COVID-19 STATE OF DISASTER

• A ministerial directive gazetted on 19 March:
  • replaced sub-directions in the July 2020 health directive for handling and disposing of mortal remains, and
  • withdrew a sub-direction allowing people entering South Africa to apply for and be granted exemption from quarantine.

EDUCATION

• On 12 March, a national policy on support services at community education and training colleges was gazetted with the aim of:
  • introducing a standardised, structured approach relevant to the ‘contextual needs’ of students, and
  • guiding interventions for:
    • building the capacity of staff members
    • monitoring student attendance, punctuality and progress, and
    • providing support:
      • at college entry level
      • by way of learning, training and development
      • to promote wellness
      • for students with disabilities (including ‘reading, basic spelling, writing and mathematical disorder’)
      • by way of assistive technology
      • in the event of a disaster, and
      • when exiting college.

 

BASIC INCOME GRANT

• Department of Social Development proposals for introducing a basic income grant are expected to be finalised ‘in the coming financial year’, according to a media statement issued on 17 March. They will:
  • include financing and implementation options
  • form part of a ‘broader agenda’ for the ‘universal coverage of all citizens in a comprehensive and coherent social security system’, and
  • if approved by Cabinet will underpin the ‘necessary legislative processes’.

 

COMMUNICATIONS

• The phased, province-by-province analogue television transmitter switch-off announced last month in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address is now officially under way. It:
  • will move systematically from one analogue transmitter coverage area to another, beginning in Free State province and
  • is expected to be complete ‘by the end of March 2022’ in Gauteng.
• Sentech will ‘assist’ with managing decoder installations, using locally recruited technicians.
• Households:
  • with a combined monthly income of less than R3200 will receive government-subsidised set top boxes
  • not qualifying for a subsidised decoder will have two options:
    • either to purchase an integrated digital television with inbuilt decoding capability, or
    • to purchase a commercial satellite decoder.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL

• The Antarctica and southern oceans strategy was gazetted on 19 March, providing ‘the basis for conceiving and generating an implementable action plan’ that is:
  • responsive to and aligned with the sustainable development goals of:
    • ‘climate action’
    • conserving marine resources, and
    • revitalising related global partnerships.

 

• On 19 March, draft amendments to the November 2020 extended producer responsibility waste management regulations were gazetted for comment.

 

GENDER ISSUES

 

• A recently published five-year national action plan on ‘women, peace and security’ includes several strategic objectives expected to be achieved this year, including:
  • establishing the necessary organisational structures, and
  • gender ‘reprioritisation’ in the security sector, focusing on:
    • aligning strategies with ‘contemporary realities’, and
    • ensuring that ‘all security sector institutions have functioning and resourced gender units’.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby