Pretoria News (www.pretorianews.co.za)
Page 1 - Mkhize unveils state plans to build 17 field hospitals Page 7 - Body of missing mayor found in hills (-Seoul)
Page 10 - Sappi moves to close plants, lays off 245 employees |
The Star (www.iol.co.za)
Page 1 - City denies tariff hikes a ‘spit in face of poor’
Page 1 & 2 - Eskom: Parliament set to unravel looting, overpayments
Business Day (www.businesslive.co.za) Page 1 - Insurers told to pay Covid-19 claims
Page 1 & 2 - Factories in the doldrums face more load-shedding too Page 3 - Western Cape ‘may have reached peak’
Citizen (www.citizen.co.za)
Page 2 - Global Covid-19 Update (-Graphic Illustration)
Page 5 - Zulu King heartbroken at death of sister from Covid-19
The Mail & Guardian (www.mg.co.za)
Page 2 - Most Gauteng, Western Cape schools in hotspots Page 7 - No reshuffle any time soon, but ...
연합뉴스 (www.yna.co.kr)
[샵샵 아프리카] 남아공 '세계최강' 봉쇄령 100일 넘게 진행중
Mkhize unveils state plans to build 17 field hospitals
Pretoria News 10 Jul 2020
MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA
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Facebook.
THE Nasrec field hospital in Gauteng is already operational. Plans are afoot for more field hospitals. |
HEALTH Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says his department has plans to construct 17 field hos- pitals with at least six already operational and eight under construction and three awaiting awarding of tenders.
Mkhize revealed this in a written response to a parliamentary question from DA MP Siviwe Gwarube, who had asked about the number of field hospitals built in each province since March.
“The construction of the field hospitals is at different levels of completion, from site han- dover to the completion of the construction of the hospital including utilisation of the hospi- tal,” he said.
The minister’s response showed that when construction of all the field hospitals was com- pleted, they would provide 3 638 beds, including 60 highcare beds, in six provinces.
His response also indicated that in the Eastern Cape, the Port Elizabeth VW field hospital was 35% complete and the completed section was being used for Covid-19 admissions.
Mkhize said the contractors were on-site in the Free State where there was conversion of un- derground parking at Universitas.
He said others were at House Idahlia, Albert Nzula and Pelonomi hospitals.
The Nasrec field hospital in Gauteng was already in use and Maseve field hospital in the North West was 90% ready.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the field hospital in Pietermaritzburg was operational.
The Ngwelezane Hospital, General Justice Gizenga Mapanza and Clairwood hospitals were still under construction.
In the Western Cape, the Cape Town International Convention Centre and Thusong field hos- pitals have been completed.
Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape have not built any field hospitals as yet, read Mkhize’s response.
Meanwhile, Mkhize said a quality assessment was done to determine if the operational side was in place and ensure infection control protocols were followed at more than 100 quaran- tine sites.
He was responding to Freedom Front MP Philip van Staden who had asked about measures his department had put in place to make quarantine facilities for persons with Covid-19 infec- tions fully compliant and ready to serve their purpose.
Mkhize’s response showed that there were 136 quarantine sites with 12 278 beds.
He said the process for assessing and preparing quarantine facilities was properly defined in the approved guidelines for quarantine and isolation.
“This entailed basic maintenance to the sites, procurement of beds, linen and kitchen equip- ment and the operationalisation of these sites again with staff, catering where necessary, pro- tective equipment and medical waste management services.”
Mkhize also said where complaints were received, various teams were sent to report on the status of the facilities.
Body of missing mayor found in hills
Pretoria News 10 Jul 2020 AP
SEOUL: The body of the missing mayor of South Korea’s capital, Seoul, was found yester- day more than seven hours after police launched a massive search for him.
Park Won-soon’s daughter had called police the day before to report him missing, saying he had given her a “will-like” message before leaving home.
Police said Park’s body was found near a restaurant and banquet hall in the hills. One of Park’s secretaries had lodged a complaint with police on Wednesday night over alleged sexu- al harassment. Park was seen as a potential presidential hopeful in South Korea’s 2022 elec- tions. | AP
Sappi moves to close plants, lays off 245 employees |
Move is an effort to reduce costs and to save the company around $27 million a year
Pretoria News 10 Jul 2020
SANDILE MCHUNU sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za
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| DEAN HUTTON Bloomberg
EMPLOYEES oversee the production of newsprint paper at the Ngod- wana wood mill, operated by Sappi, the world’s biggest producer of dis- solving wood pulp, in Mpumalanga.
