Category: COVID-19 Corona Virus

Cinemas, restaurants, theatres and casinos can start operating again, albeit under strict conditions, after having closed for three months in the COVID-19 enforced lockdown.

This comes after Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on Thursday signed and gazetted an amendment to the regulations for the advanced COVID-19 alert level 3 lockdown.

In the regulation, the Ministry said these services may be provided subject to the strict adherence to all health protocols and social distancing measures, and following the directions to be issued by the responsible Minister, after consultation with the Minister of Health.

“The regulations are amended and gazetted after the declaration of the national state of disaster, published in Government Gazette No. 43096 of 15 March 2020, and extended by Government Notice No. R. 646 of 5 June 2020, hereby in terms of section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002,” said the Ministry.

The regulations were gazetted by the Minister after consultation with other Cabinet members.

The amendments expand the sectors that are permitted under level 3. Regulation 33 has been updated to allow movement for the purpose of provision and procuring the services permitted in these regulations.

The Ministry said the amendments are issued in line with the President’s message that government is implementing the Risk Adjusted Strategy model in order to balance the overriding objective of saving lives and protecting livelihoods.

The Minister urges South Africans to continue to exercise caution and protect themselves and others from avoidable exposure to COVID-19 infection.

The amended regulations are published on the following websites: www.gov.za and www.cogta.gov.za.

Cabinet this week received a progress report from the National Coronavirus Command Council and the proposed amendments to the regulations in terms of the Disaster Management Act 2002 were presented.

“Whilst Cabinet appreciated the extensive work still being done to maintain a balance between sustaining livelihoods and saving lives, it approved the gazetting of the amendments relating to the opening of restaurants, hotels and casinos,” said Cabinet in a statement on Friday, following Wednesday’s ordinary meeting.

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has therefore signed and gazetted the amendment to the regulations for the advanced COVID-19 alert level 3 lockdown.

The amendments expand the sectors that are permitted under level 3.

Cabinet, in its statement on Friday, reiterated the call for all to work together to stop the spread of infections within communities by observing health protocols such as regularly washing hands, social distancing and wearing a mask when in public.

Gender-Based violence

Meanwhile, Cabinet said it is extremely concerned about the spike in gender-based violence cases across the country.

Following the recent spate of murders of women and children, it has called on all people in South Africa to unite and work together to stop this carnage.

“Cabinet commends law-enforcement agencies for their swift action in arresting some of the suspects and has urged the agencies to continue working tirelessly to arrest all those involved in these gruesome murders.

“Cabinet is unwavering in its commitment to fully implement a range of interventions developed from the National Strategic Plan on GBV and Femicide,” it said.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee – chaired by Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane – continues to drive the multidisciplinary government interventions.

However, Cabinet said, the most effective intervention requires all South Africans to play their part in ending the culture of violence against the most vulnerable members of society.

South Africa has recorded its biggest single-day spike of 6 579 new cases as the number of COVID-19 infections rise to 118 375 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has expressed his condolences to the families of the 87 people who succumbed to the respiratory illness.

Of the additional deaths, 53 are from the Western Cape, 17 from Eastern Cape, 15 from KwaZulu-Natal and two from Gauteng, which brings the toll to 2 292.

Also, the country has tested 43 118 people, the highest number of tests in one day bringing the total to 1 460 012.

While the Western Cape remains the epicentre, there are concerns that both the Eastern Cape and Gauteng are also playing catch up as the numbers continue to grow exponentially.

The hardest-hit provinces include the Western Cape with 56 780, followed by Gauteng 28 746, Eastern Cape 20 487 and KwaZulu-Natal 6 590.

The North West has 2 965, Free State 976, Limpopo 730 and Northern Cape 318.

The number of recoveries is 59 974 which translates to a recovery rate of 50.7%.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are currently 9 296 202 cases of which 167 056 were recorded in the last 24 hours globally, while 479 133 deaths of which 5 336 are new.

View Full Live Stats @ Live Stats

African Union Chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has called on African leaders to support efforts on the continent to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.

Addressing the Conference on Africa’s Leadership Role in COVID-19 Vaccine Development and Access, President Ramaphosa said it is essential that there be significant local vaccine manufacturing in Africa.

“Success in developing and providing access to a safe vaccine for all Africans requires collaboration and cooperation of all member States.

