SA to Vaccinate 500k Teachers in 10 Days, Wage Strike Risks Rise

LOCAL NEWS

• SA to vaccinate 500,000 teachers and other education sector workers in 10 days as part of the next phase of its rollout. Health Dept 300,000 vaccines earmarked for educators on Friday.
  • Cases reached 11,767 overnight and SA Medical Association calls for complete ban on gatherings in Gauteng and discouragement of inter-provincial travel
• Risk of local government workers going on strike has increased as two major unions involved in talks indicated that they would reject a proposal by an independent facilitator to cut wages in real terms and freeze other perks over the next three years.
  • Union SAMWU said early indications show that its members will reject the proposal outright
• Energy Expert Chris Yelland says Eskom are deliberately misleading the public on the real costs of the Medupi & Kusile projects as the project timelines at Kusile are expected to be pushed out to 2025 but stay within the R161bn budget.
  • Dept Pres. Mabuza says delays at Unit 4 & 6 are due to contractor, financial, commercial & contractual issues
• Political Analyst says Ramphosa must dramatically reduce the size of his Cabinet, removing all 34 deputy ministers and scrap 19 of the 28 Cabinet ministers
  • leaving only 9 behind with a team of several Director Generals to integrate departments better and work more effectively