Latest news with #ServiceLevelAgreements
The Citizen
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Metro files court application against private fire services providers
The Tshwane metro has filed a court application to enforce compliance with legislation against private fire services allegedly operating within its jurisdiction without approval. According to the metro, these entities are operating without legal authority, regulatory approval, or formal agreements with the municipality, and this contravenes national and local legislation governing emergency services. Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said this development presents serious safety, legal, and operational concerns that the city cannot ignore. According to him, 'the provision of fire services is a constitutional mandate reserved exclusively for municipalities, as set out in Schedule 4, Part B of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996'. He added that any decision to outsource such services must be made by the municipal council following a rigorous process that includes public consultation, as required by the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000. 'To date, the city has not adopted any resolution to outsource its fire services, nor has it entered into Service Level Agreements with any private providers,' Mashigo explained. He added that the Fire Brigade Services Act 99 of 1987 also stipulates that any fire service operating outside a municipality must obtain formal designation from the relevant provincial authority. 'None of the private fire services currently operating in Tshwane, including Fire Ops SA, Fidelity Securefire (Pty) Ltd, Sinoville Firefighting Association (SBBV), and Laudium Disaster Management (LDM), have obtained such designation from the Gauteng MEC for COGTA, as required by law.' He said these illegal operations present numerous challenges. 'They interfere with the city's command and control structures during emergency incidents, compromise incident scene management, and operate without public accountability,' he said. 'They draw water from municipal fire hydrants without authorisation, contributing to unaccounted water losses and violating city by-laws. They also issue 'No Burn Permits' in contravention of the city's official procedures, creating confusion and undermining the authority of legitimate emergency services.' He said beyond the legal infringements, these private services function on a for-profit basis, selectively targeting affluent suburbs and industrial areas, while ignoring the broader community needs, adding that the city has made multiple efforts to engage with these entities, but they remain non-compliant. 'Directives were issued, and engagements were referred to the appropriate disaster management authorities. When letters of demand were served, they were met with threats and resistance. Despite several attempts at resolution, no meaningful co-operation was achieved.' As a result, Tshwane, in consultation with legal counsel and relevant stakeholders across all three spheres of government, applied to the Pretoria High Court in June 2024, seeking an order that these illegal fire services cease operations immediately and comply with all applicable legislation. He stated, 'The city views this court action as a necessary intervention to restore order, protect public safety, and ensure the proper regulation of emergency services.' According to Mashigo, fire and rescue services must operate within a structured, lawful environment to avoid chaos and ensure accountability in life-threatening situations, and they will continue to oppose any unlawful operation that threatens public welfare. 'The city remains committed to enhancing safety, security, and emergency services for all residents.' The founder of SBBV, Johan Botha, said they had applied for official recognition, which was denied. He refuted the claims that they operate illegally, saying that the Tshwane metro has issued a summons against SBBV, alleging that they are operating an illegal fire service for compensation. 'SBBV operates within the framework of existing legislation, and it is not illegal. SBBV is a volunteer organisation from the community, for the community. Not a single cent of SBBV's income is spent on salaries or similar compensation,' said Botha. Botha said they will continue to serve the Sinoville community and surrounding areas without interruption. 'We will not engage in a media battle. Our legal team has formally entered an appearance, and the matter will be handled in court. 'SBBV is a community project, and our core principle is that our services are provided free of charge. However, no community project, especially one of the nature of SBBV, can function or be sustained without funding. Therefore, SBBV relies on the community for donations and fundraising, while the community relies on SBBV to assist in emergencies, which SBBV indeed does,' Botha explained. He urged Tshwane Emergency Services to see organisations like the SBBV as allies who help save lives and protect property. 'We are a registered non-profit and public benefit organisation, and our commitment remains clear: we serve to save.' LDM said in a statement that they will be suspending all firefighting duties until further notice, as they have received notice from Tshwane that all private fire services must be suspended. 