MEC Mahlangu slams reports on Tambo Memorial Hospital

19 Oct 2010

Gauteng MEC for Health and Social Development, Qedani Mahlangu has noted with concern the statement by Democratic Alliance' Jack Bloom on the missing patient's fees at Tambo Memorial hospital in Ekurhuleni.

The statement by Mr Bloom is mischievous and misleading as he is aware that the matter has been referred for investigation to the Gauteng Shared Service Centre's (GSSC's) Security Risk Management Department.

"I find it odd and astounding that Mr Bloom will run to the media and comment on matters that are still under investigation. Mr Bloom is pre-empting the outcome of the investigation, unless he knows who stole the money and how much. He must explain where he got the figure of R150 000, when the forensic investigation that is underway has not yet determined how much was stolen," says MEC Mahlangu.

The MEC adds that it is only fair to allow the forensic investigation to run its course, where after appropriate action will be taken. The department is committed to rooting out corruption as it impacts negatively on service delivery.

"We will not hesitate to deal with individuals who engage in corrupt activities within and outside the department," says MEC Mahlangu.

Enquiries:
Mandla Sidu
Cell : 082 773 9013

Issued by: Gauteng Health and Social Development 
19 Oct 2010

MEC Patricia de Lille's challenge to fathers, after baby dumpings

14 Oct 2010

MEC Patricia de Lille has this morning challenged neglectful fathers in the Western Cape 'to restore their dignity by taking responsibility for their children.'

The MEC comments come after a newborn baby was extracted alive from a manhole in Killarney Gardens over the weekend by Desmond Mutengo, a 24 year old truck driver. It is estimated that from the beginning of the year around 500 babies have been dumped by Cape Town mothers.

"It is a dramatic thing for a woman to abandon her child, desperation, or simply a lack of capacity to look after the child, are amongst the possible reasons," says Minister De Lille.

"This woman probably went through eight or nine months of painful deliberation over what she was going to do about her baby. But what I find most worrying is that in all of the debates and discussions around the recent incident where a woman dumped her baby, there has been hardly a single mention of the child's father," De Lille says.

"Does this child have a father? Why is it that as a society we do not even consider this fundamental question? I hope it is not because we expect nothing from fathers."

"We urgently need to do something about the societal attitude of men towards fatherhood. We must begin to empower men to take responsibility. Each time a woman abandons her child we must ask the question, have they already been abandoned themselves by the father of that child?"

"However, we must also start to own up to the fact that when a woman dumps her baby, not only has the father failed his responsibilities, his family, the mother's family, the services in the local community and the community as a whole have all also failed," says De Lille.

"Children are precious, they are a gift from God, please do not dump your baby. Instead you can call the Department of Social Development on our toll free number, 0800 220 250 and we will refer you to the appropriate organisation that can help you make the right decisions.

"The department works on the principle, which is informed by the Children's Act that if a woman is given the kind of support that empowers her to make the right decisions, then there will be no reason for her to dump her baby," De Lille says.

The MEC added that the department needs to do more to make women 'aware of the support that is available to help them bring the child up themselves, or give the child up for adoption.

"The Western Cape currently has a total of 36 registered child and youth care centres, where children with a variety of care-needs can be accommodated. We must also remember that abandoned babies usually have parents, so they are not orphans," the MEC says.

Very few of the 36 child and youth care centres are always filled to capacity.

Enquiries: 
Steven Otter
Cell: 084 233 3811

Source: Western Cape Provincial Government

Issued by: Western Cape Social Development
14 Oct 2010

Statement on the re-opening of Mawombe High School

11 Oct 2010

The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal has taken a decision to re-open Mawombe High School near Mtubatuba in Northern Zululand, after it was closed for nearly three weeks. The decision follows a series of meetings between department officials, the local traditional council, parents, educators and learners.

The Superintendent General of the Department, Dr Cassius Lubisi shut down the school after learners went on a rampage mid-September, throwing stones breaking all windows and badly vandalising the office of the principal and some computers. Rampant learners, who were demanding the re-instatement of a suspended educator, even attempted to set the school on fire.

Various meetings were subsequently held where parents promised to fully cooperate in all processes of the running of the school and in bringing those responsible to book.

"After a number of meetings we felt, the community and learners were quite sincere about their plea to have the school re-opened. However, we still had a challenge of convincing educators whose lives were endangered by the rampant learners. A number of these educators, who are still traumatised by the experience, had already begun making arrangements to be considered for posts elsewhere. We want to stress that the legal process already underway against those that were arrested, will not be affected by this decision," MEC for Education in KwaZulu-Natal said.

The School Governing Body (SGB) will be taking action against suspected wrong-doers.

