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South Africa
Communications
No
more 'Tshwane' for SABC - 1 July
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa said it
would impose fines against the South African Broadcasting
Corporation if it continued to refer to Pretoria as Tshwane. - iafrica
website
Broadcasting
Complaints Commission of South Africa
12/2009
Ruling
Politicsweb
website
ID
now required to buy your new starter pack - 30 June
From tomorrow anyone buying a cellphone starter pack will have to
produce an ID and proof of residential address. This procedure
conforms with the Regulation of Interception
of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related
Information Act of 2008. The new legislation aims to help
law enforcement agencies to track illegal activities. The law
requires that a new SIM card will only be activated on a cellular
network once it is registered. It also requires that all cellphone
numbers be registered within 18 months from tomorrow. - Sowetan
website
Mobile
operators lose fight - 30 June
The compulsory registration of all SIM cards in use, in terms of
the Regulation of Interception of
Communications and Provision of Communication-Related
Information Act (RICA) will come into effect from 1 July
2009. The Act requires mobile operators Cell C, MTN and
Vodacom, as well as other service providers such as Nashua
Mobile, Autopage and Virgin Mobile South Africa, to register on
secure databases the identities, physical address and cellular
phone numbers of new and existing customers who buy SIM cards.
- Moneyweb
website
Strict
laws to control sale of cellular phones, sim cards -
30 June
Government is to implement strict laws on the sale of cellular
phones and sim cards to help curb serious crime in the country.
The Interception Amendment Act,
which will be implemented on 1 July, aims to assist the law
enforcement agencies in the investigation and combating of
serious crime. It also ensures that the identity and whereabouts
of the owner of a sim card who used a cell phone in the planning
and execution of a serious crime is known. - BuaNews
Online website
Cellphone
act puts burden on providers - 30 June
From Wednesday all new and old prepaid cellphone subscribers
will have to provide proof of identity documents to their
network providers as part of the new interception law - the
Regulation of Interception of
Communications and Provision of Communication-Related
Information Act. MTN, Cell C and Vodacom have 18 months
to register more than 40 million active prepaid SIM card
subscribers and new users on their system. Subscribers could be
cut off from the network if they failed to register their
details. - Business
Report website
'No
extra cost' for cellphone databases - 1 July
Cellphone users will be protected against unauthorised
eavesdropping once users have to supply identification details
when obtaining airtime. Cellular providers say they will not
pass on the substantial cost of building and maintaining
databases of all their customers. Jeff Radebe, the minister of
justice, said yesterday that law enforcement agencies would be
strengthened in the fight against crime as the new law takes
effect today. - Business
Report website
No
illegal interception of calls : Radebe - 1 July
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe says the new law to register
cellphone users will not be used to spy on citizens. He was
briefing the media on the Regulation of
Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication
Related Information Act, which comes into effect today. -
IOL
website
SIM
card violators face hefty fines - 1 July
Cellphone companies that fail to comply with a new law that,
from Wednesday, requires them to register all subscribers face a
hefty fine of R100 000 for each day they are in violation. This
was revealed by Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, who also
emphasised that the new Regulation of
Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication
Related Information Act was aimed at dealing with
criminals who were using cellphones to plan and execute crimes.
- IOL
website
18
June 2009
SABC Board status inquiry : Day
1 ; SABC
budget 2009/10
Parliamentary
Monitoring Group website
23
June 2009
SABC
Board status inquiry : Day 2
Parliamentary
Monitoring Group website
24
June 2009
SABC Board
status inquiry : Day 3
Parliamentary
Monitoring Group website
26
June 2009
SABC
Board status inquiry : Committee Report
Parliamentary
Monitoring Group website
Parly
gives go-ahead for dissolution of SABC board - 1 July
The National Assembly has given the go-ahead for the dissolution
of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. A
report calling for the dissolution of the board was adopted in the
National Assembly, after receiving support from the majority of
the political parties. - BuaNews
website
See
also : SABC
workers can strike
ICASA.
