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Negative publicity abounds around truckers, their impact on our roads, driving habits and so much more. Dig a little deeper and you will find that there is far more to it than what our initial perceptions may lead us to believe. Owing to the fact that the major industrial and consumer output of South Africa …
In today’s rapidly evolving world, women are leading the charge in shaping financial decisions. As trailblazers within their households, workplaces, and businesses, women play a pivotal role in driving economic growth and prosperity. This rings true not only in South Africa but across the globe. Recent statistics have shed light on the true extent of …
S’thesha Waya Waya initiative puts food on the table
The promise to end unemployment, poverty and inequality in KwaZulu-Natal has been given a boost with the province's revitalised S’thesha Waya Waya initiative.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Bongi Sithole-Moloi, handed over contracts to the beneficiaries of the Community Work Program (CWP), as part of government’s S’thesha Waya Waya (meaning working throughout), recently.
The balance of the contracts will be served later to make 17 000 employees in total so far.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony held at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg, Dube-Ncube said the programme has changed lives by placing food on tables.
“The workers are all deployed in all municipalities doing road maintenance, cleaning and gardening. About 2000 have already received their signed contracts and their work tools in a symbolic demonstration of the dawning of a new chapter in their lives,” Dube-Ncube said.
Under the Community Work Programme, located in the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the province has pledged to employ 45 000 individuals but the figure has been exceeded with the absorption of 48 000 employees.
Sithole-Moloi said the overarching goal of the province is to eliminate unemployment across all districts and, working with the Department of Labour, all participants will be properly registered and entitled to benefits including the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
“We stand committed to delivering on the promises outlined during the presentation of our budget policy early this year. We urge all the beneficiaries to take advantage of training opportunities that will enhance their skills to broaden their prospects for future roles and to use the S’thesha Waya Waya program as reference when applying for other job in future," she said.
eMisebenzi/e-Recruitment Portal
The Premier used the occasion to officially launch the eMisebenzi/e-Recruitment Portal, an online jobs platform that consolidates all provincial government vacant job opportunities, including the state-owned agencies.
The online platform, which is accessible to the public from any location, has a multitude of job opportunities.
During the launch, over 2 000 permanent jobs from various departments were made available on the platform which is accessed via the www.kznonline.gov.za.
The Premier demonstrated how applicants can submit their applications without using their data, and encouraged job seekers to apply for job openings they qualify for through the user-friendly online portal.
Since the opening of the portal last week, about 100 000 applications have already been received, with over 2 100 posts deposited during the launch.
“As we stated during the State of the Province Address and subsequent Budget Votes, job opportunities for young people and mass employment for all has been identified as one of the key priorities of our term [and] government has a critical role to intervene on behalf of the vulnerable especially in times of crisis.
“Having identified jobs as a priority, the province established a Jobs War Room which has now facilitated over 500 000 job opportunities, especially through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) across sectors in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Through the departmental programmes in the 2022/23 financial year, 89 297 jobs were created, and over 292 248 jobs will be created in the 2023/24 financial year,” Dube-Ncube said. – SAnews.gov.za
GabiK
Mon, 08/21/2023 - 15:08
The Select Committee on Health and Social Services has received requests from stakeholders and individuals for the extension of the closing date for written submissions on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill.
The committee called for written submissions from the public on the Bill at the beginning of August. The call for submissions was placed in a newspaper advert which indicated closing date which was 1 September 2023.
The committee has agreed to extend the deadline as requested by the public and stakeholders. The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Zoyisile Njadu said the decision to extend the deadline for the submissions was informed by the appeals that the committee has received from relevant stakeholders who play an important role in the delivery of healthcare services in the country. The new closing date that has been agreed upon is 15 September 2023.
The NHI Bill is currently before the National Council of Provinces for concurrence after it was passed by the National Assembly in June this year.
The purpose of the Bill is to establish and maintain a NHI Fund funded through mandatory prepayment that aims to achieve sustainable and affordable universal access to quality health care services.
The fund will operate on the basis of single purchaser and single payer of health care services, by pooling funds and strategic purchasing of healthcare services and goods from accredited and contracted health care service providers. The NHI envisages a standardized healthcare system, wherein everyone, rich and poor, rural and urban, can receive the same level of quality healthcare.
