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Fuelling dignity, one refill at a time

Source: Government of South Africa

Fuelling dignity, one refill at a time

By Sihle Manda

In the villages and busy taxi ranks of Rustenburg, North West, blue LPG cylinders are becoming unlikely symbols of dignity and safety.

At the centre of this quiet energy shift is Refilwe Sebothoma, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hakem Energies, a self-funded enterprise determined to tackle energy poverty while building opportunity from the ground up.

“I am very passionate about entrepreneurship because I believe it is a powerful tool that can help me empower people. Throughout the years, we have done a lot of things in different industries.”

Ending energy poverty 

Her move into the energy sector was driven by concern about what she calls “energy poverty”.

“In marginalised communities such as townships and villages, you still find people without electricity,” she explains.

“And for those who do have electricity, it is expensive and they experience things such as load shedding. Some villages can go for weeks without electricity. 

They then have to collect wood, while others resort to using paraffin and coal. There are a lot of dangers associated with energy poverty – and it mostly affects women.”

One incident cemented her resolve.

“In one of the villages where we sell gas, a woman was recently brutally raped and killed while she was collecting wood in the field. From a business perspective, it still shouldn’t be happening that people have to risk their lives. That is how this business was started. LPG for us was a solution that is already available, but we needed to package it in a way that low-earning communities can afford.”

Registered in 2022 and operational from 2024, Hakem Energies has built its model around flexibility.

“One of the biggest things for us is that customers can refill as they can afford. If you go to a fuel station to fill a 9kg cylinder, it will cost you about R400 and it is not something that our communities can afford. With our model, you can come with whatever amount you can afford. If you can only afford R40, that is what you will refill for.”

Affordability is matched by strict compliance.

“We just want to make sure that we comply correctly because this is a highly regulated industry. It is really important that we do things safely so that we can continue to save lives.”

Hakem’s reach extends beyond households.

“We serve not only households but also a broad range of commercial clients – from restaurants and resorts to funeral parlours, taxi ranks and mining operations. Whether in bulk or bottles, we deliver safe, certified LPG energy that keeps industries moving and communities thriving.”

Partnering with women and youth

The company also partners with local women and young people to distribute LPG.

“We see every flame lit not just as energy delivered, but as possibility ignited.”

Operating from North West, with a branch in Mpumalanga and plans to expand into Limpopo and Gauteng in 2026, the business employs 14 people.

Growth has required deep pockets in a tightly regulated sector

“We have five LPG boxes and one costs about R1 million – that’s a lot of money that many small businesses cannot afford. I was able to self-fund, but it has been very difficult and the margins are extremely tight. We are also consistently fighting against illegal operators who are not paying government taxes.”

Support from the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency’s (SEDFA) Asset Assist Programme provided a R230 000 grant.

“They sat with us to analyse where the business was and the kind of support that we needed. They bought us stock – cylinders and LPG – which really shifted things for us and gave us the ability to expand and attract new customers.”

Sebothoma believes national reforms could further unlock growth.

In his 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa committed more than R2.5 billion in funding for over 180 000 SMMEs, alongside R1 billion in guarantees. He also pledged to ease regulatory hurdles through the Business Licensing Bill and amend the National Credit Act regulations to make credit more accessible and affordable, particularly for women- and youth-led enterprises.

Sebothoma welcomed the commitment, describing it as “the kind of support SMMEs were looking to receive from government,” she concluded.

For more information, call +27 (68) 037 5410 or visit www.hakemenergies.co.za.

The NYDA can be reached at www.nyda.gov.za.

For more information on SEDFA’s Assest Assist Programme, visit www.dsbd.gov.za/asset-assist-progamme.

*This article first appeared in Vukuzenzele

Janine

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Arrive Alive: road safety tips

Source: Government of South Africa

Arrive Alive: road safety tips

Traffic volumes along major corridors across the country are expected to increase as travellers return from various religious and holiday destinations.

With the majority of road crashes attributed to human behaviour, Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has urged drivers, passengers and pedestrians to take responsibility for their conduct on shared roads.

Government continues to implement the 365 Days Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign throughout the year, aimed at reducing road accidents and fatalities.