SAPPI yesterday announced its intentions to close two of its mills abroad and lay off 245 employees in an effort to reduce costs by the global leader in dissolving pulp and paper-based solutions, with the move set to save the company around $27 million (R460m) a year.
The diversified wood fibre company said the decisions taken were necessary as it would help the company to remove capacity, reduce costs, improve machine utilisation and increase competitiveness.
Sappi chief executive Steve Binnie said these steps demonstrated their commitment to taking decisive action to reduce costs and respond to market dynamics. “These mills will now be better placed to compete in the marketplace and deliver increased returns,” Binnie said.
Sappi would close its Paper Machine 2 (PM2) at its Stockstadt Mill in Germany and Paper Machine 9 (PM9) and the energy complex at its Westbrook Mill in the US.
The group said Sappi Europe had announced the initiation of a process in February to deter- mine the future of PM2 at its Stockstadt Mill, in view of the continuing decline of the coated wood-free paper market.
The group had reached an agreement with the employee representatives after a consultation process to permanently close PM2, which had a coated wood-free paper production capacity of 240 000 tons a year.
The group expected production to cease at the end of September, with 170 employees expect- ed to leave the company.
“The once-off restructuring charges amount to approximately €27m (R529m) and the esti- mated annual saving will be approximately €15m,” the group said.
Going forward, Stockstadt would now focus on its strong and growing uncoated wood-free offering.
Sappi said it had decided to permanently shut its Westbrook Mill in
North America and the majority of the energy complex after reviewing the operations.
The group intended to shift PM9’s base paper production to its state-ofthe-art mills in Clo- quet, Minnesota and Skowhegan, Maine. Sappi said 75 employees would be impacted and the impacted assets were expected to close by the end of calendar year 2020.
“As a result of these actions, a restructuring charge of approximately $14m is expected dur- ing Sappi’s fourth quarter, in addition to approximately $8m of accelerated depreciation to be recorded during the second half of calendar 2020,” the group said. It estimated an annual sav- ing of $10m.
In May the diversified wood fibre company reported that its profits had plunged in the second quarter to March, as prices stalled due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Covid-19 saw the company slashing its capital expenditure as profits tumbled to from $72m to $2m on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation that fell to $131m from
$187m last year.
The group said at the time that the dissolving pulp market prices had also eased by $233 a ton in the past 12 months as the combined impact of soft global textile markets, US duties on tex- tiles from China, excess viscose staple fibre capacity and a weaker dollar to renminbi ex- change rate drove prices downwards.
In April, Sappi announced in recognition of the uncertain trading environment due to Covid-19, the board of directors and the group and regional leadership teams in Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Trading had volunteered a 10 percent reduction in salaries or fees for the three months to June and would receive no short-term incentive bonuses for the 2020 financial year.
Sappi plans to release its third quarter financial results for the period ended June on Thursday, July 30.
Sappi shares closed 1.36 percent lower at R26.15 on the JSE yesterday.
City denies tariff hikes a ‘spit in face of poor’
The Star Early Edition 10 Jul 2020
KHAYA KOKO khaya.koko@inl.co.za
THE CITY OF Joburg has defended the steep tariff hikes in its R68.1 billion budget as “bal- anced” despite it being labelled “a spit in the face of the poor”.
Yesterday, during a virtual sitting to finally table its budget and other revenue-raising mea- sures nine days after the start of the 2020/21 financial year, Jolidee Matongo, mayco member for finance, said the tariff increases considered the impact on the local economy, businesses and residents.
Of the R68.1bn budget, R60.6bn will be for operations and R7.5bn for capital expenditure projects.
Staff and councillors’ salaries, which account for a cumulative 26.7% of the city’s expendi- ture, will rise by an expected 6.25% until the 2022/23 fiscal year.
Electricity will increase by 6.23% in this financial year, reaching an expected staggering in- crease of 10% by 2022/23; water and sanitation will both be up by 6.6% and peak at 8.6% in 2022/23; refuse rises by 5.2% and will be 5% in 2022/23; and property rates rise by 4% to peak at 4.5% in two years.