The NHI is a fund from which the government will buy healthcare services for South Africans from healthcare providers both in the public and private sectors. It is a fund to pay for healthcare, and all of us will contribute to this fund through taxes and special contributions in line with what we can afford. It will ensure that everyone is entitled to free healthcare when they need it, and there will be no fees charged at the facility because the fund will cover the costs of care.
Enquiries, as well as written submissions, can be directed to Ms M Williams, Select Committee on Health and Social Services, e-mail mawilliams@parliament.gov.za
The closing date for submissions is Friday 15 September 2023 at 12h00 Copies of the Bill can be obtained from Ms M Williams on Cell 083 709 8451 or at www.parliament.gov.za
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
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Young women urged to explore opportunities in oceans economy
Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has encouraged young people to explore career opportunities in the oceans economy.
“Given this enormous diversity available through the oceans economy, there are several value chains from which women can leverage opportunities for jobs, develop entrepreneurships, and build their businesses,” Dlamini Zuma said on Monday in Cape Town.
South Africa has a coastline that spans about 2 800 kilometers from Namibia to Mozambique.
Addressing young women who had an opportunity to visit the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Military Naval Base in Simon’s Town, the Minister emphasised that the ocean resource presents various opportunities, which can be commodified for economic development.
In an effort to demonstrate the opportunities for women in the sector, learners from various schools toured a shipyard at the Military Naval Base as part of Women’s Month activities that showcased the role of women in the maritime sector.
The tour was followed by presentations from officials from who work in maritime security, hydrography, as well submarines. This exercise provided an in-depth understanding of the oceans economy.
“Boat builders are required to construct small and large vessels once these vessels are designed by engineers. Maintenance technicians across various disciplines such as mechanical, electrical and others are required to ensure the ships and their equipment run optimally. Marine biologists are required to point out where the best fishing spots are. The fishing nets used by the trawlers need to be made,” Dlamini Zuma said.
She said that all young people, particularly women, should grow up with a firm understanding of three primary sub-sectors, namely, shipping and transport, marine resources and marine tourism.
“We need a skills revolution which draws from Operation Phakisa to cover all the primary, secondary and tertiary economic activities within the Oceans Economy. We also need a curriculum trains them in the value chain of the four secondary industry sub-sectors,” the Minister said.
These include operational support services, which comprise shipping logistics and marine technologies; manufacturing and construction (including civil engineering, marine manufacturing, ship repair and maintenance), as well as business services, which incorporates maritime specialised professionals within the banking, legal, insurance, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and the consulting domain.
Operation Phakisa focuses on unlocking the economic potential of South Africa's oceans, which could contribute up to R177 billion to the GDP by 2033 and between 800 000 and one million direct jobs.
“As a department, we have adopted an all-of-society approach to livelihoods restoration and wealth creation toward empowering women, youth and persons with disabilities. This involves a partnership with the SANDF to establish a National Service where young people will be trained across various disciplines, including the oceans economy.
“Let us make the call to the country to join us in supporting and implementing meaningful programmes, plans, policies, strategies and interventions geared towards unlocking barriers of entry for young girls and women, and the largely unemployed population,” the Minister said.
This year’s Women’s Month is celebrated under the theme, 'Accelerating Socio-Economic Opportunities for Women’s Empowerment'. The theme highlights the need to ensure that all women have access to participate equally in all areas of human endeavor.
Oppression of women
Despite various strides which have been achieved toward improving the status of women in society, Dlamini Zuma said the systemic oppression of women over time has left almost indelible marks that need redress.
“In the South African context, women in rural areas and the townships bear the most burden of generational systemic oppression. It is tragic that on the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment plaguing our country, women are the most affected.
“Violence in this country is gendered, with statistics from the South African Police Service indicating that about nine women are murdered daily, with countless others being sexually violated, abused and subjected to all manner of atrocities.
“Women continue to be paid far less than men for work of equal value. Women face food insecurity yet the majority of farm workers in Africa are women who do not own the land they labour and eat the crumbs that fall from the tables of those who own the means of production,” Dlamini Zuma said.