“Our mandate is clear: to ensure that every South African who sets out on a journey returns home safely. We are calling on every driver, passenger and pedestrian to take ownership of their conduct on our shared roads,” Creecy said.

She emphasised that law enforcement during this period will be uncompromising.

Should you find yourself in an emergency, call:

  • Police: 10111
  • Ambulance: 10177
  • Emergency: 112
  • ER24: 084 124
  • Netcare: 082 911
  • Report bad driving by using the National Traffic Call Centre Number: 0861 400 800. 

Road users are therefore encouraged to follow these safety tips:

  • Make sure that your vehicle is in a roadworthy condition before departure.
  • Take safety breaks every 2 hours or 200km.
  • Be responsible for seatbelt wearing – always wear a seat belt and see that everyone in the car is wearing theirs.
  • Obey the rules of the road and carry your driver’s licence with you.
  • Be extra cautious, paying attention to the signals and brake lights of other vehicles, especially trucks.
  • Carry a fully charged cell phone with you so you can request assistance in the event of an emergency.
  • Always adjust your driving to the driving conditions and environment.
  • If it is raining, turn your headlights and windscreen wipers on. Try to reduce speed and try not to brake suddenly. Often, there is oil and petrol on the road, which can cause you to skid out of control.
  • Always keep in mind – if you cannot see or operate the vehicle safely, you should not be driving.
  • Inspect your vehicle and trailer tyres, lights, tow connections, brakes, batteries, and fluid levels. –SAnews.gov.za

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

nosihle

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Qatar Condemns Attacks Targeting UAE Embassy in Damascus

Source: Government of Qatar

Doha, April 04, 2026

The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the riots and attacks targeting the Embassy of the sisterly United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the residence of its head of mission in the Syrian capital, Damascus, as well as the violation of the inviolability of diplomatic missions that accompanied them.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that targeting diplomatic premises constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, stressing the need to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable and ensure that such acts are not repeated.

The Ministry reiterates the State of Qatar’s full solidarity with the UAE, emphasizing the importance of taking the necessary measures to guarantee the protection of diplomatic missions and ensure the safety and security of their personnel, in accordance with the provisions of international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

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Pan African Visions Joins as Official Media Partner for the US-Africa Business Summit 2026

Source: APO

Pan African Visions (PAV) (https://PanAfricanVisions.com), a globally respected platform for African business, investment, and policy intelligence, is proud to announce that it has joined as an Official Media Partner for the 2026 U.S.-Africa Business Summit, to be held in Mauritius from July 26–29, 2026.

This renewed collaboration with one of the most influential U.S.-Africa commercial platforms underscores Pan African Visions’ growing stature as a credible, high-impact media and strategic communications partner, trusted by governments, investors, and institutions to shape and amplify Africa’s global narrative.

Convened by the Corporate Council on Africa in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Mauritius, the Summit has, for over two decades, stood as the premier platform driving trade, investment, and commercial engagement between the United States and Africa—where policy aligns with capital and partnerships translate into tangible deals.

As an official media partner, Pan African Visions will deliver comprehensive, high-level coverage, including exclusive executive interviews, investor-focused insights, and strategic storytelling that connects African opportunities to global capital and decision-makers before, during, and beyond the Summit.

“Pan African Visions has proudly served as a media partner for this prestigious Summit before, and we are honored to be working together again,” said Ajong Mbapndah L, Founder and Publisher of Pan African Visions. “This continued partnership reinforces our growing and credible presence as a trusted platform in telling the African story, strengthening strategic networks, and connecting governments, investors, and businesses to real opportunities across the continent.”

Through this partnership, Pan African Visions further cements its position as a preferred media and engagement platform for global stakeholders seeking authentic, high-impact access to Africa’s evolving investment landscape.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Pan African Visions.

Media & Partnership Inquiries:
Pan African Visions
Email: pav@panafricanvisions.com
Phone: +1 240 429 2177

About Pan African Visions:
Pan African Visions is a leading global media and strategic communications platform dedicated to advancing Africa’s business, investment, and development agenda. Through authoritative reporting, executive engagement, and market intelligence, PAV connects Africa’s opportunities to a global network of decision-makers.

