Andrew Stegmann

Cape Town Mayor Encouraging Capetonians to Vote for the City in the 2019 World Travel Awards

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato has encouraged Capetonians to vote for their city in the World Travel Awards.

Plato and Mayco Members for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, James Vos and Safety & Security, JP Smith took the cableway to the top of Table Mountain to highlight this campaign during Tourism Month.

Established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward, and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries across the world, the World Travel Awards are recognized as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence.

Cape Town is currently the holder of the “World’s Leading Festival & Event Destination”.

At the recent Africa & Indian Ocean World Travel Awards in June this year Cape Town was again voted “Africa’s Leading Festival and Event Destination” for the second consecutive time.

Table Mountain won the title of “Africa’s Leading Tourist Attraction and Cape Town International Airport won “Africa’s Leading Airport”. All three contenders are now in running for the world title at the 2019 World Travel Awards and I am calling on all Capetonians to help us bring home these prestigious awards.

Voting opened to the public on the 12th of September, and closes on the 20th of October 2019.

“We are excited to be in the running once again for this honor and encourage all Capetonians to vote. The nomination is further proof that Cape Town is a world-class destination and with the help of fellow Capetonians we are hopeful that we can retain this title,” said Plato.

“We are certain that awards such as these and our world class attractions will continue to boost tourism, which is a key sector for the City, having created more than 300 000 jobs in total. The tourism sector currently has the highest economic growth and employment potential,” added Plato.

Cape Town International Airport is also in the running to be named the world’s leading airport having taken the “Leading Airport in Africa” title.

Voting can be done on the World Travel Awards website by clicking here.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: John O’Nolan [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

Land Expropriation in South Africa: Updates After Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee Meeting

The parliamentary ad hoc committee on changing section 25 of the Constitution to simplify expropriation without compensation met recently and mapped out the legislative road ahead for the controversial and important constitutional amendment.

It was the first time the committee met since being reconstituted after the election, a delay the new chairman, Dr Mathole Motshekga of the ANC, took responsibility for.

Although each new parliament is not bound by the decisions of its predecessors, the newly constituted committee will build on the work of its equivalent in the previous parliament. This includes the mandate of the committee, the public hearings which were held in 45 towns and cities across the country, the report of the high level panel chaired by former president Kgalema Motlanthe and the presidential advisory panel on agriculture.

Land issue in South Africa relates directly to the Constitution

Motshekga warned MPs to be circumspect because the land issue relates directly to the Constitution and the current parliamentary process is sure to be weighed by the courts, who will override any improper process. The chairman then proceeded to map the way forward.

Firstly, the committee will hold a workshop of experts to advise it, and Motshekga wants to invite what he calls the best brains in the country to participate. These would include, but not be limited to, Prof. Ruth Hall (UWC), Prof. Ben Cousins (UWC), Prof. Quinton Johnson (NMMU), former judges Albie Sachs, Dikgang Moseneke, Sandile Ngcobo and Johan van der Westhuizen, Adv. Tembeko Ngcukaitobi, the lawyers’ organisations Nadel and the BLA, AgriSA, Khoisan leaders and church groupings.

After the workshop, Parlaiment’s legal services will brief the committee, after which draft legislation will be produced. Although the deadline for the committee finishing its work is 31 March, Motshekga said is should not allow deadlines to paint it into a corner, and that the end of June next year is probably a better target date to finish the process.

Draft legislation to be completed by June 2020

DA MP Dr Annelie Lotriet expressed surprise at the way Motshekga simply followed his own preferences without consultation, and said the DA would, for a start, definitely add more names to the workshop input to strengthen it and make it more representative.

Her fellow DA MP Adv. Glynnis Breytenbach immediately added the names of former President Kgalema Motlanthe and Adv. Wim Trengove, adding that there were more to come.

The Freedom Front Plus’ Dr Corne Mulder said he disagreed with Motshekga’s summation of the current situation, but agreed that a slower and more thoughtful, thorough approach was preferable. In this he was supported by IFP MP Inkosi Elphas Buthelezi.

