South Africa has struck a R218 billion energy deal with Turkish company Karpowership to provide South Africa with power from Ships. The three floating power stations - which use Liquefied Natural Gas to produce electricity - are expected to dock at Saldanha, Richards Bay and Gqeberha towards the second half of next year. The Dept. of Mineral Resources and Energy has however acknowledged that Karpowership, which will supply 450 megawatts of electricity from gas, does not meet the local content requirement for the ships it will use. Deputy Director General Jacob Mbele told parliament that the final agreements are yet to be signed .

Meanwhile, Energy Analyst Clyde Mallinson says the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) is expensive and should be replaced by a materially larger, cost-effective, procurement programme based primarily on renewables and storage, rather than power ships. Mallinson has written to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) and the Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office to highlight these expensive shortcomings of the RMIPPPP.

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The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says it has encountered payment delays for March and April COVID-19 grant. SASSA says this due to the transition in government financial years. The end of March is the end of the financial year for government and various administrative tasks are required before any payments which relate to the previous financial year can be made. We spoke to Paseka Letsatsi, SASSA Spokesperson.

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says it has encountered payment delays for March and April COVID-19 grant. SASSA says this due to the transition in government financial years. The end of March is the end of the financial year for government and various administrative tasks are required before any payments which relate to the previous financial year can be made. We spoke to Paseka Letsatsi, SASSA Spokesperson.

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Power utility Eskom is urgently seeking new providers of technical support after Oracle Corp.'s South African unit withdrew its services over a payment dispute. The state power utility has been in a disagreement with Oracle, which initially claimed Eskom underpaid it by about R7.3 billion, before reducing the amount to R380 million. Eskom is only prepared to pay R166 million. Eskom earlier this month lost a court bid to compel Oracle to continue providing services until April 2022. We spoke to Eskom's spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

Power utility Eskom is urgently seeking new providers of technical support after Oracle Corp.'s South African unit withdrew its services over a payment dispute. The state power utility has been in a disagreement with Oracle, which initially claimed Eskom underpaid it by about R7.3 billion, before reducing the amount to R380 million. Eskom is only prepared to pay R166 million. Eskom earlier this month lost a court bid to compel Oracle to continue providing services until April 2022. We spoke to Eskom's spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

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Former VBS Mutual Bank retail account holders have until July 8 to collect up to R100,000 at any Nedbank branch. 8TH July 2021 is the date when the agreement between the liquidator, the Prudential Authority and Nedbank is due to end. In terms of the agreement which was concluded in 2018, depositors were guaranteed up to R100 000 per depositor and had three years to collect their money. Retail depositors include individuals, burial societies, stokvels and saving clubs’ deposits in VBS. The guarantee does not cover municipal or corporate deposits. We spoke to Anoosh Rooplal, VBS Mutual Bank liquidator.

Former VBS Mutual Bank retail account holders have until July 8 to collect up to R100,000 at any Nedbank branch. 8TH July 2021 is the date when the agreement between the liquidator, the Prudential Authority and Nedbank is due to end. In terms of the agreement which was concluded in 2018, depositors were guaranteed up to R100 000 per depositor and had three years to collect their money. Retail depositors include individuals, burial societies, stokvels and saving clubs’ deposits in VBS. The guarantee does not cover municipal or corporate deposits. We spoke to Anoosh Rooplal, VBS Mutual Bank liquidator.

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The Communications Worker's Union (CWU) says issues facing the South African Post Office (SAPO) include Structural Organisation, Industry regulation and Governance. The union also says that it is very strange top executives at SAPO do not last very long in their positions. Just recently (in January this year) the union says it was shocked and disturbed by the resignation of the Post Office's CFO just three months into the job. Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts is also concerned by the report of the Auditor General on the South African Post Office. SAPO obtained a disclaimer of audit opinion and Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke which found that SAPO is commercially insolvent. The group incurred irregular expenditure of over 200 million rand as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure exceeding 26 million rand. We spoke to CWU's Aubrey Tshabalala and SAPO CEO, Nomkhitha Mona

The Communications Worker's Union (CWU) says issues facing the South African Post Office (SAPO) include Structural Organisation, Industry regulation and Governance. The union also says that it is very strange top executives at SAPO do not last very long in their positions. Just recently (in January this year) the union says it was shocked and disturbed by the resignation of the Post Office's CFO just three months into the job. Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts is also concerned by the report of the Auditor General on the South African Post Office. SAPO obtained a disclaimer of audit opinion and Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke which found that SAPO is commercially insolvent. The group incurred irregular expenditure of over 200 million rand as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure exceeding 26 million rand. We spoke to CWU's Aubrey Tshabalala and SAPO CEO, Nomkhitha Mona

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A Soweto family is still traumatized after the horrific death of their mother, Jostina Sangweni who had dementia. She was attacked and burnt by community members on Friday while she was apparently on her way to consult with her spiritual healer. A video of the attack in which the voices of men insulting her can be heard, went viral on social media over the weekend. The family says she was attacked because she was wearing a traditional healer's attire and the community believed she was a witch. We spoke to Brigadier Mathapelo Peters, the Gauteng SAPS Spokesperson.