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Cape Fever: a haunting new novel from award-winning South African writer Nadia Davids

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Olivier Moreillon, Research Associate, University of Johannesburg

There’s a line in Cape Fever, the new book by award-winning South African novelist and playwright Nadia Davids, that doesn’t just establish the story, it also makes a haunting promise:

But small house, big house, smells or no smells, this is much the same: that in the city you will come to know a person by two things: what’s inside their house, and the house’s way with the wind.

The remark gestures towards the invisible forces moving through both houses and history. Just as a building’s “way with the wind” reveals how it stands in relation to its surroundings, Davids suggests that a household’s inner life exposes the moral currents shaping an entire society.

What lies inside Mrs Hattingh’s decaying colonial manor thus becomes a measure not only of its inhabitants’ inner lives, but also of an entire colonial society teetering on the brink of moral and historical reckoning.

Simon & Schuster

Set in an unnamed harbour city in the early 1920s, clearly reminiscent of Cape Town, the novel follows Soraya Matas, a young Muslim woman who becomes a live-in maid for the financially struggling widow Mrs Hattingh. Mrs Hattingh’s household exists in a state of uneasy anticipation. Her son Timothy, a soldier who survived the first world war, is expected home from England, yet his return is repeatedly delayed.

Assumed to be uneducated, Soraya quietly conceals her literacy. When Mrs Hattingh offers to write weekly letters to Soraya’s absent fiancé, Nour, on her behalf, what begins as an act of benevolence unfolds into a strange ritual that binds the two women ever more tightly.

As a scholar of South African literature, I am interested in how fiction revisits the country’s layered pasts and the intimate spaces in which power unfolds. Davids’s work has occupied a distinctive place within this landscape, combining historical sensitivity with psychological insight. Cape Fever offers a tense and atmospheric story that gradually reveals itself as a probing meditation on voice, authority, and memory.

The power of the pen

Although Soraya dictates what she wants to say in the letters, Mrs Hattingh shapes the words on the page. She does not always record Soraya’s words faithfully. Sometimes she embellishes them, sometimes she alters their tone, and sometimes she quietly inserts her own interpretations. What appears to be an act of help becomes a quiet act of power.

As Mrs Hattingh’s words travel outward to Nour in the letters she writes for Soraya, the domestic space mirrors the wider colonial order, where white employers exercised intimate authority over the lives of the people who served them. Relationships were often framed as paternal kindness or protection, yet they were sustained by profound inequalities.

Davids captures this uneasy mixture of intimacy and hierarchy with striking precision. Assumed kindness masks control, hierarchy seeps into intimacy, and the power to tell a story becomes the power to define reality.

It is here that Davids’s portrayal of Mrs Hattingh reveals itself as one of the novel’s great strengths, resisting caricature and allowing complexity to unsettle easy moral certainties. The widow could easily have remained a brittle emblem of colonial entitlement. Instead, she is rendered with psychological nuance.

She is controlling and condescending, yes, but also fragile, lonely, and quietly desperate. Against expectation, and however unlikely it may seem at first, Mrs Hattingh grows on the reader. Her vulnerability surfaces in fleeting gestures, and her dependence on the ritual of writing exposes her own need to be heard.

Haunted by history

Cape Fever, however, is far more than a chamber drama. Mrs Hattingh’s manor is haunted by presences only Soraya senses. These spirits hover in corridors and cling to cracked plaster, whispering of historical memory and unresolved grief. The decaying house stands as a gothic embodiment of colonial decline saturated with what has been silenced.

Read more: Caine Prize for African Writing: Nadia Davids on her winning story about women and freedom

Mrs Hattingh’s son Timothy hovers over the story as another kind of ghostly figure. His anticipated arrival turns the manor into a place of suspended time. The promised homecoming deepens the novel’s atmosphere of unease, and Timothy becomes a living reminder of war’s distant violence and its lingering aftermath, his absence intensifying both Mrs Hattingh’s solitude and the fragile balance of the household.