These revenue-generating measures, among others, account for R45.6bn of the city’s R60.7bn revenue budget, with electricity accounting for R16.9bn, up 4.9% from the previous year.
“The increase is based on a proposed average tariff increase for electricity of 6.23%; the strategic drive to reduce total electricity losses to a level of 25.5% in the 2020/21 financial year.
“The average bulk purchase price increase from City Power’s main suppliers (Eskom, Kelvin and Ekurhuleni municipality) is assumed at 6.85%,” reads an official document adopted by council yesterday.
The city defended the hikes, saying that there was a rise in demand “on limited and fast-de- pleting resources”, adding that it had to ensure “sufficient revenue for service delivery”.
“As the economic hub of the country, our tall order has been to urgently explore ways in which we can offer relief to the people of Joburg.
“The tariffs… demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity and accountability to residents of Joburg,” Matongo said.
He added that the pensioner income qualifying criteria had increased by 6%.
“This means a pensioner with a property value of below R2.5 million and an income of below R10 338 for the lower limit or below R17 719 for the upper limit, will receive a 100% rebate on their rates. This effectively means an increased number of pensioners will now qualify for the city’s rebates,” Matongo enthused.
Of the 11 political parties represented in the Joburg council, only the EFF did not support the tabled budget and tariff increases, with councillor Lydia Ledwaba leading the charge for the red berets.
“The proposed 6.23% electricity increase and 6.6% for water is like spitting in the face of the working class and poor,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the DA, councillor CG Santana said that, although the party would have wanted a zero-tariff increase across the board, “it would be irresponsible to leave the city with a deficit”.
The DA supported the budget and tariff increases. Santana said the salary hikes for council- lors were concerning and called on parties “to show leadership” and forgo their pay incre- ments.
Eskom: Parliament set to un- ravel looting, overpayments
The Star Early Edition 10 Jul 2020
SIHLE MAVUSO and LOYISO SIDIMBA
PARLIAMENT wants to get to the bottom of the looting at Eskom following the multibillion overpayment to some companies.
Chairperson of the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on public enterprises Khaya Magaxa said yesterday they would play their oversight role on what happened at the power utility.
Magaxa, an ANC MP, told Independent Media that the committee was mindful of the damage created in almost all state-owned entities (SOEs).
“Hence we were not surprised about the continuous revelations that come out and expose the extent of the problem in these SOEs. We are still confident that state security agencies includ- ing the Zondo Commission will ultimately bring credible facts which will lead to the pun- ishment of all those implicated in wrongdoing,” he said.
Magaxa added that they had received a copy of the letter from Public Enterprises
Minister Pravin Gordhan to ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina earlier this week explaining the R4 billion overpayments in the construction of Eskom power stations.
Gordhan’s letter stated that ABB South Africa, Tubular Construction Projects, the Stefanutti Stocks Basil Read joint venture and the Stefanutti Stocks Izazi joint venture were each over- paid by R1bn while Tenova Mining and Minerals SA received R735 million and various site service contracts not in the scope of the Special Investigating Unit probe got R180m.
“Obviously, the next step will be the committee providing an opportunity to the shareholder (minister) to brief the portfolio committee and members asking questions about it, which will include the question as to how Eskom is going to recover the money,” Magaxa said.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wants current and former officials accused of collapsing Eskom to be arrested after it emerged that the troubled power utility was gunning for companies and employees implicated in wrongdoing.
“They must be arrested. Eskom is dying and being killed by people in high positions,” NUM general secretary David Sipunzi said yesterday.
This follows Independent Media’s report that Eskom has roped in the SA Revenue Service, the SIU, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority in its pursuit of former employees including executives and suppliers implicated in malfeasance.
Eskom has complained that the nature of the employer-employee relationship was contractual and afforded either party the right to terminate the relationship on notice or with immediate effect in terms of the dictates of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and the Labour Relations Act.
According to Eskom, the BCEA contained no provision that prevented an employee from re- signing when faced with disciplinary action or gave employers the power to refuse to accept a resignation.
Between April last year to February this year, 19 employees facing allegations of impropriety and wrongdoing resigned, others during investigations and before disciplinary proceedings commenced.
