SA records 4 406 new COVID-19 cases
South Africa has recorded 4 406 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the overall number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 750 830, said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Thursday.
This rise reflects a 15.8% positivity rate.
“There may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported due to the current audit effort by the National Department of Health (NDoH). Today, the NDoH reports 65 fatalities, with five occurring during the last 24 – 48 hours. This puts the overall number of fatalities to 100 276,” the NICD said.
The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (49%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (22%). The Western Cape accounted for 15%; Eastern Cape 5%; Free State, Mpumalanga and North West 2% each; Limpopo and Northern Cape 1%.
A total 24 262 108 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.
“The public should exercise caution in interpreting these data, as there may be changes in test patterns. An early warning indicator, the Wastewater Detection surveillance, shows an increase in Gauteng,” said NICD Executive Director, Prof Adrian Puren.
The report summarises and interprets findings from the detection, quantification and sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases Centre for Vaccines and Immunology from influent (untreated) wastewater in 17 wastewater treatment plants from five provinces.
Puren said there is currently no evidence that the Omicron variant of concern is being displaced as the dominant circulating variant. In a statement on Thursday, the NICD said it continues to monitor various data sources related to the evolving nature of South Africa’s COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, there has been an increase of 66 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, with evidence of small increases in COVID-19 hospitalisation in Gauteng, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
“However, we have seen no increases in COVID-19 hospital deaths,” said Dr Waasila Jassat, lead of the DATCOV COVID-19 National Hospital Surveillance at the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response.
The DATCOV hospital surveillance platform monitors COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital in all provinces.
Source: South African Government News Agency
Vandalism kills: City mourns passing of electricity official Terence Stringer
The City of Cape Town mourns the death of electricity official Terence Henry Stringer, who passed away in hospital on 16 April 2022 after suffering injuries when severely vandalised cables exploded while he was attending to an outage in Gugulethu that was affecting power supply to both Manenberg and Gugulethu. A section of the medium voltage cable had been excavated and set alight by criminals. It is utterly devastating that a colleague’s life has been lost due to the impact of infrastructure vandalism while in the line of duty.
‘The City’s political and administrative leadership and the entire Electricity Generation and Distribution Department expresses its sincerest condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and loved ones of Terence Stringer during this difficult time.
‘He was part of an electricity team attending to damaged infrastructure caused by theft and vandalism to supply cables at the City’s Gugulethu Substation on Monday, 4 April 2022. Mr Stringer, four contractors, and a member of the public were injured when the insulation of the damaged cables further deteriorated and caused an explosion.
‘He joined the City in 1993 and was one of the first employees to join the City’s Gugulethu Electricity Depot shortly after it was constructed as part of the City’s programme to bring services closer to the Manenberg and Gugulethu communities. Colleagues remember him for his commitment to his work and for always going the extra mile. In his spare time, he enjoyed carpentry and was always willing to share his woodwork expertise with colleagues when anything needed to be repaired. Between jobs, he often kept the Depot’s flower garden neat and tidy.
‘The City has lost a valuable staff member and our thoughts are with his wife and family,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen.
The City continues to urge our residents to stand with us against the scourge of theft and vandalism. Report vandalism of community infrastructure to the City and the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Source: City Of Cape Town
Bank teller’s accomplices convicted for theft and money laundering
PRETORIA – The Provincial Head of the Hawks in the Eastern Cape, Major General Obed Ngwenya welcomed the conviction handed down to Xolile Tom (42), Khanyisa Fumbe (40) and Andiswa Madolwana (36), by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Gqeberha on charges of theft and money laundering on Thursday, 21 April 2022.
The trio pleaded guilty on the charges of theft and money laundering, following the conviction and sentence of the main convict, Siphokazi Katyu (31) a former bank customer service clerk who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on 23 September 2020.
Katyu fraudulently altered the banking details of a Johannesburg based unsuspecting bank client in November 2015 and she redirected funds surpassing R1,164 000 into a fraudulently issued debit card linked to a flexi save, 32 day notice and money market accounts. The money was later shared and transferred to other several suspects without the knowledge and permission of the victim.
The bank reported the matter to the authorities which culminated in the arrest of eight suspects on the 12 February 2016. The case against four remaining suspects continues on trial today, 22 April 2022.
Meanwhile the case against the newly convicted trio was postponed to the 15 May 2022 for sentencing.
Source: South African Police Service
SA, Botswana deepen bilateral relations
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on African countries to put the continent on a new trajectory of progress, prosperity and self-reliance.
The President said that Africa’s focus must be on strengthening health systems across the region and the continent, and on improving its capabilities in areas such as vaccine and medical supplies manufacturing.
The President said this as he delivered opening remarks during the plenary session of the fifth Bi-National Commission (BNC) between South Africa and Botswana in Pretoria on Friday.
The two Presidents held talks aimed at strengthening and deepening the existing historical and bilateral relations between the two countries.
President Ramaphosa hosted his Botswana counterpart President Mokgweetsi Masisi and they both presided over the session of the BNC.
The two Presidents used their opening remarks to reiterate the historical, geographical and cultural affinities that the two countries share.