Complaints and Compliance Committee ruling on complaint against
SABC
30 June 2009
Freedom of Expression Institute v South African Broadcasting
Corporation
Politicsweb
website
Icasa
clears SABC - 29 June
The SABC is off the hook following a complaint by the Freedom
of Expression Institute (FXI) to an Independent Communications
Authority committee over its "blacklisting"
controversy. Icasa's Complaints and Compliance Committee (CCC)
ruled it had no jurisdiction about the public broadcaster's
journalistic independence and internal functions, according to
a judgment released by the SABC on Monday. - The
Star website
Correctional
Services
Sick
prisoners might get medical parole - 27 June
Prisoners who are seriously ill - but not necessarily dying -
might be eligible for release on medical parole in future. The
chairman of the parole review board, Judge Siraj Desai, has
confirmed to Independent Newspapers that the provisions
for medical parole will be looked at afresh to include
considering the release of seriously ill - as opposed to
terminally ill - prisoners on compassionate grounds. - IOL
website
Correctional
Services to become a seven-day establishment - 30
June
The Department of Correctional Services would from tomorrow, 1
July, implement a seven-day establishment, and move away from a
five-day institution. This as the department has been battling
massive weekend overtime claims. "The department was
interfacing with the Minister of Public Service and
Administration for the matter to be regulated," Minister of
Correctional Services, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Tuesday
during her Budget Vote in Parliament. - BuaNews
Online website
Courts
The
big men of Africa must pay for their crimes - 28 June
President Jacob Zuma is wrong to suggest that the continent's
ruthless dictators not be held to account, writes Kader Asmal.
In the past two decades, we have witnessed an unprecedented rise
in conflict on our continent, leading to millions of casualties
and appalling atrocities. The UN estimates that more than 70% of
the casualties have been civilians, many of them women and
children.
However, some, including President Jacob Zuma (Sunday Times,
June 14), have argued that leaders of states under tension
should not be prosecuted - in other words, they should be given
impunity - on the grounds that the imperatives of peace require
us to set aside notions of justice and accountability. - The
Times website
See
also :
Zuma asks for immunity for African leaders - 14
June
IOL
website
[InfoUpdate 12 of
2009]
Criminal
Justice System
Zuma
meets Selebi to discuss contract - 29 June
President Jacob Zuma met Jackie Selebi last week about the
future of the national police commissioner, who is on
"special leave" pending a criminal case. Selebi's
contract ends on Tuesday and indications are that the Zuma
administration will not renew it, and his successor is likely to
be appointed in September. - IOL
website
Zuma
soon to appoint successor to police chief Selebi -
30 June
President Jacob Zuma is set to name a new national police
commissioner in about a month's time, suggesting that
suspended commissioner Jackie Selebi - who is facing charges
of corruption - could be jobless from tomorrow. Police
Minister Nathi Mthethwa told Business Day yesterday
that Selebi's contract ends today. Selebi's original contract
should have expired last year, but former president Thabo
Mbeki extended it for 12 months. - Business
Day website
Zuma
informs Selebi of his fate - 1 July
President Jacob Zuma has written to Jackie Selebi, who is at
present on special leave, informing the national police
commissioner that his contract will not be renewed. Both the
Presidency and Selebi were mum on the notification. Presidential
spokesperson Thabo Masebe refused to comment on the matter,
and was only prepared to say Selebi remained the police boss
until the end of this month. Selebi's lawyer Wynanda Coetzee
said she was not aware of such a letter. - IOL
website
Dinokeng
Scenarios. May 2009
SA
has 'three ways forward' - 29 June
Although South Africa was still faced with a number of challenges
after the end of apartheid, the country had achieved a great deal,
economically, socially and politically, the Daily Dispatch
Dialogues heard yesterday.
