Day: February 27, 2023

PRETORIA— The Social Protection, Community and Human Development cluster says government is working around the clock to formalise the many informal settlements across South Africa to help protect residents from floods and fires.

In addition, the cluster has stressed the importance of accessing land in urban settlements, which it believes is one of the most critical factors for human settlements development programmes.

The cluster briefed media on Sunday, led by the Ministers of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga and Health, Dr Joe Phaahla.

According to the cluster, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has earmarked 14,000 hectares of State land for human settlements and to date, 2,689 hectares have been transferred to the Housing Development Agency.

Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Motshekga said the department has an additional 32 land parcels, measuring 10,350 hectares, to undertake preliminary human settlement planning.

Furthermore, 64,000 housing opportunities are planned from the released land parcels and will contribute significantly to the attainment of the prescripts of the Freedom Charter, which says there shall be “houses, security and comfort.”

The cluster said with more informal settlements regularly being set up due to a variety of factors, the department has still made significant progress in upgrading these settlements, such that there are 1,284 informal settlements at various stages of upgrading throughout the country.

“In the last financial year, about 24,671 stands were created through the informal upgrading process,” Motshekga said.

The process of upgrading, according to Motshekga, includes the provision of basic services such as water, electricity, sanitation, and security.

By intensifying the upgrading of informal settlements, officials are addressing some of the recent shocks caused by floods and fires in various parts of the country.

“With climate change, natural disasters are becoming more frequent and most of our infrastructure was not designed to be resilient,” said Motshekga.

In the past five days, Motshekga pointed out that the country has experienced devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

“For an effective response to these disasters, we need land, we need South Africans to embrace each other, especially when families are homeless, vulnerable and distressed.

“It is in times like this that we need to collaborate, unite and focus on solutions that will provide relief to all those in need.”

Motshekga also expressed appreciation for all the offers of assistance from partners in the private and public sectors and social partners who have initiated various interventions to assist in helping all those in distress.

“It will be a long road but together we can do so much more to minimise the impact of the devastating floods.”

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) has paid tribute to distinguished South African, veteran editor Rafiq Rohan, for his foresight and impactful leadership.

“It is truly with deep sadness that we at GCIS learnt of the passing of our former colleague Rohan,” GCIS Acting Director-General Michael Currin said on Monday.

Rohan passed away on Sunday in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

He was appointed at GCIS as the editor of the government’s Vuk’uzenzele newspaper from the year 2005 until 2010.

He was able to produce a newspaper that now distributes millions of copies across the country, thanks to his foresight and impactful leadership. Rohan was also a member of the GCIS team that worked on improving and strategising government communications.

Rohan was a renowned journalist and a former South African political prisoner on Robben Island who played a significant role in the attainment of our democracy.

“His gentle yet firm and confident ability to tell stories of hope and determination in our country’s efforts to improve the lives of ordinary citizens, continue to inspire us in our work in communicating the South African story in the GCIS. His passing is a great shock to many in the government communication fraternity and we extend to his family our heartfelt condolences,” Currin said.

GCIS has expressed condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The police in Mahwelereng are investigating a case of a missing person following the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl, Koketso Mongalo from Mshogo village outside Mokopane.

It reported that the teenager was last seen by her mother in the morning on Valentine’s Day 14 February 2023 before departing to Gojela High School. Unfortunately she never returned home and have since disappeared.

She left home wearing a school uniform, a navy blue skirt, a white shirt, blue jersey with stripes, white socks, black shoes and royal blue school bag.

A search operation was conducted at relatives and surrounding areas without success.

The police are appealing to anyone with information that can assist to find the missing teenager to contact the Investigating Officer Warrant Officer Menu on 071 392 2977 or 082 565 9056 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or nearest police station or MySAPS app.

Source: South African Police Service

The South African Search and Rescue Organisation in association with Department of Transport will host a high-level, three-day Search and Rescue (SAR) Conference in Durban this week.

Through the leadership of Transport Deputy Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, the conference will take place from Monday until Wednesday.

“The three-day round table discussion will see approximately 100 marine and aviation experts and stakeholders converge and address maritime and aeronautical search and rescue commitments made by the country, existing gaps in delivering upon these commitments and challenges faced.

“Furthermore, the conference will seek to benchmark with international bodies in better dealing with challenges posed by search and rescue services and develop feasible mechanisms to finance new aerial technologies which are also aimed at improving upon the already existing resources,” the Department of Transport said.

Deputy Minister Chikunga will be joined during the conference by National Transport Director-General, Advocate James Mlawu, Acting CEO of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) Ndzimeni Ramugondo, Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) CEO, Nozipho Mdawe as well as experts and key stakeholders in the search and rescue space.

Source: South African Government News Agency

EASTERN CAPE – Operation Vala Konke is making huge strides in the Mthatha area where special focus is in the hotspot areas where drugs are a problem.

On Friday 24 February 2023 at about 10:30, K9 members were patrolling in York Road in Mthatha where they arrested two males, aged 18 and 28, for possession of drugs. It is alleged that they stopped and searched a suspicious a white VW Polo and found Crystal- Meth weighing 129.26 grams with street value of R6 463-00.

On the same day, the K9 members also recovered a hijacked vehicle in Nomadolo locality Ngqeleni. The silver grey Toyota Corolla was found abandoned and hidden in the bushes. The vehicle was towed in for further investigation.

Source: South African Police Service

The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation says it is hopeful that the reconfiguration of water boards will ensure efficiency and the achievement of targets, which will translate into the delivery of water to people.

“We are hopeful that the reconfiguration will assist in better economies of scale for water boards, enable better cross subsidisation and increased financial sustainability as well as enhance market capitalisation for infrastructure projects,” Committee Chairperson Robert Mashego said.

While commending the progress reported on the reconfiguration of water boards, the committee said it remains concerned that there are still challenges that deny people access to water, and called for solutions to challenges across water value chain.

“We must caution against cosmetic changes that don’t bring about tangible results and access to water for the people,” Mashego said.

The committee called for impoved relationships with municipalities to promote the payment of services essentially because the financial sustainability of the water boards remains critical for their existence.

The committee was concerned that the water boards are owed R16.1 billion as of 31 December 2022 due to non-payment by municipalities’ clients and that negatively impacts the board’s ability to raise funds for capital projects.

“The committee remains concerned that five water boards, including Amatola, Bloem, Lepelle, Mhlathuze and Rand Water, are performing below the 80% of planned targets which also directly impacts on their ability to deliver services.

“The committee has urged the water boards to find solutions to the challenges they face to ensure that they have the required capacity to meet their mandate of the delivery of water to the people,” Mashego said.

The realignment, which is at various stages, is expected to be completed by March 2023.

The committee has also called for close collaboration between the water boards and municipalities to improve the operations of the municipalities’ Waste Water Treatment plants to ensure improved quality of discharged water.

Source: South African Government News Agency