Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
New MEC of the embattled Eastern Cape health department Nomakhosazana Meth has said she is prepared for the position and will take on its challenges.
The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.
He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.
South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.
AFP
McGowan Allied Specialty Insurance coverage (MASI), a supplier of economic insurance coverage merchandise to the amusement business, has introduced the hiring of Joe Okay. Boyd as an Underwriting supervisor. In…
The Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital's trauma rescue area was empty on New Year's Eve for the first time in its history.
NURSES at public hospitals have threatened to stage sit-in protests to register their displeasure over government’s move to force them to work 40-hour weekly shifts after unilaterally scrapping the flexi-hours they had agreed on. By NQOBANI NDLOVU/PHILLIS MBANJE In a statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) castigated government’s move to fire 1 232 striking nurses, describing it as an attack on trade unionism. This also comes at a time more than 200 nurses in Bulawayo and other cities are set to face disciplinary action following their suspension on charges of absconding from duty after the reintroduction of the 40-hour weekly shifts. “We genuinely believe that the charging of all these is a direct attack on trade unionism in Zimbabwe, which is a constitutional right. The disciplinary proceedings are meant to coerce compliance from nurses and silence them on speaking out their rights,” Zina said. The nurses said the intention by government was to charge them en masse and dismiss them all, then force them to rejoin the civil service either on short-term contracts or as members of the unformed forces. “In both scenarios, nurses will have had their voice taken away from them to raise genuine labour grievances. Thus the real attack is on labour rights in Zimbabwe,” Zina said. On the 40-hour weekly shifts which were suspended in November 2019, Zina president Enock Dongo said: “They might succeed for now with their cruel plans to force the re-introduction of 40-hour shifts, but there is not going to be any service delivery. The people who are going to be affected are the ordinary citizens who will not get any services. “Until and unless these anomalies are rectified and done correctly, nurses will only go and report for duty, but will not offer any services. As the situation stands, nurses remain incapacitated and hence the defiance against the 40-hour weekly shifts.” Dongo said the only reason that allows for the removal of flexi-hours is when government is able to pay proper salaries that can cater for nurses’ basic needs.
Benjamin Bradley was born around 1830 as a slave in Maryland. He was able to read and write, although at the time it was illegal for a slave to do so (he likely learned from the Master’s children). He was put to work in a printing office and at the age of 16 began working with scrap he found, modeling it into a small ship. Eventually, with an intuitiveness that seemed far beyond him, he improved on his creation until he had built a working steam engine, made from a piece of a gun-barrel, pewter, pieces of round steel and some nearby junk. Those around him were so astounded by his high level of intelligence that he was placed in a new job, this time at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
In his new position he served as a classroom assistant in the science department. He helped to set up and conduct experiments, working with chemical gases. He was very good at his work, impressing the professors with his understanding of the subject matter and also with his preparedness in readying the experiments. In addition to the praise he received, he also received a salary, most of which went to his Master, but some of which (about $5.00 per month) he was able to keep.
Despite enjoying his job with the Naval Academy, Bradley had not forgotten his steam engine creation. He used the money he had been able to save from his job as well as the proceeds of the sale of his original engine (to a Naval Academy student) to build a larger model. Eventually he was able to finish an engine large enough to drive the first steam-powered warship at 16 knots. At the time, because he was a slave, he was unable to secure a patent for his engine. His master did, however, allow him to sell the engine and he used that money to purchase his freedom.
Since the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, a number of changes have been made to geographical names in the country. It can get a bit confusing, as mapmakers struggle to keep up, and road signs arent immediately changed. In many instances, the new names were existing ones used by parts of the population; others are new municipal entities. All name changes have to be approved by the South African Geographical Names Council, which is responsible for standardizing geographical names in South Africa.
One of the first major changes was the redivision of the country into eight provinces, rather than the existing four (Cape Province, Orange Free State, Transvaal, and Natal ). The Cape Province divided into three (Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Northern Cape), the Orange Free State became the Free State, Natal was renamed KwaZulu-Natal, and the Transvaal was divided into Gauteng, Mpumalanga (initially Eastern Transvaal), Northwest Province, and Limpopo Province (initially Northern Province).
