For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: DA submits PAIA request for delayed crime stats; South Africa to start R2.5bn fund to tackle unemployment; And, SA reaffirms stance on ivory, rhino horn trade

DA submits PAIA request for delayed crime stats

The Democratic Alliance today submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act request to compel the South African Police Service and the Acting Minister of Police Professor Firoz Cachalia to release the delayed first quarter crime statistics.

The party threatened to pursue legal and parliamentary remedies should the Saps and Cachalia continue to withhold the crime statistics.

DA spokesperson on Police Lisa Schickerling said despite repeated promises, there had still been no clarity or accountability from the Ministry or Saps on why the first quarter crime statistics had not been made public.

The DA previously sent two written requests and two formal media statements calling on Cachalia to urgently release the data.

Earlier this month, ActionSA called for the immediate release of the statistics and an explanation for the delay.

South Africa to start R2.5bn fund to tackle unemployment

South Africa will tomorrow start offering loans from a R2.5-billion Youth Fund aimed at supporting small businesses, part of a push by the government to tackle one of the world’s highest unemployment rates.

Nearly half of South Africans between 15 years to 34 years are unemployed, according to Statistics South Africa. The fund aims to address this by supporting high-potential small and medium enterprises, National Youth Development Agency Deputy Chairperson Bonga Makhanya said.

The initiative, spearheaded by the NYDA and set to be announced by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, is designed to shift the agency’s model from offering small grants toward making larger, equity-based and loan investments in enterprises owned by young people.

Unlike previous NYDA programs that offered grants of as much as R250 000, the new fund will invest between R750 000 and R2-million, depending on the business case. Financing will consist of a mix of loans and equity stakes.

The NYDA is capitalising the fund with R1.2-billion of its own reserves and provincial contributions, including commitments from KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.

And, SA reaffirms stance on ivory, rhino horn trade

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has rubbished media reports suggesting that South Africa intends to break ranks with the international consensus on the ivory and rhino horn trade ahead of the upcoming Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora COP20.

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dr Dion George said South Africa would not support any move to reopen the ivory or rhino horn trade.

The department reaffirmed that South Africa remained fully committed to the international ban on commercial trade of ivory and rhino horn.

“…our duty is to protect our wildlife, not to profit from their destruction,” George said.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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