“Through this meeting, which brings together African leaders, experts and other key stakeholders, we should produce a roadmap that involves efforts by Africans to produce the vaccines that are effective, safe and affordable,” President Ramaphosa said on Wednesday.

He said a portion of the GAVI (the Vaccine Alliance) vaccines, including for COVID-19 and the Expanded Programme of Immunisation, should be sourced from African manufacturers.

“The challenges and efforts needed to rapidly develop, evaluate and produce such a vaccine at scale are enormous, as are the resources required to ensure sufficient coverage across a continent as vast and populous as ours. Therefore, we need to act with urgency.”

He encouraged African leaders to work together and negotiate with global donors to raise funds.

“…We need to mobilise resources in each of our countries and within the continent to secure supply of the vaccine upfront. We need to start to plan now and to improve the infrastructure in each of our countries to prepare for the rollout of the vaccine.”

This includes accelerating regulatory approvals, strengthening supply chains and improving Africa’s ability to deliver the vaccine to the population.

“Given the depth of expertise and capability on this continent, we need to support the contribution of African scientists and health care professionals to the vaccine effort,” the President said.

He said while the disease is still in its early stages in Africa, infections are rising as countries ease their lockdowns in the face of mounting social and economic pressures.

“As the African continent, we have acted decisively and we have acted together in developing a strategy to combat the pandemic.

“We have been innovative in addressing our resource constraints through, for example, the establishment of the AU COVID-19 Response Fund, the Africa Medical Supplies Platform and the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing.”

President Ramaphosa said the pandemic has forced African countries to revise their budgets to prioritise spending on health, including infrastructure, logistics and the purchase of pharmaceuticals, medical products, equipment and materials.

“It has also underscored the essential value of maintaining funding for medical research even after the current health crisis has passed, so that we may be ready for the next pandemic. The Coronavirus pandemic is not the last such tragedy that humanity will encounter.”

The President urged leaders to work towards a much more responsive and equitable medical system.

“We need to develop centres of excellence and robust health systems capable of withstanding any threat. We urgently need to introduce universal health coverage to ensure no one is unable to access health care when they need it.

“By working together, by pooling our resources and by investing in innovation, we shall overcome this grave threat to the health and well-being of our people.”

Government is carefully examining the criminal justice system in relation to incarceration for low-risk crimes, so that it does not become the only option for such crimes.

“The high number of those imprisoned for economic crimes has prompted us to ask ourselves whether incarceration should be the only option at our disposal,” the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, said.

Addressing the Portfolio Committee of Justice on Correctional Services on Wednesday, Lamola said short-term incarceration for low risk crimes does not give enough time for the correctional services system to reform and rehabilitate offenders.

“We will be reviewing some of our policies and we are looking forward to thoughtful contributions, which will emanate from public debates through the legislative process so that together, we can address overcrowding in correctional centres,” the Minister said.

He said the rate of imprisonment for awaiting trial offenders is increasing at a rate which requires South Africa to urgently interrogate the linkages in the criminal justice system.

An analysis of the inmate population to date reveals that the bed space in correctional services currently sits at 118 572, whereas there is a total of 149 330 inmates, with 96 272 sentenced inmates and 53 058 remand detainees.

This means that 55.1% of the inmate population have yet to have their day in court.

“These numbers cannot be viewed outside of the country’s socio-economic conditions. Our prison population is largely constituted by those from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly young black males.

“Some are in our centres for economic crimes such as shoplifting, stealing and robbery. There are also those who have committed heinous crimes,” Lamola said.

Efforts to address overcrowding

In the next five years, South Africa will create additional 3 000 bed space through upgrades and construction of new facilities.

“However, as I have said, experience has taught us that it is not possible for our infrastructure projects to outpace the rate of conviction due to our high crime rate in the country. This means the level of crime must significantly be reduced for us to avoid overcrowding,” the Minister said.

Government will continue to manage overcrowding through effective and appropriate use of conversion of sentence to community correctional supervision, release on parole for inmates and transfers between centres.

“We have the National Overcrowding Task Team, which works with regions and management areas to manage overcrowding through a multi-prolonged strategy.

“Overcrowding is a multi-dimensional challenge caused by various societal factors such as rampant criminality, unemployment, substance abuse and poverty, amongst others,” Lamola said.

