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The measles outbreak in the Tshwane District has been declared over since more than 42 days, or two incubation periods, have passed without new cases being detected since the outbreak.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), as of 11 July 2022, no new laboratory-confirmed measles cases were reported to be linked to the measles outbreak in Tshwane District.

“The number of measles cases detected and epidemiologically linked to the measles outbreak in the Tshwane District remains at four. The last laboratory-confirmed measles case was reported on 25 June 2022,” the NICD explained.

Also, no additional laboratory-confirmed measles cases in the district had an epidemiological link to the home-based school facility outbreak.

In addition, the NICD said the City of Tshwane and provincial health officials conducted public health investigations and responses that resulted in the measles vaccination campaign in crèches and schools where the measles outbreak occurred, and areas where another case was detected.

The institute said Gauteng is planning a measles vaccination campaign targeting children aged six months to 14 to increase immunity and prevent new measles cases.

“Clinicians and caregivers should continue to check the children’s vaccination booklets to ensure they are up to date with their measles vaccination,” the institute advised.

The measles vaccine is given routinely at the age of six and 12 months, while catch-up doses should be administered to children who missed their vaccinations.

Measles, according to the NICD, is a highly contagious disease and it spreads through infectious airborne respiratory droplets from an infected person when coughing or sneezing.

It commonly presents with respiratory tract symptoms and any of the three Cs — conjunctivitis, cough, and coryza.

“Other symptoms can include fever, fatigue, and muscle pain, which typically appear before the onset of the disease’s characteristic maculopapular rash.”

However, children under the age of one may develop complicated measles including bronchopneumonia, keratoconjunctivitis (inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva), and rarely, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).

“These complications may lead to irreversible damage and/or death, especially in immunocompromised or malnourished children. Even healthy children who develop measles develop transient immunosuppression and are more susceptible to common childhood illnesses for at least one year after infection.”

The first day of the wage strike by South African Revenue Service (SARS) workers had seen minimal disruption to its services, says the revenue collectors.

In a statement, the revenue collector said 18 of its branches had to close down due to absence of workers.

It said: “Overall taxpayers have continued to interact with the organization through the wide range of on-line services. SARS has rescheduled most of the appointments that were made before the industrial action started”.

SARS said it has furthermore put business continuity plans and other contingencies in order to continue to deliver essential service to taxpayers.

“We urge the public to utilize our website for further updates on how to engage with SARS to fulfil their required obligations. Taxpayers are encouraged to avoid coming to a SARS office,” SARS said.

SARS appealed to staff to remain peaceful in their protest and to respect picketing rules as specified in the CCMA Picketing Rules issued.

It said it remained empathetic to financial challenges faced by its staff as a result of increasing food and fuel prices as well as other essential services.

The resumption of strike follows its temporary suspension by the PSA in May, and union leadership has indicated that they intend to remain on strike until SARS improves its wage offer.

“The dispute arose because of trade unions’ rejection of the available R70 million for baseline increases for bargaining unit employees.

“SARS has communicated that it does not decide on its own funding, but is dependent on an annual allocation made through a process managed by National Treasury. The demand of labour of CPI plus 7% is simply unaffordable until the SARS receives further funding,” reads the statement.

“SARS will always respect the constitutionally protected right of workers to strike within the strict provisions of the law, whilst at the same time take the necessary steps to fulfil its legal mandate and serve taxpayers and traders. The “no work, no pay” will apply for those employees that are participating in the industrial action.”

The revenue collector said it had demonstrated transparency in its financial position and willingness to engage the union leadership on ending the impasse.

“SARS has done everything in its power and within the available funding to extend the offer to trade unions, which remains available. SARS remains willing to continue engagements with the trade unions on the offer as well as the boarder Employee Value Proposition,” it said.

The South Africa Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that 18 of tax branches would not be in operation on Tuesday as its staff embark on a wage strike.

In a statement, SARS said: “(We) apologise for any inconvenience caused but due to Industrial Action taking place across SARS, we are experiencing delays in servicing our taxpayers.”

The revenue collector urged the public to continue to make use of its digital services during this time.

SARS staff first embarked on strike in May, when labour and the employer could not settle on a wage agreement.

According to reports, unions have rejected a proposed wage increase of 1.39%.