Davids uses psychological suspense to expose the emotional afterlives of empire and the war. The unseen shapes the living, and ancestral echoes unsettle the present. The house’s “way with the wind” becomes a metaphor for the forces that move through history.

Shifting shadows

The novel’s tension arises from the shifting balance of power between two women who seem fundamentally unlike yet become inextricably bound to one another. Their relationship is marked by subtle renegotiations of authority, moments of advance and retreat, dominance and vulnerability.

At one point Soraya declares:

I see the marvel now, that we, who have been ripped to pieces so many times over, who have known such darkness, can still spin and sew lives of such brightness, make music that fills the streets, sing prayers that ring out over the entire city; that we find ways to say over and over, We are here! We are here!

Davids’s language is suffused with a lyricism that lends the novel sustained grace, imbuing each scene with subtle beauty. Her prose shimmers with layered meaning, giving even the most mundane gestures an undercurrent of tension.

Suspense-packed yet intellectually incisive, Cape Fever is far more than a domestic affair. It is a meditation on voice, power, and memory. It is a gothic-inflected exploration of empire’s intimate spaces. It is a novel whose echoes will travel far beyond the Cape.

– Cape Fever: a haunting new novel from award-winning South African writer Nadia Davids
– https://theconversation.com/cape-fever-a-haunting-new-novel-from-award-winning-south-african-writer-nadia-davids-277685

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Eritrea: Public meetings focusing on resolutions adopted by Regional Assembly

Source: APO – Report:

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Members of the Regional Assembly of the Northern Red Sea Region conducted meetings from 20 March to 2 April with residents of 17 administrative areas in Ghinda sub-zone focusing on the resolutions adopted at the 21st regular meeting of the Regional Assembly.

At the meetings, the members of the Regional Assembly provided extensive briefings on harmful practices and their health consequences, and called for integrated efforts on the part of parents to ensure that school-age girls attend regular education and to strengthen women’s participation in the adult education program, among other issues.

Calling on the public to enhance participation in the implementation of development programs, Mr. Yihayish Gebreselasie, managing director in the sub-zone, said that solar systems are being installed in the administrative areas of Mai-Habar, Leaiten, and Nefasit with a view to addressing electricity demands.

The participants conducted extensive discussion on the issues raised at the meetings and adopted various recommendations.

– on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

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Eritrea: Schools cultural and sports week in Ara’eta sub-zone

Source: APO – Report:

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Schools cultural and sports week has been enthusiastically conducted in Ara’eta sub-zone.

Mr. Idris Ibrahim, head of the education office in the sub-zone, said that the program, which was held in Tio and in which students from 20 elementary schools, seven junior schools, and one high school took part, featured football, general knowledge, traditional dance competitions, and other activities.

Mr. Idris indicated that sports have significant contribution in the development of the teaching-learning process as well as in transferring noble societal values to the young generation. He also called for its reinforced continuity.

– on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

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Eritrea: Vocational training to students of Mai-Nefhi College of Engineering and Technology

Source: APO – Report:

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The National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students branch of Sawa and Higher Education Institutions has provided vocational training to 217 students, including 120 female students of Mai-Nefhi College of Engineering and Technology.

The training, which was provided alongside their regular college education, included basic Arabic language, graphics, and ideology.

Noting the significance of acquainting students with technology alongside their academic education, Mr. Abel Yohannes, head of the union branch at the college, called on the trainees to apply practically the knowledge they gained from the training.

Ms. Mensura Ismail, head of the union branch of Sawa and Higher Education Institutions, noting that a strong society builds a strong country, said that the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students is earnestly working by designing a clear strategy to realize its objectives and mission.

In the same vein, Tsaeda Kristain Secondary School in Berik sub-zone has encouraged outstanding students who scored higher GPA in the School Leaving National Examination.

– on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

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Tourism a driver of economy and jobs

Source: Government of South Africa

Tourism a driver of economy and jobs

South Africa’s tourism sector has emerged as a powerful driver of economic growth and job creation, with new data highlighting its recovery and expansion beyond pre-pandemic levels.

According to Statistics South Africa’s latest Tourism Satellite Account report, the sector supported 953 981 direct jobs in 2024 – accounting for 5.7% of the country’s labour force. 

