Thursday 1 July - DAILY NEWS SUMMARY
The Citizen (www.citizen.co.za) Page 1/3 – Zuma: It’s only just begun Page 5 – Writing on wall for king
Page 6 – High food prices ‘hurt the poor’
Page 8 – Govt in talks to reopen TERS Pretoria News (www.pretorianews.co.za) Page 1 – China, Africa working in partnetship Page 3 – Gauteng officials to be disciplined The Star (www.iol.co.za)
Stock thief released on parole due to Covid back in prison for stealing sheep SA government expresses ‘great concern’ over eSwatini crisis, rights group wants embassy shut
Business Day (www.businesslive.co.za)
Sibongile Zungu takes over as Gauteng health as Covid-19 cases soar Gauteng excess deaths hit highes level since start of pandemic
Shot in the arm for Africa vaccine output as Aspen gets R10bn
연합뉴스 (www.yonhapnews.co.kr)
“에스와티니 시위에 21명 사망…계엄령 선포”
아프리카, 델타 변이 확산에 코로나19 농촌지역으로 번져
Zuma: It’s only just begun
Former public protector advocate Thuli Madonsela says it’s
crucial former president Jacob Zuma, earlier this week sentenced to 15 months behind bars on contempt of court charges, is called to account for all of his alleged offences.
• The Citizen (Gauteng)
• 1 Jul 2021
• Bernade e Wicks – bernadettew@citizen.co.za
Ex-public protector says it’s important he’s answerable ‘for a number of things’.
JIt’s important that there’s accountability for any and all wrongdoing
acob Zuma might have managed to dodge the hot seat at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, but it’s come at a cost of 15 months behind bars – and his legal battles are still far from over.
Earlier this week, the Constitutional Court had the last word on the commission’s contempt of court case against Zuma over his refusal to take the stand.
But while that case has now been put to bed, Zuma still has a number of others on the boil and, as former public protector advocate Thuli Madonsela yesterday told The Citizen, it’s important he’s answerable “for a number of things”.
Madonsela – whose state of capture report was the catalyst for the commission – said it was crucial the former president was called to account for all of his alleged offences.
“It certainly is important that there’s accountability for any and all wrongdoing that each of us are accused of and president Zuma is answerable for a number of things,” she said.
She also said that just because he had escaped from testifying before the commission didn’t mean he was off the hook there.
“If anything, it works against him because the National Prosecuting Authority will now have to work with whatever the commission has and his side of the story will be omitted from the narrative,” she said.
Of the Constitutional Court’s ruling, Madonsela said it was an affirmation of the rule of law.
“Whether you are the cleaner or the president, you are accountable for your actions or inactions. And when a court of law gives you a lawful instruction – whether you like that instruction or not – you have an obligation to do as you are told.
“That is the price we pay for living in a democracy. Should you refuse to obey an order of the court, you do so at your own peril.”
She said, however, that her first reaction had been one of “deep sadness” for Zuma.
“Either he was advised wrongly or misled himself,” she explained, “At his age, to go to jail just for refusing to answer questions. There are better things to go to jail for.”
Last year, commission chair Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo summoned Zuma to appear before him.
This after all his earlier efforts to get Zuma back into the witness box after his 2019 appearance proved unsuccessful.
On the day he was scheduled to take the stand, Zuma brought an application for Zondo’s recusal.
And after it was dismissed, he staged a dramatic walk out. This prompted the commission to approach the Constitutional Court and secure an order compelling Zuma to appear before it.
But he still refused and this is why the court has now found him in contempt.
It also, however, triggered a criminal complaint to the police in which Zuma was accused of potentially having contravened the Commissions Act.
And Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalase yesterday said this was still under investigation.
At a media briefing yesterday, Zondo indicated this week’s ruling might have an impact on the criminal complaint and that he and his team would have to apply their minds to this. But he also said that it still stood.
If the commission does persist with that criminal complaint, Zuma could be looking at up to six months of jail time.
