Daily Podcast – September 29, 2021

29th September 2021 By: Halima Frost - Senior Writer

Daily Podcast – September 29, 2021

President Cyril Ramaphosa

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: Ramaphosa authorises the release of the Digital Vibes report; Court gives Zondo another 3 months to complete commission's work; And, Government aims to vaccinate 500 000 people during ‘Vooma Vaccination Weekend’

 

Ramaphosa authorises the release of the Digital Vibes report

President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the release of the Special Investigating Unit’s report into the Digital Vibes contract.

The SIU report found that former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize’s department awarded a R150-million contract, in 2019, to Digital Vibes to provide communication services for government’s National Health Insurance and, later, its Covid-19 response.

Digital Vibes was linked to aides of Mkhize.

The report indicates that the procurement processes in respect of the NHI and Covid-19 media campaigns, were irregular and the subsequent contracts were void.

Irregular expenditure amounting to about R150-million, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to between R72-million and R80-million, were incurred by the Department of Health, according to the findings.

The report also revealed that former acting director-general of the DoH Dr Anban Pillay, should be criminally prosecuted for financial misconduct.

 

Court gives Zondo another 3 months to complete commission's work

Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has been given another three months to complete his State Capture Inquiry report, after the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria found that not granting the extension would "disadvantage the whole country". 

Had Zondo not succeeded in his application for an extension of the commission's lifespan, he would have had until Thursday to hand over its final report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He told the High Court that this was "not possible".

The presiding judge said that "it wouldn’t make any sense at all" for the court not to extend the commission's lifespan so that Zondo could complete his long-awaited report on the alleged "capture" of large chunks of government by private interests - at massive cost to the South African economy.

 

And, Government aims to vaccinate 500 000 people during ‘Vooma Vaccination Weekend’

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged leaders of all sectors of society and all South Africans to use government’s 'Vooma Vaccination Weekend' to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Government will roll out its nationwide vaccination drive on October 1 and 2 with the hopes that it can vaccinate at least half a million people within the weekend.

Ramaphosa stressed that vaccination is the country’s best defence against a possible fourth wave of Covid-19 infections. 

He said the country is on its way to vaccinating 70% of the adult population by the end of the year. 

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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