Sipunzi also weighed in on the planned unbundling of Eskom by 2023, saying unions have not been consulted and would not hesitate to explore if there was no legal recourse to have the plan declared invalid for failure to engage stakeholders.
Insurers told to pay Covid-19 claims
• Lockdown ‘no excuse’ to bail out
Business Day 10 Jul 2020
Linda Ensor - Parliamentary Writer
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/AFP (More reports inside)
Covid-19 crackdown: Israeli police enforce coronavirus regulations in Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday as protests against its plan to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank continue countrywide.
In a victory for hundreds of small businesses facing ruin because of Covid-19 and the result- ing lockdown, SA’s financial services regulator has come out strongly against insurers that refuse to pay out on claims caused by losses resulting from the pandemic.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) says it will take action against short-term insurers that continue to reject claims under business interruption policies on the ground that losses were caused by the national lockdown and not the infectious or contagious notifiable disease covered by the policies. The companies including divisions of heavyweights such as Sanlam, face claims of about R4bn from more than 500 businesses in the tourism and hospi- tality sector for the loss of business.
A Cape Town restaurant, Cafe Chameleon, has already won a case in the Western Cape High Court, which ordered insurer Guardrisk to compensate it for losses incurred during the lock- down.
The FSCA said on Thursday that the judgment in this case accorded with its own views.
Insurers that face legal action under these policies include Santam, Hollard, Bryte, HIC and Monitor — both in the Guardrisk stable — Thatch Risk Acceptances, Old Mutual Insure and Old Mutual’s One Insure.
Santam has indicated it intends to oppose a case brought by a hotel group in the Western Cape High Court, insisting that its contingent business interruption policies do not cover pan- demics.
The FSCA said in a statement that it is “concerned about the
behaviour of some insurers who are deliberately avoiding paying business interruption claims where no grounds exist.
“The national lockdown cannot be used by any insurer as grounds to reject a claim. Such conduct goes against the principles of treating customers fairly … The FSCA has communi- cated this view to insurers and will take action against those that do not treat their customers fairly.”
The FSCA has warned insurers that it may issue specific directives to any insurer that is seen to be non-compliant.
“Based on the information received and analysed by the FSCA to date, the FSCA found that, though it could not find evidence that the national lockdown could be a trigger for a valid business interruption insurance cover claim, policyholders are able to claim in instances where they can show that they have satisfied the requirements of their specific policy, whether it was before, during or after the lockdown.”
This meant that “the national lockdown cannot be used by any insurer as a ground” to reject a claim. If a policyholder can prove that it suffered a loss … as a result of the contagious/infec- tious disease in the area specified in the radius clause, and its business was interrupted or in- terfered with as a result of measures taken as a consequence of the contagious/infectious dis- ease, including the national lockdown, then the policyholder has a valid claim,” the FSCA said.
The regulator said it had continuously reminded the insurance industry that Covid-19 entered the country and spread prior to the declaration of the national lockdown.
Insurance Claims Africa, a specialist public loss adjustment firm representing 500 businesses in SA’s tourism and hospitality sector, welcomed the ruling, which it said rejected the insur- ers’ interpretation that the government’s lockdown, and not the Covid-19 pandemic, caused the significant losses faced by tourism and hospitality industry.
“FSCA’s statement unequivocally rules out this interpretation of these policies,” its CEO Ryan Woolley said. “Nonetheless, we still invite the insurers to talk to us about a sensible compromise settlement.”
Factories in the doldrums face more load-shedding too
Business Day 10 Jul 2020
Lynley Donnelly - Economics Writer
A collapse in manufacturing in April has set in stone the bleak picture of an economy brought to its knees during the harshest term of the Covid-19 lockdown.
And economists are braced for more misery from a familiar source — Eskom load-shedding, which had helped to push the economy into its second recession in two years even before the coronavirus pandemic.
Manufacturing production plummeted by an annual 49.4% in April, data released by Stats SA showed on Tuesday. On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, it plunged 44.3%. That easily outpaced the worst declines recorded during the global financial crisis in 2009. In April that year, manufacturing fell 23.2%, according to Nicolai Claassen, director of industry sta- tistics at Stats SA.
On top of the pandemic fallout, the sector faces severe headwinds with reliable electricity supply not assured, while the country struggles to implement long-promised reforms needed to boost growth, attract investment and drive demand.