'LDM is not a private firefighting service but a non-profit organisation working under the city of Tshwane.' The statement continued, saying that they are currently engaging with Tshwane to have this resolved, as they seem to have been included in a group of for-profit firefighting services. LDM said it hoped that this matter would be resolved promptly so they can go back to assisting their community at no cost. 'Tshwane Emergency services can take anything up to 45 minutes to get to our suburb. During this time, LDM volunteers will secure the premises, assist residents to vacate the homes safely, and in some cases save the home from any further damage.' The public is urged to report any suspected illegal fire service operations to the city's emergency services department on the following numbers: 012 358 6300 / 6400 or emergency number 107 or by emailing emergencyservices@ Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Time of India
08-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Chennai Water Reservoir: Chennai Awards ₹258 Crore Contract for New Water Reservoir Project at Porur, ET Infra
Advt The city is to get another water reservoir, at Porur. Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), the city's water agency which is popular as Metrowater has handed over a ₹258-crore contract to a consortium of SPML Infra and JWIL Infra that will build the managing director T G Vinay said the reservoir, which will have a storage capacity of 15 million litres, will come up on 11,486 sq m at Porur and will benefit people in areas such as Manali, Madhavaram, and at least 10,000 residents in parts of South Chennai. Additionally, 100 MLD (million liters a day) of water will be supplied to residents in Tambaram Corporation and 20 urban local bodies (ULBs) under CMA, he added.A Letter of Acceptance (LoA) was issued to JWIL Ltd, and preliminary survey work began, marking the first step of the 18-month-long project. The project involves building a reinforced cement concrete reservoir with dimensions of 76 x 45.5 metres and a depth of 5.25 metres. A high-capacity pumping station with a total pump output of 3,646 m³/hour and a 25-metre head will be built to handle up to 350 will be pumped from the Perur pumping station at a total capacity of 400 MLD and connected to the existing transmission network. The project includes several key stages, such as detailed surveys, construction of pumping stations and chlorine buildings, installation of mechanical and electrical systems, pipeline connections to existing water mains, and final testing and the ₹258 crore, ₹205.99 crore is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while the operational expenditure of ₹51.99 crore will be covered by the state govt. As part of the agreement, the SPML-JWIL consortium will take responsibility for operations and maintenance (O&M) of the infrastructure for 20 years. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) will ensure consistent quality and performance during this period, Vinay Infra chairman Subhash Sethi said the project will strengthen Chennai's water supply infra.
Time of India
08-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
258cr contract for water reservoir at Porur awarded
Chennai: The city is to get another water reservoir, at Porur. Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), the city's water agency which is popular as Metrowater has handed over a 258-crore contract to a consortium of SPML Infra and JWIL Infra that will build the reservoir. Metrowater managing director T G Vinay said the reservoir, which will have a storage capacity of 15 million litres, will come up on 11,486 sq m at Porur and will benefit people in areas such as Manali, Madhavaram, and at least 10,000 residents in parts of South Chennai. Additionally, 100 MLD (million liters a day) of water will be supplied to residents in Tambaram Corporation and 20 urban local bodies (ULBs) under CMA, he added. A Letter of Acceptance (LoA) was issued to JWIL Ltd, and preliminary survey work began, marking the first step of the 18-month-long project. The project involves building a reinforced cement concrete reservoir with dimensions of 76 x 45.5 metres and a depth of 5.25 metres. A high-capacity pumping station with a total pump output of 3,646 m³/hour and a 25-metre head will be built to handle up to 350 MLD. Water will be pumped from the Perur pumping station at a total capacity of 400 MLD and connected to the existing transmission network. The project includes several key stages, such as detailed surveys, construction of pumping stations and chlorine buildings, installation of mechanical and electrical systems, pipeline connections to existing water mains, and final testing and commissioning. Of the 258 crore, 205.99 crore is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while the operational expenditure of 51.99 crore will be covered by the state govt. As part of the agreement, the SPML-JWIL consortium will take responsibility for operations and maintenance (O&M) of the infrastructure for 20 years. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) will ensure consistent quality and performance during this period, Vinay added. SPML Infra chairman Subhash Sethi said the project will strengthen Chennai's water supply infra.
The Citizen
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Tshwane NGOs face bureaucratic hurdles in funding crisis
As of June, numerous NGOs in Gauteng are entering their third consecutive month without payment from the provincial department of Social Development (DSD), jeopardising essential services for thousands of vulnerable individuals. A snapshot of 11 affected organisations reveals that services to 2 834 individuals are at risk. The Gauteng Care Crisis Committee already raised alarm over these delays last month, highlighting that at least 40 NGOs will remain unpaid by the end of May. Aileen Langley, spokesperson for the committee and EpilepsySA, said among these, 14 organisations were still awaiting their Service Level Agreements (SLAs) from the department. These NGOs provide critical services, including support for victims of domestic violence, child and youth care centres, substance abuse treatment facilities, and residential care for individuals with disabilities. Staff members are also bearing the brunt of the delays, with some receiving only partial salaries or going entirely unpaid. According to the national DSD's sector funding policy, SLAs should have been finalised by the end of March. According to committee member Charlene Grobler, CEO of Jakaranda and Louis Botha Children's Homes, while some NGOs in regions like Sedibeng, Ekurhuleni, City of Johannesburg, and West Rand have received award letters, organisations in Tshwane have reported additional bureaucratic hurdles. 'These include demands for occupancy certificates, despite this not being listed as a mandatory requirement in funding proposals and the insistence on additional documentation not required by the original business plans,' said Grobler. According to another committee member, Sam Mokgopha from Kids Haven, the impact on vulnerable communities is profound. Several child and youth care centres in Tshwane are at risk due to funding uncertainty, including AFM Welfare (37 children), and Paul Kruger (59), Jakaranda (166) and Louis Botha (89) children's homes. Additionally, more than 200 individuals in residential care facilities now face disruption due to non-payment: Epilepsy SA Gauteng (disability care facility – 175 people) and an anonymous homeless shelter (57 people). Beyond these figures, CMR North in Pretoria North provides child protection services to 1 900 children and families, while Epilepsy SA Gauteng runs a protective workshop for 112 individuals. Both organisations are also impacted by non-payment. These organisations' financial sustainability remains uncertain due to stalled payments. This is not the first time NGOs have faced a funding crisis. In May 2023, Premier Panyaza Lesufi was forced to reverse budget cuts following mass NGO protests, ensuring payments by the end of May. In May 2024, the premier intervened again over late payments, while the crisis committee secured a court order, compelling the department to finalise agreements and issue payments. Funding was only initiated in June. Grobler said this year's delays fall squarely within the same time frames. She said the crisis committee is calling for immediate government intervention to address the ongoing delays and ensure NGOs receive the funding necessary to continue their vital work. 'The department is also urged to provide an update on the number of payments made to NGOs to date and to explain the reasons behind the persistent delays. 'As the situation continues to unfold, our committee remains committed to advocating for the timely and fair treatment of NGOs, ensuring they can continue to serve the vulnerable populations that rely on their services,' concluded Grobler. Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Developmen, Lebogang Maile announced during retabling of the 2025/26 budget of the provincial government on June 3 that the DSD will be receiving R5.4-billion for the financial year and R16.9-billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. 'This is to secure social compacts and partnerships to build a skilled and capable workforce, implement a 'single window' urban poverty and hunger elimination approach and strengthen support for homeless and vulnerable persons. Furthermore, the department will be offering comprehensive skills development through the integration of skills development initiatives within its various service offerings,' said Maile. Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI Boom Exposes Power Crisis in Data Centers: ScaleFlux Offers a Smarter Way to Scale
AI's explosive growth is putting pressure on data centers to deliver higher performance without exceeding power and space limits. ScaleFlux addresses this with its FX5016 SSD controller and CSD5000 drives—designed to boost efficiency, capacity, and endurance for modern workloads. MILPITAS, Calif., June 2, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Data infrastructure is under siege. With AI workloads exploding, data center energy consumption in the U.S. has surged past 176 terawatt-hours—accounting for 4.4% of total national consumption. (1) While companies race to meet demanding performance Service Level Agreements (SLAs)—especially in generative AI and edge deployments— they're hitting hard limits in power, space, and costs. The challenge isn't just to scale—it's to scale smarter. ScaleFlux, a leading innovator in the storage and memory industry, is answering these challenges with a new