In May, SARS said it simply did not have the resources to meet the labour demand of CPI plus 7%.

The following tax branches and customs offices are closed:

Gauteng

• Edenvale
• Benoni
• Randfontein
• Springs
• Boksburg

KwaZulu-Natal

• Richardsbay
• Pietermaritzburg
• Durban

Western Cape

• Cape Town
• Mitchellsplain
• Paarl
• Beaufort West

Mpumalanga

• Mbombela

Eastern Cape

• Mthatha
• Uitenhage
• East London

Northern Cape and Free State

• Upington
• Qachas (Border post)

Limpopo Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant, General Thembi Hadebe, has applauded the prompt arrest of suspects responsible for the alleged robbery of R55 000 in stokvel money in Madibong, outside Jane Furse, on Friday.

Limpopo SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, said members of the Limpopo Highway Patrol (LHP) in Sekhukhune were performing normal patrol duties when they received a backup call from the police in Jane Furse about a robbery.

“They immediately went to the scene and upon arrival, they established that about 10 suspects, armed with pistols, allegedly robbed stokvel ladies an amount of cash estimated to be around R55 000. One of the suspects was allegedly caught by members of the community and was stoned to death.

“It was further revealed that the community members continued to chase another suspect, who then entered Jane Furse hospital and held security personnel hostage at gunpoint. Members of the Highway Patrol, together with Operational Respond Services (ORS), joined forces to rescue the security guard and the 26-year-old suspect was arrested on the spot,” Mojapelo said.

Other suspects fled the scene using a bakkie, which was later found abandoned at Mamone village. The hunt for the remaining suspects continues.

“The speedy reaction by the members, which led to the arrest of the suspect, is highly commendable. The remaining suspects must be hunted down and be brought to book. We, however, strongly warn community members to desist from taking the law into their own hands and must instead work with the police to fight crime,” said Hadebe.

Mojapelo urged stokvel members to refrain from withdrawing and handling large amounts of cash for the purposes of dividing it amongst themselves but must, wherever possible, resort to bank transactions.

Cases of murder, armed robbery and possession of illegal firearm and ammunition were opened. The suspect is expected to appear in the Sekhukhune Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 11 July 2022, facing charges of armed robbery and possession of illegal firearm and ammunition.

Anyone with information, which can lead to the arrest of the suspects involved in both incidents, should contact Detective Warrant Officer Enoch Mashilo on 082 319 9526 or the Crime Stop number 08600 10111 or the nearest police station.

Consultations between the Department of Water and Sanitation and key stakeholders across the country are underway to determine bulk water tariffs for the 2022/23 financial year.

Department’s Director for Institutional Establishment in the Northern Cape, Tenda Rasikhanya, said two stakeholder engagement meetings, are scheduled for the Northern Cape.

“We are meeting with stakeholders in Upington at the Desert Palace on 20 July 2022 and the Kimberley engagement is scheduled at the Kimberley Garden Court for the 21 July 2022,” Rasikhanya said.

Rasikhanya noted that supplying water to all people at an acceptable level of assurance and quality, costs money, both in terms of capital investment in infrastructure, and the operation and maintenance associated with water treatment, bulk water distribution and reticulation in human settlements.

In terms of the National Water Act of 1998, the department is required to establish an annual raw water pricing strategy after consulting widely with different water users, including mines, industries, agriculture, energy and domestic users.

The Act states that the Minister of Water and Sanitation is required to establish a pricing for raw water charges.

The pricing of water is based on the Pricing Principles, including user pay, polluter pay, ecological sustainability, differentiated charges, accountability and governance.

South Africa now has 3 997 975 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, 702 of which were reported on Monday.

Data show that Gauteng accounted for most of the cases after 364 patients were confirmed to have contracted the virus, followed by 107 in KwaZulu-Natal and 92 in the Western Cape.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), this increase represents a 3.5% positivity rate.

The Department of Health said four people lost their lives in the past 24-hour reporting cycle, pushing the death toll to 101 880.

Meanwhile, 13 people have been admitted for COVID-19 related illness, increasing the number of hospital admissions to 1 135.

The information is based on the 25 826 822 tests that have been conducted in both public and private sectors to date.