She noted that the World Bank’s 2023 report on 'Women, Business and the Law' reiterates that empowering women is a prerequisite for economic development.
“It is equally important to prioritise empowering the girl-child, particularly as today’s girls are tomorrow’s women. The success of any meaningful attempt to grow South Africa together hinges on ensuring that women, particularly those who have been systematically oppressed, are able to participate equally in all areas of human endeavor, specifically in the mainstream economy,” the Minister said. – SAnews.gov.za
nosihle
Tue, 08/08/2023 - 10:00
Mamahali Peete, a mother of three children, left her marketing career in the vibrant Johannesburg city in the neighboring South Africa and relocated to Lesotho when she got married. Three years in the country she ventured into farming in the rural area of Bela-Bela, and she has never looked back since. She rotates between growing beans and maize on her 30 acres of land.
“Agriculture was not my first choice of business. But realizing the local demand for food I decided to give it a shot. Living in Africa, I now see a lot of potential in agriculture. There will never be a time when people don't need food. The demand for food is even higher in Lesotho,” said Mamahali.
Lesotho is a net importer of agricultural products, with 30 percent of its total food requirements produced locally and the remaining 70 percent imported.
Building mutually beneficial partnerships
Mamahali is one of the first ever bunch of farmers who signed up for Contract farming – a kind of trading arrangement that is not common in Lesotho. The Contract Farming initiative was pioneered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the country as an innovative business model establishing meaningful market linkages between farmers and the market.
Mamahali and 29 other farmers signed the contract with ‘Tasty Food Packers', a leading Pulses supplier in the country. At the end of this season, Mamahali made her first delivery to the company.
“Contract farming brings security and gives us farmers bargaining power. It also motivates us to work hard to honor our portion of the deal. For example, this season we received agricultural inputs late in the season, but I tried everything possible to grow so that I can make delivery,” says Mamahali with a smile of triumph.
Promoting innovations, markets access
Under the agreement, ‘Tasty Food Packers' buys the beans from all the farmers it has contract with at an agreed price for the produce delivered. However, if there are fluctuations in prices during the harvest season, the two parties can revise the prices, and the same can be for the quantities.
“I didn't have a guaranteed market for my beans. Every season we have to look for potential markets. Sometimes we are not sure if our last buyer will be willing to buy from us the next season's harvest. I made my first supply of beans to the buyer. It inspires me to work hard and honor the agreement,” says Tlalane Sebeko, block farmer from Berea.
The farmers and the buyer who signed the contract were trained to increase their understanding and knowledge of Contract farming, and their fields were monitored right from planting to ensure good production and productivity, thanks to the support from the Ministry of Agriculture Food Security and Nutrition of Lesotho in collaboration with FAO.
Collateral to access finance
Most financial institutions in Lesotho just like elsewhere in Africa, have provided limited or no credit and insurance to farmers, although farmers represent the biggest opportunity for scale and impact in financial inclusion today. This is largely due to the fact that agriculture is considered a highly risky business undertaken with limited risk mitigation or sharing measures. About 80 percent of Lesotho's rural population depends on the agricultural sector for their livelihoods. With proper investment and improved access to market agriculture has a huge potential to contribute to economic growth and uplift the livelihoods of the rural populations.
Contract farming assists with credit because most of the time financial institutions accept contracts as collateral for a loan directly to the farmer.
“Access to finance has been a challenge to farmers in Lesotho. Banks and Insurance companies here fear to give us loans, yet our saving capacity is low. However, when Banks learnt about this Contract farming, they told us that they were going to tailor-make a product for farmers. I will be applying for a loan soon using this contract,” says Tlalane Sebeko with excitement.
Integrating actors in the agricultural value chain
Nizam Abubaker, owner of ‘Tasty Food Packers' said the contracts will enable his company to get steady supply as he is currently importing most of the beans from the neighbouring south Africa to meet the demand in Lesotho.
“Communication is important during the season so that if the farmer encounters difficulties let's say unfavourable weather conditions or poor harvest, we are aware and can trigger the ‘force majeure' clause in the contract that protects farmers from uncertainties,” says Nizam Abubaker.
