The couple claimt they sent money to their lawyer for water and electricity vouchers but have not received them. view more

Moulana Yusuf Tootla, 80, passed away on Tuesday. He is believed to have contracted Covid-19 during a recent trip to India. view more

Du Plessis, from uMhlanga, planned to celebrate the milestone with a rose-gold-and-white-themed party at Porters Pub in Glen Ashley. view more

"Residents are urged to take out their refuse on the collection days as per schedule, as refuse removal services will continue as per normal." view more

Much of the reverse engineering on the Penlon Nuffield 200 ventilator is complete, with prototype production imminent, says National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers executive director Renai Moothilal. "If things go according to plan, full-scale volume production can be up and running within a month." The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a shortage of ventilators at hospitals worldwide. view more

For the duration of South Africa's 21-day Covid-19 lockdown period, Creamer Media is providing free digital access to our flagship Engineering News & Mining Weekly news magazine. Click now to read our latest edition. view more

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has not shifted its April 9 deadline for returning Medupi Unit 3 to service, despite work restrictions imposed at the Lephalale site, in Limpopo, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The unit was shut for 75 days on January 26 to address defects that emerged, mostly in relation to the boiler, after the unit entered into commercial operation in June last year. view more

There is little positive news at the moment, but used-car sales in South Africa during March do provide a glimmer of hope, says AutoTrader CEO George Minnie. He says March began well, and used-car sales were on track to sustain this year's positive performance. view more

JSE-listed aluminium supplier and exporter Hulamin says all conditions have been fulfilled around the transaction between its subsidiary Hulamin Operations (Hulamin Opco) and Bingelela Capital to acquire the rolling slab business from Isizinda Aluminium company. The Isizinda company owns the Bayside casthouse, which has a rolling slab casting operation, in Richards Bay. view more

South African private sector airline Airlink has announced that it is working with State-owned flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) to ensure a smooth process for the revalidation and re-accommodation of tickets and vouchers issued by SAA for future Airlink flights. When scheduled air passenger resume when the current national anti-Covid-19 lockdown is lifted (currently set for April 20), Airlink will resume operations, using its own 4Z flight code. Previously, Airlink operated under a franchise agreement with SAA, as a result of which Airlink used SAA flight codes (with the prefix 083). With SAA under business rescue, Airlink announced in January that the two airlines had replaced their franchise agreement with a new commercial relationship which, among other things, would see Airlink abandoning SAA flight codes is favour of its own.  view more

In an announcement on the (Johannesburg) Stock Exchange News Service on April 3, South African private sector airline group Comair announced that an agreement for it to purchase Star Air Maintenance (SAM) and Star Air Cargo (SAC) had been terminated "by mutual consent", with effect from March 31. Comair would have acquired the companies for R75 million plus profit share payments. Comair would have bought SAM and SAC from Sundrops Investment, Smashing Star Investments and Marcel Liebenberg. The deal would have seen Comair acquire the shares and claims of both SAM and SAC. view more

JSE-listed Murray & Roberts (M&R) has noted the evolving impact of Covid-19 on its active projects in Australasia, the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa. The Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia, which the company's Oil & Gas and Underground Mining platforms run in joint venture with a third partner, has experienced the biggest impact to date. view more

The financially-beleaguered South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), which falls under the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), had a new board appointed in late January, to oversee and turnaround the agency. The chairperson of this new board, which has a term of three years, is veteran former Eskom nuclear executive David Nicholls. In an exclusive interview with Engineering News & Mining Weekly he outlines his priorities, concerns, hopes and ambitions for Necsa. view more

Following the declaration of a state of disaster and a national lockdown in the country, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), has issued an exemption notice to institutions to which that Act applies to ensure effective financial management and to minimise any possible noncompliance with the PFMA. The notice is accessible on the National Treasury and the PFMA websites. view more

The Port Elizabeth Container Terminal (PECT) has taken delivery of two new mobile harbour cranes from equipment manufacture Liebherr. "The arrival of these two modern cranes will ensure that our promise to industry is realised," says Transnet Port Terminal (TPT) acting CE Michelle Phillips. view more

South Africa's dam water levels increased marginally from 66.8% to 67% week-on-week, the average boosted by rising dam levels in the Free State. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) weekly report shows Gauteng has the highest dam levels in the country, with its water storage full, followed by the Northern Cape at 91% and Mpumalanga at 75%. view more

