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President Ramaphosa chairs meeting of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council
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President Cyril Ramaphosa today, 17 January 2024, chaired a meeting of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) to discuss current economic developments and measures to support economic growth and job creation.

Members of PEAC commended the progress made in advancing economic reform, including in the energy, transport, and telecommunications sectors, as well as in rebuilding state institutions that were weakened by state capture.

The recently released results of Census 2022 show that the quality of life has improved for millions of South Africans since the previous census, including through expanded access to education, water, electricity, housing, and other basic services.

Despite the progress made in putting in place fiscally, socially and environmentally sound economic policies, PEAC noted that significant challenges remain.

In its assessment of the current economic environment, PEAC highlighted fiscal risks, the poor performance of state-owned enterprises, ongoing load shedding, historical underinvestment in infrastructure, and rising levels of crime as the most urgent obstacles to growth.

PEAC welcomed the actions currently underway to address these challenges, and discussed proposals to strengthen state capacity, professionalise the public service, and improve the governance of state-owned enterprises.

Further proposals included a proactive green industrial strategy to harness South Africa’s significant renewable energy resources, support for small businesses and the informal sector, and measures to accelerate implementation of the Energy Action Plan and end load shedding.

Finally, PEAC discussed South Africa’s role in advocating for the reform of the international financial architecture. PEAC further supported the call for appropriate financing mechanisms to support the climate transition in developing countries.

The analysis and recommendations provided by PEAC continue to play a key role in informing government policymaking.

 

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - media@presidency.gov.za 

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

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President Ramaphosa to launch a housing project in the Northern Cape Province
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President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday, 18 January 2024, launch a housing project in Kimberley, Northern Cape, that will deliver more than 4 000 housing units during the life of the venture.

The project's goal is to produce 4 168 houses, with 2 500 slated for delivery within the next year.

During the launch, the President will perform a sod-turning ceremony at a site secured by the Department of Human Settlements.

This location will host fully subsidised houses and diverse housing opportunities, including First Home Finance and social housing.

Working with National Treasury, the Northern Cape provincial government has sought a R600 million loan from the Development Bank of South Africa to supplement its baseline grant allocation for housing.

The housing units established in this project will address the pressing need for housing opportunities in the province, where approximately 162 informal settlements and nearly 80 000 households lack adequate housing. 

Presently, 18,000 serviced stands across the province are prepared for the construction of housing structures.

Details of the launch are as follows:


Date: Thursday, 18 January 2024
Time: 08h00
Venue: Kimberley: Roodepan Land Parcel, opposite the Roodepan Police station

 

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - media@presidency.gov.za 

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

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Eulogy by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Special Official Funeral of Dr. Peter Magubane
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Programme Directors, Mr. Phil Molefe and Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Mr. Zizi Kodwa,
The extended Magubane Family, oNkomose,oMalinga abalinga amatshe abazintaba, ngiyanibingelela.

 

Former President Mbeki
Premier of Gauteng, Mr. Panyaza Lesufi,
Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana,
Members of the local and international media fraternity, 
The many friends and colleagues of the late Dr. Peter Magubane from South Africa and across the world who have come to be with us here today,
Fellow Mourners,

Today we bid farewell to a distinguished lensman, and one of the finest and most fearless journalists our country has produced.

We have just heard the tributes paid to him by veterans in the media industry.

Having read the many written tributes that have been penned over the past week by people who worked alongside him and were mentored by him, it is clear that the description of him as a legend is a fitting one.


We have in our midst today men and women from the great generation of journalists of which Bra Peter, as he was fondly known, formed part. As we salute him, his contribution and his service to the people of South Africa, I salute you all too. 

In doing so I recall the  tribute penned and published last weekend by another of our media greats, Mr. Mathatha Tsedu. He described Bra Peter as a freedom fighter, from a cohort of revolutionary media players, “who were guerrillas with their cameras, notebooks and pens.” 

To confirm the guerrilla status accorded to him by Mathatha Tsedu, Bra Peter is quoted as having told The Guardian newspaper in 2015 that “I did not want to leave the country to find another life. I was going to stay and fight with my camera as my gun. I did not want to kill anyone, though. I wanted to kill apartheid.”

And a freedom fighter he was. 

As The New York Times obituary put it,  Peter Magubane’s images documenting the cruelties and violence of apartheid drew global acclaim but punishment at home, including beatings, imprisonment and 586 consecutive days of solitary confinement.

But despite all attempts to break his spirit and to take him away from his craft, he would not put his camera down. 

We have heard of how he would smuggle his cameras into hollowed-out bread, milk cartons and I am told even the Bible, to take pictures without the notice of the authorities.

We have heard of how despite having his own job to do and his own deadlines to meet, he was always ready to help and support fellow journalists working with him in the trenches, including the many foreign correspondents who were in the country at the time.