Parents and the community have undertaken to ensure that the safety of the educators is guaranteed. Educators are currently undergoing counselling. A security arrangement has been made as follows:

• Police will be stationed at the school for the duration of schooling activities each day until the situation is reviewed
• Teachers will be accompanied by police to and from the school, until the situation gets reviewed
• The provincial government is initiating a peace process between the warring parties in that area.

Mawombe High School re-opens on Monday, 11 October 2010 under stringent admission procedures. A key factor in this process is that a learner will only be admitted if accompanied by a parent. Both the learner and parent will required to sign a pledge to abide by the strict rules and regulations of the school.

For further information contact:
Muntu Lukhozi
Cell: 082 562 5965 
E-mail: muntu.lukhozi@kzndoe.gov.za  

Issued by: KwaZulu-Natal Education 
11 Oct 2010

Findings of Green Scorpions Environmental law compliance campaign in the Western Cape

5 Oct 2010

The Green Scorpions conducted environmental law compliance campaign inspections at five sites in the Western Cape last week, 27 September to 1 October, and found the following transgressions. 

Preliminary findings at the Eskom Safari Substation are that Eskom has commenced with construction without approval of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and construction activities are occurring outside the development footprint. Furthermore, the appointed Environmental Control Officer (ECO) does not keep records of monitoring and audits as required by the authorisation.

The upgrade of the East Fort Water Scheme by Knysna Municipality has been placed on hold until funding has been sourced. However Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) observed that the municipality never appointed an ECO to monitor the initial work which had been undertaken as required by the authorisation.

Construction of the Transnet Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant is still underway and Transnet has appointed the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to conduct baseline monitoring as well as to develop a monitoring programme to assess the impact of brine discharge into the environment to be implemented once the plant is operational. An ECO has been appointed on site to monitor the project; however documents to demonstrate compliance with conditions of the authorisation were not readily available.

At the construction of Kwanokuthula 66/22Kv substation and relocation of power lines in Plettenberg Bay, EMIs observed a large spillage of fuel at the construction site which has been there for a while and clean-up measures have not been put in place. EMIs also observed unauthorized construction of a power line on a wetland drainage line. Soil stockpiles storage area as well as the construction site is not demarcated. In addition, alien vegetation has not been cleared on site and there is ponding of water at the construction site. EMIs also established that there has been deviation from the original project description which was not approved by the Department.

Public Works has ceased all activities of the illegal construction at the Langebaan Military Base as instructed in the Compliance Notice by the Department and there is compliance with the notice. EMI will this week proceed to KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State to conduct inspections from 4 October until 8 October 2010. 

The sites that will be inspected in KwaZulu-Natal based on the risk prioritization process are; the Transnet National Multi-Product pipe-line from Jameson Park to Durban; construction of Bhanga Nek Primary School in Kosi Bay; construction of Enkovukeni Primary school in Kosi Bay, construction of Western Shores Road and Entrance Gate in iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the construction of public Hide at Mfezane Pan. 

In the Free State the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) Bloemfontein Airport Access road will be inspected. 

Following the inspection, the EMIs will consolidate their preliminary findings at the various sites. Once the findings have been consolidated, decisions will be taken in terms of the type of enforcement action that is required with regards to non-compliances.

Members of the public are urged to report environmental transgressions to 0800 205 005.

For media queries contact:
Albi Modise 
Cell: 083 490 2871 
or
Moses Rannditsheni
Cell: 082 448 2450

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs
5 Oct 2010

Minister Grant on final term:

 "Energy and positivity must continue throughout the fourth term."

4 Oct 2010

Today is the first day of the fourth and final term in the school calendar. The final term is extremely important for all our learners, educators and officials.  

All educators now need to ensure that they complete the required curriculum for their specific grades. We will also see the start of the National Senior Certificate Examinations this month and Literacy and Numeracy testing for Grade 3, 6 and 9s will be taking place in all our schools. 

We must do everything possible to ensure that we use the remaining two months effectively so that all learners receive the quality education they deserve. 

This is particularly important for our Grade 12s. There are only 20 days to go before the first theory examination, and we are urging parents, educators and learners to ensure that every hour is used for extra tuition and revision.  

I am extremely pleased with the success of our spring holiday programmes for Grade 12s. There was an impressive turnout of learners at most of the schools, with some schools, such as Iqhayiya Secondary in Khayelitsha, reporting over 90% attendance during the course of the week.  

I sincerely hope that the energy and positivity demonstrated at these camps by both educators and learners continue throughout the fourth term. It must be stressed that although the examinations start on 25 October, teaching and learning should continue right up until the final examination.  

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has extended its telematics programmes and the tutoring programme until 5 November and will be considering extra support for subjects that will be written later in November to specific schools. 

Although the WCED will be handing out personalised official timetables for full-time learners later in the week, we encourage all Grade 12 learners to start planning ahead for the examinations by writing out their own personalized timetables on their specific subjects. 