Addressing the Dialogue – entitled The Dinokeng Scenarios :
Three futures for South Africa – Archbishop Njongonkulu
Ndungane , one of the convenors, counted South Africa's
parliamentary democracy and its independent judiciary as some its
successes. - Dispatch
Online website
Ramphele
warns of chaos - 1 July
Director of the World Bank and convenor of the so-called Dinokeng
group, Mamphela Ramphele, has said the first of various ticking
time bombs in South Africa have begun to explode. She was a guest
speaker in Pretoria at a future conference of the Solidarity union
on Tuesday. Ramphele said the government was responsible for the
various time bombs, because it failed on education, health, crime,
poverty and unemployment. - News24
website
See
also :
[InfoUpdate
11 of 2009. Dinokeng Scenarios. May 2009]
Education
Govt
drops General Education Certificate - 30 June
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga has announced that
government has dropped plans to introduce the General Education
Certificate for Grade 9's. The General Education Certificate (GEC)
was to have helped schools assess the readiness of Grade 9
learners to enter matric and was expected to have been introduced
this year. It forms part of the National Curriculum Statement. - BuaNews
Online website
Curriculum
under scrutiny - 30 June
Public hearings will be held into South Africa's schools
curriculum in coming months as it remains the subject of endless
complaint, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on
Tuesday. - IOL
website
Teachers
frustrated by wage talks - 30 June
Government has not shown any commitment to move toward an
agreement on the occupation specific dispensation (OSD), the SA
Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) said on Tuesday. It added
that should the situation persist, industrial action might be on
the cards. - IOL
website
See
also : Education
agreement on OSD not signed
Family Law
Dad
wins battle for children - 30 June
Cape Town tug-of-love dad Steve Swanepoel was overcome with
emotion at the thought of seeing his two youngest children again
for the first time in two years. On Monday, the Department of
Justice told Swanepoel, who lives in Cape Town, the French
authorities had decided to implement court orders - handed down
by French courts in terms of an international convention aimed
at combating child abductions - and hand over his children to
him. Now Swanepoel is scrambling to get his passport renewed so
he can fly to France to fetch them within the next few days. - IOL
website
See
also :
Father
fears he'll never see his children - 10 June
IOL
website
[InfoUpdate
12 of 2009]
Government
Single
public service on the cards - 30 June
The government is to push ahead with its plan to establish a
single public service despite objections by opposition parties,
which fear that this would strip them of power in the
municipalities they control. Public Service and Administration
Minister Richard Baloyi revealed yesterday that his department
was pushing ahead with the plan and he hoped its implementation.
- The
Times website
See
also :
26
April 2007
Single
public service to align conditions under which government
employees at national, provincial and local government work
[InfoUpdate
14 of 2007]
OSD
negotiations will be completed within target - 29
June
Government is confident that negotiations regarding the
Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) for public servants will
be concluded on Tuesday. Minister of Public Service and
Administration, Richard Baloyi, speaking on Monday ahead of his
Budget Vote in Parliament, said that the 30 June deadline was
not negotiable and would not be extended. "We set ourselves
a target that by tomorrow, the 30th of June, we have concluded
all negotiations related to OSD. We are not expecting anything
after 30 June relating to OSD," said the minister. - BuaNews
Online website
Education
agreement on OSD not signed - 1 July
The education sector was among those where no agreement had
been reached between government and labour on the occupation
specific dispensation, the Public Service Co-ordinating
Bargaining Council (PSCBC) said on Wednesday. PSCBC general
secretary Shamira Huluman said the council was meant to
receive reports from the various sector councils by midday. - IOL
website
Admin
policy documents available to govt depts - 30 June
The Department of Public Service and Administration has made
available policy documents that deal with all line-function
activities of government. "We have policy documents for
dealing with all line-function activities of the Government, with
a view to promote the following basic values and principles of our
Administration, applicable in all the three spheres of our
Government, organs of State and public entities," Minister
Richard Baloyi said during his department's Budget Vote in
Parliament on Tuesday. - BuaNews
Online website
Health
Aurobindo
in court on S Africa AIDS drug tender - 29 June
Indian pharmaceutical company Aurobindo is taking South Africa's
Treasury to court after it lost out to local drug firms in a
$400 million contract for anti-retroviral AIDS drugs, the
Treasury said. - Guardian
website
Indian
firm's court action to be opposed in South Africa -
30 June
The South African Treasury has indicated that it will oppose a
court application by Indian pharmaceutical company Aurobindo,
which is disputing the awarding of a $400 million supply
