RESOURCES
(Courtesy SABC)
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The government's attorney has until Friday to file a responding affidavit to the One South Africa (OSA) Movement's challenge to the reopening of schools.
Speaking to News24, OSA attorney Eric Mabuza said Ramaphosa's and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's legal representation had both requested an extension until Monday.
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Transnet has just confirmed that the surge in Covid-19 cases has begun to affect operations at the harbour’s cargo terminals. An unspecified number of employees have been sent home to self-isolate while waiting for test results.
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The delegation will now take a break for lunch.
Later today, they will head out to the Red Dot Health Staff Transport Operation - an initiative to transport 6 000 healthcare workers to and from their places of work during the Covid-19 crisis in Cape Town.
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RECAP: President Cyril Ramaphosa is inspecting Cape Town's new 850-bed field hospital in the CT International Convention Centre, due to be officially opened today.
Ramaphosa said he was grateful for the presentation showed to him on the province's plans, and expressed his concerns about the high number of cases in the Western Cape.
"The Western Cape is the epicentre of Covid-19 infections, and this concerns us deeply as leadership of the country, and it's for this reason we felt it necessary to come here," Ramaphosa said after the province presented its Covid-19 plans.
"We need to address this and I'm glad this presentation has identified a number of interventions we've embarked upon."
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"We must not lose stamina," he says.
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"We should never be found wanting. We are at war," he says.
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"Not having enough staff members is an excuse I'm not going to accept ... we can't sit back and be defeated by Covid-19 because we did not have enough staff members."
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The US recorded 1 021 new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker on Thursday at 20:30 (00:30 GMT Friday).
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Deputy President David Mabuza is currently visiting the Free State Province as the country enters Alert Level 3 of the risk-adjusted approach to easing the nationwide lockdown.
The visit to Mangaung is as a result of the decision by the National Coronavirus Command Council that the President and the Deputy President should assess the state of readiness of all provinces, in terms of functionality of provincial and district coronavirus response structures.
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Cabinet should have consulted Parliament on national state of disaster extension, says DA
President Cyril Ramaphosa should have briefed Parliament on the extension of the national state of disaster, the DA said on Thursday. This, after Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu announced that Cabinet approved the extension, by another month, from 15 June to 15 July. The law allows for a national state of disaster to last for 90 days, he said.
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Citizens who trust Ramaphosa willing to sacrifice human rights to curb Covid-19 spread, survey finds
Some people are willing to sacrifice rights for the greater good, according to a study by the University of Johannesburg in collaboration with the Human Sciences Research Council.The survey has found those who trust President Cyril Ramaphosa are more willing to sacrifice than those with no trust in him.
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Friday Briefing | Behemoth: The return of ANC dominance
In this week’s edition of the Friday Briefing, we explore how the pandemic has given the ANC a new lease on life, and that the recent economic recovery document it put forward is evidence of the party’s plans to re-centralise lost control.
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Covid-19 scams abound
Fraudsters are preying on people left desperate by the Covid-19 pandemic across the globe.
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Coronavirus morning update: What experts say about lockdown ruling - which govt is appealing
Your latest coronavirus news: The High Court lockdown regulations judgment creates more confusion than clarity, say experts - and Cabinet says it will appeal the ruling.
04 June 21:08
The number of cases rose by 3 267 to 40 792. The number of recoveries is 21 311.
Here are the top stories of the day
The government is set to appeal a court judgment handed down this week which declared the lockdown regulations for Levels 3 and 4 unconstitutional. This came as the government also announced that a state of disaster will be extended until 15 July. Here is what the courts found in the ruling.
Just a few days after the government eased lockdown regulations, Cape Town hospitals have reported seeing an increase in trauma-related cases. This is said to be putting an unwanted strain on healthcare facilities, which are under the weight of Covid-19 patients.
The government has argued that taxes it has not recouped during the tobacco ban is outweighed by the potential harms of selling tobacco products during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government is set to argue this point in a court case where the Fair Trade Tobacco Association is trying to get the sale of tobacco reinstated.
The consignment of PPEs earmarked for school in KwaZulu-Natal that mysteriously disappeared have reappeared. Media reports quote a KZN Department of Education spokesperson saying that someone will be held responsible for the incident.
The Western Cape government will pay private hospitals R16 000 per bed if the state runs out of bed space. The province remains the epicentre of the virus, and accounts for about two-thirds of the total number of cases.
Stay informed with News24
The epicentre | Here’s why those aged below 55 won’t be tested in Cape Town
Talking point | Can I be with my child in a Covid-19 quarantine facility?