There’s also his corruption case over the arms deal, for which he’s due back in the dock of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg.
Zuma could be looking at additional time if found guilty in that case – and a lot of it, with the minimum prescribed sentence for racketeering (one of the 16 charges he’s facing) – being life in prison.
Then there are any charges he could wind up facing on the back of the commission’s report once it’s been completed.
Despite Zuma’s refusal to testify, Zondo can still make adverse findings against him in the final report.
Thuli Madonsela Former public protector
Writing on wall for king
ESWATINI: PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTESTS ARE GAINING
MOMENTUM If state violence against dissent continues, SA may have to deal with influx of refugees.
• The Citizen (Gauteng)
• 1 Jul 2021
• Eric Naki ericn@citizen.co.za
Picture: AFPCHANGE INEVITABLE. King Mswati III of eSwatini is facing increasing challenges to his autocratic rule.
South Africa could see an influx of people from across eSwatini should the ongoing pro- democracy protests in the tiny kingdom continue, and if the police crack down harshly on the protesters.
Violent protests, which began slowly over the past months, escalated into full-blown riots this week with property and state facilities being set on fired by angry youths. At least one person was killed and scores injured as police cracked down, including using live ammunition against protesters. But some put the death toll higher.
Experts said it would be difficult for the protesters to remove King Mswati III, whose power was entrenched in the country’s governance institutions. Mswati III, Africa’s only remaining absolute monarch, has a lot to lose if he were to be ousted via the current street protests.
International affairs expert Prof Siphamandla Zondi said the protests might lend momentum to the long drawn-out struggle for democratic reform in Swaziland and limit Mswati’s monarchical power. “But it is unlikely to bring the monarchy down yet. It is well entrenched and institutionalised and possesses crude power of the state to suppress this uprising.
“But the signals have been in a step toward some national consensus on the future state system,” Zondi said.
The king has absolute power over the three spheres of the state: the executive, legislature and the judiciary and Cabinet ministers are appointed mainly within the Swazi royal family.
The monarch has not restored freedom of political activities since his late father King Sobhuza II banned political parties in 1973 through a proclamation.
But Zondi said the protests should cause the king to worry about his future and perhaps to start negotiations. Although he saw this as unlikely because the king and the government saw the revolters’ actions as illegitimate.
“There is no connection between the eSwatini situation and the rumblings around the Ngonyama Trust,” he added.
Another political and international relations analyst Dr Jan Venter from North-West University said people all over Africa were now starting to refuse to tolerate autocrats, especially expensive ones like in eSwatini, but he said it was unlikely Mswati would abdicate.
“We don’t have a tradition in Africa of leaders giving up power, instead they cling to power.
“But people are not willing to tolerate autocratic rule and that is a trend in the world,” Venter said.
But if the situation in eSwatini deteriorated, it would affect South Africa as there would be an influx of refugees which the country could not accommodate. More refugees would
destabilise SA and become a burden on its public services.
Venter foresaw no immediate uprising over land in SA inspired by the situation in eSwatini for some time, until a clear picture emerged regarding the land issue, perhaps in five years.
“There may be a lot of violent uprisings if the land issue is not resolved.
“It depends on economic growth because if there is positive economic growth and people are getting jobs, they get positive but if the growth is negative and there are no jobs they become negative,” Venter said.
Human rights body Amnesty International (AI) condemned the police brutality in eSwatini.
AI’s director for east and southern Africa Deprose Muchena called on authorities to respect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
“The protests unfolding across Eswatini are a result of years of denial of political, economic and social rights.
“Defending human rights and expressing critical views have been criminalised, and authorities have systematically crushed freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” Muchena said.
–
People are not willing to tolerate autocratic rule
High food prices ‘hurt the poor’
SURVEY: LOW EARNERS ‘CAN’T AFFORD HEALTHY MEALS’
• The Citizen (Gauteng)
• 1 Jul 2021
• Ina Opperman inao@citizen.co.za
Value of money is eroded by higher levels of inflation on basic goods.
