Latest news with #CollenMsibi
Eyewitness News
28-07-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Transport Dept to work closely with Transnet to improve its operations, financial stability
JOHANNESBURG - The National Department of Transport said it will work closely with Transnet to improve the state-owned freight and logistics company's operations and financial stability. This follows a recent credit downgrade by Standard & Poor's, which cited high debt levels, negative cash flow, and Transnet's growing reliance on government support. In response, the department has committed to a total of R94.8 billion in additional financial support to help manage the impact of the downgrade on Transnet's existing debt. 'Government has approved an additional R48.6 billion guarantee for Transnet to ensure that all debt redemptions will be covered over the next five years and that the entity also maintains sufficient liquidity levels,' said department spokesperson Collen Msibi. 'Government has also considered the impact of the credit downgrades on Transnet's existing debt and has therefore also approved R46.2 billion for it to mitigate the risk of such ratings.'
The Herald
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald
Transport minister dissolves RAF board
Transport minister Barbara Creecy has dissolved the board of directors of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) after ongoing governance and operational challenges that have severely hampered the agency's ability to fulfil its statutory mandate. According to the department, on June 5, Creecy issued letters to the 11 members of the board, allowing them to make representations regarding her intention to dissolve the board due to their failure to discharge their fiduciary duties effectively. National department of transport spokesperson Collen Msibi said the representations were received and considered. 'Consequently, the board has been dissolved. A submission has been prepared requesting the minister of finance to appoint an interim functionary as accounting authority in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act. The proposed appointment is intended to prevent a governance vacuum while a new board is being constituted,' Msibi said. Msibi said the governance challenges in the agency and concerns that were confirmed through internal oversight and regulatory engagements include the protracted and costly litigation pursued by the RAF on the application of accounting standards, which has resulted in further strain on the entity's financial resources and capacity. 'The inconsistent and, at times, reckless handling of the suspension of the CEO that attracted a legal challenge and institutional uncertainty. The frequent incurrence of default judgments against the RAF, worsening its contingent liabilities and weakening its financial sustainability. Deep divisions within the board itself, evidenced by most resolutions being passed through the use of casting votes, rather than consensus, reflecting a lack of cohesion in critical decision-making processes,' Msibi said. He said this also included the failure by the board to fill at least two critical executive positions a chief claims officer and the head of legal. According to Msibi, this had resulted in the loss of confidence in the board's ability to run the entity effectively. Msibi said a draft public advertisement has been prepared to commence the process of appointing a new board, ensuring transparent and merit-based selection in line with applicable legislation. 'To support the development of a sustainable operational and governance model, the minister has initiated the appointment of a panel of independent experts to review the RAF's business processes and propose actionable recommendations. Members of the panel will be announced in due course. 'Furthermore, a request has been made to the SIU to establish if the current investigation under Proclamation 44 of 2024 covers the events of the past three months and, if not, formally request the expansion of the scope to cover these events. The response from the SIU in this regard is eagerly awaited,' he said. Creecy has emphasised her department's intent to finalise the road accident benefit scheme bill, which will introduce a no-fault system to make it easier for road accident victims to access the benefits without costly legal bills. TimesLIVE
The Herald
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
Transport department ‘weighing' extending validity of driving licences
'The tender was awarded in August and in September we handed our investigation report to the minister, who passed it on to the auditor-general. 'In March this year, the minister announced that the [auditor-general's] investigation confirmed irregularities, and said she would go to court to overturn the tender award. We are waiting for clarity on the contract process,' said Fick. The department's Collen Msibi has confirmed the ministry received the letter from Outa and it is 'being processed internally for the minister's attention'. 'T he driving licence card agency of the department is also conducting a study of the financial implications on the extension of the validity period of driving licence cards,' Msibi said, on Outa's recommendation for an extended validity period. 'Motorists can drive with an expired card for up to three months before being eligible to be fined, provided they can show proof they applied for a new card before their current card expires.' 'If the card had expired at the time of application for a replacement, they must apply for a temporary driver's licence and keep proof thereof in the vehicle. 'A temporary driver's licence is valid for six months, or until the new or replacement card is issued.'
