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Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has confirmed that 87 sites are ready to open their doors to vaccinate the elderly as the country ramps up its biggest inoculation effort on Monday.

Addressing the media on Sunday evening, Mkhize announced that South Africa was expecting  an additional 325 260 doses of Pfizer vaccines, which arrived at midnight.

This means the country now has 975 780 of the double dose jab as of 17 March 2021.

According to Mkhize, government will run 83 of the vaccination sites, while four will be in the private sector.

“We need the private sector and they are part of the system.”

He said his department was hoping to scale up these centres to about 200 by the end of the week.

The Minister reiterated government’s strategy to immunise citizens who are aged 60 and above in the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination plan as they are deemed the most vulnerable for becoming ill or dying of COVID-19.

“We will continue to vaccinate healthcare workers and complete the targeted 1.2 million by the end of the week,” the Minister added.

Meanwhile, he told journalists that government was targeting to inoculate five million senior citizens by the end of June, provided there is enough supply of vaccines.

“As we speak, SMS messages are being dispatched with invitations to vaccinate tomorrow [on Monday] and over 7 000 are being dispatched to healthcare workers and 4 288 to citizens 60 years and above.”

He reminded citizens that vaccinees should take their acceptable documents for identity verification such as ID card or book, drivers licence or passport.

Meanwhile, people who belong to a medical aid scheme should carry their medical aid card or other details.

More vaccines expected

According to Mkhize, the country is expecting to receive 4.5 million doses of Pfizer and another two million from Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

“The J&J vaccine is still awaiting release from the Food and Drug Administration of America and we are constantly being updated by the J&J global head office on progress in this regard. We hope to get finality this week,” he explained.

Sisonke Study

Mkhize said 478 733 South Africans have been vaccinated under the Sisonke Study that ended this weekend.

Sisonke is a collaboration between various stakeholders, including the National Department of Health, which allowed government to make the COVID-19 J&J vaccine immediately available to healthcare workers using a research programme.

The programme received 500 000 doses.

However, he said the leftover doses will not be used in the second and third phases, but the South African Medical Research Council will conduct studies that will help delve into how vaccines work for people living with HIV and other comorbidities, elite athletes, pregnant and lactating women and other special groups.

“We know that everyone has been very anxious to know what will happen tomorrow [on Monday] and how we will start to vaccinate our most vulnerable citizens and then move onto vaccinating the general population,” he said.

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has called on communities to unite and make sure that children, especially young girls have an alternative to being trafficked.

“Issues of education, issues of human settlements, and issues of health are very important for us as the Department of Social Development. But most importantly, issues of employment, because many girls complain that they complete school and then they don’t have jobs, and they end up being trafficked,” Zulu said.

Zulu was speaking at the last day of human trafficking awareness campaign held in Northern Cape.

Zulu embarked on a campaign aimed at raising awareness on human trafficking, among road users and communities of Colesberg and Noupoort in the Northern Cape.

The two-day campaign, held last Thursday and Friday, formed part of protecting women and children against human trafficking.

It was held under the theme “Qaphela! Do not be tricked by traffickers, human trafficking is a serious crime”.

The event was conducted in partnership with key stakeholders, including the Departments of Health, Education, Home Affairs, Transport, Safety and Liaison, Commission on Gender Equality and Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) volunteers.

During the campaign, Zulu visited Huis Kiepersol and handed over blankets to old people living at the old age home. She also distributed sanitisers and masks, while educating old people about the importance of registering to be vaccinated.

The Western Cape police’s Integrated Task Team, has arrested 11 suspects in connection with a series of bloodletting shootings that claimed 13 lives over the weekend.

The arrests were made in the early hours of Monday morning.

The arrests were a culmination of sleuthing work by the task team, which was set-up to track and trace suspects behind a series of shooting incidents in Khayelitsha on Saturday.

Beyond 13 fatalities, several others were injured during the skirmishes.

In a statement, Western Cape South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa, said the task team, which comprised of lockdown II forces, intelligence officials, organised crime detectives and a combat contingent, descended on the suspects at a hotel in Sea Point at about 3am.

“They are currently being questioned with a view to charging them later,” Potelwa said.

Investigations reveal that nine people were shot and killed at different locations in Site B, Khayelitsha on Saturday. Four others succumbed to injuries sustained from the shooting incidents in hospital and five were seriously wounded.

In an initial statement on Sunday, police said the body of the first victim was found in Banzi Street, Site B with several gunshot wounds next to a firearm at 10 am on Saturday.

Potelwa said police also found a substantial amount of cash at the scene.

“In a second incident that is believed to be a retaliation attack to the first murder, two Somali nationals were shot at T110 on Saturday afternoon. One died on the scene and the other was seriously wounded and taken to a medical facility. In the RR Section, three other males were shot dead later on Saturday afternoon in an incident believed to linked to the first two,” she said.