contract to two local firms despite Aurobindo's tender being the
lowest. - Thaindian
website
See
also : Labour
Issues
Judicial
Service Commission, and, Judiciary
An
unwelcome distraction - 29 June
The phoney war is over. The opening, last week, of the
nominations process for the four upcoming vacancies at the
Constitutional Court was a welcome relief. It came much later in
the year than originally expected. The delay has not been
constructively used. There were rumours that the law was to be
changed to permit the four judges whose terms come to an end in
the spring - Chief Justice Pius Langa and justices Yvonne
Mokgoro, Kate O'Regan and Albie Sachs - to extend their tenures
and opportunists have taken the gap to cause mischief of a
different kind. - Article by Richard Calland on the Mail
& Guardian website
Judiciary
: give us judges we deserve not those politicians want
- 26 June
Proper judges do not grow on trees, nor can they be conjured out
of thin air by way of political meddling. In any functioning
constitutional democracy, proper judges are as necessary as
oxygen. They ensure that the separation of powers is preserved
and that the checks and balances in the system, installed both
to mediate the might of the executive and to test the
constitutionality of laws passed by the legislature, are
properly in place to protect the rights of ordinary citizens . -
Business
Day website
SA
dare not fall into a state of resignation - 26 June
Worries about the rule of law, the integrity of our democratic
institutions and, therefore, the quality of our democratic
experience, seem to have dissipated. Many of us have been
arguing that the angst surrounding the idea of a Zuma presidency
has given way to the charitable spirit of giving him and his
administration a chance. This is a spirit that was seemingly
reinforced by Zuma's confidence-building inauguration speech,
his state-of-the-nation address and the appointment of what
appears, at least on paper, to be the strongest cabinet since
1994. Even if South Africans have decided to bury their
misgivings and give Zuma a chance, we must not be lulled into
complacency. The challenges and threats that faced us before the
elections are still very much with us. These challenges and
threats may be the strong undercurrents of a deceptively quiet
surface. One of these undercurrents is a potential threat to the
integrity of our judiciary. - Business
Day website
Labour
Issues
KZN
Health seeks court order for striking doctors - 26
June
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has sought a court order,
forcing doctors participating in an illegal strike, to get back
to work or face dismissal. "We are preparing a court
interdict for those who remain out of work. This situation is
untenable. We cannot continue to put the lives of our people in
danger and the government will act. It is becoming clearer that
this strike action is deeper than the eye can see,"
Provincial Health MEC, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said on Friday. - BuaNews
Online website
Court
grants interdict against KZN doctors - 28 June
The Durban Labour Court has granted the KwaZulu-Natal health
department an interdict against striking healthcare workers, the
department said on Sunday. The ruling, handed down on Saturday,
bars doctors, pharmacists, dentists and emergency medical
practitioners from engaging in an illegal strike action,
spokesperson Chris Maxon said in a statement. - IOL
website
Dept
gives doctors a chance - 29 June
Several KwaZulu-Natal doctors who failed to heed a Labour Court
interdict ordering them to abandon their strike and return to
work were dismissed on Monday, the provincial health department
said. On Saturday the Labour Court in Durban granted the health
department an interim interdict forcing health workers to return
to work. But the doctors continued with their strike on Monday,
saying they will continue with the strike until their demands
were met. - News24
website
Council
to investigate doctors abandoning duties - 29 June
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has
launched an investigation into the allegation that 16 doctors
from Addington Hospital refused to attend to life-threatening
emergencies. According to the complaint, registered at the
council, doctors working at the paediatrics department were
participating in an illegal strike and refused to attend to
patients. - BuaNews
Online website
Bargaining
council optimistic about doctors' wage talks - 30
June
Wage talks to settle the impasse between government and doctors
are "within the settlement range", the Public Service
Coordinating Bargaining Council said on Tuesday. General
secretary of the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral
Bargaining Council, Mpumulelo Sibiya, said he was "pretty
optimistic" the matter would be settled on Tuesday. - Mail
& Guardian website
Pay
offer to be presented to doctors - 30 June
Consensus was reached on doctors' salaries in the Public Service
Co-ordinating Bargaining Council on Tuesday, a negotiator for
the health workers said. However, government and unions still
had to get the proposed increases accepted by union members. - IOL
website
Fired
doctors allowed to reapply - 30 June
Posts for recently fired doctors would be advertised soon and
dismissed doctors would be allowed to apply, KwaZulu-Natal
health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo said on Tuesday afternoon.