Global News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
First group of white South Africans lands in U.S. under Trump refugee plan
A cohort of 49 South Africans left the country on Saturday for the U.S. on a privately chartered plane after being granted refugee status by the Trump administration as part of an anti-discrimination program announced in February. The group, which included families and small children, was due to arrive at Dulles International Airport outside Washington D.C. on Monday morning local time, according to Collen Msibi, a spokesperson for South Africa's transport ministry. They are the first Afrikaners, an ethnic group of predominantly Dutch and French descent whose ancestors settled in South Africa in the 17th century, to be relocated to the U.S. after President Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 7, accusing South Africa's Black-led government of racial discrimination against the group and announcing a program to relocate them. Story continues below advertisement 'In shocking disregard of its citizens' rights, the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) recently enacted Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 (Act), to enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation,' the Trump administration executive order states. The South African government vehemently denies that Afrikaners are being discriminated against, and called the Trump administration's claim 'completely false,' adding that it paints an unrepresentative picture of the country. In a press conference on Monday, when asked about the incoming group of Afrikaners, whom the U.S. has chosen to welcome as refugees at a time when the country is also executing mass deportations of foreign nationals, many of whom hold legal status in the country, Trump said it's because 'they are being killed, and we don't want to see people be killed.' Trump added that he will meet with South African leaders next week to discuss the issue further. Story continues below advertisement 'South Africa leadership is coming to see me, I understand sometime next week, and we are supposed to have, I guess, a G20 meeting there or something. But we're having a G20 meeting, I don't know how we can go unless that situation is taken care of,' he told reporters, adding that the South African government's treatment of Afrikaners amounts to genocide. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'It's a genocide that's taking place that you people don't wanna write about, but it's a terrible thing that is taking place, and farmers are being killed, they happen to be white, but whether they're white or Black, makes no difference to me, but white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa, and the newspapers and the media and television media doesn't even talk about it. If it were the other way round, they'd talk about it, that would be the only story they'd talk about,' he continued. The president did not elaborate on this claim, nor did he provide any evidence of a genocide against the group. 'I don't care who they are, I don't care about their race, their colour, I don't care about their height, their weight, I don't care about anything, I just know that what's happening is terrible,' he went on. 'I have people that live in South Africa, they say it's a terrible situation taking place, so we've essentially extended citizenship to those people to escape from that violence and come here,' the president concluded. Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen Newly arrived South Africans wait to hear welcome statements from U.S. government officials in a hangar at Atlantic Aviation Dulles near Washington Dulles International Airport on May 12, 2025, in Dulles, Virginia. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images According to South African authorities, Afrikaners are among 'the most economically privileged' people in the nation. There are around 2.7 million Afrikaners among South Africa's population of 62 million, which is more than 80 per cent Black. Hence, despite being a minority, many in South Africa, given its fraught racial history, are confused by claims that white Afrikaners are being persecuted and meet the requirements to be refugees. View image in full screen The first group of Afrikaners from South Africa to arrive for resettlement listens to remarks from US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and US Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Troy Edgar (both out of frame), after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, on May 12, 2025. Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) There are many successful Afrikaner business leaders, some hold cabinet minister positions in government, and their language, Afrikaans, is widely spoken — including by non-Afrikaners — and is recognized as an official language. Story continues below advertisement Nonetheless, Trump and his South African-born colleague, Elon Musk, accused the country's government in February of implementing racist anti-white laws and economic policies that disproportionately impact rural Afrikaner farmers. The claims are founded on a relatively small number of violent farm attacks and robberies on white people in rural communities, but the U.S. alleges the attacks are racially motivated, and that the South African government is 'fuelling' them by allowing anti-white rhetoric to circulate and not providing sufficient protection to white Afrikaners. The government says those claims are false, has condemned the farm attacks, and says their cause is being purposefully falsified. Violent attacks on farm owners in South Africa have been a problem for years, but instances represent a small percentage of the country's extremely high violent crime rates, which affect all races. The government says there is no targeting of white people in South Africa and no persecution, and farm attacks are part of its struggles with violent crime. — With files from The Associated Press
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
First Group of White South Africans Depart for US Under Trump Admin's Refugee Plan
Dozens of white South Africans departed their country for the United States on May 11 after being granted refugee status under the Trump administration's new admission program. About 49 Afrikaners—a white ethnic minority in South Africa—boarded a chartered flight bound for the District of Columbia, which will then fly to Texas, South African Transport Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said. 'One of the conditions of the permit was to ensure that they were vetted in case one of them has a criminal issue pending,' Msibi was quoted as saying by Reuters. The Epoch Times has reached out to the State Department for comment but did not receive a response by publication time. This marked the first group of Afrikaners relocated to the United States under a refugee admissions program initiated under President Donald Trump's Feb. 7 executive That executive order was issued after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Related Stories 3/17/2025 3/7/2025 The nation's government noted that special conditions must be met before expropriating land, including that it has had longtime informal occupants, is unused and owned purely for speculation, or was left abandoned. In his executive order, Trump stated that Ramaphosa's government has imposed countless policies 'designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.' South Africa's government has rejected the claims and called Washington's move to resettle South Africans as refugees 'entirely politically motivated.' 'We reiterate that allegations of discrimination are unfounded,' it However, the South African government said that it will not block departures of citizens who seek to leave the country, provided they comply with domestic laws. Speaking to reporters on May 9, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller 'What was happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created,' Miller said. 'This is persecution based on a protected characteristic. In this case, race.' Trump The White House Reuters and Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
