Cape Town – Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini on Sunday launched a new project to expand social services to 1 300 of the country’s poorest wards and called on community members to lend their support to the department and its agencies.

Project Mikondzo (which means “footprint” in Xitonga) will compel office-bound officials from the department, the National Development Agency (NDA) and the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) to join frontline officials to interact with communities in a bid to tackle social problems such as poverty, malnutrition, violence against women and child-headed households.

The 1 300 wards form part of 23 district municipalities from seven provinces which have been prioritised by Cabinet for additional support.

The project includes an audit of early childhood development centres and the setting up of a command centre with a toll-free hotline open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It also includes a current substance abuse awareness campaign targeting sports and music events, the targeting of gender-based violence and the strengthening of non-profit organisations.

Dlamini said the roll out would, for example, help government reach the about two million children who qualify for child support grants but who have not registered with Sassa to receive grants.

Teams of officials have already entered Mpumalanga through the province’s social cluster, while other teams have entered a number of district municipalities across the country.

These include the Elias Motswaledi District Municipality in Limpopo, the Amathole, OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo District Municipalities in the Eastern Cape and the West Rand Municipality in Gauteng.

The project will be funded using budget from Sassa and the department, but the department does plan to approach the National Treasury for funding in future financial years.

“The service delivery improvements we want to introduce will be informed by our engagements with provincial and municipal authorities, councilors, ward committees and social workers who will provide us with first-hand information about the situation on the ground in their various areas,” said Dlamini.

The audit of early childhood development centres, which will cover 19 971 registered and unregistered centres, aims to establish among other things the kind of services that these centres offer and the quality of infrastructure and resources available to the centres.

The department began auditing centres in the Northern Cape last month and will cover those in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Free State this month, with the audit expected to cover other provinces in October and November.

About 1 000 unemployed youth have been recruited and trained to carry out the audit.

Dlamini said she also wanted all early childhood development centres to be registered and the practitioners that work in them to be appropriately trained.

The department has already begun training caregivers to improve assistance to child and youth-headed households.

The department is also carrying out an audit of 92 000 child-headed households that are in the Statistics SA database to ensure compliance with the Children’s Act definition of a child-headed household.

Regarding concerns that women were abusing the child-care grant, the minister said a desktop study revealed that most mothers only begun applying for grants when their child was three years old, suggesting that the majority were not falling pregnant simply to get hold of a grant.

She said there had been an outcry over the department not offering additional services to young mothers receiving grants, but the department was looking into offering extra services to mother who receive grants. – SAnews.gov.za

Pretoria - Former President Nelson Mandela has been discharged from the Pretoria hospital where he had been receiving treatment for the past two months.

“We would like to wish him all the best as he continues his recovery at his Johannesburg home,” the Presidency said in a statement on Sunday.

Madiba's condition remains critical and is at times unstable, but his team of doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria.

“His home has been reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there. The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital. If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done.

“During his stay in hospital from the 8th of June 2013, the condition of our former President vacillated between serious to critical and at times unstable. He has received full medical support and continues to do so,” said the Presidency.

Madiba has been treated by a large medical team from the military, academia, private sector and other public health spheres.

He has received visits from family, friends and colleagues. “Despite the difficulties imposed by his various illnesses, he, as always, displays immense grace and fortitude.” - SAnews.gov.za

Just under 150 trail running enthusiasts braved the cold and wet Western Cape weather on Saturday, 31 August 2013 to partake in Day One of the action packed Mountain Warrior Trail Run Festival presented by Brooks.Â* Participants could choose between a 38km Jonkershoek SKY RUN and a 15km Botmaskop Traverse.Â* Both races finished at the [...]Mountain Warrior Trail Run Festival Day One is a post from: Trail Running South Africa


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Just over 5500 walkers and runners lined the streets of Stellenbosch on Friday, 09 August 2013 to show their support on National Women’s Day by taking part in the fun-filled Totalsports Ladies Race. Nedbank runner Rene Kalmer was the lady to beat in the 10km Totalsports Ladies Race crossing the finish line in an impressive [...]Kalmer romps to Stellenbosch win is a post from: Time-to-Run South Africa


