Author: Staff Writer

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, says despite government’s mitigating interventions to cushion consumers against rising fuel costs, global events have led to prices escalating. 

He said this when he tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini-plenary of the National Assembly on Thursday. 

“The domestic and global economic realities under which our budget is delivered today remain dim, continuing with the difficult conditions of 2020 and 2021. 

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“We want to pray, work, and walk together with our member churches and ecumenical partners,” said Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC deputy general secretary. “Praying with others, we express our solidarity and promote peace and reconciliation. The power of prayer goes beyond church boundaries and national borders.”

The prayers for peace were shared during Monday morning prayers at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva and online, together with representatives from the conflict countries, including Cameroon, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Palestine and Israel, the Korean Peninsula, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine.

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Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the release of high demand spectrum has paved the way for telcos, or telecommunications companies, to start building next generation 5G networks.

Ntshavheni said this when she tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini-plenary of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

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As part of supporting functional municipalities, young people have been exposed to opportunities that have given them practical experience, says Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.

The Minister said this when she tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini-plenary of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

She said as part of the municipal support and intervention package during the past financial year, 50 civil engineers, 15 electric engineers, 15 town planners and nine assistant provincial managers from the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) were deployed to various provinces across the country.

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The 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour is taking place in Durban, South Africa from 15 – 20 May.

For the occasion, Pope Francis has sent a message extending his warm greetings and prayers to the participants in a letter addressed to Mr. Guy Rider, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization.

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In a world threatened by conflict, inequities, the climate crisis and pandemics, the Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Assembly will stress the importance of building a healthy and peaceful planet by harnessing science, data, technology and innovation.

This year’s session of the Health Assembly will focus on the theme of “Health for Peace, Peace for Health” and will run from the 22nd until the 28th of May at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. It will include the  appointment of the next WHO Director-General. 

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“In a context in which the North Korean population is unvaccinated, and without adequate ventilators or other essential supplies, the risk of an unprecedented death toll is very high,” said Sauca. “The COVID-19 outbreak greatly compounds the pre-existing humanitarian situation in North Korea particularly related to food insecurity in the country.”

The WCC therefore calls for an urgent humanitarian response by the international community commensurate with the gravity of the crisis, Sauca continued. ”In particular, newly developed antivirals, such as Paxlovid, must be provided as a matter of urgency, as well as diagnostics, ventilators, PPE, vaccines and other medical needs, as well as essential food supplies,” he said.

“We call for a centralized and coordinated approach to the international response, through the UN, and for any obstacles presented to this response by the current sanctions against the DPRK to be lifted as a matter of fundamental ethical and humanitarian responsibility.”

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Photo: KCNA