Globally, as of 11 July 2022, there have been 552 504 629 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6 347 816 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation.

As of 3 July 2022, a total of 12 037 259 035 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced its plan to reconvene the Emergency Committee on monkeypox under the International Health Regulations as infections continue to soar globally.

In June, the WHO’s Emergency Committee resolved by consensus the outbreak does not constitute a global public health emergency at this stage.

However, addressing the media on Wednesday, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he remains concerned by the scale and spread of the virus.

Speaking to the media, Ghebreyesus said there are now more than 6 000 cases recorded in 58 countries.

In addition, Ghebreyesus said testing remains a challenge and suspects some infections are not being “picked up”.

“Europe is the current epicentre of the outbreak, recording more than 80% of monkeypox cases globally,” Ghebreyesus revealed.

“My teams are following the data. I plan to reconvene the Emergency Committee so they’re updated on the current epidemiology and evolution of the monkeypox outbreak and the implementation of countermeasures. I’ll bring them together in the week of 18 July or sooner if needed.”

Meanwhile, he told the media that the agency is working with countries and vaccine manufacturers to coordinate vaccine sharing, which is currently scarce and desperately needed for people at higher risk of contracting the viral disease.

“WHO is also working closely with civil society and the LGBTQI+ community, especially to break the stigma around the virus and spread information so people can protect themselves.”

He commended those posting videos on social media talking about their symptoms and experiences.

“This is a positive way to break down the stigma about a virus that can affect anyone.”

According to the latest epidemiological update, from 1 January to 4 July 2022, 6 027 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox and three deaths have been reported to WHO from 59 countries in five WHO regions.

Since 27 June 2022, 2 614 new cases (77% increase) and two new deaths have been reported, while nine new areas have reported infections.

“The clinical presentation of monkeypox cases associated with this outbreak has been atypical, as many cases in newly-affected areas are not presenting with the classically described clinical picture for monkeypox, that is, fever, swollen lymph nodes, followed by a centrifugal rash.”

Data shows that among the cases who reported at least one symptom, 81% presented with systemic rash (widespread rash on the body), 50% presented with fever and 41% presented with genital rash.

Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Ronald Lamola, is expected to hand over a sports field revamped by offender labour to Mchaka High School in Bushbuckridge on Friday.

“Some of the renowned sport icons were identified at school sport tournaments. It is our hope that our work of developing sport fields will revive the vibrant school sport culture and yield more champions,” Lamola said.

The department said the field was revamped and developed for the school by offender labour, and will cater for sports such as football and netball for children in the area.

Entertainment company Mutlichoice also partnered with the Minister to provide much needed resources for the sports field upgrade.

“Minister Lamola has often lamented the poor sporting infrastructure in public schools, which deny young people opportunities to take part in sport.

“To mitigate this challenge, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has utilised offender labour to develop and revamp sporting infrastructure at schools.

“This has resulted in some schools in Gauteng, Western Cape and Northern Cape boasting sporting infrastructure that will make it possible for school sport to flourish,” the department said.

According to the department, at least 40 000 youth are incarcerated in correctional centres, with some “lured into crime due to failure to channel their youthful energies to positive activities like sport and recreation”.

The department said providing facilities for the youth is an opportunity to create positive hobbies and pastimes.

“Projects of this nature are thus aligned to DCS’ Self Sustainability and Sufficiency Framework, by means of partnering with strategic stakeholders like Multichoice in order to rollout infrastructure in disadvantaged communities.

“Such work will serve as a catalyst to promote sport, leading to positive lifestyles among the youth,” the department said.

Meanwhile, DCS Deputy Minister, Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa, is expected to handover a refurbished house to an elderly woman in Swellendam in the Western Cape also on Friday.

“Through its Community Corrections Office, the [department] identified a 69-year-old woman, Ms Hendricka Claassen… who was residing in a dilapidated house thus in need of a dignified shelter.

“In embracing the District Development Model, the DCS, in collaboration with the Local Municipality of Swellendam, as well as other stakeholders, refurbished the home of Ms Claasen using the expertise of offenders from the area. This was in line with the DCS objective of allowing offenders to use their skills to pay back for the harm they caused to society,” the department said.