Meanwhile, at a spaza shop in Y-Block, two other men were killed after being shot, one in the yard and another in a vehicle.

She said reports also indicated that two other Somali nationals were shot close to a spaza shop in the area. One died on the scene while the other was transported to hospital where he later died.

“Additional information has since emerged that two other victims of the shooting incidents who were taken to Tygerberg hospital and the Khayelitsha District hospital later died,” said the Brigadier.

Shortly after the murders occurred, Western Cape Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Thembisile Patekile instituted a 72-hour Activation Plan for the mobilisation of resources that will lead to the apprehension of the perpetrators of the heinous acts.

Since inception, the multi-disciplinary team has been working around the clock in search of the suspects.

On Monday, Patekile expressed appreciation to the team for its relentless efforts.

“Once charged the suspects will face murder and attempted murder charges. As the investigations progress more charges could added,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is committed to being part of international efforts aimed at reviving a political process that will lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state, existing side-by-side in peace with Israel, and within internationally recognised borders.

In his weekly newsletter on Monday, the President said the two-state solution remains the most viable option for the people of Israel and Palestine, and must continue to be supported.

“The escalating situation in Israel and Palestine affirms once more what we South Africans know too well, that intractable conflicts can only be solved through peaceful negotiation.

“It also demonstrates that unless the root causes of a conflict are addressed, in this case the illegal occupation by Israel of Palestinian land and the denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, there will never be peace,” President Ramaphosa said.

The latest violence was sparked by an Israeli court decision to evict a group of families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem to make way for Israeli settlements.

“The sight of men, women and children being evicted from the homes their families have lived in for generations brings back painful collective and personal memories for the majority of South Africans – of forced removals and land dispossession.

“For all who believe in equality, justice and human rights, we cannot but be moved and indeed angered, at the pain and humiliation being inflicted on the Palestinian people; for it echoes our own,” he said.

The President said Israel’s actions are a violation of international law.

“They show a total disregard for successive United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions that call for an end to the occupation of Palestinian land and for the fulfilment of the rights of the Palestinian people,” the President said.

Since Israeli security forces launched assaults on worshippers at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem last week, the violence has now engulfed the Gaza Strip, large parts of the West Bank and a number of Israeli cities. It has claimed the lives of dozens of people, including children.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), at least 40 children have been killed in Gaza since 10 May. Over half of them were under 10 years old.

“It is also deeply troubling that Israeli forces last week destroyed a multi-storey building that housed a number of media organisations, sending a chilling message to media reporting on the violence.

“The senseless and continued Israeli bombardment of Gaza will have devastating consequences for more than two million people who have been suffering under an illegal Israeli blockade for 14 years. As is always the case, it is civilians who will bear the brunt, with their homes and livelihoods destroyed,” Ramaphosa said.

He said every effort must be made to dissuade both sides from further escalation, and to end the violence that is causing fear, death and misery on both sides.

“We call on all parties involved to show restraint, to respect human life, and to cease the current hostilities.

“Far too many lives have been lost to this intractable conflict. The continued occupation of Palestinian land and the suffering of the Palestinian people is a blight on the conscience of humanity,” the President said.

He said South Africa stands with the Palestinian people in their quest for self-determination and in their resistance against the deprivation of their human rights and the denial of their dignity.

“As citizens of a country that was able to turn its back on race-hatred and bloodshed and build an inclusive society rooted in human rights for all, it is our collective hope that the people of Israel and Palestine will follow a similar path; that they will find each other, and that they will find peace,” the President said.

The Compensation Fund and mutual assurance companies Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) and Federated Employer’s Mutual Assurance (FEMA) have joined forces to contribute R1.35 billion to procure vaccines for workers without medical aid cover.

The Department of Employment and Labour, of which the Compensation Fund is an agency, said the funding is anticipated to contribute towards the vaccinations under phase 2 of an estimated three million workers of the country’s vaccination programme.

“[This is] is a significant contribution to the government’s plan to inoculate about 75% of the population to reach the 67% herd immunity target,” the department said in a statement.

The initiative forms part of the ongoing collaboration between the public and private sectors to plug the vaccine rollout’s financial gaps programme.

It will also help ensure a significant part of workers gets inoculated instead of dealing with resultant claims.

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi, announcing the partnership during the tabling of the Department’s Budget Vote on Friday, expressed delight at the partnership.

“We are humbled and grateful for the support that the boards of the CF, the RMA and FEMA have demonstrated in pledging support for the department’s plan to ensure protection of workers through the vaccine rollout programme.

“This selfless gesture demonstrates the milestones that can be achieved when all social partners work towards a common purpose and vision,” he said.

Nxesi said the COVID-19 vaccination programme was unprecedented and is one of the biggest and most expansive national programmes government has undertaken.