“Manufacturing production will remain subdued in 2020 as the sector grapples with inherent and external constraints, including unreliable electricity supply, structural imbalances, gener- ally weak demand, as well as the coronavirus pandemic,” Nedbank economists Nicky Weimar and Candice Reddy wrote in a note.
In what may be a bad omen for an economy struggling to right itself, Eskom on Thursday warned of power constraints and possible load-shedding into the weekend after several gen- erating units tripped or struggled to come back on line.
Manufacturing, accounting for 13% of GDP and 10.4% of employment, has now recorded its 11th month of consecutive decline. During the first quarter of 2020, manufacturing was the second-biggest drag on growth after mining, contracting 8.5%. GDP shrank 2% in the first three months of 2020.
“Reliable electricity supply and the hastened implementation of crucial reforms by the gov- ernment remains paramount. However, uncertainty surrounding the global recovery, with second waves of infections resurfacing and restrictions being reinstated in some countries, will continue to weigh on our domestic predicament,” Investec economist Lara Hodes said.
A particular concern is the outlook for jobs in a sector that has already shed more than 72,000 in the past five years, Momentum Investments economist Sanisha Packirisamy said.
She noted that recent data from the Absa/Bureau for Economic Research purchasing man- agers’ index (PMI) — a gauge of business conditions in the sector — suggested further job losses are on the horizon.
Meanwhile, the recent consumer confidence index revealed a collapse in consumer sentiment towards buying durable goods, such as cars and furniture. “As such, manufacturing spare ca- pacity may remain elevated in these sectors and this could weigh on production levels in these sectors for some time,” Packirisamy said.
The outcome was not a surprise given that during April the country experienced the most se- vere phase — level 5 — of the lockdown with virtually all economic activity stopped.
“What we don’t know yet is how much long-term damage this decline caused and how many manufacturers actually survived,” Kevin Lings, chief economist at Stanlib, said.
According to Stats SA the decline was broad-based, covering all 10 segments of manufactur- ing. The largest contributions to the annual decline came from the basic iron and steel, non- ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery segment, which declined 65.4%. This was followed by the petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products segment, which slumped 41.5%.
Motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment, experienced the steepest decline in production, crashing 98% from the same period a year earlier, according to Stats SA.
Western Cape ‘may have reached peak’
• Virus attack rate has fallen, says Discovery Health
Business Day 10 Jul 2020
Tamar Kahn - Health & Science Writer kahnt@businesslive.co.za
The Western Cape may have reached the peak of its coronavirus outbreak, says SA’s biggest medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health. This was the first province hit by soaring Covid-19 infections. Officials said last week the latest models projected infections peaking in late July or early August.
The Western Cape may have already reached the peak of its coronavirus outbreak, according to SA’s biggest medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health.
The Western Cape was the first province to see soaring Covid-19 infections, and last week said its latest models project a peak in infections in late July or early August.
But on Thursday Discovery Health CEO Ryan Noach said there were signs the province may have already reached its peak, as the attack rate and private hospital bed occupancy rates had fallen significantly in the past few weeks. The attack rate is the proportion of people who be- come ill with a disease in a set time period.
“On 21 June the attack rate peaked at 24 per 100,000 lives per day. Since then it has come down to about 17 per 100,000 lives [per day]. It has flattened off a bit now, and one of either two things is going to happen: either it is going to have a second peak, which would be un- usual, or it will continue its downward trajectory. The next few days will tell,” he said.
“What is also relevant is that the [private] hospital bed occupancy across the country is 55%
… but this week Western Cape is below 40%,” he said. The private hospital bed occupancy rate had been as high as 70% in the Western Cape, he told Business Day shortly after address- ing a seminar hosted by Absa Healthcare.
“Hospitals look a bit emptier and the attack rate has come down. On the data it does look like there are some favourable signs,” he said.
By contrast, private hospital bed occupancy in Gauteng was around the 65% mark, he said.
Gauteng has seen a rapid surge in Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks. The number of Covid-19 patients admitted to public and private hospitals in the province trebled between June 24 and July 8, rising from 956 to 3,167 during that period.
Claims analysis of Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) members who were con- firmed to have Covid-19 indicated a relatively low case fatality rate by international stan- dards of 1.3%, he said. DHMS is Discovery Health’s biggest client.
