South Africa Today, 17 October: SARS help, Soweto imbizo and weekend weather

Selected SARS service centres open this morning for the last Saturday assistance session before the 23 October filing deadline for non-provisional individual taxpayers, while Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi is scheduled to meet Soweto residents about gender-based violence and femicide.

Saturday, 17 October also brings hot conditions in Gauteng, rain in Cape Town and an evening Champions Cup fixture for the Lions in France. All times below are South African Standard Time.

SARS assistance starts at 08:00

Participating SARS service centres are due to open at 08:00 to help taxpayers submit income tax returns ahead of the 23 October filing deadline for non-provisional individual taxpayers.

Most listed centres close at 13:00. Rustenburg, Mmabatho and Klerksdorp close at noon. Klerksdorp’s Saturday services are limited to return submissions, updating details and updating eFiling contact details.

The list includes centres in Johannesburg and Pretoria, as well as Cape Town, Bellville, Mitchells Plain and several other towns and cities. Opening applies to the centres on SARS’s published list, rather than every branch.

SARS’s list of participating centres and opening hours gives the location-specific arrangements.

Soweto GBVF programme scheduled for 09:00

Kubayi’s community imbizo is scheduled for 09:00 at Phiri Sports Grounds in Soweto.

According to the Justice Ministry’s programme, a 600-metre march from Phiri Public Library to the sports grounds will precede a community dialogue. The event will cover prevention and responses to gender-based violence and femicide, including how the National Register for Sexual Offenders operates.

Participating organisations are also expected to provide information about available services. These are the announced arrangements; the event has not yet taken place.

Absa reports overnight work completed

Absa’s service-status page lists its overnight Absa Online Banking (Full Service) maintenance as completed at 05:00 on Saturday, with systems and services operational.

A separate maintenance window for vehicle and asset finance accounts and associated services is scheduled to start at 23:59 tonight and end at 05:00 on Sunday, 18 October. That notice concerns the specified vehicle and asset finance services.

Hot Gauteng, wet Cape Town

The South African Weather Service forecast carried by Snow Report puts Johannesburg at a minimum of 15°C and a maximum of 32°C, with isolated afternoon showers and thundershowers.

Pretoria is forecast to be partly cloudy, ranging from 19°C to 33°C. Cape Town is expected to be considerably cooler, at 14°C to 18°C, with rain and scattered showers until late afternoon.

The forecast also warns of extremely high fire danger across much of the central interior and parts of northern KwaZulu-Natal, the Mpumalanga Lowveld and Limpopo.

Koeberg investigation follows Friday’s trip

Eskom said on Friday that Koeberg Unit 1 was taken offline after an electrical protection system operated during testing associated with Unit 2’s planned maintenance.

The utility said its engineering team was investigating the cause and corrective action. It reported no nuclear safety concerns and said there was sufficient generation capacity to meet demand at the time of its update.

Friday’s statement did not give a restart date.

Masemola’s return is scheduled for Monday

National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola is due to resume his full duties on Monday, 19 October, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to lift his suspension.

The Presidency announced the decision on Friday. It said the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court had formally withdrawn the charges against Masemola on 22 September.

Lions play in La Rochelle this evening

The Lions are scheduled to face La Rochelle at Stade Marcel Deflandre at 18:30 in their Champions Cup opener.

The Johannesburg side said it would play in honour of lock Hyron Andrews, whose death the club announced on Friday.