Rehabilitation programmes

The Minister has called on communities not to discriminate against released inmates, who have acquired skills to make an honest living.

“I want to emphasise that behind the walls of correctional facilities, we run rehabilitation programmes, which inmates are exposed to. We also transfer skills to inmates to enable them to contribute back to society positively and increase their prospects of being gainfully employed upon their release,” the Minister said.

In the last financial year, production workshops in Correctional Services in which inmates operate, produced the following:

• 3.7 million loaves of bread, 6.3 million litres of milk;
• 415 000 kg of fruits;
• 471 000 kg of red meat;
• 1.7 million kg of pork and
• 539 000 kg of poultry, and 1.4 million dozens of eggs.

“It is critical to note that some of the inmates, who will be placed on parole, possess skills to produce these items and many more. We appeal to the community to guard against discriminating and stigmatising the released inmates but rather allow them to use their newly gained skills to make an honest living,” the Minister said.

COVID-19

To date, Correctional Services centres have recorded 1 485 recoveries and it is attending to 497 COVID-19 active cases.

“Our sincerest condolences go to the families of 16 citizens in our centres, who have since passed on as result of COVID-19.

“In respect of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, we are still experiencing lower numbers, with 93 reported active cases and a total of three – two magistrates and a court clerk – have succumbed to COVID-19. We extend our sincere condolences to the families of these citizens as well,” the Minister said.

The North West Education Department has confirmed 30 new COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, bringing the total to 62 cases.

These cases comprise of 22 teachers, six learners, a Deputy Principal and a non-teaching staff.

Provincial Education MEC Mmaphefo Matsemela said the Education and Health Departments continue to work together to render clinical support to schools.

“We can confirm that there is a total of 62 COVID-19 related cases registered by the department. This means our confirmed cases have increased by 30.

“All our schools are attached to local clinics. Our principals have been trained to isolate individuals displaying malady to a sick bay and nurses are called to attend to the individuals. Again as a department we extend well wishes to all people infected and affected by the virus,” said Matsemela.

To date, 14 schools have been shut down in the province and will reopen after they have been disinfected and decontaminated in accordance to the Department of Health’s recommendations.

The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths is increasing exponentially since the relaxation of stringent regulations, as the economy opens for more industries to operate.

South Africa recorded 103 more deaths and 5 688 new positive cases on Wednesday – the country’s single biggest jump since the Coronavirus outbreak.

Of the additional deaths, 63 are from the Western Cape, 25 from Gauteng and 15 from the Eastern Cape, bringing the death toll to 2 205.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country is now sitting at 111 796.

The hardest-hit provinces include the Western Cape with 55 162 cases, followed by Gauteng with 26 156, Eastern Cape 19 214 and KwaZulu-Natal 6 075.

The North West has 2 618 cases, Free State 889, Mpumalanga 713, Limpopo 670 and Northern Cape 299.

In addition, 1 416 894 tests have been completed, of 34 122 of which have been done in the last 24 hours.

“We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased,” Heath Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are 9 129 146 cases and 473 797 deaths globally.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has once again put a spotlight on safety in schools as the other grades prepare to go back to class on 6 July.

Schools have been closed since the lockdown was instituted in March to curb the spread of Coronavirus. Schools partially reopened on 8 June for grades 7 and 12.

However, DBE has since issued a set of directions, signed by Minister Angie Motshekga, to provide clarity and guidance on a variety of matters affecting the sector.

The guidelines also confirm 6 July 2020 as the date for reopening for pre-Grade R, Grade R, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 6, Grade 10 and Grade 11 learners.

Schools of skills’ years 2 and 3 will also resume classes. Schools for learners with severe intellectual disabilities (SID) will also resume.

Schools for learners with severe and profound intellectual disabilities (LSPID), year 1 to 3, and autistic learners junior group (below 13 years) and final year (18 years and above) will also resume.

According to the department, the institutes of learning may be permitted to deviate from the phased return to school in respect of specific grades or dates, provided that they comply with the minimum health, safety and social distancing measures and requirements on COVID-19.

The department said they would continue to monitor the return of learners to school, with a sharp focus on safety for all.

“We will continue to work hard in schools to make sure that we protect our learners, teachers and employees within schools. It is important to work together to ensure that we beat the virus,” Motshekga said.