Gauteng, which is the industrial and mining heartland of South Africa, is a Sesotho word meaning at the gold. Mpumalanga means the east or the place where the sun rises, an apt name for South Africas eastern-most province. (To pronounce the Mp, imitate how the letters are said in the English word jump.) Limpopo is also the name of the river forming the northern-most boundary of South Africa.
Among the towns renamed were some named after leaders significant in Afrikaner history. So Pietersburg, Louis Trichard, and Potgietersrust became, respectively, Polokwane, Makhoda, and Mokopane (the name of a king). Warmbaths changed to Bela-Bela, a Sesotho word for hot spring.
Other changes include:
Several new municipal and megacity boundaries have been created. The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality covers cities such as Pretoria, Centurion, Temba, and Hammanskraal. The Nelson Mandela Metropole covers the East London/Port Elizabeth area.
Cape Town is known as eKapa. Johannesburg is called eGoli,
THE brief work stoppage by nurses in Harare and Bulawayo last week over lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) was a serious indictment on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership given its recent claims that all was in place to guard the country against the spread of the second wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. This begs the question: Is everything in place really? Government needs not be reminded that human life is sacrosanct. Health institutions are supposed to be citadels of good health, but can easily transform into death traps when manned by sick personnel equipped with bare minimum safety clothing. Reports that hundreds of health personnel at public hospitals are carriers of the deadly virus paint a gloomy picture of the state of affairs in hospitals, where patients now face the grim prospect of being infected by the same frontline health workers who are supposed to be taking care of them. Medical professionals have been affected left, right and centre and many of them have suffered from secondary traumatic stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive disorders. Life has not been easy for the medical professionals, hence there is greater need for appreciation of these important fighters in the COVID-19 struggle. Considering that COVID-19 is a medical emergency, health personnel’s welfare and safety should be prioritised. Surely, reports of nurses going on strike at this point in time is the last thing Zimbabweans would want to hear. COVID-19 cases are rising and so are deaths, hence government should show its commitment to the handling of the pandemic by making sure the nurses are protected. Imagine how many people go through the hands of the nurses. If the nurses are exposed, how many will contract the virus? Sadly, the nurses have disclosed that they are being forced to work even when exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Government has been doling out a lot of money to some projects which, in our view, are of a lesser value than human lives. We hear that Treasury is soon set to release $100 million to be shared between Zanu PF and the opposition MDC-T under the Political Parties Finance Act. This would turn out to be a question of misplaced priorities given the gravity of the health catastrophe the nation is facing. Government has been receiving a lot of PPE donations from well-wishers within and outside our borders, and it would appear the donations are not reaching the intended beneficiaries. Citizens deserve a considerate and responsible government that values human life more than political expediency.
Mark Tatum was appointed NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer on Feb. 1, 2014, following unanimous approval by the NBA Board of Governors. Prior to his new role, Tatum oversaw marketing partnerships for the NBA, WNBA, NBA Development League, and USA Basketball, both domestically and internationally. In this role, Tatum also manages the Business Development and Media groups, which work with the league’s extensive list of marketing and media partners. Tatum works with senior executives from the most recognizable brands in sports marketing, including The Coca-Cola Company, Anheuser-Busch InBev and adidas to strategize about the direction of NBA-themed promotions and advertising. Tatum was also responsible for the NBA’s media sales, including sales of NBA TV, NBA.com, and other NBA-controlled media. He manages the sales relationships with the league’s TV partners – ABC/ESPN and TNT.
Tatum holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing from Cornell University and is a MBA from Harvard Business School.
Model, Alton Mason is set to star as Little Richard in director Baz Luhrmann's biopic about Elvis. The untitled film had initially been set to open on the big screen and HBO Max in November of this year, but since pushed back.
While Friday will be mainly hot, there will be severe thunderstorms and hail in some places in the Eastern Cape, according to the South African Weather Service.
We have decided to extend the national state of disaster to 15 December, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his address to the nation on Wednesday night. Read his full speech.
[allAfrica] Cape Town -- Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that the nation recorded 21,832 new cases of Covid-19, and 844 deaths.
