Cape Town — Public Servants Renew Threats of National Sutdown Against Govt
Public service workers have reiterated their threat of a national shutdown following a a stay-away last Wednesday over wage increases, EWN reports. Two unions - the Public Servants Association (PSA) and healthcare professionals' Hospersa - warned that a national shutdown would be started if wage demands were not satisfied. This comes after the organisations gave the National Treasury one week to respond to their requests. The PSA's 240,000 members engaged in the strike action and called for a 6.5% hike. However, government unilaterally applied a 3% increase after negotiations broke down. The 3% hike will take effect from tomorrow.
Motorists Brace for Petrol Price Hike in December
According to projections by the Central Energy Fund (CEF), motorists can expect a rise of R1.20 per litre of 93/95 grade petrol, BusinessTech reports. This comes as diesel is set to cost 6 cents less per litre. The CEF attributes the rise in petrol price to the rising cost of international petroleum products while a stronger rand managed to mitigate the impact, somewhat. "The rand benefited from the weaker greenback too and gained 4% against the US currency last week and reached its strongest level since September," the Bureau for Economic Research said following last week's lower-than-expected U.S consumer inflation, a factor that benefited emerging markets, including South Africa.
Chinese Embassy Hails 'Outstanding' South African Students, Urges Studies in China
Nearly 60 students who competed in in essay writing competitions have arrived in Pretoria where they were awarded by the Chinese embassy award, IOL reports. The students emerged from 350 contestants who pursued studies at several of South Africa's top institutions, including he Durban University of Technology, University of Cape Town, Wits University, Stellenbosch University, and Rhodes University. Chen Xiaodong, Chinese ambassador to South Africa, applauded the students and encouraged them to further their academic careers by embarking on exchange programmes offered at Chinese universities. "According to our agreement, each year, China provides about 30 full scholarships under the Chinese government scholarships programme for South African university students to study languages or pursue academic degrees in China," said Chen.
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Con Artists Pose as Health Officials, Swindle Restaurants in Cape Town
Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Community Patricia van der Ross has warned that scammers are posing as health officials and duping restaurants into giving them free food, Eyewitness News reports. "Not only is this fraudulent and illegal behaviour but many restaurants are recovering from lockdown and can ill afford to give away free meals, especially to criminals," van der Ross said. The swindlers threaten establishments by saying that they will shout them down for allegedly violating health laws. "If you are approached or anyone visits your premises and demands payment or any reward for any documentation inspection, insist on checking their credentials," van der Ross added.
Nearly 1,400 'Ghost' Employees at Prasa - Transport Minister
According to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, the employment status of nearly 1,400 employees at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) cannot be verified, eNCA reports. Mbalula said that measures have been taken to address these ghost employees in the wake of widespread graft caused by poor management at the state-owned enterprise. These will include means to verify credentials and digitise staff information as many of the alleged workers earn a salary but do not clock in or otherwise do not exist.