Domestic workers can return to work | But they will have to abide by conditions
FAQs | News24 answers all your questions
Checklist | These are the first symptoms
Rolling coverage | All the latest Covid-19 news in one place
- Compiled by Kerushun Pillay
04 June 20:54
French winemakers will transform wine that went unsold during the country's two-month coronavirus lockdown into hand sanitiser and ethanol to make room for the next harvest, a farming agency said on Thursday.
Wine sales and exports, particularly to the US, plunged at the height of the coronavirus crisis, leaving winemakers with millions of litres of unsold wine.
"From tomorrow, 33 licensed distillers will be able to collect the wine and distil it," said Didier Josso, head of the wine branch in the farming agency FranceAgriMer, at a video press conference.
04 June 20:37
It's more important to save lives - even, if need be, at the expense of the academic year - Maimane
"Rome is burning and the state parties ought not to be allowed to fiddle unsupervised [and] while only accounting to themselves."
This is what former DA leader and founder of the One South Africa (OSA) movement Mmusi Maimane told the Constitutional Court this week in court papers, arguing against the reopening of schools.
In an urgent application to the apex court, Maimane's OSA is challenging the government's decision to reopen schools. He highlighted poor infrastructure, school overcrowding, staff shortages, sanitation and public transport as the motivation behind his application.
Maimane told the court that Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga did not give a plan as to how these schools would be capacitated to open.
He also argued that the minister did not inform the country how other learners, who are schooling under trees, tents and dilapidated buildings, will be catered for.
04 June 19:42
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday warned that the coronavirus could further weaken sub-Saharan Africa's ability to adapt to climate change, as measures to contain the pandemic stretch limited resources.
Africa needs to triple its coronavirus testing in the coming months "to move ahead of the curve" as more countries ease lockdown measures, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Meanwhile, The Trump administration in the US has reportedly selected five companies, including Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc, as the most likely candidates to produce a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, according to the New York Times.
Brazil is easing restrictions despite logging record numbers of daily coronavirus fatalities, with President Jair Bolsonaro saying death is "everyone's destiny."
Malaysia confirmed 277 coronavirus cases on Thursday, its biggest daily increase, due to a growing outbreak at a migrant detention centre, sparking accusations the government is failing to protect foreign workers.
Pictured: A keeper prepares to take care of the penguins at the Genoa Aquarium in Genoa, Italy, after reopening during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Getty Images)
04 June 18:40
The levels 3 and 4 judgment is flawed and if it goes on appeal it will most likely be overturned, says an expert.
"The main problem with the judgment is that while there was an attack on the regulations as a whole, the judge only looked at specific regulations, the regulations dealing with curfews on exercise, and the regulations dealing with visitations of families and regulations dealing with funerals."
04 June 18:06
Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said the decision was taken after advice from legal experts.
"We don't believe that any other court will come to the same conclusion as the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. That is why we will be starting with the same court," said Mthembu.
04 June 18:04
The UJ and HSRC survey has found there are differing views on how the Covid-19 pandemic is being handled between people in lower-middle and higher-income groups.
A total of 12 312 questionnaires were completed, and the findings weighted to match the country's statistics on race, age, and education.
04 June 17:55
04 June 17:21
The ruling by Judge Norman Davis that regulations for Level 3 and 4 of the lockdown were unconstitutional and invalid will be taken on appeal, government has decided.
Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu made the announcement during a media briefing on Thursday afternoon.
Mthembu also said that the special virtual cabinet meeting discussed the judgement and nothing else.
Davis, in his judgement, slammed a number of the regulations, saying besides the specific ones cited, "there are many more instances of sheer irrationality included therein".
"After obtaining legal advice and listening to numerous comments made by members of the legal fraternity in reaction to the judgement, we are of the view that another court might come to a different conclusion on the matter," Mthembu began, before announcing, "Cabinet has therefore decided to appeal the North Gauteng High court decision".
He also announced that Cabinet approved the extension of the National State of Disaster by another month from 15 June to 15 July 2020.
The law allows for the National State of disaster to last for 90 days which necessitates the extension.
Joining the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister in the appeal challenge will be President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize.
Government will ask that its appeal be heard on an urgent basis, Mthembu said.
04 June 15:45
"What makes this donation even more significant is that it comes from ordinary South Africans who have partnered with Government in curbing the spread of the Coronavirus," said Mthembu.
"As Government, we thank the Assemblies of God Back to God Ministries for taking initiative and playing their part in this fight. Today's contribution further strengthens our partnership with the religious sector," Mthembu added.