They can then put together their own study programme based on those dates. Tips on how to do this and examination dates can be found in their "Tips for Success" handbooks.  

Learners will soon receive their results for the September Preliminary Examinations and it is important that learners also use these results to formulate their study timetables.  

They are encouraged to focus on subjects where they have produced poor results during the September examinations or in subject areas they are unsure of. 

The WCED will also be assessing these results to determine which schools need subject-specific support.  

Despite the many obstacles we have faced this year, most of our educators, learners and officials in the Western Cape are enthusiastic and positive. So while we have a busy term ahead, I am confident that we will all continue to support and encourage our learners in this province by ensuring that they receive quality tuition with the shared goal of improving their outcomes and opportunities.  

Media enquiries:
Bronagh Casey
Cell: 072 7241 422
Tel: 021 467 2377

Issued by: Western Cape Education
4 Oct 2010

Adjustment to the fuel price: 6 October 2010

1 Oct 2010

Product

Petrol 93 ULP & LRP: 4.000 cents per litre increase in retail price 
Petrol 95 ULP & LRPP 5.000 cents per litre increase in retail price 
Diesel 0.05% Sulphur: 3.000 cents per litre decrease in wholesale price
Diesel 0.005% Sulphur: 3.000 cents per litre decrease in wholesale price
IlluminatingParaffin(Wholesale): 1.000 cents per litre decrease in wholesale price IlluminatingParaffin(SMNRP): 1.000 c/l decrease in the Single Maximum National Retail price (SMNRP)
Maximum Retail Price for LPGAS: 7.000 cents per kilogram decrease in the maximum retail price

Economic factors affecting the unit over/under-recoveries for the period 27 August 2010 to 30 September 2010

During the period under review, the average international product prices of Petrol, Diesel and Illuminating Paraffin increased.

The average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate strengthened when compared to the previous period. The average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate for the period 27 August 2010 to 30 September 2010 was 7.1859 compared to 7.3178 during the previous period.

Single Maximum National Retail Price For Illuminating Paraffin (SMNRP) 

The Single Maximum National Retail Price for Illuminating Paraffin changes on a monthly basis and is promulgated in the Government Gazette. The Single Maximum National Retail Price for the period 6 October 2010 to 2 November 2010 will be 679.0c/l compared to 680.0 c/l for the period 1 September 2010 to 5 October 2010 that is a decrease of 1.00 c/l.

Increase in retail margin of petrol

The Minister of Energy, on 17 September 2010, approved that a Retail Margin increase of 8,5 c/l be implemented into the petrol price structures with effect from 6 October 2010.

Maximum LPGAS refinery gate price

The maximum refinery gate price will be R 5 166.97 per metric ton (286.76 c/l), excluding VAT, for the period 6 October 2010 to 02 November 2010.

Price adjustment

In terms of the agreed mechanism:

(a) Price changes are adjusted in such a manner that the over- or under-recovery during the prior month will be corrected in the following month; and

(b) The unit over- or under-recoveries are rounded up or down to the nearest full cent so that the effect of rounding contributes to the clearing of the cumulative balance of the individual products on the slate.

(c) In order to manage a negative balance in the Cumulative over/(under) recovery account (the Slate), a Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism (SLM) was implemented with effect from 7 January 2009 (the SLM is available on the website of the Department of Minerals and Energy). A Slate levy will only be applicable on all petrol and diesel grades if the Slate balance is negative (cumulative under recovery) by more than R250.0 million

Breakdown of price adjustment

 

	Petrol 95 ULP	Diesel 0.05 (%)	Diesel 0.005(%)	Illuminating Paraffin	LPGAS (Gauteng, Zone 9C)
The price adjustments in (1) above are based on the following actual data:	2.330	2.634	2.674	1.411
Average product over/(under)-recovery, measured for the 25 days from 27/08/2010 to30/09/2010 (cents / litre) as detailed below.	748.059	309.431	309.431	(100.563)
Cumulative positive/(negative) slate balances end of August 2010 (R-million)	c/l	c/l	c/l	c/l
The price adjustments consist of the following elements:	3.000	3.000	3.000	1.000
Average product over/(under)-recovery rounded to the nearest full cent for price (increase) / decrease	7.000
LPGas BFP, Retail and VAT (increase)/decrease					(8.500)
Total price (increase) / decrease	(5.000)	3.000	3.000	1.000	7.000

Report of the independent auditors

The report of the independent auditors is available on request. 