Fellow Mourners,

In the gospel of John, chapter 18, is the trial of Christ. 

The Lord is brought before Pilate, who asks him: “So you say you are a king?” 
Jesus answered: “It is you who say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.”

At the darkest time in the life of our nation, in a South Africa paralysed by injustice, Peter Magubane’s lens bore witness to the truth. 

And to quote George Orwell’s famous words, in a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
At a time when an unjust regime acted with impunity and callous disregard for human life, Peter Magubane’s images exposed its lies.

The apartheid regime did not care much for the lives it was extinguishing, but it cared a great deal about its image, especially about how it was portrayed to the rest of the world. 

Peter Magubane’s images, and those of his peers, upended Hendrik Verwoerd’s great lie that apartheid was benign benevolence, a system of the separate but equal, and so-called good neighbourliness. 

His archive testifies to an extraordinary range.

For many years he was President Mandela’s official photographer. Some of the most enduring images we have of Madiba were taken by his lens.

He published a number of photography books, including Nelson Mandela: Man of the People, and Nelson Mandela: Life of Destiny.

He was there at the many turning points in the struggle against apartheid, and covered the various states of emergency during the mid 1980’s. 

There are his stark images that documented the aftermath of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the 1976 Soweto Uprising, and the many other acts of violence unleashed by the regime.

Later in life he would go on to produce photography on heritage and culture. Amongst them is one of my favourite of his works, The Vanishing Cultures of South Africa. It is an extraordinary collection that documents the lives, customs and cultures of our country’s ethnic groups.

But it is his depictions of everyday life for black South Africans living under apartheid for which he was best known. 

These images that he began taking in the 1960’s, appeared in distinguished publications like Drum magazine, Time magazine, the Rand Daily Mail, and others. 

One of his best known images, is of a black domestic worker stroking the hair of a white child seated on a Europeans Only bench.

The photograph got worldwide attention for the power of the disturbing scene that it conveyed. That photograph also painted a vivid scene of the meaning of apartheid. It was able to transport the lived experiences of black people in South Africa to many people in distant lands.

As important as it was to him to document the violence and bloodshed, it was equally important to bring home to readers and viewers the true face of petty apartheid with its convoluted and ridiculous laws and rules. 

In according him this Special Provincial Official Funeral we as the South African people are giving richly deserved recognition to Dr. Magubane for his contribution to the important craft of journalism. 


Above all, we are doing so because bearing witness to injustice everywhere, in all its forms, is, and will forever remain an act of courage that is worthy of the highest acclaim.

When we look at the world today, we see journalists being arrested, persecuted and even killed for doing their job.

As we bid farewell to one of our own legendary journalists, I ask that we remember the more than 100 journalists and media workers who have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the people of Gaza. 

Indeed, bearing witness to the truth is a revolutionary act. 

Standing firm for justice is what must define our humanity. 

As we lay Bra Peter to rest today, the International Court of Justice in The Hague will tomorrow begin hearings in the proceedings brought by South Africa against the State of Israel for its crimes committed against the Palestinian people.

Our opposition to the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza has driven us as a country to approach the ICJ. 

As a people who once tasted the bitter fruits of dispossession, discrimination, racism and state-sponsored violence, we are clear that we will stand on the right side of history.

It is our fervent hope that just as we were able to reconcile and make peace, that the peoples of Israel and Palestine will find a lasting, just peace.

Fellow Mourners,

In this, the 30th year since achieving our democracy, we can be pleased that media and press freedom in South Africa remains strong. 

The right to a free press is enshrined in our Constitution.

As a country we can hold our heads up high that we have come very far from the days when Peter Magubane and other journalists were censured, arrested and persecuted for practicing their craft.

We can be proud that our intellectual property regime is robust and protects the rights of journalists, artists, cultural workers and all South Africans and enables them to safeguard and profit off their work. 

Above all we can be proud that the South African media continues in the tradition of Dr. Magubane by bearing witness to injustice, to wrongdoing and to malfeasance.  

Just as his generation of journalists held the powerful to account, we continue to count on today’s generation of media workers to fulfil this important role without being hindered, obstructed, or censored. 

At the same time, we know the immense power of the Fourth Estate in shaping public opinion, in giving an impartial and unbiased account of the truth, and in supporting the development of a nation. 

As much as it is critical to point the lens in the direction of wrongdoing, I want to take this opportunity to call on the media to give South Africans an equally balanced view of the progress this country has achieved over the past the 30 years.

Of the progress in terms of educational outcomes, access to healthcare, basic services, constitutional freedoms, and fulfilment of the Bill of Rights.

The South Africa of today is a vastly different place to the South Africa that was the canvas for Dr. Magubane’s lens. 

His work documenting apartheid helped shift global opinion against the regime. 

