News
Soccerex to put SA on world map
06 October - The imminent hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ in South Africa has opened many doors for South Africa, one of them being Soccerex, the biggest football-focused exhibition in the world.
Referees set sights on 2010 World Cup
02 October - Qualifying is already well underway for teams looking to book their place at the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa™, but it is not just players and coaches of the various countries who are looking ahead to 2010. The world's top referees also have their sights set on South Africa.
2010 plans to be piloted during PSL match
01 October - Saturday’s Premier Soccer League clash between Orlando Pirates and Santos at Ellis Park Stadium will be used to pilot Park and Ride facilities in preparation for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, the department of transport said on Tuesday.
Transport Month highlights 2010 progress
30 September - Preparations to welcome thousands of fans to South Africa for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ spectacular are at an advanced stage at OR Tambo International Airport.
Government: Politics won’t affect World Cup
29 September - The unfolding changes in the Executive of the Republic of South Africa will not have any negative impact on preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™.
‘Adopt a Nation’ campaign to galvanise kids
29 September - The Local Organising Committee South Africa has invited millions of school children to be part of 2010 Fifa World Cup™. The “Adopt a Nation” school programme was launched at the Nasrec Sports Precinct in Johannesburg on Saturday.
New SA president pledges best World Cup
26 September - President-elect of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, says the government remains committed to all the promises it made to Fifa and the international football community to deliver the best 2010 Fifa World Cup™.
Klerksdorp city banks on 2010 spinoffs
25 September - The City of Matlosana is ready to benefit from South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ with sponsorships and football development programmes already in place.
Zakumi: 2010 Fifa World Cup Official Mascot launched
22 September - Zakumi, the Official 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa™ Mascot, has made his first ever public appearance at a media launch at SABC’s Auckland Park studios in Johannesburg.
2010 World Cup Mascot launch on Monday
19 September - The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) – official broadcast partner of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ – will on Monday unveil the long awaited Official Mascot of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. The launch will be broadcast live on SABC1.
20 February 2008
Finance Minister to announce Eskom support
Janine du PlessisCape Town - Budget allocations to support national electricity provider Eskom, are expected to be announced by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, when he delivers the national budget, later on Wednesday.
"The Minister of Finance will provide more information in the Budget speech on the support that the government will provide for the energy efficiency campaign and to Eskom in its build programme," President Thabo Mbeki said earlier this month, delivering the State of the Nation Address.
South Africa has been hit by load shedding as the energy utility Eskom struggles to balance the demand and supply for electricity.
"We face an emergency but we can overcome the problems in a relatively short period," said Mr Mbeki to Parliamentarians.
"This situation has precipitated the inevitable realisation that the era of very cheap and abundant electricity has come to an end. However, given our large base of installed generation capacity, for a long time to come ours will remain amongst the few economies with affordable electricity."
The President also said Minister Manuel would elaborate on the budget allocations for the Apex Priorities.
"We speak of Business Unusual not referring to any changes in our established policies but with regard to the speedy, efficient and effective implementation of these policies and programmes, so that the lives of our people should change for the better, sooner rather than later," said Mr Mbeki.
"To make certain that this happens, we have taken the necessary steps to ensure that the Annual Budget the Minister of Finance will present later this month makes the necessary allocations to give us the means to implement the Apex Priorities."
The priorities are:
- the further acceleration of our economic growth and development
- speeding up the process of building the infrastructure we need to achieve our economic and social goals
- improving the effectiveness of our interventions directed at the Second Economy, and poverty eradication
- enhancing the impact of our programmes targeting the critically important area of education and training
- accelerating our advance towards the achievement of the goal of health for all
- revamping the criminal justice system to intensify our offensive against crime
- further strengthening the machinery of government to ensure that it has the capacity
- to respond to our development imperatives and,
- enhancing our focus on key areas in terms of our system of international relations, with particular focus on some African issues and South-South relations.
Earlier this year the National Treasury invited all South Africans to send in their tips to Mr Manuel on what they think should be included the budget speech. The campaign - Tips for Trevor - will run throughout the year and the tips received assist the minister in understanding public sentiment on government's macro-economic policies.
It also ensures government spending is in line with what is expected from the South African public and gauges issues including education, social services, health, job creation, and taxes.
Last year the Department of Education received the lion’s share of the budget, with a R105.5 billion allocation over three years.
Mr Manuel said the government would set aside R8.1 billion for improvement of educators' salaries, teaching assistants and support staff in schools across the country.
"Our teachers are always on the frontline of our education system. It is in their hands that we place our 11 million children every day. We must pay tribute to them and ask no more than that they continue to serve with dedication and integrity," he said at the time.
Government also set aside R700 million for bursaries to encourage young people to train as teachers and pursue careers in the public schooling system.
The bursary scheme is expected to benefit about 13 000 teachers over the next three years.
A further R850 million was allocation to the department to step up its Adult Basic Education and Training programme (ABET) and R2.2 billion was made available to support the universities to meet their objectives of increasing the enrolment and production of more science, engineering and technology graduates.
Source: BuaNews