Day: January 24, 2023

On Thursday, 26 January 2023, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille will hand over bursaries to matriculants who have enrolled to study various built environment courses at universities across the country for the 2023 academic year.

The awarding of the bursaries forms part of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure’s (DPWI) Skills Pipeline Programme as part of government’s efforts to bring more skilled professionals into the public sector and specifically the built environment.

As part of building a capable and ethical state, the DPWI annually awards bursaries to pupils in need of financial assistance, who display excellence and have been accepted for courses in the built environment for their tertiary education.

The DPWI has a Bursary Programme linked to an overall Skills Pipeline project whereby pupils are encouraged on school level to consider careers in the built environment.

Another key aim of the DPWI Bursary Programme is to remove financial barriers by providing funding for disadvantaged students to access built environment qualifications.

The programme further aims to increase the number of built environment professionals from previously disadvantage groups to represent the demographics of the country and ensure transformation of the built environment sector.

The programme also serves as feeder to the department’s Internship and Young Professionals Programme and later form a pool of qualified built environment professionals to serve the state in the delivery of infrastructure projects.

The bursary accommodates the following study areas: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Marine Engineering, Property Studies / Real Estate, Actuarial Science, Quantity Surveying, Construction Project Management, Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Town and Regional Planning.

The bursary covers tuition, accommodation, meals, textbooks, project and compulsory study resources and a monthly allowance.

Over the past 9 years, DPWI has awarded bursaries to 452 students since the programme started in 2014, an investment of R160 million into the lives of the students and to bring the required skills into the public sector.

This year Minister de Lille will hand over bursaries to more than 70 students who recently matriculated and have been accepted to study at various universities across the country for built environment degrees. Many of the students have achieved excellent results in the recent matric exams, many of them achieving distinctions in Maths and Physics.

The students have been accepted for courses such as Actuarial Science, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering and other built environment courses.

Minister de Lille will hand over bursary award certificates to the students at a ceremony where previous bursary beneficiaries will also give testimonials on how these bursaries have assisted them to enter and thrive in careers in the built environment. Details of the bursary awards ceremony are as follows.

Source: Government of South Africa

As the Police Ministry continues to call for the harshest sentences for the murderers of the country’s police officers, Police Minister, General Bheki Cele and the South African Police Service (SAPS) management led by General Fannie Masemola, will on Tuesday 24 January 2023 visit Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal, following the murder of Warrant Officer, Roger Mavundla and three family members, including his ten year old daughter.

According to police reports, on the 21st of January 2023, 49-year-old Warrant Officer Mavundla and his wife and children aged between 17 and 10 were ambushed and shot at, while inside their vehicle. The officer, his wife and two children sustained fatal wounds and died on the scene while a third child is being treated at a local hospital.

The visit to Port Edward will see the provincial SAPS brief the Police Ministry, on the crime patterns in the policing area and interventions in place to deal with violent crime and other contact crimes. The visit will also include a comfort visit to the Mavundla family home.

22 South African Police Service (SAPS) members were killed during July to September 2022.

Members of the media are invited to attend the comfort visit to the bereaved family of slain member, which will unfold as follows.

Date: 24 January 2023

Time: 10:00

Venue: Port Edward SAPS (Meeting point)

Source: South African Police Service

The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate will commence with the resurfacing of a section of the inbound carriageway of FW De Klerk Boulevard by tomorrow, Wednesday, 25 January 2023, if all goes as planned. The work will continue until the end of June 2023, pending unforeseen delays and inclement weather.

The inbound carriageway of FW de Klerk Boulevard will be resurfaced between Jan Smuts Street and Heerengracht Street. This section covers a distance of approximately 400m and work is planned to take place on weekdays between 08:00 and 16:00 to limit the impact on road users as far as possible.

The road will also be realigned to create more space for trucks needing to offload goods at the CTICC, and traffic signals will be relocated as needed.

Flag personnel will direct traffic through temporary detours around the work area for the duration of the roadworks. Work areas will be demarcated to regulate traffic flow, but road users should please anticipate some inconvenience and factor these into their travelling time.

‘We urge the community to please cooperate with our team on the ground while the project is ongoing. We also ask all road users to be mindful of the construction workers and pay attention to the road signs. The resurfacing of this section of FW de Klerk Boulevard will prolong the lifespan of the road, and the subtle realignment will assist with traffic flow in the vicinity of the CTICC. We have measures in place to help direct residents during the construction period and I want to thank all for their patience and support while we are making these improvements,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas.

For enquiries call the Transport Information Centre (toll-free 24/7) on 0800 65 64 63, or email transport.info@capetown.gov.za.

Caption: The area encircled on the map indicates where the roadworks will take place along the inbound carriageway of FW de Klerk Boulevard.

Source: City Of Cape Town

Following the visit to the bereaved family of slain South African Police Service(SAPS) member Warrant Officer, Roger Mavundla and three of his family members, the Ministry of Police has called on the detective team assigned to investigate the multiple shooting to work with agility to find the killers.

Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, Deputy Minister of Police, Cassel Mathale and the SAPS management led by General Fannie Masemola, on Tuesday 24 January 2023, descended on Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal. The visit comes as the SAPS mourns the loss of one of their own who was gunned down with his family just meters away from their family home.

Warrant Officer Mavundla and his fiancé Khanyisile Mthulisi aged 39, their children Siyamthanda Mthulisi 10 and 17-year-old Thando Mavundla all succumbed to their injuries.

Seven year old Simthandile Mthulisi, the sole survivor of the incident, is in a critical condition in hospital.

While the motive is yet to be confirmed, investigators from the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (DPCI) are following-up on leads with the aim to find and prosecute the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

The 49-year-old Warrant Officer has been described by his colleagues and many in the community as a respected and dedicated public servant.

Minister Cele, has assured the bereaved family and community at large that this crime will not go unpunished.

“While we are aware that policing is a dangerous job, it is very shocking and truly disturbing that an officer who has been described as a good man dedicated to his work, is killed along with his young family so brutally. Our thoughts and prayers are with the young girl who is fighting for her life in hospital and hope she recovers from this tragedy. Ours as law enforcement is to ensure a thorough job is done during the investigative work and the results can bring the affected families the community and the nation, some closure.” Cele ended.

Warrant Officer Mavundla and his family will be laid to rest on the weekend.

Source: South African Police Service

LADY FRERE – Police are investigating a case of murder following the death of a 61-year-old woman whose body was found in a pool of blood in her homestead at Sidakeni loc, Mkaphusi Administrative Area on Monday, 23 January 2023

According to neighbours, the woman was last seen on Saturday 21 January 2023 and when they went to check on her, they were unable to open the door.

Police were summoned to the scene and the woman was found lying in a pool of blood and with her neck been slit. Motive for the killing is unknown at this stage.

A murder case is under investigation. Police are urging anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of suspect to contact Lady Frere Police at 047 8783041. The information may also be shared via Crime Stop on 08600 10111. All information will be treated with confidentiality.

Source: South African Police Service

International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, believes that the experience Greece has acquired over time in green power resources would be of immense value to South Africa as the country diversifies its own energy.

This comes as government announced a series of interventions aimed at solving the country’s worsening power crisis and expanding electricity availability to ease the ongoing load shedding.

According to some reports, Greece relies on a range of sources for electricity, with no one source accounting for more than 50%. In August of 2022, the non-profit online publication NPR said natural gas and renewable sources, such as wind and solar, accounted for the most power.

Pandor on Tuesday hosted her counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolaos Dendias, for a bilateral meeting in Pretoria.

“We’ve agreed on the number of areas that we want to explore further education, collaboration and support to South Africa as it addresses its energy challenges.”

Pandor also spoke about shipbuilding, which is at the heart of the Greece economy and ranks as the world’s largest ship-owning nation.

“Greece is a renowned voyager and shipbuilder and we believe we could draw on that experience to help build our own shipbuilding sector in this country,” the Minister said.

“And anyone who is a sensible traveller knows they must tour Greece at least once in their life.”

The Minister described the European nation as a beautiful country, with wonderful tourist facilities.

“Tourism is a very important economic sector and we’d love to learn from our colleagues in Greece as to how we can improve our service and how we can expand the tourism sector to increase the current contribution to the gross domestic product of South Africa.”

“So, we’ve got an agenda already and have agreed there’s work that we must do together. And this is just the beginning of the steps toward a much stronger relationship.”

The Minister told her counterpart that South Africa has a “sizable” community with Greek history and that the community plays a very important role within the small and medium enterprise sector in various sectors, especially in pharmaceutical products.

“And of course, the delicious food that we enjoy in many Greek restaurants throughout our country. So, it is a community that has made its presence very positively felt in South Africa.”

Dendias said the talks were a great opportunity to build upon the very solid foundation of the relationship with South Africa.

“We have excellent cooperation in international organisations starting with the United Nations. I am grateful to South Africa for your support in our campaign to be elected to the United Nations Security Council.”

In addition, Greece’s Foreign Minister said they respect South Africa’s position on a number of international issues.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Police Minister, Bheki Cele, has called on the courts to mete out the harshest possible sentence to criminals who murder police officers.

This comes in the wake of the killing of yet another policeman in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal, at the weekend.

Cele and South African Police Service (SAPS) management, led by National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, will visit the family of the deceased warrant officer.

Police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said Warrant Officer Roger Mavundla, alongside three family members, including his 10-year-old daughter, was shot and killed when they were ambushed while travelling in their vehicle.

“According to police reports, on the 21st of January 2023, 49-year-old Warrant Officer Mavundla and his wife and children, aged between 17 and 10, were ambushed and shot at, while inside their vehicle. The officer, his wife and two children sustained fatal wounds and died on the scene, while a third child is being treated at a local hospital,” she said.

Mathe said the visit to Port Edward will see the provincial SAPS brief the Police Ministry on the crime patterns in the policing area and interventions in place to deal with violent crime and other contact crimes. The visit will also include a comfort visit to the Mavundla family home.

A total of 22 SAPS members were killed betwee July and September 2022.

Source: South African Government News Agency