AMENDMENT OF DIRECTIONS ISSUED IN TERMS OF REGULATION 4(10) OF THE REGULATIONS MADE UNDER SECTION 27(2) OF THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2002 (ACT NO.57 OF 2002): MEASURES TO PREVENT AND COMBAT THE SPREAD OF COVID – 19: SPORT, ARTS AND CULTURE
Eligible wholesale and retail small and medium companies are invited to apply for the 2020/21 Discretionary Grants to implement non-PIVOTAL training programmes (non-credit bearing interventions). Funding is available only to companies that are registered with the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) and operate in the Wholesale and Retail Sector irrespective of whether they have the SDL Number or not.
The closing date for application is 31 August 2020.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the pressures facing women and girls in South Africa like never before, and has made the need for gender equality more evident.
As the country acknowledges Women’s Month this August, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reaffirms its continued commitment to the advancement of gender equality in the country.
The COVID-19 lockdown period magnified the issues facing women, including the increase in gender-based violence, disproportionate job losses especially in the informal sector, disruption to education and income and unequal division of labour within the home.
This year, South Africans celebrate the 64th anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March under the theme: “Generation Equality: Realising women’s rights for an equal society now”. A United Nations campaign, it demands equality for women across all sectors – pay, sharing of household chores, childcare and healthcare rights among others.
Despite significant shifts over the years, the maritime industry remains a largely male-dominated sector. Recent statistics from the International Transport Workers’ Federation show that while many strides have been made towards growth, women only comprise 2% of the global maritime workforce, while the International Maritime Organization says only 1 – 2% of the 1.2 million global work-force of seafarers are women, with the majority of female seafarers (94%) working within the cruise industry.
To combat the lack of female representation in its own maritime environment, TNPA implemented a deliberate marine transformation strategy spearheaded by the Chief Harbour Master, Captain Rufus Lekala, who is currently serving as Acting Chief Operating Officer.
TNPA Acting General Manager: Human Resources, Nandi Tyamzashe, added: “TNPA has taken a number of steps
to develop women in the industry through a combination of employment processes and initiatives such as the development of female maritime students at TNPA adopted schools, as well as a drive to ensure that the intake of trainees and bursary recipients for marine and engineering programmes includes women. Our participation in external programmes such as Take a Girl Child to Work Day demonstrates that TNPA has strategies in place to attract and develop women in the industry from grassroots level and up,” said.
At present, women make up 39.4% of mission critical jobs within TNPA’s port system. Their roles range from port managers, harbour masters and deputy harbour masters, to chief marine engineers and marine engineers, marine pilots, dredge masters, coxswains, tug masters, aviation technicians and helicopter pilots.
Of the eight commercial ports managed by TNPA, three have female port managers. Four of TNPA’s harbour masters are women (50%) as are six of the eight deputy harbour masters (75%).
The Marine Cadet programme that commenced in 2009, currently has 69 female cadets out of a total of 164 trainees (42%). Of eight Marine Operations Managers, four are women (50%), of 83 Tug Masters, 26 are women (31%) and of 88 marine pilots, 32 are women (36%).
Women are also bringing their unique touch to TNPA’s aviation department which manages its fleet of port helicopters. Of 26 port helicopter pilots, 20 were developed through TNPA’s own training and skills development programme and 10 are women (38%). TNPA also has 21 helicopter maintenance technicians, eight of whom are females (38%).
One of the most exciting sectors for TNPA is that, of the 150 engineers across the organisation, 40 are female.
This is an aspect TNPA continues to nurture and improve through structured learning programmes such as Engineers-In-Training and Young Professionals-In-Training with the aim of seeing an increase in female representation in this field.
Government’s transformation, skills development and employment agendas embodied in the New Growth Path and National Growth Plan, and TNPA’s own transformation agenda, are the driving force in the changing face of the country’s ports.
“During times of international strain and economic uncertainty, such as we are experiencing right now due to the pandemic, it is predominantly women and girls who are severely impacted. An absence of educational opportunities and economic instability are powerful obstacles and when combined with inequality, can seem insurmountable.
“This is why, our goal isn’t simply to make the odd space for women across our business. We want to ensure that representation and skills are increased at all levels and that an equal amount of mission critical positions is created for women and girls to thrive. This form of action can change the reality of not only the individual but of families, communities and society as a whole. Empowering a woman means empowering a nation,” said Tyamzashe.
by Peter Grealy, Nozipho Mngomezulu, Karl Blom, Wendy Tembedza
After years of start and stops – virtually all the operational provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) finally came into force on 1 July 2020. All businesses and public bodies will be affected.
This development impacts every public and private body in South Africa. The infographic below provides an overview of the instances in which POPIA will apply to processing activities and the obligations which come with POPIA. There is a 12-month grace period – until 30 June 2021 by which to comply with the comprehensive requirements set out in POPIA and non-compliance can result in significant penalties – up to 10 years’ imprisonment and/or ZAR10 million in administrative fines.
POPI’s reach is wide – it regulates all organisations who process personal information, – information about employees, customers, suppliers and those who outsource key processing activities, share data offshore, or engage in direct marketing.
The directive for Compensation of Workplace-Acquired Covid-19 is downloadable below.
The recommended isolation period for patients with confirmed Covid-19 infection is reduced from 14 to 10 days.
This recommendation is based on evidence that most patients with mild Covid-19 infection continue to shed SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid from their upper airways for a median of approximately 7-12 days. Furthermore, the presence of detectable virus nucleic acid by RTPCR does not necessarily imply infectiousness. A better proxy for infectiousness is the ability to successfully culture the virus from a sample. In mild cases, cultures are generally only positive for 8-9 days after symptom onset.
The duration of infectiousness in patients with severe disease (i.e. requiring admission due to clinical instability) is less well established. In general, patients with severe disease may continue to shed virus at higher levels for longer periods than patients with mild disease. To provide a buffer, it is recommended that such patients be de-isolated 10 days after clinical stability has been achieved (e.g. after supplemental oxygen was discontinued), rather than 10 days after symptom onset.
Asymptomatic patients represent a conceptual challenge, since it is not possible to estimate where in the course of viral shedding they are at the time point at which they test positive. For simplicity, and to err on the side of caution, it is recommended that asymptomatic patients be isolated for 10 days following the date of their positive test.
Asymptomatic patient – De-isolate 10 days after testing
Mild disease – De-isolate 10 days after symptom onset
Severe disease – De-isolate 10 days after clinical stability achieved
The recommended isolation time is the period during which a patient is still considered infectious. This should be distinguished from the point at which a patient is medically well enough to return to work. Some patients, especially those who have had severe disease, may require to be booked off sick for longer than the above isolation periods.
