Cape Town —
Millions Paid to Buy Generators and Inverters for Ministers
Government ministers and their deputies have been shielded from rolling power blackouts by the government spending more than R7m to buy generators and inverters for them at their official homes, TimesLive reports. It emerged in parliament that the department of public works has been "procuring and installing alternative power supply systems" at ministerial homes in Pretoria's affluent suburbs at a cost of R7.04m since 2019. These alternative power supply systems include generators, solar systems and inverters that keep the lights burning and appliances on for ministers and their deputies while ordinary taxpayers remain in the dark during load shedding, which is implemented by power utility Eskom when it is unable to supply enough electricity to meet demand. This was revealed by new public works minister Sihle Zikalala in response to written questions by DA MP Leon Schreiber.
Pretoria is South Africa's Most Congested City
According to traffic statistics from GPS company TomTom, Cape Town and Pretoria are fighting hard for the top spot of South Africa's most congested city. News24 reports that the company ranks traffic in 390 cities, including several in South Africa. It does so using "floating car data" that it collects from various sources, which it samples to create a global index. Pretoria commuters take an average of 16 minutes to travel just 10km, at an average speed of 32 km/h, according to TomTom. This translates into 145 hours, or six days, spent in rush hour per year - and is 40 seconds longer than the same journey would have taken in 2021. Cape Town, consistently one of South Africa's most congested cities, has slipped to second place nationally and 156th place globally. Capetonians take about 30 seconds less than Pretorians to commute 10km and spend about five and a half full days, or 132 hours, per year, sitting in traffic.
Former Head Boy Still Missing After Alleged Kidnapping
A young businessman from the Eastern Cape is still missing after being kidnapped, TimesLive reports. Eastern Cape Hawks spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela said on Sunday that there were no developments in the case. "Law enforcement officers are up and about trying their level best," said Mgolodela. Hilton Wicks, 24, was apparently grabbed in Maclear in the early hours of Friday March 24, 2023, according to several posts shared on social media. Wicks is a former head boy of Kingswood College in Makhanda.
