Day: May 27, 2021

Posted on

Gauteng Roads and Transport contests e-toll decision by national government

Gauteng Government reiterates position on e-tolls in anticipation of the imminent announcement by National Government
The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport has reiterated its position and emphasised the importance of promptly resolving the issue of e-tolling system in the province.
MEC for Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure Jacob Mamabolo is on record saying that the Provincial Government has been seized with this matter with a view to oppose its implementation in the province.
MEC Jacob Mamabolo indicated that the provincial government is eagerly waiting the announcement by National Government on the future of e-tolls.
Said the MEC “As we look forward to the announcement by National Government, we reaffirm our view that e-tolling system in its current form burdens Gauteng residents on a matter that involves the national economy and the economies of neighbouring states. As we anxiously wait for the decision, the provincial government believes that it has put forward a compelling argument for the scrapping of e-tolls”.
The provincial government has been working with national government to ensure the implementation of the e-toll system in Gauteng is halted.
MEC Mamabolo has also been engaging, since November 2020, Minister Fikile Mbalula on the provincial government’s rejection of the proposed implementation of Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO) regulations as another method of enforcing the e-tolling system.

Source: Government of South Africa

Posted on

Special Investigating Unit freezes Gauteng Education service providers bank accounts and assets

Order granted to freeze over R40 Million of service providers appointed by Gauteng Education Department to sanitize schools
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been granted a preservation order to the value of R40.7 million by the Special Tribunal to freeze bank accounts and assets belonging to 14 service providers. The service providers were contracted by Gauteng Department of Education to decontaminate schools to the tune of over R431 million.

The SIU approached the Special Tribunal for preservation order to freeze accounts with the sum of R6 million and assets with an estimated value of over R4.7 million belonging to seven companies, five individuals and two family trusts. The assets include two Mercedes Benz V Class, Landrover Range Rover Sport, Haval H6 and Toyota Avanza. The action follows an investigation into allegations of unlawful procurement of services by the education department to decontaminate, disinfect, and sanitize schools.

The collaboration with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) is very effective and the FIC assisted and based on the information presented by the investigating team issued intervention directions under Section 34 of the FIC Act to place a hold on R30 million of the funds received from the education department. This after seven service providers began dissipating the funds received from the department, upon receipt. A portion of the funds were transferred to multiple beneficiaries who have, in turn, disposed of them. The order prohibits Fikile Mpofana Pty Ltd, Insimu Projects Pty Ltd, Insimu Consulting Pty Ltd, Insimu Medical Group, Mangaliso Pty Ltd, Lisondalo Pty Ltd, Zenaldo Consulting Pty Ltd, Sigwile Bright Mhlongo, Fikele Eugenia Mpofana, Lindokuhle Bridget Mkhize, Njabulo Mabaso, Richard Mweli, Shuphula Family Trust, and Madangu Family Trust from dealing with the funds held in the bank accounts and assets.

The SIU will forthwith launch review proceedings in the Special Tribunal within the next 30 days and also seek an order against the service providers to pay back all profits as consequence of their appointment.

The SIU investigation has revealed that the procurement process conducted by the Gauteng Education Department was manifestly unlawful. The Gauteng Department of Education (the Department) paid over R431 million to service providers pursuant to a process that was haphazard, unfair and littered with procurement irregularities.

The department obtained a deviation under Treasury regulations to conduct the procurement process without inviting competitive bids. The department did so on the basis that emergency procurement was warranted, given the urgent and pressing need to appoint service providers to decontaminate schools exposed to COVID-19. The request for the deviation expressly stated that the Department would “appoint accredited service providers from the Central Supplier Database (CSD)”.

The SIU investigation revealed that the department failed to comply with the express requirement of the deviation. The vast majority of service providers that were appointed (173 out of 280) were not accredited and were not on the CSD. On this basis alone, the SIU will argue before the Special Tribunal that the procurement process was unlawful and falls to be reviewed and set aside.

Furthermore, the SIU investigation revealed that the procurement process was not costeffective. The service providers were not paid per square meter of the area cleaned. Rather, a senior official in the department appears to have arbitrarily decided to offer a fee of R250 000 to R270 000 for the decontamination of primary schools; R250 000 to R290 000 for secondary schools; and R250 000 to R300 000 for district offices. The fees bear no relation to the work done by service providers or the cost of material used.

The selection and appointment of suppliers was done in a hap-hazard, unfair and inequitable manner. Ordinarily, the Supply Chain Management (“SCM”) division of the Department would select and appoint suppliers. In this case, the SIU investigation has revealed that the SCM division was not involved in the selection and appointment of service providers. Some of the names of service providers appointed were received via WhatsApp from officials in the Department. The service providers were appointed without first checking whether they were accredited or appeared on the CSD, the SIU investigation has revealed.

Though there are legal outcomes, the SIU investigation into the affairs of the education department are continuing. Evidence pointing to criminal conduct will be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), as well as the Hawks in the South African Police Service (SAPS) for further action.

