Day: August 23, 2022

DURBAN – On 22 August 2022, the Greytown Regional Court convicted and sentenced Zakhele Ndlovu (57) for rape, sexual assault and kidnapping after the court heard how he kidnapped and raped an 18-year-old girl.

Between February and July 2019, an 18-year-old female who was residing with her aunt was forced to marry a 57-year-old man from her church. The aunt and the church elders had agreed to this union and the aunt accepted payment for the arrangement. She would allow the man to come to her house and have his way with the girl and when the girl complained she will be reminded that traditionally she belonged to the man.

When she realised that no one was willing to listen to her concerns, she attempted to kill herself on two occasions and her attempts were unsuccessful. She had nowhere to flee as both her parents were late. She decided to run away from her aunt’s house, but the man was well connected. He hired two men to track down his victim, she was caught and taken the accused’s house in Greytown where she was expected to continue with her marital duties. He attempted to rape her and she fought back. When he realised that it was not going to be easy to overpower her, she was taken to Matimatolo where she was handcuffed and raped repeatedly.

She was kept in a room for months and the community became suspicious when they heard her crying whenever this man was around. Police were alerted and they responded swiftly. The girl was rescued and charges of rape, sexual assault as well as kidnapping were opened. The matter was investigated by the Greytown Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.

The accused became unpredictable and attempted to evade arrest by all means. On 6 August 2019, he handed himself over to the Greytown FCS Unit where he was arrested. During his trial he claimed insanity which could not be confirmed by a mental institution. He made several court appearances before he was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape, twelve years for sexual assault and an additional five years for kidnapping.

Source: South African Police Service

Measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, which poses a dire threat to water security, agriculture, health and energy, have come into sharp focus at the public consultations on the third edition of the National Water Resources Strategy (NWRS-3).

“Those risks should also be integrated into short, medium and long-term water and sanitation sector strategies and planning. Mainstreaming of climate change considerations in town planning, as well as water planning and management, is therefore very important,” Water and Sanitation Director-General, Dr Sean Phillips, said during the consultations with various stakeholders on Monday.

Phillips launched the NWRS-3 at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The NWRS-3 builds on the National Water Resources Strategy editions 1 and 2.

The launch follows a Government Gazette notice issued by Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, on 29 July 2022.

During consultations, stakeholders broke into three commissions to discuss various issues affecting the water sector.

Commission one focused on increasing water supply, managing effective water and sanitation services, regulating the water and sanitation sector, and redistributing water for transformation.

Commission two focused on managing water and sanitation under a changing climate and improving raw water quality, protecting and restoring ecological infrastructure, among others.

Commission three deliberated on promoting international cooperation, building capacity for action, ensuring financial sustainability, creating effective water sector institutions, and addressing legislative and policy gaps.

Participants resolved that as a way forward, there should be an emphasis on public and private partnerships, and intergovernmental partnerships.

Other resolutions included science-based limits being essential for water use licences, and a need to carefully understand changes in water quality.

A call was made to Catchment Management Agencies (CMA) to ensure that their stewardship projects are inclusive of all stakeholders and to regulate tariff zero-based budgeting.

A suggestion was also made to review the Water Research Act to cover issues around climate change and water availability.

The NWRS is currently the legal instrument for implementing or operationalising the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998), and it is binding on all authorities and institutions implementing the Act.

It is the primary mechanism to manage water across all sectors towards achieving national government’s development objectives.

The first NWRS was published in 2004 and the second edition (NWRS-2) was published in 2013, and was the blueprint for water resources management in South Africa

The NWRS-3 is open for public comments over a period of 90 days from the date of publication of the notice.

Water and Sanitation Acting Deputy Director-General for Infrastructure, Leonardo Manus, encouraged the public to participate in the 90-day window for public comments.

“There is a chance to make the document stronger and better. Public participation will close on 29 October and in between, public participation sessions will be arranged to educate and inform the public. The document, as it stands, is available on the DWS website,” Manus said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

MPUMALANGA- A sentenced murderer Sandile Kagiso Montsoe (33), the sole owner of Trillion Dollar Legacy investment scheme was requisitioned from Bloemfontein Prison after investigation by the Hawks Middelburg based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation linked him with an investment fraud case in Evander.

It is alleged that during December 2016, the accused visited many government offices including the Department of Justice, Municipality offices and Department of Education whereby he recruited about 180 investors to invest over R2 million for a higher return on investment. It is further alleged that the accused did not make a payment to his clients as promised and the victims reported the matter at Evander police station on the 27 December 2016.

The case was referred to the Hawks for further probe. During investigation it was established that the accused was in Bloemfontein Prison serving 35 years for the murder of his girlfriend which occurred between 2018/2019. After the case was finalised, it was presented before the Evander Regional Court where a subpoena was issued for him to appear before court on 22 August 2022, hence his appearance.

