Did You Know?

The National Assembly has recommended that Advocate Busisiwe Joyce Mkhwebane be appointed as the new Public Protector. This recommendation has been forwarded to the President for confirmation.

According to the Deputy President, the advisory panel on the national minimum wage will submit a report of their recommendations in October.

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has introduced a social media platform that allows councillors to respond quickly to questions raised by citizens. GovChat allows citizens to send photos, videos, public and private messages in real time, directly to their ward councillors. GovChat is currently available as a web application and citizens can register as users at www.govchat.org.za.

The Department of Basic Education has a manual called Opening Our Eyes – it is designed for educators to help address gender-based violence in South African schools.

The Department of Home Affairs says it has designed a new marriage process to cater for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community. A list of offices with marriage officers that can conduct same-sex marriages has been finalised to give everyone access to dignified marriage ceremonies.

According to the official Crime Statistics, South Africa’s murder rate and attempted murder rate has increased by 4.9% and 3.4% in the 2015/16 financial year. Meanwhile, sexual offences are down by 3.2% in 2015/16, from 53 617 in 2014/15.

Government has released the findings of the fourth Wave of the National Income Dynamic Study (NIDS), which profiles what is happening with South Africans across the income spectrum. The NIDS dataset is freely available and can be found at http://www.nids.uct.ac.za

 From 1 September 2016, the Department of Health adopted the World Health Organisation’s test and treat strategy for people with HIV. In 2015, WHO released a document on ‘Guidelines on when to start anti-retroviral therapy and on pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV. The document recommends that anyone infected with HIV should begin ARV treatment as soon possible after diagnosis. In the past, patients could only start treatment after it was established that their CD4 count was lower than 500. Test and treat has now been implemented at all South African State health facilities.

Ward committees are crucial in the local government system as they are the link between the councillor and the community. Learn more here http://www.sanews.gov.za/features-south-africa/municipal-ward-committees-what-you-need-know

Did you know that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Constitution? The Constitution was signed into law by former President Nelson Mandela on 10 December 1996 in Sharpeville. Since then, the Constitution has been amended 17 times: See the changes here http://www.wcpp.gov.za/sites/default/files/20yearsConstitution-Amendments_poster.pdf

South Africa’s population is estimated at 55.91 million. 51% (28.53 million) of the population is female. The infant mortality rate for 2016 is estimated at 33.7 per 1 000 live births.