“As government, we cannot successfully carry out this mammoth task on our own. We need all hands on deck to ensure that we can prevail over this pandemic,” said the Minister.

He expressed his gratitude to chief executives of the two entities and the Board of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa for working closely with government in ensuring the objective of this contribution is achieved.

“This marks an important turning point in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Our view is that if we can have more parties on board to support in a similar vein. We can help government in bridging some of the funding gaps in the procuring of vaccinations.

“If we work together, we can all play a significant role in providing a much-needed safety net for millions of vulnerable workers who do not have the means to fund their vaccinations or afford private healthcare cover.

“We aim to collectively make a meaningful contribution to the fight against the coronavirus by ensuring that as many people as possible are vaccinated for the country to meet herd immunity targets,” said Nxesi.

The department said the decision to fund the vaccine for uninsured workers marks a “proactive intervention” by the three entities that the government is taking to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In just over a year, the CF, in compliance with the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act as well as the Workplace-Acquired COVID-19 Directive issued Nxesi in July, has received 22 333 COVID-19 claims. Of these, the fund accepted liability for 11 466 claims.

Of those, 71 are in relation to fatalities, while R57 million has been spent in support of workers through medical aid, funeral costs, and benefits for dependants as well as in temporary total disablement.

The department said the majority of the workers who will benefit from this initiative are mainly the vulnerable workers, who have the least resources to mitigate against the loss of income. This was irrespective of whether the employment was temporary or permanent but resulted from hospitalisation due to COVID-19 infection.

“The ripple effects of the financial burden they face are felt by their extended families, who rely on them for their livelihood,” the department said.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is finalising critical tenders to address sewer spillages into the Vaal River and its surroundings.

In a statement on Sunday, the department said the upgrading of infrastructure to prevent the prolonged sewer spillages into the Vaal River and households in Emfuleni Local Municipality will begin shortly.

This as the department is finalising the evaluation of tenders that were advertised in November last year.

Tenders were advertised on 27 November 2020 and closed in January 2021, for expertise required to assist with the intervention in the areas of civil engineering, mechanical engineering and consultants to implement the work.

“As the evaluation process is at a critical state and on the verge of appointing preferred contractors, the department wishes to stress that it is working tirelessly to ensure that National Treasury, Public Finance Management act and Supply Chain Management prescripts are meticulously adhered to and that the process has integrity and is beyond reproach.

“In the coming weeks, the department would have finalised the appointment of contractors for them to immediately be on the ground, to urgently address the dire situation that requires urgent intervention,” department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau said.

NW Premier tackles water challenges

Meanwhile, North West Premier Job Mokgoro has met with relevant stakeholders in an effort to tackle water shortage challenges in the Madibeng and Rustenburg Municipalities.

Accompanied by MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Mmoloki Cwaile, Mokgoro met with representatives from the mining giants including Impala, Samancor and Sibanyi, as well as the leadership of Madibeng and Rustenburg local municipalities.

The purpose of the meeting held at the Madibeng Local Municipality Chambers, was to come up with a workable plan of dealing with the water crisis in Segwaelane, Makolokwe, Barseba and Bethanie.

The villages have been experiencing water shortage for some time with protesters recently closing Sun City and recently the Sun City road.

The meeting also heard that illegal connections impact negatively on the reduction of pressure, drilling of boreholes and rehabilitation of the existing ones.

Mokgoro and Cwaile also met with representatives of Segwaelane, Makolokoe and Barseba to update them on government’s efforts to resolve the water challenge in their areas.

The Premier promised affected communities a speedy resolution to their challenges, and reiterated that a permanent solution will be to replace ageing asbestos pipes, with proper PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipes to reduce water wastage of leaks and illegal connections.

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has urged the elderly to sign up for their COVID-19 vaccine, as the country implements the second phase of the vaccination rollout plan on Monday.

“All services are zero-rated and do not need airtime, data or money to use the services,” the Minister said on Sunday.

He reminded people that there are five ways to register on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS):

• Online at vaccine.enroll.gov.za.
• Using the WhatsApp line 0600 123456.
• Via SMS by dialling *134*832#.
• Call the COVID-19 hotline 0800 029 999.
• Citizens can also use the new QR by simply scanning and following the prompts.

Mkhize said provinces, the national Department of Health and Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) teams are conducting robust registration drives, and have since seen the numbers going up because of these initiatives.

To date, over 1.227 million senior citizens and over 914 000 healthcare workers have signed up on EVDS, which brings the number to over 2.1 million citizens.

“We recommend that as many people as possible register beforehand,” Mkhize said, noting that vaccination centres are currently not allowing walk-ins.

“However, going forward, we will be able to do so. The programme has been designed to avoid long queues. This is why it is important that as many people as possible register beforehand, and follow the instructions which they receive by SMS.”