Membership had remained stable despite the job losses and economic uncertainty precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
Last week the Western Cape health department said it had revised its coronavirus projections and expected a flatter but more deadly epidemic curve that would peak in late July or August and then hold sway until at least November. It previously anticipated a steep surge in late June, which did not materialise to the extent that was expected.
A flatter trajectory would mean less pressure on health services because the number of pa- tients would be spread out over a longer period.
Most Gauteng, Western Cape schools in hotspots
Mail & Guardian 10 Jul 2020
Bongekile Macupe
The majority of schools in Gauteng are in Covid-19 hotspot areas.
This was revealed by basic education director general Mathanzima Mweli in a press briefing on Sunday.
He said that out of more than 25000 schools in the country, 8047 were in hotspots and 6995 of these were public schools. And most of Gauteng’s and the Western Cape’s schools are in hotspots.
The two provinces have the highest number of infections in the country.
The department of basic education used information based on the prevalence of the virus in 52 district municipalities in the country and then used the location of all schools to indicate where they were in terms of the prevalence of the virus.
This information showed that out of Gauteng’s 3001 schools 1824 are in the City of Johan- nesburg where the infection rate has risen.
As of July 1 the highest number of active cases were mostly in the inner city, Alexandra, Houghton, Soweto, Dobsonville and Johannesburg South.
Mweli said a Council of Education Ministers meeting, which includes the department’s min- ister and deputy minister, MECS of education and heads of departments, had concluded that because Gauteng and the Western Cape have the largest number of schools in hotspots they had to proceed cautiously as they reopen schools for grades that have not yet returned to school.
This week schools opened for grades R, 6 and 11. The first group of learners returned to the classroom last month and other grades are expected to be phased in during July, with the last group going back to school at the end of August.
In his presentation at the Sunday briefing, the MEC of education in Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, said as of July 3 there were 571 schools that had positive Covid-19 cases.
The Mail & Guardian found that 238 of those schools are in the City of Johannesburg.
“The virus in Gauteng is ravaging our communities and we need to be very careful,” said Lesufi.
A week ago Makhura said the province would approach the National Coronavirus Command Centre to allow it to reintroduce stringent measures, which would include an intermittent lockdown and slowing down the reopening of schools, to contain the spread of the virus.
The province has since reverted and said it will focus on policing the current level of lock- down.
A teacher at a Soweto school this week said she lives in panic and if it were up to her she would work from home. “The mood at school is not okay; we are just pushing. We do not feel safe, but what else can we do?”
Her biggest worry is that most of her colleagues use taxis to get to work and they share com- mon spaces at school, so she fears that she will contract the virus.
“We are being sent to a slaughter house — but then again Angie [Minister Motshekga] told us that she is paying us so we should report for work. So what can we do? We will go,” said the teacher.
A parent, Bavumile Ndaba, who lives in Dobsonville and whose son attends a school in an- other hotspot, Roodepoort, said she had mixed feelings about sending her child, who is in grade 6, back to school this week.
But she said she was comforted by the report she received from her son on Monday after re- turning from school. He will go to school three times a week, there are only 13 of them in the classroom and during breaks they are monitored to ensure they keep their social distance from other learners. The transport her son uses also has measures in place to protect the learners.
Ndaba said she would only worry when more grades return to school. “I think only then will we review whether he should use the scholar transport. For now I am comfortable with him going to school because I understand that they have to finish the curriculum.”
An educationist said that as more grades go back to school, planning and measures to protect teachers and learners will have to improve, particularly for those schools in hotspots.
Zahraa Mcdonal, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Johannesburg, said it would dis- advantage learners to tell them to stay at home because other learners would be completing
the curriculum. Schools in hotspots need to be provided with additional resources to protect learners and teachers.
“We need to enhance the support to those schools; we cannot say they cannot continue. We need to teach our learners about the virus. They need to be told to maintain social distancing, to put on a mask when they get into a taxi, to sanitise when they get offs,” she said
Mcdonal said the country does not have the capacity to lose the academic year especially be- cause no one knows when there will be a vaccine.
No reshuffle any time soon, but ...
