🟢 ESKOM BLEEDING SKILLS
One of Eskom’s largest power stations, Kendal, is significantly underperforming, largely due to a haemorrhaging of skills at the power utility.

This is according to Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who said Kendal has been identified as one of six priority stations that are grossly underperforming.

He told Newzroom Afrika that the power station is performing at 36%, significantly lower than the 55% target for the current financial year.

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https://dailyinvestor.com/business/47890/eskom-bleeding-skills/

Dailyinvestor

Eskom bleeding skills

One of Eskom’s biggest power stations is massively underperforming due to a lack of skilled staff – a utility-wide problem.

🟢 UNDERSTANDING THE PARTY LISTS, AND HOW OUR MP'S ARE ELECTED
DAILY FRIEND

The IEC recently released the party lists for the 2024 general election for public scrutiny. There has been much discussion about who has made safely electable positions on their party’s list, and who has been left out in the cold.

In particular, much has been said about Carl Niehaus, and how given his ranking of number 27 in the EFF’s national list, he has been ranked high enough to likely be elected to parliament, given that the EFF gained enough votes in 2019 for 44 MPs. However, this is misleading.

We do not have just the single national list that is directly elected proportionately. Yes, if you receive 10% of the votes, you get 10% of the seats, but only half of those will be elected off the national list. The other half will be elected by the ‘regions’ instead.

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https://dailyfriend.co.za/2024/03/30/understanding-the-party-lists-and-how-our-mps-are-elected/

🟢 ABSOLUTELY NOT! RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATIONS SLAM ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY'S PROPOSED TARIFF INCREASES
eThekwini Municipality residents have slammed the City’s draft budget for the 2024-2025 financial year.

Last week, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda presented the draft budget, valued at approximately R67.3 billion. This budget comprises the proposed capital and operational expenditure for the financial year, along with the suggested tariff increases.

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https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/absolutely-not-ratepayers-associations-slam-ethekwini-municipalitys-proposed-tariff-increases-68e3f7e1-6e3f-4643-a269-c25bf9440d1c

🟢 **DON'T WANT E-TOLLS? THEN PAY FOR GFIP ROADS,  TREASURY TELLS GAUTENG

Backfired': If Sanral had achieved 95% e-toll compliance, it would have earned over 30% of its revenue from 1% of its road network.

Don’t want e-tolls? Then pay for GFIP roads, Treasury tells Gauteng
Province must pay R4.1bn for road maintenance backlogs, apart from R12.9bn towards Sanral’s Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project debt.

March 20, 2024 by Roy Cokayne

National Treasury has clarified why Gauteng residents – and not just motorists in the province – will be required to pay for the cost of the controversial Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) despite these roads being assets in the books of the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral).
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https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/dont-want-e-tolls-then-pay-for-gfip-roads-treasury-tells-gauteng/

🟢  WHO REALLY HOLDS THE 'COMMANDING HEIGHTS'' OF THE ECONOMY?

DAILY FRIEND

The week just ended, designated ‘Anti-Racism Week’, was intended to be a special time for ‘national dialogue’ about racism. Whether or not that objective was achieved, what follows are some facts that should inform any conversation about race in South Africa today.

Under pressure, Treasury has supplied documents with a review of its ‘Central Supplier Database’ (CSD) by indicators including racial ownership and BEE Level, where Level 1 indicates the highest BEE score. This data begins in 2017 and covers R1.22 trillion in government spending.

Some R140 billion went to ‘not black owned’ companies; R128 billion to ‘partially black owned’ companies; and R588 billion to ‘black owned’ companies. Some R289 billion was spent on SOEs, since state departments must pay for things like irregular electricity from government monopolies too.

