Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Deputy President Jacob Zuma is expected to officially launch the South African National academy of intelligence (SANAI) in Mafikeng, North West, later today.

He will be joined by Intelligence Minister Lindiwe Sisilu and North West Premier Popo Molefe

According to Intelligence spokesperson Lorna Daniels, the Deputy President will rename the academy after the late ANC stalwart Mzwandile Piliso, who died in 1996 at the age of 72.

Previously called Khupe Campus, minister Sisulu closed the previous academy two years ago to allow for restructuring and refocusing of the intelligence department's training responsibility.

Late last year, the SANAI was established as a public entity to provide training to members of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the South African Secret Service and related structures such as the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (NICOC) and the Presidential Support Unit.

Training on national strategic intelligence will also be provided to the intelligence components of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The academy comprises a vocational and a research component. Plans are underway to develop the structure into an institution of higher learning. -

Government launches world's first Ka band satellite

REP By Candace Freeman tel: (012) 314 2217

South Africa's technology has reached a new milestone after arts, culture, science and technology Minister Ben Ngubane inaugurated the world's first Ka Band satellite-tracking antenna in Pretoria last night.

The Boeing Company and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which falls under the department, joined forces in a project managing the design and implementation of this Ka Band facility with Boeing investing R45-million to fund it.

Ka Band refers to frequencies that have until now, not been used for telemetry, tracking and command tasks.

Up to nine Spaceway satellites will be launched over a period of seven years and will provide bandwidth-on-demand direct to the office and home, with the initial service rollout in the USA.

The satellite is being housed at the CSIR Satellite Applications Centre in Hartebeeshoek, Pretoria, and Boeing is currently erecting two other ground stations in the USA to monitor and control the satellites during their 15-year design lifetime.

'The Ka band satellite-tracking antenna will benefit us in a myriad of ways. Its applications will be most obvious in the field of Earth Observation, a key technology in the development of southern Africa and elsewhere,' said Minister Ngubane.

'Indeed, the inauguration of the new satellite-tracking antenna, represents a milestone in the development of our research infrastructure and in our work towards unlocking our full scientific and technological potential.

'This partnership reflects the spirit of my department's national research and development strategy, which has as a key objective stimulating technology and innovation in support of accelerated economic growth and an improvement in quality of life, a better life for all.'