"We will allow them to reapply but they will have to
explain thoroughly why they left patients and also sign that
they will not do it again". On Monday more than 200 doctors
were served with dismissal letters by the KwaZulu-Natal health
department. - IOL
website
KZN
approaches overseas doctors - 30 June
The KwaZulu-Natal department of health would make submissions to
national government about the number of doctors it needs from
other countries, SABC reported on Tuesday afternoon. SABC
quoted KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo as saying
that a number of countries had indicated a willingness to
provide doctors. - IOL
website
Construction
workers to down tools on July 8 over pay - 30 June
Thousands of construction workers at various infrastructure
projects, including 2010 FIFA World Cup stadium projects, would
down tools from July 8, over a pay dispute, the National Union
of Mineworkers (NUM) announced on Tuesday. Talks between the NUM
and the South African Federation of Civil Engineering
Contractors collapsed last week. The union is demanding a 13%
increase for a one-year agreement, while Safcec was offering a
10% increment for the first year and consumer price index for
the second year. - Creamer
Media's Engineering News website
Interdict
sought to stop strikes at World Cup sites - 1 July
The South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors
(Safcec) said on Wednesday it would apply for an interdict to
stop workers at World Cup sites from going on strike. "We
are looking to obtain an interdict from the labour court to
stop the strike on the basis that it is premature,"
Safcec spokesperson Joe Campanella said. He said this
application would be made "as soon as possible".
Parties were not currently in any kind of negotiations,
Campanella said. - Mail
& Guardian website
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup
Land
Affairs
Property
in the spotlight - 1 July
Property investment is the centerpiece theme at next month's
annual IPD/SAPOA Property Investment Conference in Cape Town, as
savvy investors seek to come to terms with the role of property in
a post-credit crunch global investment portfolio, as well as the
uses and misuse of leverage and allocations to risky assets and
sectors. The annual conference, now in its 7th year, is entitled
"The world has changed – new agendas, new realities for
real estate". - Cape Business
News website
Minerals
and Energy
Nersa
says it cannot issue new guidelines to limit municipal power
hikes - 29 June
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) indicated
on Monday that it would not draft new guidelines for the
country's municipalities directing them to pass on only
justifiable electricity-price increases once the recently
approved Eskom increase came into force as from Wednesday, July
1. However, the regulator agreed with the head of a leading
electrical engineering business, who said it would be
"unfair" for large local authorities to add the full
31,3% increase to the power that they purchased from Eskom, but
sold at a substantial premium to business and residential
consumers. - Creamer
Media's Engineering News website
Power
tariffs used as a 'tax' - 30 June
Electricity tariffs are being used as a "tax" in South
Africa and the ordinary consumer has been hard hit, says
economist Mike Schussler. He said the ordinary householder was
being taxed through high electricity tariffs and made to
cross-subsidise other users. "In South Africa we have the
strange situation where the municipalities use electricity to
make a huge amount of money to pay for other services," he
said. - IOL
website
Lessons
from Pamodzi Gold - 1 July
I would hate to say I told you so. May 26 2009 has come and
gone. This was the return date of the provisional liquidation
orders on Pamodzi Gold's East Rand, Orkney and President Steyn
Mines in the Free State. The date had become final if no new
funding was found to rescue Pamodzi Gold. The curtain has
finally closed with liquidators announcing Harmony Gold as the
preferred bidder for Pamodzi's President Steyn Mines in Welkom,
in the Free State. So, this is the end of the short, but arduous
road for this junior gold miner. The mine will be saved, but
sadly that won't be enough to save some jobs. - Moneyweb
website
Municipal
Management and Procedure
eThewini
Fatima
Meer rallies behind market traders - 28 June
Durban social activist Fatima Meer has condemned the impending
closure of the city's Early Morning Market by the eThekwini
Municipality.