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https://dailyfriend.co.za/2024/03/23/who-really-holds-the-commanding-heights-of-the-economy/

🟢 EXPROPRIATION BILL RISKS STRIKING 'DEATHBLOW' TO SA'S CHANCE OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY

IRR - DAILY FRIEND

STAFF WRITER
MAR 21, 2024

If President Cyril Ramaphosa signs the Expropriation Bill into law, it is sure to ‘strike a deathblow to South Africa’s chances of economic recovery’, the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has warned.

The IRR has given notice that it will be writing to President Ramaphosa to urge him not to sign the Bill on the grounds that its provisions are unconstitutional.

The draft law poses a major threat to South Africa’s hopes of making an economic recovery, the IRR warms.

In a statement, the Institute says that the latest vote in favour of the Expropriation Bill in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) ‘should not come as a surprise’.

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https://dailyfriend.co.za/2024/03/21/expropriation-bill-risks-striking-deathblow-to-sas-chances-of-economic-recovery-irr/

🟢 THE BIG ESKOM TURNAROUND LIE
Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, this week tried to put a spin on power utility Eskom’s performance at the start of the year, saying that the group was “exceeding expectations” and that the country has “turned the corner” on load shedding.

However, plant performance data from Eskom shows that this certainly isn’t the case.

According to Ramokgopa, available energy capacity has consistently exceeded peak demand, and the power utility has significantly reduced breakdowns, resulting in only low levels of load shedding.

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https://businesstech.co.za/news/business-opinion/745335/the-big-eskom-turnaround-lie/

BusinessTech

The big Eskom turnaround lie

The electricity minister this week tried to spin lower levels of load shedding as a turnaround at Eskom – but the data shows that the energy supply is actually worse than last year.

🟢 WARNING OVER R14,000 A YEAR HIT TO SOUTH AFRICA'S MIDDLE CLASS

The Department of Health has already confirmed that medical aid tax credits will be cut in South Africa to fund the National Health Insurance (NHI) – but now it’s a question of ‘when’.

National Treasury has set an official date for the 2024 Budget, scheduling the event on the day most analysts had already set aside – 21 February 2024.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has already admitted that the 2024 Budget will be challenging for this department, with South Africa facing a massive budget deficit and little room to manoeuvre in terms of tax revenues and funding cuts.

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https://businesstech.co.za/news/business-opinion/745233/warning-over-r14000-a-year-hit-to-south-africas-middle-class/

BusinessTech

Warning over R14,000 a year hit to South Africa’s middle-class

President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to sign the NHI Bill into law – which will open the doors for the government to sniff out funding wherever it can.

🟢 **THESE WHATSAPP MESSAGES CAN GET YOU IN SERIOUS TROUBLE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Messages being shared over WhatsApp are landing South Africans in trouble, with legal action being taken against those who are sharing copyrighted content as well as authors of messages that incite harm. This can lead to criminal charges, resulting in prison time and fines.

It has been reported for years that messages that South Africans are at risk of legal action if they post and share inciteful or hateful content on social media channels and services like WhatsApp – but since President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Cybercrimes Act into law in 2021, these cases are now being put to the test.

Regarding harmful content on WhatsApp, the Act defines three types of content that can be criminalised in South Africa. This includes messages that:
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https://businesstech.co.za/news/technology/744831/these-whatsapp-messages-can-get-you-in-serious-trouble-in-south-africa/

🟢 WATCH : Universities Alliance South Africa vs University of the Free State

Link for Livestream - 27 November 2023

Universities Alliance South Africa's legal challenge against the University of the Free State's mandatory vaccination policy will be streamed live from 09h30 on Monday 27 November 2023.

This represents the first challenge against a mandatory vaccination policy to be heard on its merits in a High Court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxgFKLwaMMM&ab_channel=UniversitiesAllianceSouthAfrica-Official

YouTube

Universities Alliance South Africa vs University of the Free State | 27 Nov 23 | 09h30

Live footage of Universities Alliance South Africa's legal challenge against the University of the Free State's mandatory vaccination policy. The hearing will commence at 09h30 on 27 November 2023.