At a time when we strive to rebuild our country from a period of great hardship, your balanced work as men and women of the media has the potential to lift the nation’s spirits, to inspire and give us courage, and to bring us hope. 

Let us bring too to the people of South Africa the stories of lives transformed, living standards improved, and those areas where there has been positive change. We count on you to be the conscience of a nation, but also the voice of the people, as Dr. Magubane was. 

As journalists you should not only be messengers of doom and gloom, but guardians of our democracy and merchants of hope.

Fellow Mourners,

It was the Palestinian historian, academic, writer and activist Edward Said who once said:
“I do not know whether the photograph can, or does, say things as they really are. Something has been lost. But the representation is all we have.”

What we have, what Dr. Peter Magubane has left behind, opens a window into life in South Africa that will be viewed, analysed, cited and studied for generations to come. 

Our past may not define us, but we look to it and learn from it as we carve a brighter path forward. Without knowledge of our past, without understanding it, we are, as Marcus Garvey said, a tree without roots. 

A great tree has fallen. We mourn Dr. Peter Magubane and pay tribute to his legacy. 

To the Magubane family, the nation shares in your loss. May you be comforted by the knowledge that his work lives on. 

Farewell, Mkhonto, hamba kahle Nkomose, Dibanto, Jiyane, Msengaduna namathokazi. 

 

Thank you. 
 

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President Ramaphosa to deliver eulogy at funeral of Dr Peter Magubane
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President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the eulogy at the Provincial Official Funeral of the late Dr Peter Magubane in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 10 January 2024. 

Dr Magubane, a nationally celebrated and globally renowned photographer who documented critical moments in South Africa’s liberation struggle and emergence as a democracy, passed away on 01 January 2024 at the age of 91.

He was also a distinguished Member of the National Order of Luthuli.

President Ramaphosa has honoured Dr Magubane by declaring a Provincial Official Funeral Category 2. 

A Provincial Official Funeral Category 2 includes elements of police ceremonial honours and is “reserved for distinguished persons specifically designated by the President of South Africa on request by the premier of a province”.

Dr Magubane’s photographic career began in 1955 after he joined Drum magazine as a driver and messenger.

He soon became a darkroom assistant where his major assignment was covering the African National Congress 1955 convention.

He used his camera to record the experiences and struggles of black South Africans during apartheid. These images reached the world’s media and revealed to the international community the injustices that characterised South Africa at that time.

Tomorrow’s funeral proceedings will commence at 09h00am at the Bryanston Methodist Church.

 

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

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Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni to unveil state-of-the-art broadcasting studios at Kwanyamazane FM
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Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni accompanied by the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Ms Nomasonto Motaung, Members of the Executive Council in Mpumalanga and Media Development and Diversity Agency’s (MDDA) Board Chairperson Professor Hlengani Mathebula will on Tuesday 9 January 2024, lead the official unveiling of state-of-the-art studios at Kanyamazane FM in Mpumalanga. 
 
The unveiling forms part of the MDDA’s ongoing work to support the development and diversity of community and small commercial media. 
 
Community media forms a vital part of any society, as it ensures that communities are represented and reflected as part of a diverse nation. It engages people from different cultures and backgrounds, and through the use of indigenous languages advances dialogue and promotes participatory democracy. 
 
The year 2024 marks 30 years of democracy in South Africa, and it is also an election year where citizens can exercise their democratic right to vote. The media, especially community media therefore plays a crucial role in providing access to relevant, reliable and timely information upon which citizens can make informed choices. 
 
Kanyamazane community radio station was licensed by ICASA in 1998 to provide a community radio service to the community of Kanyamazane near Mbombela in Mpumalanga. The station has been operational for 26 years, and it is the first time it has been funded by the MDDA. The languages of broadcast are 65% siSwati, 15% IsiZulu, 15% English & 5% Township Lingo.
 
The unveiling of the brand-new broadcast studios for Kanyamazane FM signifies the MDDA’s mission to support the development of a vibrant, innovative, and people-centred community media sector. 
 
Media is invited to the unveiling of the broadcast studios is scheduled as follows:
Date: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Time: 08h00-12h00
Venue: Kanyamazane FM, 1214 Chris Hani drive office 3459
 
For more information and media queries: 
Margaret Ndawonde
Tel: 082 785 6071
Email: margaret@mdda.org.za
MDDA Communications Unit 
 
Sipho Mbele
Spokesperson: Minister in The Presidency 
Tel.: 083 625 3446
 
Bongo Nazo
Head: Deputy Minister in The Presidency 
Tel.: 082 185 6888
 
Facebook: MDDA 
Twitter: @MDDA_Media 
Instagram: @MDDA_Media 
WhatsApp: 063 509 4934
 
For media releases, speeches and news visit the MDDA portal at www.mdda.org.za
 
 
Media enquiries: Sipho Mbele - Spokesperson: Minister in The Presidency - 083 625 3446
 
Issued by: The Presidency and the Media Development and Diversity Agency
Pretoria

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Minister of Electricity to brief media on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan
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The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will tomorrow, 9 January 2024, brief the media on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan. 