Nizam acknowledges that Contract farming is a win-win arrangement for both the farmer and the buyer, however noting that the government should work to establish laws regulating contract farming to protect and efficiently integrate producers and actors down the value chain, such as agribusiness, processors, exporters, or retailers.
FAO would like to see the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition Expanding Contract farming to other commodities such as vegetables, maize, and others in Lesotho, which would eventually give farmers the opportunity to diversify into new crops, which would not be possible without available and stable market.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of FAO Regional Office for Africa.
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Phaahla calls on BRICS to not let guard down against COVID-19
While the world is no longer living in a COVID-19 pandemic crisis mode, Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has warned BRICS leaders that they cannot afford to let their guard down.
“This virus will still unfortunately continue to cause havoc in our population and in our economy,” he cautioned on Friday.
“We just need to make sure that we are tracking the virus because it will continue to evolve and pose risk in our societies.”
However, he said he was hopeful that the leaders now have the tools and the political will in place to ensure that future waves do not result in more severe diseases and deaths.
Phaahla, together with Health Ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, and China were speaking at the adoption of the declaration of the 13th BRICS Health Ministers Meeting.
Today marked the last day of BRICS health events currently underway at the Durban International Convention Centre in the run-up to the 15th BRICS Summit in August 2023.
The 13th BRICS Health Ministers Meeting was taking place under the ‘Bridging the Gap on Sustainable Health on the Road to Universal Health Coverage 2023’ theme.
The Minister said the bloc partnership has a significant role to play in surveillance, preparedness, and developing health mechanisms to confront pandemics.
Universal health coverage (UHC)
He said over the last decade, the BRICS countries have committed to substantial health-system reforms designed to improve equity in service use, quality, and financial protection, with the ultimate goal of achieving UHC.
Last month, the National Assembly passed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill paving the way for universal healthcare, bringing it a step closer to being signed into law and being rolled out.
“This is one of the most revolutionary bills ever passed by the National Assembly since the dawn of our democracy in 1994,” he told delegates.
UHC, he said is undoubtedly the cornerstone to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3, on good health and well-being.
“We have an opportunity to make our voices heard as BRICS countries building on our hard negotiated and agreed goals towards universal health agenda.”
He believes that the BRICS nations are a force to be reckoned with, as they carry a great number of the world's population of underprivileged societies.
“So we should leverage our involvement in the G20 to push the global health agenda and related areas for ensuring global health security.”
He also acknowledged that there is still a lot to be done to ensure access and equity to safe and essential medical products for people, especially in developing countries.
Vaccines
Phaahla also touched on the equitable distribution of vaccines and expeditious vaccination, to fill the immunisation gap globally.
“We should, therefore, remain focused on discussions on the importance of the World Trade Organisation on relevant intellectual property waiver proposals, as well as capacity building and strengthening local production of vaccines and other health tools, especially in developing countries,” he stressed, adding that mNRA hubs should be supported.
Phaahla said the leaders have also agreed that they should jointly take proactive and effective measures to prevent and reduce the risk of cross-border transmission of infectious diseases and contribute to improving global health.
Public health emergencies
This year, he said they also added a BRICS Network of Public Health Emergency Centres (PHEOC), serving as nerve centres for preparation and response to public health emergencies.
“This is especially critical as we reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic response and aim to build back better for future outbreaks and pandemics.
“The effective coordination and improved control of outbreaks as evidenced by shorter times from detection to response that a functional PHEOC is valuable in the prompt containment of infectious disease outbreaks in all countries.”
He said the medicines regulatory authorities were also ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation.
He said this was a significant step towards realising the objective to work together in the field of medical products regulation.
This, according to Phaahla, will also enable the nations to share regulatory experience and best practices.
It will also enable them to exchange experts for capacity building as well as facilitate the regulatory landscape to promote research and development and adaptation through technology transfer of innovative medical products.
These include drugs, vaccines, medical technologies, and anti-microbial resistance. – SAnews.gov.za
Gabisile
Fri, 08/04/2023 - 12:19
If your vehicle is involved in an accident, it can be a very stressful time. The health and safety of the people involved in the accident is, of course, the number one priority. After that, the state of your vehicle and the amount of damage incurred is the next thing to worry about. If your …