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Top South African trail runner Anita Obrien (Kameeldrift West, North West Province) will return to Van Gaalens Cheese Farm, Hartbeespoort on Saturday, 28 September 2013 to defend her title at the action packed New Balance IMPI Elite Race. “Trying something new every now and then makes your life so much more exciting,” says Obrien.Â* “Obstacle [...]Obrien for IMPI Hartbeespoort is a post from: Time-to-Run South Africa


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Just under 150 trail running enthusiasts braved the cold and wet Western Cape weather on Saturday, 31 August 2013 to partake in Day One of the action packed Mountain Warrior Trail Run Festival presented by Brooks.Â* Participants could choose between a 38km Jonkershoek SKY RUN and a 15km Botmaskop Traverse.Â* Both races finished at the [...]Mountain Warrior Trail Run Festival Day One is a post from: Time-to-Run South Africa


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Pretoria - Acting Minister of Energy Dipuo Peters has expressed sadness at the death of petroleum company BP’s CEO, Gerard Derbesy.

According to reports, Derbesy collapsed while playing tennis on Wednesday.

He became BP Southern Africa's CEO on 1September 2011. In 2012 he was elected as the Chairman of the South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA).

“Mr Derbesy will be remembered for his passion and dedication to his work which earned him the admiration and adoration of many in the energy sector.

“His death creates a huge void as we still had hopes of engaging him and tapping into his wealth of knowledge and expertise at many levels as a partner in government, as we push back the frontiers of energy poverty in our country and our continent,” said Peters in a statement.

On behalf of the South African government, the acting minister extended wishes of strength and courage to his wife and children and the BP management and staff worldwide. – SAnews.gov.za

BluesFest 2013 announces that The Ronnie Wood Band will close the event in a huge grand finale on Friday 1 November. Natalie Cole is also announced...

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Jabulile Elizabeth Khambule from Duduza Section 15 has dealt with the harsh realities of teenage pregnancy and high rates of unemployment all her life. But, 20-year-old Khambule told herself that her environment would never determine her future and those of her peers. She knew that the key to free her from poverty was through education. [...]Taking the lead in maths and science is a post from: Teach-the-Brain


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Pretoria - Wage talks with the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) have been called off, South African Airways Technical (SAAT) said.

SAAT, which is the maintenance subsidiary of South African Airways (SAA), said wage negotiations with the union have been called off with immediate effect.

Union members have been on strike since Monday.

“The decision to call off the negotiations is a result of the striking Satawu members’ disregard of the picketing rules and intensified unruly behaviour,” said SAAT on Thursday.

There had been an “erratic act of intimidation”, trespassing and damage to property.

SAAT said that on Thursday, close to 150 Satawu members had been picketing outside of the SAAT entrance. A group of striking workers then embarked on a ‘drive slow’ on Jones Road, which leads to SAA and SAAT premises.

“Occasionally, the group would park their vehicles in the road, thus negatively affecting traffic flow on Jones Road. This has had a temporary effect on the access to the two entities. Alternative access points have been arranged,” said SAAT.

SAA’s Group Security Department has also received reports of severe intimidation of motorists and alleged assault of members of the public and employees of the company. The company said it will take the necessary disciplinary steps in dealing with these incidents.

SAAT has successfully applied for an interdict, which will strengthen the law enforcement agencies’ ability in dealing with any acts of criminality associated with the picketers.

“This behaviour by Satawu protesters is unacceptable and SAAT management cannot continue to engage with the union until such time that the union ends disobedience of picketing rules. This disorderly behaviour, which is directed at innocent members of the public and employees of the company, is a clear act of desperation by Satawu,” said SAAT.

The strike action has had no noticeable impact on SAAT and SAA’s operations.

Contingency plans put in place will continue to be in place in order to ensure minimal if any disruptions to airline operations.

To date, SAA flight delays as a direct result of the strike have on average been three per day.

On Wednesday, SAA concluded a wage deal with the Aviation Union of Southern Africa (AUSA).

AUSA represents a large portion of engineers and technical staff at SAAT.

The wage agreement is for a period of one year. The settlement entails 6.5% on total cost to company; a 0.5% once-off payment and a further 1% increase for technicians flowing from the previous year’s wage agreement. – SAnews.gov.za