For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Shomolekae.

Making headlines: Home Affairs opens on limited Saturdays, prioritises matriculants; Treasury’s Guma leaves, reform unit to remain priority; And, UNICEF says fighting mpox stigma key to ending Burundi outbreak quickly

Home Affairs opens on limited Saturdays, prioritises matriculants

Minister Leon Schreiber announced that between September 21 and October 12, Home Affairs branches will be open on Saturdays, between 8:00 and 13:00, for Temporary Identity Certificates, ID collections and applications.

Learners will be prioritised during this time, as the initiative is aimed at allowing matriculants to write their exams.

The department encourage clients who have applied for identification documents and have received their SMS notifications, to seize the opportunity by visiting their Home Affairs office to collect these critical documents.

Treasury’s Guma leaves, reform unit to remain priority

South Africa’s National Treasury said its “pool of skilled and competent officials” is sufficient to ensure that the work of the unit responsible for economic-growth enhancing structural reforms won’t be affected by the exit of a senior official.

Nomvuyo Guma, the co-head of the unit known as Operation Vulindlela and the chief director for microeconomic policy at the Treasury, is due to leave the Pretoria-based organisation today.

The reform programme was initiated in 2020 to remove blockages to investment and is run together with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office.

Ramaphosa established the unit to help rebuild an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and a near-decade of State graft and erratic policy making.

Economic expansion has averaged less than 1% over the past decade, below the level needed to keep up with population growth and create jobs in a country where a third of the workforce is unemployed.

And, UNICEF says fighting mpox stigma key to ending Burundi outbreak quickly

It is possible to end the mpox outbreak in Burundi within weeks, a UN health official said today, but progress in Africa's second-worst affected country will depend on getting adequate resources and battling stigma associated with the disease.

The World Health Organization declared the recent outbreak of the disease, known for causing pus-filled blisters, an emergency in August after a new variant was identified.

Burundi has reported nearly 600 cases, second only to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but outbreaks are confined to a limited area and no deaths have been reported.

Regional Health Advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa for the UN children's agency, said that it was possible to end the outbreak within weeks.

One of the factors will be the ability to fight stigma by raising awareness of the disease, Regional Health Advisor said, calling for the need to "dispel myths, and calm fears."

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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