Members of the media are invited to attend the briefing as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Time: 09:00 for 10:00
Venue: GCIS Auditorium, Tshedimosetso House, 1035 Francis Baard Street, Hatfield, Pretoria

Live Streaming details:

Facebook: http://facebook.com/GovernmentZA   
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GovernmentZA   
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GovernmentZA  

 

Media enquires: Tsakane Khambane, Spokesperson in the Ministry of Electricity - 082 084 5566 /tsakane@presidency.gov.za
 
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

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Ministers of Public Enterprises and Electricity agree on a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen actions against load shedding
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has approved a Memorandum of Understanding entered into by Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to better clarify their respective responsibilities with respect to Eskom and the resolution of the electricity crisis. The MoU establishes a firm basis for a collaborative approach between the Ministers in exercising their assigned powers and functions.

The MoU outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Minister of Electricity as follows:
- Focus full-time on all aspects of the electricity crisis and the work of the National Energy Crisis Committee.
- Exercise authority over the Eskom Board and management on ending load shedding and ensure that the Energy Action Plan is implemented without delay. 
- Improve generation capacity and the purchase of additional capacity.
- Oversee implementation of the Eskom Generation Recovery Plan.
- Ensure that the generation fleet performs optimally and results in security of supply and low level of loadshedding.
- Ensure that matters dealing with transmission are dealt with, including the issuing of the Requests for Proposals and/or Requests for Information for financing of new transmission lines.
- Developing and agreeing on financing models and options for transmission together with National Treasury and the Presidency.

The MoU takes into account the Eskom Memorandum of Incorporation, which makes it obligatory to inform the Minister of Public Enterprises of critical decisions in this respect.

The MoU stipulates that the Minister of Public Enterprises will:     
- Remain the shareholder representative of Eskom.
- Support and assist the Minister of Electricity in his interactions with the Board by incorporating the responsibilities of the Minister of Electricity listed in the MoU in the execution of his role as shareholder, in line with the Eskom Shareholder Compact, and inserting the obligations of the Board in this regard into the Board Performance Evaluation Framework.
- Steer the restructuring of Eskom in line with the Eskom Roadmap.
- Ensure the establishment and operationalisation of the transmission company.
- Lay the basis for the restructuring of Eskom arising from the Electricity Regulation Act Amendment Bill.
- Oversee the implementation of the just energy transition strategy as provided for in the Shareholder Compact.

 The MoU makes provision for regular review meetings between the Ministers to address any impediments to the implementation of the MOU. The Ministers will also have regular review meetings with the President. 

Commenting on the MoU, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “While significant progress has been made in reducing the severity of load shedding, much work still needs to be done to guarantee a secure supply of electricity. The collaborative approach outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding will further strengthen Eskom’s efforts to resolve the electricity crisis.”

“The Ministers will work together more closely and with their respective responsibilities clearly outline to ensure the effective implementation of the Energy Action Plan,” he said.

The arrangement outlined in the MoU will be operational until the end of the current administration.


Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President- media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
 

President Ramaphosa meets with RSF leader on developments towards peace in Sudan
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has today, 4 January 2024, received the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Dagalo, of the Republic of Sudan at the Mahlamba Ndlopfu official residence in Pretoria.

The President welcomed the briefing from General Dagalo and commended the central role of the African Union and IGAD under the chairship of Djibouti in mediating between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and participation of the people of Sudan, and civil society in finding a lasting solution to the security and political challenges. 

President Ramaphosa expressed South Africa’s support for the imminent face to face dialogue between General Dagalo and General Burhan and reiterated the need for an immediate ceasefire, and the dialogue towards permanent cessation of hostilities. 
 

Media enquiries: Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President - media@presidency.gov.za

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria

President Cyril Ramaphosa has today, 04 January 2024, received the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Dagalo, of the Republic of Sudan at the Mahlamba Ndlopfu official residence in Pretoria.

The President welcomed the briefing from General Dagalo and commended the central role of the African Union and IGAD under the chairship of Djibouti in mediating between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and participation of the people of Sudan, and civil society in finding a lasting solution to the security and political challenges.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has today, 04 January 2024, received the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Dagalo, of the Republic of Sudan at the Mahlamba Ndlopfu official residence in Pretoria.

The President welcomed the briefing from General Dagalo and commended the central role of the African Union and IGAD under the chairship of Djibouti in mediating between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and participation of the people of Sudan, and civil society in finding a lasting solution to the security and political challenges.

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