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

Making headlines: Gwede Mantashe is Acting President as Ramaphosa meets with Trump; Post Office to receive $21m to save 6 000 jobs; And, City of Cape Town calls for public comment on proposed wastewater treatment facilities operator appointments

Gwede Mantashe is Acting President as Ramaphosa meets with Trump

President Cyril Ramaphosa has designated Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe as the Acting President of South Africa from May 18 to 22.

Ramaphosa and Deputy President Paul Mashatile will undertake simultaneous working visits to the US and France respectively.

Ramaphosa left on Monday, for his trip to the US, where he is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump, to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest.

The trip comes after the US administration welcomed 59 white South Africans, as the first batch of Afrikaners to be granted “refugee status” by Trump, supported by the belief that they had been persecuted and amid claims of genocide.

Mashatile’s visit to France, is aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries and aims to mobilise investments.

Post Office to receive $21m to save 6 000 jobs

South Africa’s Unemployment Insurance Fund will give the Post Office R381-million to prevent the loss of about 6 000 jobs.

The UIF will pay the funds over six months through the so-called temporary employer-employee relief scheme, the government said today.

The monthly disbursements will come with “strict governance, auditing, and compliance measures,” Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth said, with the Post Office required to maintain transparent accounting records and implement a detailed turnaround strategy as a condition of the funding.

The Post Office has struggled to pay debts and salaries and went into a local form of bankruptcy protection in 2023 to halt its liquidation and pave the way for a state bailout.

In September, the National Treasury asked the communications ministry for more proof that the Post Office would not be a drain on state finances once it got a bailout before disbursing R3.8-billion in funding.

And, City of Cape Town calls for public comment on proposed wastewater treatment facilities operator appointments

The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate has invited comment on a proposal to appoint external service providers for the operation and maintenance of four wastewater-related facilities.

This includes three existing wastewater treatment works, namely Borcherds Quarry faecal sludge management, the Fisantekraal WWTW and the Zandvliet WWTW, as well as the new Managed Aquifer Recharge facility at the Cape Flats WWTW.

The construction of a new MAR facility at the Cape Flats WWTW is under way, with civil works completed and the mechanical and electrical installation phase having started.

The move aims to support the implementation of innovative technologies that can enhance service delivery and forms part of the city’s broader strategy to explore alternative service delivery models that enhance capacity and service quality.

The city’s Water and Sanitation Directorate currently owns and manages 26 WWTWs across Cape Town.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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