The case was postponed to 27 September 2022 for further investigation. He was remanded in custody.

The Provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Zodwa Mokoena welcomed the arrest. She further warned the public to refrain from investing money with unscrupulous fraudsters. She concluded by asking people who already fallen into these tricks to report the matter to the police.

Source: South African Police Service

Africa continuously needs to reassess its public health approach and use lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic to prepare for future resurgences.

This is according to Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, who believes that the approach will also help improve the resilience of the continent’s health system.

The Minister was speaking on Monday during the 72nd Session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa in Togo.

“It is our view that the health system needs to be properly reset so that it can properly recover from the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, a holistic approach to resetting health systems is more likely to yield desired results not only for the recovery but also for building back better,” he told delegates.

According to Phaahla, one of the biggest lessons from the pandemic is the power of committed leadership and partnerships.

These also include the importance of technology, analytics, and empowering communities to play a central role in disease control and health emergencies.

“We cannot afford to regress on these. The continued work on reforming the Secretariat to better respond to the needs of Member States remains important,” he stressed.

The weeklong talks bring together Health Ministers and representatives from 47 African countries, experts and other stakeholders in the region and across the globe.

The engagement will define the continent’s health policy and take stock of the specific needs of the region.

The Head of State of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus and the WHO Regional Director, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, officially launched the meeting.

The delegates will focus on several issues, which include Universal Health Coverage, vaccination, the fight against epidemics, medical equipment, the quality of care, the management of health emergencies and financing for the health sector.

Phaahla commended the WHO’s Regional Director and the Secretariat for the achievements during the COVID-19 outbreak in Africa.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic moves into the endemic phase, it is most timely and prudent to integrate the preparedness and response functions into the routine health systems and services.”

While the integration of “COVID-19 services” is essential, Phaahla said it could only be effective and sustainable, when the broader policy actions towards addressing more “fundamental systemic issues” is also in place.

“We therefore note with interest, progress reported in the areas around the work on emergencies, covering the response to acute and protracted emergencies, and the support provided to the Member States to build their capacities for preparedness and response to future emergencies.”

Source: South African Government News Agency

PRETORIA – Nine more individuals were arrested this morning in various areas around Gauteng, which brings the total number of arrested alleged instigators to 44.

These persons of interest will be brought before court soon on charges of conspiracy to public violence, incitement to public violence and incitement to arson.

Investigation continues.

Source: South African Police Service

Eskom and the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC) have embarked on a collaboration that aims to train and upskill staff at the Komati Power Station and qualifying community members around the power station to become renewable energy artisans.

The collaboration is a manifestation of the power utility’s Just Energy Transition (JET) strategy, which seeks to ensure that power station staff and communities living around them are not left behind as Eskom transitions towards lower carbon emissions and winds down its coal fire power station business.

According to Eskom, the initiative is expected to address the “dire lack of skills” in the renewable energies value chain.

“The objective is to educate, reskill and upskill Eskom Komati Power Station staff and qualifying beneficiaries from the surrounding communities in the Mpumalanga region. This is in line with Eskom’s Just Energy Transition drive and SARETEC’s vision to ensure a pipeline of local skills responding to economic needs and readiness for the inevitable transition.

“Given the accelerated global movement towards investment in a clean energy transition, there is a need in South Africa to upskill, retrain and develop a workforce to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by this transition.

“Moreover, the risk of job losses and redundancy due to the transition presents an opportunity to provide training and upskilling for new industries that can be scaled up as a result of the transition, particularly the renewables industry,” Eskom said in a statement.

The power utility explained that over the next three years, SARETEC is expected to support its establishment of a renewable energy training facility.

“SARETEC has, since its inception, established itself not only as a renewable energy subject matter expert but significantly contributed to the national skills pool of artisans and technicians, with a special focus on wind and solar.

“SARETEC will support Eskom for the next 36 months to establish a similar renewable energy training facility fit for purpose to train artisans and technicians at Eskom’s Komati Power Station. The facility will be managed by Eskom’s Academy of Learning (EAL),” Eskom said.

The power utility said it will also “continue to draw ongoing support” from renewable energy industry associations, the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) and the South African Solar Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) on the training initiative.

“[They] are an integral part of the South African renewable energy industry, as they promote innovation and cohesion amongst all the role players and stakeholders,” Eskom said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

GAUTENG – On Sunday, 21 August 2022 police in Sedibeng District arrested two suspects on the N3 Highway in Heidelberg for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition after five firearms were recovered.

According to a preliminary report, a multi-disciplinary team of members from Crime Intelligence, Tactical Response Team (TRT) and Metropolitan Police operationalised information they obtained on firearms being transported from KZN to Vosloorus in Gauteng.

The suspects’ vehicles were successfully intercepted by the members on the N3 Highway in Heidelberg. A search led the members to recover five unlicensed firearms and ammunition; both the drivers of the said vehicles were arrested.

Source: South African Police Service