“This BNC is an opportunity to further deepen our cooperation in many areas including infrastructure development, energy production, mining, defence, health, transport, migration, and information and communication technologies,” Ramaphosa said.
The President emphasised that it is critical to consolidate the work that has already been done within the existing areas of cooperation and explore further areas of collaboration and cooperation.
He said that the ties between the peoples of South Africa and Botswana are long-standing, and our solidarity was forged in the trenches of struggle.
The President lauded Botswana for playing a pivotal role in ending colonialism and apartheid in South Africa.
President Masisi used his opening remarks to call on the security and intelligence agencies of both countries to work together in fighting a surge in crime.
Masisi said that this is in particular with incidents of crime in relation to cash in transit heists, armed robberies and transnational organised crimes including human trafficking, poaching, cyber-crime and contraband committed by nationals of our countries.
“It is therefore imperative for our security and intelligence agencies to work more closely together, in the efforts towards addressing these societal ills.
“However it is encouraging to note that the BNC has covered an array of defence and security matters, which will further augment efforts towards addressing many of these cross-border crimes,” he said.
Source: South African Government News Agency
Load shedding to be suspended tonight
Eskom says it will suspend load shedding from 10pm this evening but warned that the power system remains constrained.
The country has experienced varying stages of load shedding over the past week after the power utility’s power stations encountered several breakdowns.
“Eskom expects to return to service nine generation units during the weekend. These are a unit at Hendrina and two generation units each at Arnot, Duvha, Majuba and Tutuka power stations. The low weekend demand will assist in replenishing emergency reserves. This, together with the reduced weekend demand, will enable Eskom to suspend loadshedding… tonight,” Eskom said.
Currently, the power utility has at least 5 353MW of capacity unavailable due to planned maintenance, with another 14 912MW of capacity still unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns.
The power supplier cautioned consumers to use electricity sparingly, as the the grid remains under severe pressure.
“Eskom would like to again caution that even with the return to service of these units, the power system remains severely constrained and volatile. During next week, we anticipate to continue relying on the use of emergency reserves to meet demand.
“Eskom would again like to apologise for the implementation of load shedding and will continue to closely monitor the power system. Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid. We therefore request the public to continue using electricity sparingly to reduce the occurrence of load shedding,” Eskom said.
Source: South African Government News Agency
SA, Botswana conclude successful Bi-National Commission
The Republic of South Africa and Botswana have concluded a successful 5th session of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) between the two countries, aimed at renewing and strengthening bilateral relations and multilateral cooperation.
At the invitation of President Cyril Ramaphosa, Botswana President, Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi, paid a working visit to South Africa on Friday on the occasion of the 5th Session of the Bi-National Commission.
The Commission was co-chaired by both Heads of State, who were accompanied by delegations of ministers and senior government officials of both countries.
“The Heads of State held substantive and fruitful discussions on a wide range of issues of common interest across the bilateral, regional and international spectrum.
“During the official talks, the Heads of State noted with satisfaction the strong bonds of friendship and fruitful cooperation that exist between their two countries, and expressed their commitment to continue working closely in an effort to further strengthen and broaden their cooperation agenda,” a joint communiqué from both countries said.
The Heads of State noted with appreciation the vast scope of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, which includes trade and investment, energy, agriculture, tourism, youth and sport, infrastructure development, culture, mining, defence and security, immigration, environmental conservation and management, transport, as well as information and communication technologies.
They both noted that 40 agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have, over the years, been signed between the two countries, covering areas such as immigration, defence and security, energy, trade, transport, science and technology, and environment.
Presidents Ramaphosa and Masisi emphasised the need to fully implement all the signed agreements and MoUs.
“The Heads of State reviewed the work and progress of the bilateral cooperation since the 4th BNC between the two countries, which was held in November 2017. In this regard, they agreed on an implementation plan with strict adherence to set timeframes in the execution of BNC commitments and decisions,” the statement read.
The Heads of State reiterated the importance of the ongoing economic cooperation between the two countries and emphasised the need to intensify collaboration on areas that hold promise for immediate impact and benefit.
Overcoming
They also expressed concern at the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socio-economic development of the two countries, the region and the African continent as a whole.
They reaffirmed their commitment to continue working together to address the devastating impact of the pandemic.
On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Heads of State expressed satisfaction on the alignment of positions by the two countries at the United Nations on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“They reiterated the urgent need for peaceful resolution of this conflict. They underscored the need for the good offices of the UN Secretary General to play a central role in the peaceful resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”
In his closing remarks, President Ramaphosa said that he remains forever grateful for the strong ties that exist between the two countries and peoples.
“I am confident that by the time we meet in Botswana in 2023, our respective Ministers and senior officials will have made substantial progress in finalising the pending agreements brought to our attention,” he said.
In his closing remarks, President Masisi said he is confident that the outcomes and decisions that they arrived at will inspire the countries to progress towards the ultimate goal of social-economic development and prosperity of the people.
“It is my firm belief that this session, particularly after a lull in convening the BNC meetings, has served to further strengthen the existing bonds of friendship, solidarity and fruitful cooperation between our two countries.”
Masisi said he was pleased that new issues have been added to the agenda, including health research, next generation technologies, minerals beneficiation and nanomaterials, as well as media, information and publicity.
Source: South African Government News Agency