Meer, 80, said she was concerned that the closure of the
market, to make way for a multimillion-rand shopping complex,
would "hurt" the working class who shop there. This
week, the 1860 Legacy Foundation, a body formed to commemorate
the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in South
Africa, stepped into the fray by convening a mass meeting to
encourage debate on the future of the market.
"The council is trying to split up the traders. However,
they have been admirably united in their tremendous fight",
said Meer. - The Times website
Fire
destroys traders' market stalls - 30 June
Two traders at Warwick Junction's Early Morning Market arrived
at their trading stalls yesterday morning to find them
devastated by fire. Logan Chetty who has traded at the market
for 25 years said he was shocked when he arrived at work at
5.30am to find that the two stalls from which he and his
daughter, Julie, traded had been destroyed by fire. - IOL
website
National
Prosecuting Authority
Justice
DG to know his fate soon - 29 June
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe will decide the fate of his
director-general, Menzi Simelane, in a matter of days following
an investigation into his conduct by the Public Service
Commission (PSC). Radebe's spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the
minister had met Simelane and PSC chairperson Professor Stan
Sangweni after damning findings against Simelane by the Ginwala
Commission. - IOL
website
Tutu
adds weight to Pikoli case - 1 July
Desmond Tutu has entered the legal fray over axed prosecuting
head Vusi Pikoli's controversial dismissal. Tutu contends that
the Freedom Under Law NGO - for which he is an international
adviser - should be allowed to participate in Pikoli's court
challenge of his axing. This, he says, is because Freedom Under
Law can provide the court hearing Pikoli's challenge with a
number of key legal insights relevant to his former position as
national director of public prosecutions and the
"appropriate procedure" for his removal. - IOL
website
Includes links to Notice of Motion and Founding Affidavit
Provincial
Government
Ending
provinces can save R300m - 29 June
South Africa would save at least R300 million a year if the nine
provinces were scrapped, as suggested by a top minister. Those
savings would be just on the salaries of the 420 members of the
nine provincial legislatures (MPLs). The salary bill for
the political elite is a lot higher, as this does not include
the sizeable pay cheques of the 90 provincial members of
executive councils (MECs) and nine premiers. - Business
Report website
Trade
and Industry
Economic
dept to be set up by April next year - 30 June
The Department of Economic Development, which will be set up in
three phases, is expected to be fully established by April next
year. "Unusually in the new cabinet, Economic Development
did not inherit a big part of any existing department and so our
task is to create a new department and we doing it in three
phases," said Minister of Economic Development Ebrahim
Patel. He was speaking ahead of the Trade and Industry Budget
Vote, which was shared by the both the Department of Economic
Development and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). - BuaNews
Online website
SA
should have 'courage' to raise tariffs to prevent
de-industrialisation - 30 June
South Africa should have the "courage" to increase
tariffs where there is evidence to show that this would prevent
the destruction of the economy's productive capacity and where
such remedies were in line with South Africa’s international
trade commitments, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies
reaffirmed on Tuesday. Speaking in the National Assembly, in
Cape Town, Davies argued that, in the context of the prevailing
global economic crisis, the "overriding risk" was the
further de-industrialisation of the South African economy,
"with the consequential destruction of capacity to sustain
and increase decent work". - Creamer
Media's Engineering News website
Industry
bailouts not as critical as jobs : ministers - 1 July
The government was not keen on industry bailouts as they gave
business the impression they could continue as they were before
being rescued, the ministers of trade and industry and economic
development both repeated yesterday. But Rob Davies of trade and
industry and Ebrahim Patel of economic development indicated
that they did support interventions in industrial sectors where
large job losses would result from the recession. - Business
Report website
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