Stage 4 load-shedding will be implemented until 4pm on Monday afternoon and stage 5 until 5am on Tuesday morning. Load-shedding will be reduced to stage 3 from 5am until 4pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. Stage 4 will be implemented from 4pm until 5am on Tuesday and Wednesday. Electricity imports from the Cahora Bassa hydro scheme in Mozambique have been halved to 6OOMW due to a tower failure on one line […]
A Spanish woman imprisoned in Iran since November on espionage charges after she was arrested during anti-government protests in November has been released, the Spanish Foreign Minister said on Sunday, Reuters reports. An activist who works for a human rights NGO, 24-year-old Ana Baneira Suarez was detained in Iran during nationwide protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman in September. "My congratulations for the release of Ana Baneira. […]
President Cyril Ramaphosa has only a day left to meet the February 28 deadline that the Constitutional Court has imposed on him to sign the Electoral Amendment Bill. The Bill provides for independent candidates to also contest elections at both provincial and national levels. The court earlier found that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional because it did not allow independent candidates to also contest for seats in the provincial legislatures and […]
President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a new chairperson and commissioners for the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). The CGE aims to promote respect for and the attainment and development of gender equality in South Africa. The appointees are advocate Olave Nthabiseng Sepanya-Mogale, who will chair the commission full-time from March 1 to February 2028, while advocate Thando Gumede has been appointed a full-time commissioner from March 1 to December 2027. […]
Unaudited fuel data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) shows significant petrol price increases are likely in March, says the Automobile Association (AA). According to the data, the price of 93 and 95 ULP petrol is expected to increase by between R1.22/litre and R1.27/l, diesel by around 28c/l and illuminating paraffin by 16c/l. “In the case of petrol, the movement in international oil prices is contributing between 76c and 82c […]
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has called on communities to heed the warning from the South African Weather Service (SAWS) and the disaster management teams across the country. The Weather Service indicated that Cyclone Freddy will have a very localised and limited impact on the country in the days ahead. In a statement, Dlamini-Zuma says South Africans must be cautious and careful as rains are […]
At least nine people have been killed and 14 injured in rioting and clashes with police in Papua’s Wamena town after rumours circulated that a child had been kidnapped, local media and an official said. More than 200 security personnel, including police and the military, have been deployed to contain the situation in the restive Indonesian province, police said on Friday. There has been no further violence since Thursday’s attacks on […]
The Vatican and Oman established diplomatic ties on Thursday, marking a further widening of the Holy See's official relations with the Arab Muslim World, Reuters reports. In a joint statement, both sides said they wanted to promote mutual understanding and cooperation and that ambassadors would be named. The Vatican, a sovereign city-state surrounded by Rome, now has diplomatic relations with every country on the Arabian Peninsula, except Saudi Arabia. Oman, a Sultanate, is predominately Muslim, like the […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) says one woman dies every two minutes during pregnancy or childbirth, according to the latest data, with too few countries in the world managing to substantially reduce maternal death rates since 2016. The report, Trends in Maternal Mortality, showed that while there was significant progress in reducing maternal deaths between 2000 and 2015, those gains stalled or were even reversed in the five years to 2020. […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
