1994: The largest omelet in history was made with 160 000 eggs in Yokohama, Japan. 

On this day in 1962, Bob Dylan releases his first album, followed in due course by the protest songs Blowin' in the Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin, considered anthems for the anti-war movement.

SCAM ALERT1: FAKE MSUNDUZI MUNICIPALITY TENDER

A sophisticated tender scam using manipulated Msunduzi e-tender documentation is inviting companies to participate in a 7-day tender that stipulates a particular product only available from a single supplier that, when contacted, agrees to a 48-hour delivery and a 70% deposit upfront. Fake Msunduzi officials “award the tender” and then start putting pressure on the successful tenderer to deliver. Note the “single supplier” is fake, as are the tender documents. (PCB)

SCAM ALERT 2: FRAUDULENT MEDICAL CERTIFICATES

Dr S.S. Meer of Pinetown has confirmed that there are fake medical certificates being issued on a stolen pad in his name. He has informed the police, but they have not yet caught the perpetrator, who was last known to be issuing these certificates from a chicken farm in Camperdown. If you have a certificate from his practice, please be encouraged to contact him to verify the authenticity of that certificate. His contact number is 031-701 3464. (PCB)

ANOTHER DAY OF STAGE 4 LOAD SHEDDING, STARTING AT 9 AM

Eskom has said that stage 4 load shedding will be implemented today from 9 am to 11 pm due to a shortage of available capacity. The power utility implemented Stage 4 load shedding yesterday 11 pm. "Eskom’s maintenance teams are working round the clock to return generation units to the electricity system," it said. In a statement issued on Sunday, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said that load shedding is "unacceptable and disruptive". Reasons given for the shortages include problems with coal supplies and coal, low dam storage levels at hydro-plants, diesel supply shortages, tube failures and breakdowns of local coal-fired power stations. The natural disaster in Mozambique was also a contributing factor, as it affected power supply imported from Cahora Bassa. (Fin24)

MANUFACTURING FEELS DOMINO EFFECT AS LIGHTS GO OUT

Trade and industry minister Rob Davies says load shedding is having a negative impact on the manufacturing industry and future investments, but that government is working on the issues.Davies was speaking yesterday at an announcement of a R12 million investment in TV manufacturing in the area of Atlantis by Hisense electronics company. Davis says load shedding is having a negative impact on the manufacturing industry and future investments. In a perfectly timed moment of irony, the lights went out during the minister’s visit. At the factory in Atlantis, more than 3 800 appliances are manufactured daily. However, when load shedding occurs, the machines are switched off and production stops. Staff members put down their tools and get redirected to training. Mark Dammert of Hisense said: “That has a domino effect, for example, if we promised to pay a particular retailer, we are not paying. You promise to have ready 10 000 fridges but you only have 5 000. There are penalties. So, there are big losses when it comes to load shedding.” (EWN)

LET GIGABA FACE THE MUSIC OVER GUPTA CITIZENSHIP

Former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba’s decision to grant the Gupta family citizenship was "incorrect" and should be looked into by the state-capture inquiry, says a draft report by the home affairs portfolio committee published in parliament yesterday. The committee has been investigating how members of the Gupta family, friends of former president Jacob Zuma who are mired in corruption allegations during his time in office, received citizenship in early 2015 even though they did not meet the requirements. The Guptas were also business partners with his son Duduzane. The family’s influence was said to have grown so much that they were able to appoint ministers and leaders of state-owned enterprises, and divert state resources towards their business interests, from coal mines supplying Eskom to the now defunct media interests. The former president had abdicated his powers to the family, former finance minister Trevor Manuel told the Zondo commission in February. Gigaba resigned from the cabinet in 2018, a day before president Cyril Ramaphosa was to take action against him following a public protector’s finding that he had violated the constitution and the executive code of ethics by lying under oath. (BDLive)

AMCU LOSES COURT BATTLE OVER SIBANYE STRIKE

In the ongoing war with Sibanye-Stillwater, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has lost another legal battle, this time an attempt to stop retrenchments at the gold mines where it has called on its members to go on a protracted strike. In the latest setback for Amcu in the wage strike called on November 21, the union’s efforts to stop a retrenchment process at two of the three gold mines where about 14 000 of its members have downed tools were rejected by labour court judge Andre van Niekerk on yesterday. On Friday, there was a scathing judgment from labour court judge Connie Prinsloo in her decision that a secondary strike by Amcu in gold, platinum, vanadium and other mines would be unprotected. She noted the level of violence in the Sibanye gold strike in which mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe said nine people had been killed and more than 60 houses burnt. Amcu said it would appeal against the judgment which in its view violated its constitutional rights. (BDLive)

BREXIT CONFUSION PUTS SACU TALKS ON HOLD

Uncertainty about the UK’s departure from the EU has left trade negotiators of six Southern African nations pondering how their future ties with one of their largest trading partners will pan out. “Even if there is a deal, it will take months, if not years, to manage the administration around trade and tariffs,” trade and industry minister Rob Davies said yesterday. SA negotiates trade deals with fellow members of the Southern African Customs Union — Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini and Botswana — and have now been joined by Mozambique in talks on a post-Brexit trade agreement with the UK. SA has the region’s biggest economy, and the UK is its eighth-largest trading partner. (Bloomberg)
See below: May’s Brexit plan comes to naught

ADVTECH LOOKS NORTH FOR GROWTH

Private education group AdvTech has managed to grow its numbers amid the tough economic environment in SA but, as challenges continue at home, is expanding into other African markets that present more attractive growth opportunities. This expansion, together with the performance from its tertiary division, helped the group to deliver an 11% increase in revenue to R4.4 billion for the year to end-December 2018, while operating profit was up 14% to R725 million. The group’s overall enrolment numbers rose 11% to 70 456 in the latest reporting period, and this was mainly attributed to acquisitions made in African markets outside of SA. It says that at home, increased levels of withdrawals owing to emigration is a trend that has continued into 2019. (Moneyweb)

PALLADIUM TESTING NEW LEVELS

Palladium prices surged to a record this morning, bolstered by worries about shrinking supply of the auto-catalyst metal, while gold rose on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will maintain a dovish tone at its policy meeting this week. Spot palladium was up 0.3% at US US$1 588.04 (about R22 475) an ounce, after marking a high of US$1 592.02 earlier in the session. Palladium has continued to firm despite weak car sales as news that Russia is mulling a ban on scrap and tailing exports threatens to further tighten an already tight market, TD Securities wrote in a weekly note. (Reuters)

MAY’S BREXIT PLAN COMES TO NAUGHT

British prime minister Theresa May's attempt to pass her Brexit deal in parliament a third time has met an abrupt, sticky end, and from an unlikely source: Speaker John Bercow. Invoking a 415-year old rule of the House, Bercow forbade May from proposing the deal unless it was "significantly different" from previous versions. (DM)

MONITORING, EVALUATION AND RESEARCH SKILLS PROGRAMME

Starts: 8th April 2019

The main aim of this programme is to equip participants with skills to undertake Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) functions. The imparted skills will assist participants with the knowledge to design relevant M&E frameworks and engage in practical applications of M&E systems. 

This programme is aimed at strengthening government, private sector’s and civil society organisations’ capacity in monitoring, evaluation and action research in order to develop a pool of researchers and practitioners that have knowledge and skills in participatory monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment of programmes and projects. Strengthening M&E capacities both within and outside of organisations will notably enhance prospects for the success of intervention programmes (and projects) and improve service delivery, impact and efficiency.

Duration:

6 Months

Contact:

For more information please contact Kenny Ngcobo
T: +27 31 260 4963
E: ngcobok@ukzn.ac.za