Known for: pioneer in aviation; first African American woman with a pilots license, first African American woman to fly a plane; first American with an international pilots license.
Occupation: aviator: stunt pilot
Dates: January 26, 1892 (some sources give 1893) - April 30, 1926
Also known as: Queen Bess, Brave Bessie
Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892.
The family soon moved to a farm near Dallas. Her father, George Coleman, moved to Indian Territory, Oklahoma, in 1901, where he had rights, based on having three Indian grandparents. His wife, Susan, with five of their children still at home, refused to go with him. She supported the children by picking cotton and taking in laundry and ironing.
Susan, Bessie Colemans mother, encouraged her daughters education, though she was herself illiterate, and though Bessie had to miss school often to help in the cotton fields or to watch her younger siblings. After Bessie graduated from eighth grade with high marks, she was able to pay, with her own savings and some from her mother, for a semesters tuition at an industrial college in Oklahoma.
When she dropped out of school after a semester, she returned home, working as a laundress. In 1915 she moved to Chicago to stay with her two brothers who had already moved there.
She went to beauty school, and became a manicurist, where she met many of the black elite of Chicago.
Bessie Coleman had read about the new field of aviation, and her interest was heightened when her brothers regaled her with tales of French women flying planes in World War I. She tried to enroll in aviation school, but was turned down.
It was the same story with other schools where she applied.
One of her contacts through her job as a manicurist was Robert S. Abbott, publisher of the Chicago Defender. He encouraged her to go to France to study flying there. She got a new position managing a chili restaurant while studying French at the Berlitz school. She followed Abbotts advice, and, with funds from several sponsors including
Gauteng now has 2 521 reported cases of Covid-19, with two more deaths recorded since Thursday.
While the number of new cases in Gauteng has increased by almost 3% (from 2 453) since Thursday, the number of recoveries rose even faster, by almost 4% to 1 840.
Accordingly, there are now 681 active Covid-19 cases in the province, four more than on Thursday.
The City of Johannesburg still accounts for more than half of Gauteng's cases, with 305 in the area that includes Alexandra, Wynberg, Sandton, Orange Grove and Houghton alone.
But this is an increase of only one reported case since Thursday and, with 269 recoveries, there are 35 active cases in the area.
Thirty-six new Covid-19 related deaths have brought the total number to 19 845.
Since 2008, Ms Ojiambo has been Safaricom’s head of sustainable business and social impact, and playing that role saw her interact with UNGC many times.
Ms Ojiambo’s current role has also seen her interact many times with the outgoing UNGC executive director – Lise Kingo of Denmark, who has been at the helm since 2015.
Because Safaricom is a member of the UNGC and a couple of other membership organisations, we would attend meetings during the UN General Assembly Week,” says Ms Ojiambo.
“I would like to take on the challenge of expanding membership in Africa and within the Asian continent, and also encouraging further contributions from governments that are not at present making contributions to the UNGC,” adds Ms Ojiambo.
Incidentally, he also worked with the UN at the WHO, and his work also saw us visit a couple of countries in Africa, which were part of his duty stations,” adds Ms Ojiambo.
The South African Weather Service forecasts another partly cloudy and warm day, with a thundershower warning issued for several provinces.
According to the department, almost half of the more than R14-billion paid out so far, has been paid to 1 186 833 workers in the province via 79 271 employers.
The Northern Cape had the least number of claimants with R140-million paid to the province for 25 155 workers represented by 2 972 employers.
KwaZulu-Natal is the third largest recipient with over R2.1-billion paid to 409 775 workers as claimed by 29 988 employers, while fourth spot is the Eastern Cape with R782-million distributed to 146 189 workers in the province represented by 13 163 employers.
They are closely followed by Mpumalanga with 145 046 workers represented by 10 991 employers being handed R760-million in cash benefits, Free State with 90 553 workers represented by 10 240 employers who in total claimed R477-million, Limpopo with 73 001 workers getting their share via 6 993 employers totalling R372-million and the North West is second last with R93-million distributed there for 69 041 workers who had their applications submitted by 6 536 employers.
According to Commissioner Teboho Maruping, employers still have until the end of May to address queries where the UIF has reverted to them with regard to incomplete information.
