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This week – Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, United Nations Day and talk on National Health Insurance Bill

This week – Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, United Nations Day and talk on National Health Insurance Bill
Tamsin Metelerkamp
By Tamsin Metelerkamp
24 Oct 2022
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Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will table the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament; Ilifa Labantwana is hosting a virtual conversation about public funding for early childhood development; and the 8th African Women Writers’ Symposium is kicking off with the Nadine Gordimer in Memoriam Lecture at the Soweto Theatre.

Monday, 24 October is the start of Global Media and Information Literacy Week. The theme for 2022 is “Nurturing trust – A Media and Information Literacy Imperative”.

“The Global MIL Week 2022 focuses on trust and solidarity as it relates to people, media, digital platforms, governments, private sector, and non-governmental organisations,” according to the United Nations (UN).

“It highlights some promising actions in connection with media and information literacy in the last year and how media and information literacy helps with nurturing trust and countering mistrust.”

Monday is also United Nations Day, marking the anniversary of the UN Charter coming into force in 1945.

“There is no other global organisation with the legitimacy, convening power and normative impact of the United Nations. No other global organisation gives hope to so many people for a better world and can deliver the future we want,” according to the UN.

“Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfil the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.”

On Monday, 24 October, at 1oam, Ilifa Labantwana hosted a virtual conversation about public funding for early childhood development (ECD). The event coincided with the release of Ilifa’s latest research brief, which proposes a three-year acceleration plan for ECD funding.

“We need to seize opportunities to leverage existing public funds to expand access to quality ECD services. Investing in ECD not only lays essential developmental foundations for children, it also harnesses the potential of a women-led care economy, which has been historically underpaid and overlooked,” according to the event description.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Early childhood development centres in SA continue to struggle with registration and access to subsidies”

The conversation came two days before Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is set to announce the government’s spending priorities in his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement. 

“While education tends to get a large share of the national budget, funding for early childhood development has decreased in real terms, due to inflation. Without long-term public investments in ECD, we are missing the single greatest opportunity to escape the inequality trap.”

Kentsen Radebe of DG Murray Trust facilitated the conversation, which included speakers from the World Bank, the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies and Real Reform for ECD.

For more information, contact Laura Brooks from Ilifa on 082 565 6028 or [email protected]. To arrange media interviews, contact Rahima Essop at DGMT on 073 350 1703 or [email protected].

Register here.

On Monday at 12pm, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) hosted a conversation about Sahpra’s achievement of World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level 3 (ML3) for vaccine production.

Among those participating in the event were Sahpra CEO Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, CRO Portia Nkambule and COO Christelna Reynecke. They will share their insights and the impact of receiving this WHO rating.

The conversation will focus on:


  • Understanding of the opportunities that come with an ML3 ranking for South Africa;

  • Improved understanding of the influence of ML3 on the African vaccine production industry; and

  • The impact of ML3 on the South African economy and its citizens.


Register here.



On Monday at 3pm, the Health Justice Initiative (HJI) is hosting a webinar on “South Africa’s NHI [National Health Insurance] Bill and the future of medicine selection, pricing and procurement”.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Mixed feelings about NHI at public health conference”

Speakers include Andy Gray of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Fatima Suleman of UKZN, Fatima Hassan of the HJI and Yanga Nokhepheyi of the HJI.

For more information contact [email protected]. 

Join the event on Zoom here.

On Tuesday, 25 October, at 10am, the Rural Health Advocacy Project and Budget Justice Coalition will host a pre-Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) webinar.

“As the most significant health crisis in recent times, the Covid-19 pandemic has rightly dominated the health activism landscape over the last two years. As the heights of the pandemic seemingly pass, the crises preceding Covid have only deepened,” according to the event description.

Covid-related fiscal shocks have been “compounded by geopolitical shifts”, such as the war in Ukraine. The impact on South Africa’s economic outlook could result in further hindering the country’s “constitutional obligation to progressively realise socioeconomic rights”.

“The MTBPS needs to reflect a significant recovery strategy for human rights. The ongoing failure to mitigate the economic crisis will continue to impact the most vulnerable.”

The panel for the webinar will include representatives of the Budget Justice Coalition, Rural Health Advocacy Project, SECTION27, HEALA, Black Sash and Equal Education.

For more information contact Phemelo Khaas at [email protected] or 083 763 3472.

Join the meeting on Zoom here.



On Tuesday at 1pm, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) is hosting a webinar on “Reclaiming my time! When delayed justice denies human rights”. The speakers include Tambudzai Gonese-Manjonjo and Chikondi Chijozi of the SALC.

Register here.



On Wednesday, 26 October, at 1pm, the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (Plaas) is hosting an academic seminar on “Concentration, Competition and the Co-Evolution of Agro-food Capital in South Africa: The Case of the Milling Industry”.

The seminar will be facilitated by Plaas senior researcher Dr Farai Mtero and presented by Dr Andrew Bowman from the University of Edinburgh, followed by a discussion by Professor Reena das Nair from the University of Johannesburg.

Register here.

On Wednesday at 2pm, the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement will be tabled in Parliament by Godongwana. The statement “sets government policy goals and priorities, forecasts macroeconomic trajectory and projects the fiscal framework over the next three years by outlining spending and revenue estimates”, according to Treasury.



Visit Daily Maverick's home page for more news, analysis and investigations



On Wednesday at 6pm, the 8th African Women Writers’ Symposium will kick off with the Nadine Gordimer in Memoriam Lecture at the Soweto Theatre. It will be presented by Tsitsi Dangarembga, an award-winning Zimbabwean writer, human rights activist and filmmaker.

“Recently convicted and fined by the Zimbabwean courts for her protest action against the unfair treatment of Zimbabwean journalists, Dangarembga is the most appropriate voice to address us in the subregion that is embroiled with socioeconomic and political challenges including xenophobia. Writing and organising for human rights and justice are thus not conflicting choices,” according to the event description.

The event will be a hybrid one, with Dangarembga’s lecture live-streamed on:

  • Afroarts.co.za;

  • Discovr.tv;

  • Joburgtheatre.com;

  • Sowetotheatre.com; and

  • The African Women Writers Network Facebook page.


The lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the live theatre audience, facilitated by author and journalist Joanne Joseph. Live music and poetry will form part of the event.

To attend in person, RSVP to [email protected]. 



On Thursday, 27 October, at 5.30pm, an exhibition titled “The ties that bind us” will launch in Sandton. 

The focus of the launch is on the more than one million people living in prisons in Africa, often in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions.

“Time to rethink criminal law and incarceration on our continent,” according to the event description. 

Read in Daily Maverick: “As prison overcrowding rate intensifies, Popcru threatens Pollsmoor strike”

Opening remarks at the event will be given by Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery. Other speakers include the prison inspectors of South Africa, Malawi and Namibia – Justices Edwin Cameron, Kenan Manda and Sylvester Mainga.

RSVP to [email protected]. 



On Friday, 28 October, the 14th annual Jozi Book Fair Festival will kick off at Newtown Park in Johannesburg. The theme for the three-day festival is “Reimagine and Remake the World”. It involves events such as book launches, seminars, music and theatre performances, and exhibitions.

Register here.



On Friday at 1pm, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) will host a Facebook Live discussion on “Advocating for your mental health rights”.

Join the event here. DM/MC

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