Daily Podcast – September 03, 2018

3rd September 2018 By: Sane Dhlamini - Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor and Researcher

Daily Podcast – September 03, 2018

Chinese President Xi Jinping
Photo by: Reuters

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: China's Xi says no strings attached to funds for Africa, University students can apply for funding from today And, State capture inquiry to resume

 

China's Xi says no strings attached to funds for Africa

Chinese funds are not for "vanity projects" in Africa but are to build infrastructure that can remove development bottlenecks, Chinese President Xi Jinping said today, telling Chinese firms they also had to respect local people and the environment.

Xi said at a business forum before the start of a triennial China-Africa summit that their friendship was time-honoured and that China's investment in Africa came with no political strings attached.

He said China does not interfere in Africa's internal affairs and does not impose its own will on Africa. “

What we value is the sharing of development experience and the support we can offer to Africa's national rejuvenation and prosperity," Xi added.

 

University students can apply for funding from today

Applications for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme or NSFAS opened today, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor has announced.

Applicants can apply online.

Applications for student loans had been suspended owing to a massive backlog, which the ministry said has since been cleared. It cost as much as R1.2-billion to clear the backlog.

Once a student has applied to NSFAS, a maximum waiting period before getting a notice of acknowledgement is a week.


State capture inquiry to resume

The judicial commission of Inquiry into allegations of State capture is scheduled to continue in Johannesburg today.

Government Communication and Information System CEO Phumla Williams is expected to continue her testimony.

On Friday, Williams said former CEO Jimmy Manyi sent her a text message while she was giving evidence.

This after she had implicated him, telling the inquiry that he had irregularly changed the tender processes at the GCIS, placing all final decisions under him.

Manyi replaced Themba Maseko in 2011, who was fired after he defied an instruction by former president Jacob Zuma to "help" the Guptas, who were demanding that GCIS media spend be channeled to the New Age.
 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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