While there, the Deputy Minister will also launch a new Incinerator at the Helderstroom Correctional Facility.

“[The launch] is part of the DCS long-term facilities strategy to ensure the establishment and maintenance of facilities that are consistent with human dignity, health and safety for both offenders and officials, while also ensuring that all facilities are legally compliant with all policies and standards of the country.

“This is a modern state of the art incinerator from a design and size perspective with low emissions in all classes. Incinerator is a machine designed for burning waste material, especially industrial waste at high temperature,” the department said.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) will next week kick-off public engagements on Unconventional Gas Regulations in the Northern Cape.

The published Unconventional Gas Regulations, which were developed in line with Section 38 of the National Water Act of 1998, prescribe requirements and procedures when using water for unconventional gas activities.

The department said it has met with internal and external stakeholders on the published Unconventional Gas Regulations, and public engagements are now getting underway particularly with affected communities where unconventional gas activities are being piloted or are envisaged for future use.

“The Department of Water and Sanitation will meet with the community of Richmond and surrounding areas in the Northern Cape next week on 12 July 2022 as part of engagements with the public on the published Unconventional Gas Regulations.

“Information brochures will be distributed to the public and inputs and comments solicited through meetings and recorded comments. Communities in the affected areas are expected to make inputs before the final gazetting of the regulations,” department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said.

The public engagements will take place from 11-20 July 2022 in the following communities:

11 July 2022 – Theunissen in the Free State

12 July 2022 – Richmond in the Northern Cape

13 July 2022 – Beaufort West in the Western Cape

18 July 2022 – Lephalale in Limpopo

19 July 2022 – Volksrust in Mpumalanga

20 July 2022 in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape.

Municipalities across the country have received their share of the R33.9 billion first tranche of the Local Government Equitable Share (LGES).

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesperson, Lungi Mtshali, said the tranche was transferred to the primary bank accounts of the municipalities.

In a statement, the ministry said the LGES allocation will be transferred in three tranches during the current local government financial year, which begins in July.

The transfer of the LGES to all municipalities is premised on Section 216 of the Constitution. The section provides for national government to transfer resources to municipalities in terms of the annual Division of Revenue Act (DORA) to assist them in exercising their powers and performing their functions.

Mtshali said the equitable share provides funding for municipalities to deliver free basic services to poor households and subsidises the cost of administration. It also covers other core services for those municipalities with the least potential to cover these costs from their own revenues.

“The basic services component of the LGES provides a subsidy of R488.42 per month in 2022/23 for the cost of providing basic services to each of these poor households,” said Mtshali.

The subsidy includes funding for the provision of:

– Free basic water (six kiloliters per poor household per month) (R168.22 per household below the affordability threshold).
– Energy (50 kilowatt-hours per month) (R107.04 per household below the affordability threshold).
– Sanitation (R115.95 per household below the affordability threshold).
– Refuse removal (R97.20 per household below the affordability threshold).

“The allocation to municipalities will assist them in, amongst other things, delivering free basic services to poor households through, for example, indigent support programmes.

“These programmes ensure that qualifying households, who are unable to pay for certain basic services, and have access to water, electricity, sanitation and refuse removal receive these services for free or at greatly reduced rates,” said Mtshali.

He said COGTA Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, called on those households who are unable to pay for basic services to contact their local municipalities to determine if they qualify to be beneficiaries of their local indigent support programme.

The Minister has further urged municipal councils to ensure that Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) are established and fully functional to facilitate the proper oversight of expenditure in municipalities, as stipulated in the Municipal Structures Act.

Mtshali said the department will continue to coordinate national and provincial government support for local municipalities to deliver basic services and to put in place better audit mechanisms, as this is a major challenge facing the sector.

The department, he said, “is coordinating and collaborating with sector departments to support municipalities, as envisaged by Section 154 of the Constitution, through the District Development Model (DDM) approach”.

“Notwithstanding the transfer of the LGES to municipalities, revenue collection remains a critical determinant of the financial viability of municipalities. Citizens are still responsible for paying municipalities for the services they receive.

“We urge citizens to pay for the services they receive so that municipalities can collect revenue and provide quality services to the communities, as municipalities need to have access to adequate sources of revenue to enable them to undertake the functional responsibilities assigned to them,” he said.