South Africa: What’s Happening In South African News – May 16, 2022

Cape Town —  

How True are South Africa’s Unemployment Stats?

Stats SA will not be reviewing its latest unemployment figures. According to reports, Chief Director of Labour Malerato Mosiane said that Stats SA would not have published the data if it felt uncomfortable with the figures. South Africa’s unemployment rate stands at a record 35.5%. Concerns at the figures were reportedly raised by the head of the statistics council David Everatt, who said there had been a poor response rate to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). According to Everatt, of the 30,000 households surveyed, the response rate was only at 44.6% – impacted largely by the Covid-19 pandemic that saw a change from face-to-face interviews, to telephonic interviews.

BlindSA, Section27 Goes to ConCourt Over Copyright Act

A Constitutional Court case has been brought by BlindSA and Section 27 activists, to fight for the right of blind or visually impaired individuals to have access to books by converting books into accessible formats like braille. The activists wanted the court to confirm an order of constitutional invalidity made by the Gauteng High Court sitting in Pretoria, to the effect that the 1978 Copyright Act is unconstitutional. Currently, if a person who is blind converts a text into a format that they can read, without the copyright holder’s permission, they can be fined, imprisoned or sued. Judgement in the matter has been reserved.

South Africa’s Capital City Confirmed

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has confirmed that South Africa’s capital city is indeed Pretoria, the country’s administrative capital. This confirmation comes nearly two years after the question was asked in parliament.  Technically speaking, South Africa has three capital cities. Cape Town is seen as the ‘legislative capital’, and Bloemfontein is the designated ‘judicial capital’.

 

 

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