Mail & Guardian 10 Jul 2020 Paddy Harper
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Tough choices: President Cyril Ramaphosa has allegedly fallen out with some ministers over the enforcement of regulations banning alcohol and tobacco products
Renewed rumours of a mass cabinet reshuffle by President Cyril Ramaphosa are unlikely to translate into changes in his executive any time in the near future, but they do reflect the po- litical realignment taking place within the ANC ahead of its next leadership conference.
Last week, an unsourced list of names of cabinet ministers set to be moved by Ramaphosa appeared on social media, with the “big three” — Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, Police Min- ister Bheki Cele and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-zuma — among those named for removal from office.
Mkhize was identified on the list for a swap with Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who held the health portfolio from 2009 to 2019, and Public Service and Administration min- ister Senzo Mchunu was named as water and sanitation minister.
According to a subsequent report in The Sunday Independent, Cele, Mkhize and Dlamini- zuma were to be reshuffled after falling out with the president over the enforcement of regu- lations banning alcohol and tobacco products.
The changes were allegedly aimed at isolating Ramaphosa’s critics in the ANC leadership, according to the report. Another target, according to the report, was
Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, whose name was also raised in rumours of a cabinet reshuffle last year.
At the time, ANC insiders said Sisulu’s removal was aimed at stifling her presidential ambi- tions. Sisulu, who bid for the ANC presidency in 2017, but pulled out and backed
Ramaphosa, has since aligned herself with former supporters of Dlamini-zuma’s failed bid for the party presidency at Nasrec, ahead of a run for the ANC number one spot in 2022.
An ANC national executive committee member told the Mail & Guardian this week that it was “very unlikely” that the president would make changes to his cabinet at this point in time.
“I do not believe there would be changes made now, at the height of the fight against
Covid-19. That would not make sense, certainly not in key portfolios that are at the centre of what the government is doing right now.”
The NEC member said, although it had not held any discussion about a reshuffle, it was not general practice for the president to consult before making changes to the executive. “This is not something that is discussed at that level, but making major changes right now would not be the appropriate thing to do,” they said.
A second senior ANC member said that although the list was likely to be fake and generated by a faction in the party, the talk of a movement for Sisulu persisted. “Something will hap- pen, but not now and not with all the names on that list.”
“You will remember that there was an intention to make a change late last year and earlier this year in water and sanitation, which was advanced. Luthuli House intervened and asked that the minister be given time, which the president did. That discussion hasn’t gone away,”
the source said.
Neither presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko nor ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe had re- sponded to queries from the M&G at the time of publication.
[샵샵 아프리카] 남아공 '세계최강' 봉 쇄령 100일 넘게 진행중
중국 우한 봉쇄령 76일 훌쩍 넘겨…아직도 담배판매 금지, 술도 제한적 허용
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식료품 마트 앞에 사회적 거리를 두며 줄을 선 남아공인들
(요하네스버그=연합뉴스) 김성진 특파원 = 지난 4월 7일 프리토리아의 한 대형마트 앞 에서 봉쇄령 속에 식료품을 구하러 온 사람들이 줄을 서 있다. sungjin@yna.co.kr (요하네스버그=연합뉴스) 김성진 특파원 = 남아프리카공화국의 봉쇄령이 100일 넘게 진행 중이다.
남아공 '록다운'(lockdown)은 애초 3주간 일정이었으나, 한번 연장되더니 이후 약간씩 완화된 형태로 지속해 10일 현재로 106일째다.
봉쇄령은 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 확산을 둔화하기 위해 국경폐쇄는 물론 가급적 외출을 제한하는 것으로, 남아공은 세계에서 가장 강력한 봉쇄에 속한다 는 평가를 받았다.
남아공은 코로나19 첫 진원지로 알려진 중국 우한(武漢)의 '76일' 봉쇄 기간도 훌쩍 넘 어섰다.
야간 통행금지까지 하던 봉쇄를 단계적으로 풀었으나 아직도 주(州) 경계를 넘으려면 허가증이 필요하다.
거듭된 봉쇄령 연장 발표마다 시릴 라마포사 남아공 대통령은 저녁 TV 생중계로 대국 민연설을 했다.
라마포사 대통령은 연설 예고 시간보다 보통 10∼20분 정도 늦게 시작할 때가 많았으나 최근에는 비교적 시간을 잘 맞추었다. 한번 연설도 A4용지 7, 8장 이상 분량으로 통상 30 분 이상 걸렸다.