This translates to roughly one in every 18 South Africans being directly employed in tourism.

The sector’s contribution to the economy has also surged. 

Tourism accounted for 4.9% of South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product in 2024, exceeding its 3.7% contribution in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, tourism outperformed traditional industries such as agriculture, utilities, and construction.

Tourism spending rebounded sharply, reaching a total of R779.2 billion. Domestic travellers contributed the bulk of this figure at R665.3 billion, while international visitors accounted for R113.9 billion.

“This once again reaffirms that domestic tourists are the bedrock of the sector in our country,” said Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille.

“They contribute significantly to the sector’s role in growing our economy and creating jobs, while international tourism continues to strengthen.”

The recovery is also evident in rising international arrivals.

South Africa recorded a milestone 10.5 million international visitors in 2025. Early figures for 2026 suggest continued momentum, with nearly 2 million arrivals recorded in the first two months of the year.

In January 2026, arrivals reached 1 133 533 – an increase of 12.4% compared to the same month in 2025. February followed with 864 534 arrivals, marking a 13.1% year-on-year rise.

“We expect further growth in international arrivals with the rollout of the Electronic Travellers Authorisation and our marketing strategy as we position South Africa as an affordable holiday and MICE destination of choice,” de Lille added.

The Minister attributed the sector’s strong performance to the implementation of the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan, a collaborative initiative between government and the private sector aimed at accelerating recovery and long-term growth.

With domestic demand holding firm and international interest steadily increasing, tourism is once again cementing its role as a cornerstone of South Africa’s economic recovery. – SAnews.gov.za

Janine

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Rocky Brands: driving job creation

Source: Government of South Africa

Rocky Brands: driving job creation

By More Matshediso

Rishav Juglall is not just an entrepreneur; he is the man behind Rocky Brands, a business that has created 48 employment opportunities.

Based in Midrand, Rocky Brands manufactures and supplies high-quality cleaning products to retailers across South Africa.

In 2022, his business was named Pick n Pay Business Supplier of the Year. Furthermore, in 2023, his company secured R15.7 million in blended funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

The IDC, an entity of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), drives job creation through industrialisation and supports black-, women- and youth-owned businesses to build a more inclusive economy.

“The funding helped us to buy more equipment and that enabled our production process to be mostly automated, saving us money and time, and contributing to the well-being of our employees because they work less overtime to meet deadlines,” explained Juglall.

The investment also allowed Rocky Brands to upskill staff to operate the new machinery and warehouse equipment, while bulk stock purchases have reduced input costs.

Juglall holds a qualification in marketing and economics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and identified a gap in the market for affordable, quality cleaning products.

Inspired by his mother’s struggle to find reasonably priced products – including polish for her glass-top stove – he launched the business 15 years ago.

Its main manufacturing plant operates from Riversands in Midrand, Gauteng, supported by distribution depots in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, and Cape Town in the Western Cape.

Transforming the cleaning products sector

In 2011, when Juglall was just 22 years old, he had a vision of transforming the cleaning products sector in South Africa.

“At the time, I could only find an Australian import, and it was expensive. I then found Weiman products on Amazon, and the reviews were very impressive. I reached out to the brand and sealed a deal to supply South African retail stores with Weiman products, and that’s how I started my business,” he explained.

His company became the sole distributor for Weiman products in the country at the time, supplying to major retailers.

The company began manufacturing approximately 90% of its products in-house from 2016.

“The shift to local production not only supports the South African economy but also gives us greater control over the quality and sustainability of our offerings. We were one of the first black-owned businesses in South Africa to supply Woolworths with cleaning products from 2023,” he concluded proudly.

Today, Rocky Brands manufactures and delivers cleaning brands including Goo Gone, Orange, Wright’s, Weiman, Earth Friendly, Magic Eraser and Clean Start. The company supplies Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Spar, Checkers, Bidvest Prestige, Supercare and House & Home, among others.

For more information about Rocky Brands, visit www.rockybrands.co.za or call 010 006 0059. The IDC can be reached at www.idc.co.za.

*This article first appeared in Vukuzenzele

 

Janine

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