Analysis of the elements that resulted in the bfp over/(under)-recoveries

The over/(under)-recoveries for the period under review were affected by the factors set out below, which can be quantified as follows: 

 

	Petrol 95 ULP c/l	Diesel 0.05 (%) c/l	Diesel 0.005(%) c/l	Illuminating Paraffin c/l
Movements in external factors	( 4.994)	( 5.205)	( 5.221)	( 6.323)
Govement in International Product Prices	7.323	7.83	7.896	7.734
Movement in Exchange Rate	2.330	2.634	2.674	1.411
BFP Over/(under)-recovery for the period 27/08/2010 to 30/09/2010

Composition of the maximum retail prices for LPGAS at the coast (ZONE 1A) and in the inland area (ZONE 9C) in cents per kilogram

	CoastZone 1A	Inland Zone 9C
Price element	516.697	516.697
Maximum refinery gate price	37.120	175.960
Primary transport costs	343.000	343.000
Operating expenses	26.000	26.000
Working capital	126.000	126.000
Depreciation	161.000	161.000
Gross margin: Cylinder-filling plant	1 209.817	1 348.657
Sub-total (1)	181.473	202.299
Retail Margin: (15% of Subtotal (1))	1 391.290	1 550.956
Sub-total (2)	194.781	217.134
Value Added Tax (14% Sub-total (2))	1 586.000	1 768.000

The annexure attached contains details of the composition of product prices as well as history of the price changes. 

Annexure 1

Composition of the retail price of petrol and the wholesale prices for diesel and IP in Gauteng for the period 06/10/2010  to 02/11/2010 will be as follows

	Petrol 95 ULP c/l	Petrol 93 ULP & LRP c/l	Diesel 0.05% S c/l	Diesel 0.005% S c/l	Illuminating Paraffin c/l
Wholesale margin	51.087	50.868	50.860	50.860	51.072
Service cost recoveries	10.800	10.800	10.800	10.800	18.200
Storage, handling & delivery costs	10.800	10.800	10.800	10.800	10.800
Distribution cost	0	0	0	0	7.400
Dealers margin	72.700	72.700	0	0	0
Zone differential in Gauteng	15.500	15.500	15.500	15.500	29.800
IP Tracer levy	0	0	0.010	0.010	0
Fuel levy	167.500	167.500	152.500	152.500	0
Customs & excise duty	4.000	4.000	4.000	4.000 0
RAF levy	72.000	72.000	72.000	72.000	0
Petroleum Products levy	0.150	0.150	0.150	0.150	0
Slate levy	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
DSML	10.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
Equalisation Fund Levy	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
Transport Recovery levy	3.000	3.000	3.000	3.000
Pump Rounding	0.200	0.200
Sub-total	406.937	396.718	308.820	308.820	99.072
Contribution to the Basic Fuel Price	410.063	405.282	429.630	431.030	427.128
Retail Price	817.00	802.00
Wholesale price		738.45	739.85	526.20

Statistics of price change 

	Petrol 95 ULP		Diesel		Illuminating Paraffin		LPGAS
Effective from:	Gauteng SA c/l	Coast SA c/l	Gauteng SA c/l	Coast SA c/l	Gauteng SA c/l	Coast SA c/l	Gauteng SA c/kg	Coast SA c/kg
			From 4 January 2006 0,05% Sulphur
03-Dec-08	735.00	711.00	822.30	808.50	628.00	604.10
07-Jan-09	601.00	576.00	654.35	639.65	496.70	467.60
04-Feb-09	662.00	637.00	649.35	634.65	482.70	453.60
04-Mar-09	707.00	682.00	611.35	596.65	456.70	427.60
01-Apr-09	738.00	713.00	650.85	636.15	451.70	422.60
06-May-09	735.00	710.00	658.85	644.15	464.70	435.60
03-Jun-09	750.00	727.00	645.95	632.65	455.70	426.60
01-Jul-09	790.00	767.00	685.95	672.65	501.70	472.60
05-Aug-09	769.00	746.00	665.95	652.65	487.70	458.60
02-Sep-09	805.00	782.00	700.95	687.65	508.70	479.60
07-Oct-09	765.00	742.00	668.45	655.15	481.20	452.10
04-Nov-09	765.00	742.00	678.45	665.15	495.20	466.10
02-Dec-09	792.00	769.00	703.45	690.15	524.20	495.10
06-Jan-10	786.00	763.00	689.45	676.15	512.20	483.10
03-Feb-10	804.00	781.00	699.45	686.15	517.20	488.10
03-Mar-10	810.00	787.00	703.45	690.15	515.20	486.10
07-Apr-10	858.00	835.00	751.95	738.65	536.20	507.10
05-May-10	872.00	848.00	781.45	767.65	566.20	538.10
02-Jun-10	845.00	821.00	766.45	752.65	553.20	525.10
14-Jul-10	827.00	803.00	751.45	737.65	541.20	513.10	1 727.00	1 569.00
04-Aug-10	817.00	793.00	738.45	724.65	526.20	498.10	1 801.00	1 619.00

Enquiries:
Mr Bheki Khumalo
Tel: 012 679 9032
Cell: 082 773 2388 

Source: CEF

Issued by: Department of Energy
1 Oct 2010