generation of solutions built around its flagship FX5016 NVMe SSD controller—the "brains" behind the company's CSD5000 series and a foundational platform for custom SSDs from ecosystem partners. "Modern infrastructure can't rely on brute force alone," said JB Baker, VP of Product at ScaleFlux. "AI workloads are exposing serious inefficiencies across storage and compute. Our job is to eliminate those friction points—through smarter chips, scalable platforms, and sustainable design." The Challenge Behind the Boom The AI-as-a-service and ML boom is fueling hyperscale deployments. GenAI workloads demand exponentially more compute and storage, often generating up to 33x more energy than traditional applications. (2) As these systems move toward edge deployments and distributed compute, legacy SSDs are becoming a bottleneck: unable to deliver the performance, density, or endurance needed to keep up. GPUs sit idle. Precious energy gets wasted. Sustainability targets fall further out of reach. ScaleFlux's answer is the FX5016—a powerful, next-generation controller that makes SSDs faster, smarter, and more efficient. Built for PCIe Gen 5.0, the FX5016 is designed to handle the demands of today's AI and data-heavy workloads without overloading systems or driving up costs. By automatically compressing and managing data inside the chip, the FX5016 significantly increases storage capacity and drive lifespan—all while reducing power usage and eliminating unnecessary delays. (3) Best of all, it works seamlessly out of the box—no custom software or complex setup required. "It's about smarter utilization," Baker explained. "We designed FX5016 to give SSD and system designers a platform that simplifies integration, cuts total cost of ownership, and unlocks real performance gains—without adding complexity." CSD5000: Ready for What's Next The FX5016 powers the ScaleFlux CSD5000, a series of high-performance and high-capacity NVMe SSDs designed for AI, cloud-native, and data-intensive workloads. With storage options up to 256TB per drive and blazing-fast speeds, the CSD5000 goes beyond traditional SSDs—offering up to 4x better performance per watt and 6x the endurance. (4) What makes the CSD5000 stand out? Massive Storage: Up to 256TB of data storage, available in a wide range of industry-standard form factors. High-Speed Performance: Delivers over 3 million read operations per second, and over 1 million writes with compression. Energy Efficient: Uses far less power to deliver top-tier performance—great for meeting ESG goals. Longer Lifespan: Built-in compression reduces wear and boosts usable capacity. Easy to Deploy: Works right out of the box with standard NVMe drivers—no extra software or integration needed. "Our goal is to redefine what's possible in SSD functionality," said Baker. "It's not just about speed—it's about giving infrastructure teams the tools they need to scale operations responsibly and effectively." More Than Drives: A Scalable Platform for the Industry ScaleFlux isn't just making high-performance SSDs—it's providing technology partners with the tools to build their own. With the FX5016 chip at the core, drive vendors, OEMs and hyperscalers can create custom SSDs that meet their specific needs—faster, more reliably, and without being tied to a single NAND vendor. (5) This flexibility helps partners bring new products to market quickly while reducing supply chain headaches. "With FX5016, we've made it possible for anyone to build smarter SSDs," said Baker. "Whether you're focused on storage capacity, durability, or energy savings, this chip helps you get more out of every drive." As infrastructure teams grapple with the realities of power limits, data sprawl, and AI acceleration, ScaleFlux is offering a new blueprint: smarter chips, simpler integration, and scalable performance across the stack. To learn how ScaleFlux is powering the next generation of AI and cloud infrastructure, visit About ScaleFlux In an era where data reigns supreme, ScaleFlux emerges as the vanguard of enterprise storage and memory technology, poised to redefine the landscape of the data infrastructure - from cloud to AI, enterprise, and edge computing. With a commitment to innovation, ScaleFlux introduces a revolutionary approach to storage and memory that seamlessly combines hardware and software, designed to unlock unprecedented performance, efficiency, security and scalability for data-intensive applications. As the world stands on the brink of a data explosion, ScaleFlux's cutting-edge technology offers a beacon of hope, promising not just to manage the deluge but to transform it into actionable insights and value, heralding a new dawn for businesses and data centers worldwide. For more details, visit References: Mytton, David. "Data Center Energy and AI in 2025." /dev/sustainability, 9 Feb. 2025, Kemene, Eleni, et al. "AI and Energy: Will AI Reduce Emissions or Increase Demand?" World Economic Forum, World Economic Forum, 22 July 2024, ScaleFlux. "FX5016 NVMe SSD Controller with Computational Storage Engines." 2025, ScaleFlux. "CSD5000: The Drive to Get Better Utilization, Efficiency and TCO out of Your Data Infrastructure." 2025, ScaleFlux. "FX5016." 2025, Media Inquiries: Karla Jo Helms JOTO PR™ 727-777-4619 Media Contact Karla Jo Helms, JOTO PR™, 727-777-4629, khelms@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE ScaleFlux Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
