The spirit of Christmas seems to be returning to South Africa: Some six months after recording our last decrease in the petrol price, July looks like it will give road users in Mzansi the gift they’ve been waiting for. How much cheaper with the petrol price be in July? The Central Energy Fund have released..
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This is not a drill: The petrol price forecast for July has arrived, and a substantial drop is on the cards for South Africa’s long-suffering motorists
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Flurry of ANC MP resignations spurred on by substantial pension benefits – It’s a case of ‘getting out while the going is still good’
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The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been hit with a flurry of parliamentary resignations, with nine members officially exiting the National Assembly. In the wake of a particularly grim electoral showing, President Cyril Ramaphosa has been left to confront an arduous task – that of reunifying the deeply divided ANC, while producing positive results..
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Corruption Watch researchers in Durban:- Blatant bribes for driver’s licences
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Durban – A wink, a nod and a couple of thousand rands will buy a driver’s license – it’s no secret, even though it has a major impact when it comes to counting the loss of lives on South Africa’s roads.
The Independent on Saturday team went undercover to investigate what a Corruption Watch researcher said was standard practice to pay a bribe, and prospective drivers were almost guaranteed to fail if they could not or were unwilling to pay.
The team found blatant bribery at three KZN RTI (Road Traffic Inspectorate) centres.
Responding yesterday, “gravely concerned,” Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s undertaking to fight corruption at all levels, such illegal activity would “not be tolerated in any way, shape or form”.
He added that the RTMC national traffic Anti-corruption Unit was currently working with police and the SIU (Special Investigating Unit) to root out and clamp down on such practices.
Our t
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The Road Traffic Inspectorate refused to attend N3 truck attacks because they are not paid for callouts
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Over and above their overtime, Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers used to be paid for callouts to emergencies but the introduction of a new rule on overtime has put a stop to that resulting in minimal to no staff available to attend serious incidents.
This was revealed in a report by The Witness in which RTI is alleged to have known about the imminent violent attacks on trucks at the weekend, but did not put enough officers on the roads because of the clampdown on overtime pay.
The recently-introduced rule says that officers cannot exceed 520 hours of overtime a year. Previously, officers would get paid for callouts to emergencies over and above their overtime payments.
But now there are concerns that there will not be enough officers available for emergencies — especially on weekends.
40 RTI Officers dropped
The report claims that more than 40 officers at the Pietermaritzburg RTI office alone were dropped from the roster for the
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Ongoing truck attacks is adding to the continued demise of the economy – attacks have taken such dimensions that travelling after sunset is hazardous on SA roads
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It is no longer just the N2 in the Cape, but now also the N3 between Johannesburg and Durban where trucks are targeted by attackers. The latest warning to motorists is to not use the N3 main route between Johannesburg and Durban after sunset. Truck attacks have taken such dimensions that no traffic is safer..
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A study show that air pollution by Eskom and Sasol is killing South Africans
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A new study on air pollution by Eskom, Sasol Synfuels, and Natref provided shocking evidence of the harmful effects caused by these organizations to the environment and to human health. The study was conducted by Dr. H. Andrew Gray of Gray Sky Solutions, an air pollution research consulting firm specializing in particulate matter (PM) and..
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Planning for the next generation! – Solidarity is launching a R4.5 billion project – including an alternative Afrikaans school system and university
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Trade union Solidarity has announced plans to roll out a R4.5 billion ‘network of work’ project, which will build alternative educational and work opportunities. The project, called the Solidarity NetWork, will include a comprehensive alternative school system, an occupational training college, a university, financial aid for education, a youth movement, a network of occupational guilds,..
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Dear Taxpayer, brace yourself for some more SHOCKING news:- Eskom: Yet another taxpayer-funded bailout looms amid court action
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Dig deep, Mzansi. Eskom wants your tax money again. Rumors of a fresh bailout have been sparked after a Treasury official said it’s a case of “when, not if”. Power giants Eskom have suffered a double-blow this weekend after it emerged that they would need bailouts on top of bailouts to really get itself up..
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Ace Magashule is playing Russian roulette with our future – doesn’t give a damn about you and your ability to feed your kids, educate them, or provide a better future for them
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If he did, he would not be in open warfare with the president and his economic cluster over the mandate of the Reserve Bank and its ownership. Frankly, a guy with no grip on the concept of quantitative easing and its likely consequences for a suffering country should not be making pronouncements on policy, regardless..
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Why Ramaphosa may have wanted to tie white people to trees – SA economy is dying while high-skilled emigration continues!
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Prolonged low economic growth could lead to even more economic flight by those with skills and capital, regardless of racial grouping. Is South Africa’s “radical transformation” from a leader to a laggard in the upper middle-income countries the cause or the result of a brain drain? It is hard to tell. What is certain is..
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Mining groups lay down workers due to heavy financial losses, SA economy troublesome while unemployment rate continues to rise
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The Sibanye-Stillwater mining group retrenched 3,450 of its workforce in gold mines, which is nearly half the number expected. An updated report on the reduction of its workforce, especially the Beatrix and Driefontein gold mines, points out that the decision was necessary after the five-month strike after consensus was reached on retrenchments. Only one shaft..
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SA economy in dire stress Mr Cyril! – No growth occurred and Gross Domestic Production shrunk by a shocking 3.2%
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Despite the great optimism surrounding Ramaphosa’s election as ANC president, there has been no growth in the domestic economy. Rather, the decline can be notice after the latest figures where released. Gross Domestic Production weakened by a shocking 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019. This is the biggest fall since the world wide financial..
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Flogging a dead donkey – Ethiopia is China’s china, but China is not Ethiopia’s china, not even the donkeys are…
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China likes to claim that Africa, and more specifically, Ethiopia is their new china (a colloquial term for friend), just like Europe claimed many years ago. Ethiopia has a large, labour-hungry population. It has an agricultural society that’s just yearning for industry and is a sound investment overseas for China.
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SA liquidations increase by over 53% – economy’s poor performance is attributed to power supply, violence conditions, strikes, corruption, etc.
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While the ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa made huge promises of foreign investors and many jobs for the 28% who are looking for jobs and not getting, new setbacks are coming to the surface. The number of liquidations recorded in South Africa has increased by 50% during April this year, indicating the real state of the..
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Worrying news for the local economy – Statistics show that the South African tourism sector is in decline
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Report from Statistics South Africa has shown a negative trend in the tourism sector. The South African attraction South Africa is a beautiful and diverse country. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that it has been a popular tourist destination with global travellers since it rejoined the international stage in 1994. So much so, in..
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