Fraud and corruption allegations may be reported via the following platforms: siu@whistleblowing.co.za(link sends e-mail) / Hotline: 0800 037 774

Source: Government of South Africa

Posted on

Cameroon Clears Abandoned Mental Health Patients from Streets

Authorities in Cameroon are clearing the streets in the capital, Yaounde, of more than 300 psychiatric patients whom officials say have been abandoned by family members. The central African state says stress from Boko Haram terrorism, a separatist crisis in its English-speaking western regions and the increase in consumption of hard drugs are responsible for growing numbers of such patients.
Laure Mengueme is the director of mental health at Cameroon’s Ministry of Health. She speaks to a group of about 70 people at the central market in Yaounde on why psychiatric patients should not be left on the streets.
Mengueme says she is making it clear that mentally ill patients should not be removed from the streets as refuse. She says local councils in Cameroon have social affairs services that will assist in the treatment of all abandoned mental health patients in the company of family members.
Among those listening to Mengueme is 49-year-old secondary school teacher Theresia Mbiteh. Mbiteh says her 19-year-old son became violent in the English-speaking northwestern town of Bamenda in 2017. She says his son began taking illegal drugs when separatist fighters prohibited children from going to school.
“I have done a lot, many people can testify. He escaped from here (Cameroon} and trekked to Nigeria,” said Mbiteh. “A person picked (found) him in Nigeria, called me one day after six weeks of his stay there and then told me. I had to borrow money to go collect him from Nigeria. When I brought him back here I thought things were going to be better, but nothing changed.”
Mbiteh said she travelled from Bamenda to Yaounde when Cameroon state radio reported that the government was helping families take their loved ones off the streets.
The health ministry reported that the number of abandoned psychiatric patients increased from 50 to more than 300 in Yaounde within two years. At least 2,700 patients are on the streets all over Cameroon with more than 400 in the commercial capital city Douala. Cameroon counted 1,300 such patients in its territory in 2019.
Frankline Ngwen is supervisor of the mental health department of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services. He says abuse and trauma from the various crises Cameroon faces has led to an increase in the number of psychiatric patients.
“There are several reasons why people who are developing mental illnesses are increasing,” said Ngwen. “Some of them are very eminent including the sociopolitical crisis in the northwest region, the southwest region and the Boko Haram crisis in the north. This has given an opportunity for a lot of abuses, violence and trauma and these traumas can result to the development of mental illnesses. We also have schools where teenagers are using a lot of drugs and all these drugs are contributing to the development of mental illnesses.”
Traditionally, many Cameroonians believe that mental health crises are divine punishment for wrongdoing. Some say witchcraft or spiritual possession are responsible for mental illness.
Fonbe Hedwick runs Living Vine Mental Health Center in the English-speaking northwestern town of Bamenda. He is part of the campaign to remove mental patients from the streets. Fonbe says some patients are escaping from the homes of African traditional healers and Pentecostal pastors who abuse them, claiming that they are chasing evil spirits.
“They should not be beaten. Patients with psychiatric conditions should not be tied up. Some kind of brutal force should not be meted on them,” said Fonbe. “We encourage families to avoid taking them to places where they think that they {pastors} will just pray for these patients and they get miracle healing or to traditional healers who will think that they will do some concoctions and these patients will get well. This is our message to all the families and all the communities.”
Fonbe said with the arrival of the coronavirus in Cameroon in March 2020, many families have lacked the resources to care for psychiatric patients at home, putting them on the streets.
The health ministry is asking family members to take relatives with mental health problems to hospitals for treatment.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

MEC Debbie Schäfer wishes candidates well for June NSC and SC examinations

Minister Schäfer wishes candidates well for the June NSC and SC examinations
The combined National Senior Certificate (NSC) and Senior Certificate (SC) exams began in the province without incident yesterday. The exams continue until 7 July 2021.
June session in numbers
27 506 candidates are registered for the exams in the Western Cape, including 12 605 who wrote their matric in 2020 but are seeking to improve their results, and 14 901 adults and out-of-school young people writing the SC.
I wish all of these candidates the very best and urge communities not to disrupt the exams in any way. Everyone deserves the opportunity to write their exams in the best possible circumstances, and disruptions will only harm the candidates themselves.
Over 900 invigilators will oversee the exams at 217 exam centres across our eight education districts. Covid-19 protocols are being followed at all exam venues – including wearing masks, daily screening, sanitising hands and surfaces, and physical distancing. Our invigilators were formally trained in implementing these protocols last year, and refresher sessions have taken place prior to the current exam session.
Covid-19 protocols and vaccines
We have seen Covid-19 cases rise in the past few weeks across the country. It is crucial that we continue to implement safety protocols, whether at school or elsewhere. It has been a long time since we re-opened schools with these measures in place, but this does not mean we can afford to be complacent.
A key part of our fight against Covid-19 is the rollout of vaccines, which has moved on to phase two (persons 60 years and older). Our learners and young people have a crucial role to play in assisting anyone who is less tech-savvy than they are to register on the database for their Covid-19 vaccine.
I urge our learners to take just 6 minutes of their time to help to register any relative of theirs, who is 60 years or older (after school hours of course). It’s our learners’ turn to help their elders and to protect them against this virus.

Source: Government of South Africa

Posted on

DRC Officials Order Evacuation of Goma, Fearing Another Volcano Eruption

Officials in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Thursday ordered the partial evacuation of the city of Goma out of fears of another eruption of the nearby Mount Nyriagongo volcano.

North Kivu province Military Governor Constant Ndima Kongba announced the mandatory evacuation of 10 neighborhoods in the city after seismic and ground deformation data indicated the presence of magma under Goma, extending under adjacent Lake Kivu.

The governor said there were extra risks associated with the interaction between magma and the lake, including “the emission of potentially dangerous gases at the surface.” Ndima said transportation would be provided toward Sake, about 21 kilometers northwest of Goma.

The governor said he asked people to take very few belongings with them and said they could not return home. Thousands of people left the city shortly after the announcement, with many fleeing southeast, across the border and into neighboring Rwanda.

Goma, a city of 2 million people, had been spared when the volcano, 13 kilometers to the north, erupted late Saturday. United Nations officials say the eruption killed 32 people and lava destroyed at least two villages, displacing tens of thousands of people.

Before Saturday, Mount Nyiragongo—one of Africa’s most active volcanos—last erupted in 2002, killing hundreds of people in Goma and displacing more than 100,000.

Source: Voice of America

Proudly powered by WordPress