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has delivered 852 water tanks and 20 tankers to water-stressed communities across Gauteng. The department, along with Rand Water and municipalities, are working to provide water to desperate communities in the most densely populated informal settlements to reduce the Covid-19 spread. view more

South Africa's 2020 wine grape crop will still yield exceptional wines despite uncertainty at first considering South Africa's lockdown practices, says industry body Vinpro. The industry is harvesting the last few thousand tonnes of crops across ten wine regions in the country, owing to a last-minute concession from government for the industry to continue harvesting and winemaking activities during the country's lockdown ending April 16. view more

Broadband Infraco and ItakaneICT have partnered to deploy cashless payment platforms to rural and disadvantaged communities. The move will help in dispensing and transacting financially without using physical cash amid the Covid-19 outbreak. view more

Hundreds of volunteer information and communication technology (ICT) professionals have contributed data, tools and skills to develop a vulnerability map that illustrate the communities most at risk from the Covid-19 pandemic. This map has been presented to a Presidential planning meeting, technology job portal OfferZen co-founder Malan Joubert says in a release on Thursday. view more

Scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Geosciences have proposed an explanation for a phenomenon that has long puzzled geologists. The researchers are Professor Rais Latypov and Dr Sofya Chistyakova and their research has been published in the journal Geology. The puzzle has been the fact that some magmatic rocks have a mineral composition that is not normal. Usually, magmatic rocks are composed of fixed proportions of different minerals. Thus, one such rock would comprise 90% of one mineral and 10% of another. But some magmatic rocks were composed of minerals which were in totally random proportions.  view more

Nature conservation organisation, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), reports that the world population of black rhino has risen from about 2 500 in the 1990s to 5 600. Independent conservation organisation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) attributes some of that increase to its Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP), which was started in 2003 by "far-sighted" conservationists who saw the need to create new black rhino populations on large areas of good habitat. view more

Infrastructure development project administrator for the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), has appointed Anthony Ngcezula as CEO, effective April 1. His appointment is for a term of five years. view more

International banking group Standard Chartered has launched a $50-million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Half of the funding will immediately be deployed for relief in the group's most affected markets, while the balance will help communities over the medium term to recover from the economic impact of the virus. view more

The disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing companies has prompted a major jolt in the global solar PV supply chain, says analytics and consulting company GlobalData. "The resulting shortage of PV components is disrupting the industry at a global level. Many solar PV developers in Asia and other parts of the world have experienced prolonged delays in importing solar PV modules and other related supplies. view more

If Covid-19 mitigation measures continue to be extended, effectively curtailing the movement of goods and people, through the second quarter of this year, research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie (Woodmac) says it will have to lower its global energy storage deployments forecast for the year by 19%. This equates to a 3 GWh reduction over the year, to a forecast deployment of 12.6 GWh; however, it would still be a record-breaking year for energy storage demand. view more

Global air passenger traffic in February, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, fell by 14.1% in comparison to February 2019, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) reported on April 2. This was the sharpest fall since the notorious terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the US, reported the international airline industry's representative body.   This reflected the rapid decline in domestic air travel in China and a severe reduction in demand for international flights to, from and within the Asia-Pacific region. In parallel, passenger capacity came down by 8.7% as airline began to 'park' airliners that were no longer required. And load factor went down by 4.8% to 75.9%. view more

South Africans who are abroad and want to return during the lockdown are allowed to do so, Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu has said. The how, however, remains unclear. Mthembu tweeted the update on Friday morning, elaborating on remarks made by National Command Council ministers on Thursday evening following the adoption of government's updated lockdown regulations this week. view more

Engineering solutions company BMG has been authorised as an essential service to provide its components and support services during the remainder of South Africa's lockdown period ending at midnight on April 16. The BMG team is on hand and its distribution centre in Johannesburg is stocked to assist essential service customers in many sectors, including food and beverage plants, water and waste water treatment facilities, coal mines and petrochemical plants. view more

South Africa has seen a steep decline in the number of people moving around cities in the wake of the announcement of a 21-day lockdown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, according to new 'mobility report' data released by Google on Friday. The data - which Google released in a bid to help officials judge the effectiveness of physical distancing measures to combat the spread coronavirus pandemic - tracks users' locations in over 130 countries. Its report on South Africa shows that traffic to public transport hubs decreased by a whopping 80% on Sunday, March 29, compared to baseline levels measured on Sundays in January and February. Google's data appears to indicate that many in South Africa are, in fact, staying at home - with 24% more movement recorded at places of residence compared to the February baseline. view more

