Issued by: Dept of Provincial and Local Government, Pretoria
Contact: National Y2K Disaster Management Centre Dept of Provincial and Local Government, Pretoria Phone: (012) 334-0630 or 082 456 7545 Fax: (012) 334-0813 Email: y2kcom@iafrica.com January 1, 2000 01:00 MEDIA STATEMENT
SOUTH AFRICA Y2K ROLL OVER STATUS REPORT - 01:00
South Africa followed international trends as its smooth transition into the new Millennium was celebrated without any interference from the Millennium Bug.
"Months of intensive planning and preparations have paid off so far and the picture I am reporting to you now is what we anticipated," says Zam Titus, director general of the Department of Provincial and Local Government, the government department charged with overseeing South Africa's Y2K programme for government. The only incident reported was that the Rietfontein sub-station in Pretoria had been hit by lightening, causing a power-failure in the area.
"There is always the chance that there could be glitches and perhaps minor problems in confined situations. As yet, we have not yet had any reports of Y2K-related problems, but we expect to be able to get a fuller picture of the situation around the country as our teams begin reporting in," he says.
The first official report back to the nation on the status of the Y2K roll-over will be made by Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi and Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, at a national press conference scheduled for 12 noon at the Media Centre attached to the National Y2K Disaster Management Centre, 87 Hamilton Street (corner Hamilton and Proes Streets), Pretoria.