The Minister said the department is doing everything in its power to ensure all schools are COVID-19 compliant before they receive learners.

“What is also important is to ensure that even during schools hours and beyond, we stick to the basic requirements of wearing a mask, sanitising, washing hands and physical distancing,” the Minister stressed.

She urged members of the community to desist from visiting schools, as this also increases the risk for more infections.

The department is providing support for 204 learners and hostel assistants, who have contracted Coronavirus at Makaula Senior Secondary School in KwaBhaca, Eastern Cape.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel says a scaled-up reconstruction plan is necessary to address the growth and jobs impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

He said this when Ministers in the Economic Cluster fielded oral questions in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Patel said the plans government put in place before the pandemic, as recently as February, while appropriate for that time, will no longer be sufficient to address the new circumstances and challenges.

“The President announced a R500 billion package of immediate actions in April to support workers, firms and vulnerable communities.

“Clearly, a scaled-up reconstruction plan will be necessary to address the jobs and growth impact of the pandemic, and building on the interventions that were put in place.”

Patel said pandemics, like wars, change and reshape societies.

He said this pandemic has had serious and deeply damaging effects on jobs, growth and transformation.

“On top of the challenges that we have been addressing before COVID-19, the pandemic also disrupted the supply lines across the world, which closed local car factories even before our lockdown started.

“It affected our pace of reindustrialization, as key programmes were slowed down. It dampened global demand for our commodities. It affected business confidence, which may discourage investment that would have otherwise taken place, and it knocked vulnerable firms and communities harder than others.”

The reconstruction plan would comprise five elements, including:

– Infrastructure-led recovery measures that focus on critical economic, social and industrial infrastructure in order to build and rebuild local supplier industries;

– An import replacement programme and more resilient supply lines to avoid the gaps and disruptions faced by global supply chains, so that the country produces PPE, medical equipment, basic foods and the other products needed domestically and on the continent;

– Deepening digitisation and the economy, bringing more small players and township enterprises into the new digital platforms and speeding up green economy measures;

– Transformation of economic structures to create more economic inclusion and stepping up the pace of transformation, with targeted measures for small businesses and black industrialists. There is also a need to address the issue of worker participation in company boards to truly transform the workplace; and

– Building opportunities on the African continent, with a greater focus on innovation and industrialisation backed by the African Continental Free Trade Area and accompanied by investment in factories and infrastructure in the continent.

R358 million to support youth, women empowered enterprises

Over a period of five years, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) will scale-up its investment in youth and women empowered enterprises.

Patel said since April this year, the IDC has approved a total of R358 million to fund women and youth empowered companies.

“These include a youth-empowered business, which makes PPE masks and seven involve women-empowered businesses, including companies that make PPEs, sanitisers and disinfectants, and also companies that make products such as plastic containers for cosmetics, cleaning products, roller towels, facial tissues, serviettes and napkins.”

Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says her department has formalised over 2 000 spaza shops during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to oral questions in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Ntshavheni said this would assist the newly formalised businesses to build a credit profile, which would make them viable to access financing with banking institutions.

“We were able to formalise 2 242 spaza shops and [we] are processing applications from 4 406 spaza shops. We are already processing applications from 31 small-scale and informal bakeries, some of which are run by cooperatives. We have 33 applications from motor mechanics and panel beaters, and also from 15 enterprises that are making clothing and garments for our people,” she said.

The Minister’s response comes after it emerged that when government rolled out relief measures to individuals and small businesses during the early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic, many small businesses were operating informally.

Ntshavheni had been asked to indicate what additional measures her department would initiate and implement to sustain formalised small businesses going forward.

She said the dedicated informal and micro business support schemes, which are targeted at spaza shops and general dealers, mechanics, panel beaters and fitment centres, micro agri-businesses and chesa nyamas, are not once-off interventions.

She said these small-scale businesses will be supported for the next 12 to 24 months through a support programme that will help them to get business support, business management, financial management and access to the market.

“The importance of formalisaton is that during this difficult period, you are able to assist these businesses to build a credit profile, and then they can be able to access credit from financial banks without being dependent on government.

“We are supporting these small enterprises to formalise and we will stay with them for the next 24 months because we want them to build a credit profile and run profitable businesses. We have also partnered with the banks to make sure they can create products that are suitable and less costly to the small and informal businesses.”