News in South Africa 10th February: 1. Ratepayers have had enough: Rates and tax revolts are either underway or being contemplated by ratepayer associations fed up at being forced to pay rates and taxes to dysfunctional municipalities. They are called ‘tax diversions’ rather than revolts, and they’re of questionable legality, but several ratepayer associations are […]
News in South Africa 9th February: 1. Updated academic calendar released for schools: The Department of Basic Education has published the updated academic calendar for schools in South Africa for 2021. The amended calendar comes after the return of public schools was delayed by several weeks until 15 February, due to the impact of a […]
News in South Africa 8th February: 1. AstraZeneca ineffective against local Covid variant: The roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine to South Africa’s health workers has been temporarily halted following results showing low efficacy against the South African variant of the coronavirus. South African health workers will now receive the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine […]
News in South Africa 5th February: 1. Future alcohol bans still a possibility: The blanket ban on alcohol sales might be over, but the legal battle between South African Breweries (SAB) and Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is not. And, according to an affidavit filed by the minister in the […]
News in South Africa 3rd February: 1. Calls for transparency with vaccine tenders: The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has sent a letter to the ministers of health and finance calling for open tender processes for the storage and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. The committee has requested the two ministers in the letter […]
News in South Africa 29th January: 1. Eskom to collect R6 billion from customers: Eskom has announced that the price of electricity in South Africa will increase from 1 April 2021. This is as a result of three decisions made by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), which Eskom said will bring electricity […]
News in South Africa 27th January: 1. Eskom debt repayments difficulties: Two recent court rulings have made it much more difficult for Eskom to leave paying municipal customers in the dark when cutting or restricting electricity supply to delinquent municipalities. While this will hinder Eskom’s efforts to collect more than R30 billion in outstanding municipal […]
News in South Africa 20th January: 1. Funding for vaccines ‘won’t be a problem’: President Cyril Ramaphosa says that finding funds for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout ‘won’t be a problem’. The president did not specify why it wouldn’t be a problem or where the money would come from, given South Africa’s dire financial state. Treasury […]
News in South Africa 19th January: 1. Unjust naming of new Covid variant: A group of South African and international scientists have taken a strong stand against calling 501. V2, the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreading like wildfire across the country, “the South African variant”. Top researchers, who have delved into the variant for the […]
News in South Africa 18th January: 1. Tax hike for vaccination funding: South Africa’s National Treasury is considering raising taxes as one of several possible mechanisms to fund the vaccination drive against Covid-19 it was reported. The government viewed the vaccines as a public good and was committed to financing their rollout, with or without […]
