The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has fined the country’s big four banks R125 million collectively, it said on Wednesday. “In terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), the SARB is mandated to supervise and enforce banks’ compliance with FICA to ensure that the necessary anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism controls [...]SARB fines country’s big banks is a post from: South Africa Business


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Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant will next week lead a high-level South African delegation to a special session of the African Union Labour and Social Affairs Commission (AULSAC) in Windhoek, Namibia.

The conference, to be held on 23-25 April, seeks to shape and assess progress on the implementation of the 2004 Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment Promotion and Poverty Alleviation.

The special session will be held under the theme: “Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive development”.

The upcoming special session follows the 9th Ordinary Session of the AU Labour and Social Affairs Commission held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2013.

The three-day conference will also reflect on how to build consensus on the future challenges of labour markets and policy perspective at all levels.

It will also adopt the revised policy framework for the next decade on labour, employment and social protection and discuss modalities for preparation of the extraordinary session Summit to be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in September 2014.

The session will also provide a platform for Labour Ministers or diplomats invested with full power designated by the Member State to draw different school of thoughts in relation to human capital development, job creation, social protection and inclusive development as these issues will form part of the discussion on defining the Post 2015 Development Agenda.

According to the organisers, since employment is necessary for poverty alleviation, it is deemed important that African States begin to take stock and increase the pace of growth process as well as investment in social services such as health, social protection, integration of the informal economy, productivity etc.

A number of side-events on specific themes such as Labour Migration, Youth and Women Empowerment and Social Protection will be organised in partnership with United Nations agencies on 22 April.

The three-day gathering will on 23 to 24 April kick-start with experts meeting to consider relevant documents and make recommendations for the ministers’ consideration and approval.

The ministers’ meeting on 25 April will consider the Experts Report as well as the recommendations about the implementation of the revised Declaration Plan of Action and Follow up Mechanism.

South Africa submitted its updated report on progress on the implementation of the Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment creation and poverty alleviation in September 2013.

All sessions of the conference will be held at the Country Club, Resorts and Casino in Windhoek. – SAnews.gov.za

British Athletics has announced that Peter Stanley has been appointed to the post of Head of Field and Combined Events. The recruitment of Stanley completes the three specialist roles reporting to British Athletics’ Performance Director Neil Black. Barry Fudge was confirmed as British Athletics’ Head of Endurance in December and Stephen Maguire as Head of [...]Peter Stanley in new appointment is a post from: Time-4-Sport


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Thaba Nchu - A graduate of the National Rural Youth Corps (Narysec), Colbert Mabasa, 29, has hailed the programme as a skills development hub, which creates invaluable job opportunities for the youth.

“My life has changed because of the construction and agricultural skills that I’ve acquired through the programme. I value this programme and I can see the difference the programme is making to young people’s lives, mostly in rural areas.

“I know how to build, plaster and make roofing. Before I started with this programme in 2010, I was unemployed and unskilled.

“Currently, I am building houses for people in my village. I’ve already registered my construction company and I’ve employed five local people,” he said on Tuesday.

Mabasa, from Mukhomi village near Malamulele in Limpopo, was speaking to SAnews ahead of the graduation ceremony of 6 000 Narysec participants at Thaba Nchu College of Education.

The Narysec graduate was also part of the group, which visited China recently to learn agricultural skills as part of the programme.

Mabasa, who runs a two-hectare garden where he plants vegetables such as spinach, cabbage and onions, sells his produce to local Shoprite and Pick ’n Pay stores.

“I’ve been sitting doing nothing at home since I matriculated in 2008, as there was no money for me to further my studies; my results were also not good. But now this programme has changed my life for the better and I’m always working very hard so that I can also change the lives of other young people in my village,” he said.

Wendy Tsotetsi, 35, from Emfuleni in Gauteng, has also seen the benefits of Narysec. “This is a very good initiative, which needs young people with a positive mind-set. Young people should stay out of the streets and grab opportunities like this one, which has been created by government to change their lives.”

Narysec was launched in 2011 with an initial 7 900 participants, of which 4 500 have completed training in various disciplines, mainly in the construction sector.

It is a four-year programme aimed at empowering rural youth from each of the 3 300 rural wards across the country.

The Narysec programme will complement the Rural Development and Land Reform Department’s job creation model, which targets and ensures that at least one person in each household in the rural areas -- where the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) is being piloted -- gets employed, and that such employment is linked to skills development.

Narysec’s main goal is to recruit and develop rural youth to be para-professionals, by training them to render the needed community services where they live.

