Water Pollution Control Inspectors are the ghostbusters of pollution. Their jobs are to wherever possible prevent, or otherwise respond, investigate the source and culprits of pollution and take action where possible against such offenders, and they are doing the best they can under very dynamic circumstances.

‘This is no easy task because sometimes it’s difficult to trace the source of pollution and or link it to an offender when for example, the pollutant has been washed away by the time the team gets to the site or shoes and tyres and car parts are found to be the source but cannot be linked to an offender so that legal action can be taken. This is why a proactive approach is also taken to sensitise the public in general, on the importance and benefits of a clean environment and proper use of infrastructure through various awareness programmes or initiatives.

‘Regardless of these challenges, the teams continue to monitor compliance and prioritise hot spot areas, and will take action against those who contribute to pollution through illegal discharges, sewer blockages or dumping litter, rubble and other forms of waste into Cape Town’s sewer and stormwater systems,’ said Councillor Zahid Badroodien, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.

Businesses can help prevent pollution or sewer blockages by:

Installing grease/fat/oil traps to capture the grease from the wastewater which will block pipes.

Use contracted waste management services for used oil and other chemical substances, not dump such in sewers, stormwater systems and the environment, as they will end up in our rivers.

Log water and sanitation service requests

Use one of the following channels (Please provide the street address, and get a reference number):

WhatsApp 060 018 1505

Online: www.capetown.gov.za/servicerequests

Email water@capetown.gov.za

SMS 31373 (maximum 160 characters. Standard rates apply)

Call 0860 103 089

Visit a City walk-in centre (see www.capetown.gov.za/facilities to find the one closest to you)

Source: City Of Cape Town