Former GS CEO Calls for Substantial R800/m Unemployment Grant

LOCAL NEWS

• Former GS CEO for Sub-Saharan Africa Colin Coleman says SA needs to offer a grant of R800 per month for unemployed South Africans as part of efforts to revive the economy.
  • He said that this is not a 'radical' or 'socialist idea' and has been proposed by just about every western democracy, centrist or social democratic party worldwide
• DA leader Steenhuisen says he is confident the DA will win at least 4 metros in the local general elections and undoubtedly as the party said it would ramp up campaigning in the coming weeks with a focus on the DA rather than how bad the ANC is. Says service delivery and employment are the two main manifesto focal points
• The City of Johannesburg is set to take over electricity supply to Soweto and other areas in the city from Eskom. Until recently, Soweto residents owed Eskom R12 billion in unpaid bills.
  • Through negotiations with the city, R5 billion of this debt was written off in the past financial year
• UK indicates it will remove SA from its red list of countries in its next review. Vicky Ford, the UK's minister for Africa, said she had been reassured by scientists that the Beta variant is no longer present, which 'takes one of the main concerns away'.
  • However, the country is still looking for the implementation of a vaccination certificate that the UK government would deem 'robust enough'.