봉쇄가 장기화할수록 생활 불편과 경제 타격에 민주동맹(DA) 등 야당의 대정부 공세가 거세졌다.
군경의 강압적 단속 과정에서 10명 넘는 시민이 숨졌다.
특히 초기 봉쇄령 기간 주류와 담배를 금지하다가 지난 6월 1일부터 주류 판매는 재개 했다.
당시 두 달 넘는 금주령이 풀리자 어떤 이들은 덩실덩실 춤까지 추며 반겼다.
그래도 주류 판매 시간은 월∼목 낮 시간대로 한정됐다.
담배의 경우 BAT(브리티시아메리칸토바코) 등 해당 업자의 강력 반발에도 '국민건강' 을 이유로 계속 판매를 금지하고 있다.
남아공은 케이프타운 등 빼어난 자연경관을 자랑하지만, 현 봉쇄령 와중에 여행과 관 광을 하기에는 아직 이르다.
실제로 지난 3일 수도 프리토리아에서 약 한 시간 거리에 있는 관광명소 하트비스포트 댐을 찾았을 때 아직도 관광 케이블이 운행하지 않고 있었다.
요하네스버그와 프리토리아의 식당도 다시 문을 열었지만, 식당내 음주 불허에다 사람 들이 외식까지 꺼려 아직 봉쇄령 이전 영업실적의 20∼30% 수준에 불과한 것으로 전해 졌다.
한 교민은 9일 "프리토리아 컨트리 클럽 안에 있는 유명 P 레스토랑 주인은 손님이 너 무 없어서 아예 저녁 장사를 안 한다고 한다"고 말했다.
프리토리아 산자락 자연보전구역에는 얼룩말, 아프리카들소 등이 있지만 그 구역을 통 과하는 도로를 계속 차단하고 있다.
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프리토리아 산자락의 얼룩말
(요하네스버그=연합뉴스) 김성진 특파원 = 지난 5월 14일 프리토리아 클라퍼코프 자연 보전구역 안에 있는 얼룩말들.sungjin@yna.co.kr
학교는 그사이 문을 다시 열었지만, 감염 우려 탓에 상당수 사립학교 학생은 등교 대신 온라인 수업을 선택한다.
이런 가운데 최근 프랑스 대사관의 주도로 모처럼 외국인 철수기가 에어프랑스와 KLM 에서 뜨게 되자 너도나도 몰리면서 예약표가 순식간에 동났다. 당시 항공사 예약 전화 번호는 수십통째 계속 통화 중이었다.
무엇보다 남아공은 현재 감염 정점을 향해 치닫고 있다.
세계 다른 곳은 제2차 감염 파동이 일까 봐 걱정이지만 이곳은 봉쇄령 때문에 일종의 시차가 적용돼 이제야 가파른 증가세를 보이는 것이다.
특히 우리 교민도 많이 사는 수도권 하우텡주가 새로운 진원지로 떠오르고 있어 우려 되는 상황이다.
라마포사 대통령은 앞서 약 2, 3주꼴로 대국민담화를 해왔지만, 요즘은 그마저도 뜸하 다.
그는 상황이 악화할 경우 현 3단계 봉쇄령을 '핫스폿'(집중발병지역)을 중심으로 다시 4, 5단계로 상향하겠다고 했지만 얼마 전 "그런 강력봉쇄로는 회귀하지 않는다"고 밝혔 다.
아무래도 심각한 경제상황이 발목을 잡고 있기 때문으로 풀이된다.
그렇다고 남아공 행정기관이 발 빠르게 대처하는 것 같지 않아 보인다.
한국 대사관에는 남아공에 기증하려는 마스크와 진단장비가 진즉 왔지만, 현지 당국의 검열 과정 때문에 실제 전달까지는 한 달 넘게 걸릴 것이라는 예상이 나온다.
그나마 요즘 대형마트 등을 가면 한때 이완됐던 분위기와 달리 마스크를 쓰는 분위기 가 어느 정도 정착돼가는 듯하다.
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마스크를 쓴 채 쇼핑하는 프리토리아 시민들
(요하네스버그=연합뉴스) 김성진 특파원 = 지난 6월 19일 프리토리아의 한 상가몰에서 사람들이 마스크를 쓴 채 쇼핑을 하고 있다. sungjin@yna.co.kr