Free State Premier Ace Magashule is expected to hand over the Thaba Nchu college to Rural Development Minister Gugile Nkwinti later this afternoon, so that it can be used as the headquarters of the Narysec programme. - SAnews.gov.za

The Department of Energy will this month start the process of procuring 800 megawatts of cogeneration, while it will procure 2 500 megawatts of coal generation in May.

Energy Minister Ben Martins has determined that the South African economy requires additional generation capacity in the form of cogeneration and coal generation.

“This determination is made under the Independent Power Producer (IPP) programme and will complement the capacity that is generated by the IPPs licensed in Window 1, 2 and 3,” said the minister in a statement.

At the end of last year, the department announced preferred bidders under Window 3 of its flagship Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPP).

In November 2013, the department signed agreements with 17 new preferred bidders in Window 3 of REIPPP, which is set to boost the country’s power supply. The programme is aimed at bringing additional megawatts into the country’s electricity system through private sector investment in wind, biomass and small hydro, among others.

The department had indicated that it would consider allocating additional megawatts due to the fact that the prices offered by the bidders were competitive and reflected a downward trend compared to the prices in Window 1 and 2.

“The inclusion of additional bidders will therefore increase the number of IPPs, contributing towards the department’s effort to ensure that renewable energy forms a significant part of the energy mix,” said the minister.

Due procurement process, which will include additional bidders under Window 3, will be followed.

In Window 3, a total of 93 bids [for solar photovoltaic, wind, concentrating solar power (CSP) and landfill gas, amounting to 6 023 MW, had been received by the department.

Minister Martins also announced that submission for Window 4 of the REIPPP, which entails the procurement of 1 000 MW, is on track to close in August 2014.

Revamp of solar water heaters scheme

On the issue of the solar water heaters (SWH) programme, government’s effort to introduce a new procurement model for the SWH programme is at an advanced stage.

This as government took a decision to stop subsidising imported SWH systems in favour of local manufacturing to increase job creation, industrialisation and the socio-economic impact of the programme.

“The department has concluded the evaluation of the potential manufacturers of the SWH systems. The list of compliant manufacturers will be announced as soon as the South African Bureau of Standards has completed due diligence and independent verification of manufacturers, which will be in April,” said Minister Martins.

The rollout of the new model will start in the current financial year.

In 2009, the department said it would ensure that one million solar geysers are installed in households and commercial buildings over a five-year period.

With regards to the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010, its review process was on-going Minister Martins said.

The IRP 2010 is a 20-year projection on electricity supply and demand. – SAnews.gov.za

The countdown has started to the Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge (JMC), one of the highlights on the South African trail running calendar.

The fourth running of the JMC will take place on 4 May and will for the first time form part of the exciting Mountain Challenge Series (MCS) with a total prize purse of over R50 000. The main race on the day will be the 36km while there will also be shorter options – the JMC Lite 22km and the Jonkershoek Mountain Run (JMR) 10km.

The two shorter races ensure that there is something for everyone on race day, from the elites to those who are still new to trail running, but the main attraction will definitely be the “big daddy”, the 36km race between the top guns of South African trail running.

The race has gone from strength to strength since it first took place in 2011 with top runners such as AJ Calitz, Thabang Madiba, Michael Bailey, Iain Don-Wauchope, Bernard Rukadza, Katya Soggot, Landie Gryeling and Linda Doke all participating in previous years.

Last year the JMC served as the South African Long Distance Trail Running Championships and this year it will again be one of the qualifying races where the national trail running team that will compete in the USA later this year will be selected. For this reason, all the big names in trail running are once again expected to take part in this epic challenge.

Mountain Challenge Series launched

One of the most exciting aspects of this year’s race is the establishment of the Mountain Challenge Series – a three-race challenge taking place on some of the most beautiful mountains in the Western Cape with each event offering its own unique challenge.

The first race of the series, the Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge (JMC) will consist of 36km and more than 2000m of climbing. Two weeks later, on 18 May, runners will take on the Helderberg Mountain Challenge (HMC) in Somerset West. Though this race is considerably shorter than the JMC with a total distance of “only” 24km, it climbs just under 2000m in a shorter distance and many runners who have taken part in both have been known to say the HMC is actually harder. Last up in the Series is the new kid on the block, the Marloth Mountain Challenge (MMC) just outside Swellendam on 9 August. This epic race of 60km will take place for the first time this year on the closed-down Swellendam Hiking Trail and will climb almost 4000m in total.

The winner of the MCS will win R3 000 as well as prize money in every race and a Series Bonus of R5 000 if he/she wins every race in the Series. The winner of the Series can win as much as R15 000 if he/she takes top honours in every race and wins the King and Queen of the Mountain hot spot at every race.