Giant US aerospace and defence group Boeing announced on April 2 that it was, with effect from close of business on April 3, suspending production at its complex at Ridley Township (just south of Philadelphia International Airport in the US state of Pennsylvania) for two weeks, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the complex undertakes commercial and design engineering activities, its primary activity is the manufacture of military helicopters and tilt-rotor aircraft. "Suspending ... view more

The rand hit a new all-time low on Friday morning, as it continued to battle the impact of last week's credit rating downgrade by Moody's and Covid-19 fears which have seen investors fleeing risky emerging market currencies. The local currency weakened 1.7% to R18.77/$, and it is now nearly 40% weaker than at the same point last year. One of the world's most liquid currencies, the rand has been the worst performing EM currency over the past year, according to analysts from TreasuryONE. view more

South African private sector activity fell to a record low in March, a business survey showed on Friday, as the global coronavirus pandemic led to the sharpest drop in output and new orders the survey has ever recorded. IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was at 44.5 in March from 48.4 in February, remaining below the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction. view more

Gold is being used in new Covid-19 rapid tests around the world, which identify the presence of biomarkers from the body's immune response to Covid-19 instead of looking for the virus itself. The tests can also help detect if a person has been infected with Covid-19 even after the virus is no longer present. view more

During the 21-day lockdown period, mining operations in South Africa will scale down significantly, and the effect on deep-level mines will probably be the most significant, says specialist legal provider Bowmans tax executive Adéle de Jager. The majority of mines have been placed into care and maintenance for the duration of the lockdown period to ensure their workings do not deteriorate significantly. view more

Surface gold mining company DRDGold is considering re-starting operations at its Far West Gold Recoveries surface retreatment operation at Carletonville, south-west of Johannesburg, in consultation with government and organised labour. DRDGold CEO Niël Pretorius states on the company's website that following the shutdown of operations on March 26 in response to South Africa's national lockdown, DRDGold has considered various options to recommence limited operations to sustain infrastructure and soften the impact of the stoppage without exposing employees to increased risk. view more

The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) has motivated South Africans to get a certified green rating for their homes. The council explains that the Green Home Rating System for existing buildings will look to shift South Africa's homes to align with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals and the South African National Development Plan by creating a common language on sustainability in homes. view more

Food security has been identified as one of the biggest concerns in Southern Africa amid the Covid-19 outbreak and ensuing lockdowns in countries across the continent. In a webinar on April 2, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said that, as most countries have imposed lockdowns in to curb the spread of the virus, it has affected the movement of food. view more

International waste management company Averda has entered into a strategic partnership with African disaster response nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Gift of the Givers, to provide necessary medical waste management services to its mobile testing stations across the country free of charge for the duration of the current lockdown period. This will provide crucial support to healthcare facilities that are already stretched to capacity. view more

The global representative organisation for the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), issued on April 2 a call for African and Middle Eastern governments to financially support their airlines, directly and/or indirectly. This was because of the havoc being wrought on the sector by government-imposed flight and travel restrictions and border closures, intended to counter the Covid-19 pandemic. "The air transport industry is an economic engine, supporting up to 8.6 million jobs across Africa and the Middle East and $186 billion in GDP [gross domestic product]," highlighted Iata Regional VP: Africa and the Middle East Muhammad Al Bakri. "Every job created in the aviation industry supports another 24 jobs in the wider economy. ... Airlines have demonstrated their value in economic and social development in Africa and the Middle East and governments need to prioritise them in rescue packages." view more

Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic on the African continent will require a collaborative, cooperative and effective communication approach, with the recognition that the situation will not be resolved in any single State if it is not resolved in each and every country. This was indicated by Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr John Nkengasong, speaking during a webcast briefing on Covid-19 in Africa and the US's response. view more

Financial institution Absa has partnered with the South African Future Trust (SAFT) to administer the disbursement of funds to small-, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) whose income will be impacted on in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a sign of support, Absa, alongside three other South African banks, will take responsibility for administering the scheme, which targets SMMEs in Gauteng. view more