Old age homes

Mkhize said citizens living in old age homes will not receive an SMS because the vaccines will be brought to them.

“They will be registered and vaccinated in their old age homes.”

Government is targeting 7 700 senior citizens living in 102 old age homes by the end of the week, and 50 000 citizens documented in old age homes are targeted to be vaccinated by the end of May.

“If you miss your vaccine appointment for any reason, you will be rescheduled [and] given another date and time to be vaccinated,” said the Minister.

He warned, however, that if a person misses three appointments, they will not be rescheduled again.

“However, you will still be on the system, and can ask to be scheduled again by phoning the COVID-19 hotline or visiting a registration site.”

Due to a loss of 10 generating units at seven power stations at Eskom this past weekend, the power utility is implementing stage 2 load shedding.

Eskom implemented loadshedding on Sunday at 5pm and it is expected to end on Tuesday at 10pm.

“The failure of three generation units at Tutuka was due to loss of air compressors; a unit at Majuba was forced to shutdown, while another unit tripped.

“A generation unit at Kriel was taken down for a boiler tube leak. A unit was forced down due to a steam leak at a unit at Matla power station, while trips at a unit each at Medupi, Kusile and the Duvha power stations are being investigated,” Eskom said on Sunday.

This represents a total loss of 6 044MW over this 24 hour period, bringing the total unplanned capacity lost to 16 118MW. Planned maintenance is 4 171MW.

“We urge the public to help us by reducing consumption, while Eskom teams are working around the clock to restore as many of these units to service as soon as possible,” Eskom said.

Eskom will communicate as soon as possible should there be any further significant changes to the power system.

Eskom has apologised to the public for the inconvenience caused.

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, is anticipating a slow start to the COVID-19 vaccination rollout that gets underway this week.

This as South Africa begins the second phase of its vaccination rollout plan, that gets underway on Monday.

“This is because we are starting off with a new vaccine we have never used before. We have learned from Sisonke [Study] that the first few days start slowly as vaccinators get used to the new vaccine then once operators are comfortable, the turnover ramps up significantly. This is what we have planned around to allow us a few days to iron out any teething problems,” said the Minister.

Mkhize announced that 87 sites would open their doors to vaccinate the elderly after the country received 975 780 Pfizer vaccines as of 17 March 2021.

He stated that citizens cannot choose which vaccine they receive at this stage.

“When you get vaccinated you will be informed which vaccine you are getting, and if a second dose is needed.”

He said people will receive the date, time and place of their second dose by SMS or a card, which will be issued on the day of vaccination if a vaccinee does not have a phone.

“Most people will get their first and second doses at the same site.”

He said Pfizer vaccines are safe and work well, even against the variant that is dominant in this country.

“After 14 days, one starts to show markers of immunity. There is now very good literature to show that the interval between doses can be increased to six weeks and in the UK they showed good results after three months,” he explained.

“We are getting advice from our experts who will guide us on the best interval – citizens must present on the date they are given for the second dose.”

Side effects

He said many people have mild symptoms after vaccination.

These include flu-like symptoms like mild fever, headache, tiredness, as well as redness, swelling and pain at the injection site.

However, Mkhize said these disappear within a day or two, and can be managed at home with rest and paracetamol.

“If you have more serious symptoms such as severe headache, severe abdominal pain or severe limb pain you should phone our COVID hotline, 0800 029 999 for advice or seek care at your local clinic or hospital.”

Safety protocols

Mkhize has urged citizens to register for their COVID-19 jab to protect themselves from contracting severe disease or dying from it.

“However, no vaccine works 100% and we also still do not know whether vaccination prevents transmission of the virus. It is therefore still important to follow the standard COVID-19 safety precautions to protect yourself and those around you.”

He said it was still unclear how long the protection offered by the vaccine will last.

“Doctors and scientists are working to understand this better and we will keep the public informed of these details.”

The Department of Employment and Labour has called on work seekers in the Nkomazi Municipality to avail themselves for possible work opportunities in the cane cutting farms.

The department’s Public Employment Services (PES) will this week embark on the labour search in the communities in Sibange and Mgobodzi, Masibekela, Sikhwahlane, Ntunda, Madadeni, Langeloop and Buffelspruit.

The department said it will register work seekers on the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) database, as well as provide employment counselling.

The objectives of the sessions are to, amongst other things, raise awareness about the PES and the services it offers work seekers free of charge.

The sessions, which will all start at 9am, are scheduled as follows:

Monday: Sibange and Mgobodzi.

Tuesday: Masibekela Old Community Hall.

Wednesday: Sikhwahlane and Ntunda.

Thursday: Madadeni.

Friday: Langeloop and Buffelspruit.

The department encouraged community members to bring along their identity documents.