A legal battle is looming between Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) and Isiphethu Engineering after the Limpopo water utility terminated the company’s Giyani water project contract allegedly at the best of board chairperson Dr Nndweleni Mphephu and the contractor over a payment dispute.  According to a termination letter sent to Isiphethu Engineering and seen by African Times, Lepelle Northern Water Chief Executive Officer Dr Cornelius Ruiters claimed the consulting engineering company’s contract had lapsed four years ago even though he had…

A Limpopo municipal manager has denied claims that the council has suspended him, saying he is still in office because he has received no suspension letter.  Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality’s accounting officer, Dr Kgoshi Lucas Pilusa, says he will take legal action should he be suspended illegally and for dubious reasons. Speaking to African Times on Tuesday after the Democratic Alliance released a statement welcoming “the precautionary suspension of the Municipal Manager, Dr Pilusa”, Dr Pilusa dismissed his alleged suspension as prosperous. …

The University of South Africa (Unisa) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Fern Universität of Hagen in Germany. The MoU, signed on Monday, 23 September 2024, seeks to strengthen collaboration between the two universities in areas of research, student exchanges, and the joint development of academic programmes, UNISA said in a statement on Monday, September 21. The Fern University of Hagen is Germany’s only state-owned open distance-learning university and its largest by numbers. Under the partnership, the…

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, says Russia has completed over 70% of the planned programmes under its BRICS chairmanship in 2024.  Putin made these remarks at the meeting of high-ranking representatives of BRICS countries in charge of security issues at the Constantine Palace in St Petersburg on Thursday, September 12th.  Russia’s 2024 BRICS Chairmanship, themed “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security” includes over 200 events designed to enhance cooperation in policy and security, economy and finance, and humanitarian…

The Rustenburg local municipality in the North West Province has announced plans to leverage the local entertainment industry as a key driver of economic growth and position the city as an entertainment tourism hub in South Africa. This announcement was made by Executive Mayor Sheila Mabale-Huma at the official media launch of the ‘Rusty White’ annual festival on Wednesday. Speaking at the launch, Mayor Mabale-Huma said the municipality will work with various stakeholders in the entertainment industry to enhance collaboration…

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, Wu Peng, says the “comrades plus brothers” special bond between China and South Africa is growing and that the bilateral relations between the two countries have entered a golden era. Peng made these remarks following a courtesy call to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, August 28th. China is currently South Africa’s largest trading partner and serves as a key source of foreign direct investments (FDI). In 2023, the China-South Africa bilateral trade reached…

Several countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have expressed interest in joining forces with tourism authorities in Mpumalanga, eSwatini and Mozambique aimed at selling their areas as preferred tourism and investment destinations. This emerged at the 4th Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) media launch in Mbombela on Thursday, August 15. The partnership, known as the Triland Cooperation, is an initiative by the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), the Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA) and the Mozambique Tourism…