SADC Report Shows Health Gains But Warns of Gaps in Gender Equality

Five years after the Limpopo Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) paid a private company R108 million more for a piece of land at Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality, little or no action has been taken against the culprits, a National Treasury report said. 

According to an investigative report commissioned by the National Treasury, the treasury is unable to report whether anyone has been held accountable or even arrested in relation to an elaborate scheme that resulted in the departmentREAD MORE

PARENTS of learners with disabilities are up in arms over a dilapidated school, accusing the Gauteng Department of Education of failing to fix the crumbling structure over the past five years. 

Nokuthula Special School in Corlett Gardens, Johannesburg, has allegedly been built in a wetland while a sinkhole has also emerged in the boys’ hostel.  

The roof seems to be falling apart since it was blown off by the storms last year. 

Now parents say the situation at the school,READ MORE

ActionSA in Limpopo has raised concerns about a coal tender aimed at supplying coal to a number of hospitals that do not have boilers to enable power plants to generate electricity through the production of high-pressure steam.

In a leaked internal document that African Times has seen, senior executive leaders within the Limpopo Department of Health were addressing an issue involving a coal supply tender involving 12 hospitals.

The document, authored by the department’s chief director of infrastructure management PandelaniREAD MORE

STUDENTS whose 2012 matric results were withheld by the Mpumalanga Department of Education say they are disappointed about the Mbombela High Court’s failure to deliver judgment on the matter, saying it denied them closure.  

The affected students approached the court challenging the provincial Department of Education’s decision to withhold their results over allegations of widespread cheating in the Bohlabela region, which includes Nelspruit and Bushbuckridge. 

The allegations surfaced in January this year.

The court’s verdict was expected on Friday, butREAD MORE

A political realignment appears to be taking place within the Limpopo ANC, with speculation that Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba has switched political allegiance after a fallout with Premier Stan Mathabatha. 

According to two sources in the province – one a unionist and another a provincial ANC leader – Ramathuba has joined a camp led by provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe, which has complicated her political relationship with Mathabatha’s dominant faction in the province. 

It is believed that ANC leaders, members andREAD MORE

For much of the past 20 years, the Chinese economic engagement with Africa could be summarised in two words: investment and trade. During this period, China’s trade figures with African nations have been remarkable. For instance, in 2022, China-Africa trade surged to a record high of $282 billion, highlighting how China’s business cooperation with the continent of Africa continues to rise.  

Statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China show that in the first four months of 2023, risingREAD MORE

   
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via video conference here on Tuesday.

The following is the full text of the address:

Staying True to Our Founding Mission and Advancing Unity and Coordination to Realize Greater Development Statement by H.E. Xi Jinping President of the People’s Republic of China At the 23rd Meeting of the Council of HeadsREAD MORE

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) must rise to the call of the times, keep in mind its founding mission, and stay in unity and coordination to bring more certainty and positive energy to world peace and development.

Xi made the remarks when addressing the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via video conference from Beijing. Xi saidREAD MORE

A company which abandoned two projects in North-West and had its contracts terminated for poor workmanship has scored a R134 million tender from the same provincial Department of Roads and Public Works. 

African Times can today reveal that Ndhuna Civil Engineering Services left two incomplete road projects in Rustenburg and Brits in 2021, after pocketing R25 million, claiming cash flow problems and community disruptions. 

According to official documents seen by African Times, Ndhuna Civils abandoned the project for the constructionREAD MORE

RESIDENTS of an impoverished community in Mpumalanga say a local mine has desecrated their graves, destroyed their water sources, and denied them grazing land in a bid to force them to make way for mining activities. 

The affected residents, who live on Nooitgedacht farm in Middelburg, have accused Mafube Coal Mine of violating their right to dignity for the past seven years in an attempt to push them out of their land. 

They told African Times that their houses hadREAD MORE