EFF Chief Whip Floyd Shivambu, however, did not agree with this approach at all. He said too much time was being wasted intellectualising on issues and holding workshops when all that had to be done was decide on the exact wording of the constitutional amendment which the ad hoc committee was bound to implement.

On behalf of the ANC, its MP Mandla Mandela agreed with the slower approach, saying that it was key to the essence of South African democracy that all voices be heard and that the process followed be above reproach.

The committee then adjourned and will now propose names for those experts to be invited to brief it in the workshop planned for the near future.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
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The UK Has Agreed to a Post-Brexit Trade Deal with South Africa and Other Countries

Britain has agreed a deal with six southern African countries including South Africa, the continent’s most developed economy, that will ensure continuity of trade conditions after Brexit, the British High Commission in South Africa said on Wednesday.

Political turmoil in the United Kingdom has generated uncertainty over how, when and even if the country will withdraw from the European Union. Its current exit date is set for October 31.

But while the situation has left the future trade relationship between Britain and the EU in doubt, London has been working to minimise the impact of Brexit on other trading partners.

Britain initialled an Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) – comprising South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and eSwatini (formerly known as Swaziland) – and Mozambique on Tuesday.

“This trade agreement, once it is signed and takes effect, will allow businesses to keep trading after Brexit without any additional barriers,” Britain’s International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

The agreement is still subject to final checks. But once signed formally, it will mirror the trade conditions the southern African nations currently enjoy with the EU.

Trade between Britain and the six countries was worth 9.7 billion pounds ($12 billion) last year, with machinery and motor vehicles topping British exports to the region. The UK meanwhile imported some 547 million pounds worth of edible fruit and nuts.

Britain has already signed trade continuity agreements with countries accounting for 89 billion pounds of its external trade.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain must leave the EU on October 31, but parliament has passed a law compelling him to ask Brussels to delay Brexit until 2020 unless he can strike a divorce deal. Johnson says he will not request an extension.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: Adrian Pingstone [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
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Nigeria to Repatriate 600 Citizens from South Africa, in the Midst of Xenophobic Violence in SA

Nigeria will repatriate about 600 citizens from South Africa this week following a wave of xenophobic violence that caused tensions between the countries, a Nigerian diplomat said Monday.

South Africa’s financial capital Johannesburg and surrounding areas were rocked by a surge of deadly attacks against foreigners this week, many directed against Nigerian-owned businesses and properties.

“They are about 600 now” due to be flown back, Godwin Adamu, Nigerian Consul General in Johannesburg, told AFP.

Nigerian airline “Air Peace is beginning the airlift by Wednesday, the first flight with 320 Nigerians,” he said. “We will have another one immediately after that.”

At least 12 people were killed in the violence and hundreds of shops destroyed.

Foreign workers are often victims of anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa – the continent’s second biggest economy after Nigeria – where they compete against locals for jobs, particularly in low-skilled industries.

Update: 12 September 2019

A flight from Johannesburg to Lagos that was arranged to evacuate Nigerians who fear xenophobic attacks in SA was delayed on 11 September, because of problems experienced at check-in.

Prince Ben Okoli, president of the Nigerian Citizens Association SA, said the chartered flight by Nigerian airline Air Peace was due to leave with the first batch of Nigerians at 9.10am on Wednesday.

“However, a number of people were singled out by immigration as they were about to board the flight. This led to a delay in the flight leaving SA. The Nigerian foreign affairs ministry said on Wednesday that 649 Nigerian nationals had registered with Nigerian missions in SA for the free flight offer.

Okoli said the consulate-general had promised to issue travel documents free of charge to those who were without valid documents after they had been authenticated by Nigerian authorities to be from that country.

He said that following the maiden flight out of Johannesburg, other flights would be arranged to take “in distress” Nigerians out of SA.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: Anna Zvereva [1], [2].