The cost of the average household food basket has increased by R271.90 (7.1%) from September last year, when it cost R3 856, to R4 128 in June, according to the latest Household Affordability Index.
Between May and last month, the average cost decreased by R8.88 (-0,2%).
The index which is run by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, tracks food price data from 44 supermarkets and 30 butcheries, in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and Springbok.
Prices of maize meal, rice and flour have decreased over the past month, but the price of cooking oil, sugar and sugar beans remained high. Fruit and vegetable prices also came down, except for potatoes and onions. Meat prices have increased, as well as the price of margarine and polony.
The price of household food baskets decreased marginally, but not in Joburg, bringing no relief to struggling households, the group says.
“High food prices continue to hurt low-income families and remove nutritious food from the plates of poor people.”
Statistics South Africa’s Consumer Price Index for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose to 6.7% in May 2021, while headline inflation ticked up to 5.2%.
“The value of the money is eroded by higher levels of inflation on basic goods and services.
High food inflation is especially harmful for households living on low incomes,.” the group says.
It is important to consider the cost of the foods prioritised. Core foods are bought first to ensure families do not go hungry. When the prices of core foods increase, less money is available for other nutritionally rich foods, such as:
meat, eggs and dairy for protein, iron and calcium;
vegetables and fruit for vitamins, minerals and fibre; and
maas, peanut butter and pilchards for good fats, protein and calcium.
These foods contribute 53% of the total cost of the basket and at an average cost of R2 227 in April, relatively very expensive in relation to the total money available for food. –
Govt in talks to reopen TERS
LOCKDOWN: BLOW FOR LIQUOR, TOURISM SECTORS
• The Citizen (Gauteng)
• 1 Jul 2021
• Siyanda Ndlovu news@citizen.co.za
‘We will be able to afford to support laid off workers in sectors closed by regulations.’
The government is in talks to reopen the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) for industries worst affected by the lockdown. This was announced by Minister of Employment and Labour Thulasi Nxesi on Tuesday, saying the department had already paid R60 billion to more than 5 million workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nxesi said the department was also in talks with stakeholders to find surplus funds to address the new lockdown conditions.
He said the department was trying to heed calls to consider reopening the scheme through the UIF.
“From the side of the UIF we will be able to afford to support laid off workers in sectors which have been closed by the government during the 14-day lockdown period, particularly the alcohol industry,” Nxesi said.
“We have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the financial viability of the UIF in order to meet payment obligations.
“As we have always indicated, UIF has been there when the country needed it the most. All of this was done to support the country and ensure the lockdown does not lead to mass hunger as workers were denied the chance of making a living.”
Ters was originally introduced to support employees whose services were affected by the level 5 lockdown last year.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and union federation Cosatu have challenged the government to avail Ters funds in the wake of the level 4 lockdown announced by President Cyril
Ramaphosa on Sunday. They said the tougher lockdown will deal a devastating blow to many enterprises in the liquor industry and the restaurant, hospitality, tourism, weddings and
conferencing sectors.
“The new lockdown regulations will threaten the livelihoods of thousands of workers who are unable to earn an income,” said DA’s shadow minister of employment and labour Michael Cardo.
Cosatu’s secretary-general Bheki Ntshalintshali said the government must find funds to help affected sectors.
–
China, Africa working in partnership
• Pretoria News
• 1 Jul 2021
•
SOUTH AFRICAN President Cyril Ramaphosa and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping.
— Signed Article by Chinese Ambassador Chen Xiaodong on the Centenary of the CPC TODAY marks the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). On this occasion, the African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa and General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) Blade Nzimande sent congratulatory letters to Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, on behalf of their parties respectively. Friends from all communities in South Africa also sent their congratulations to the CPC. These efforts fully demonstrate the party-to-party and state-to-state friendship between China and South Africa. Looking back, the centennial course of the CPC is a glorious journey in which the CPC led the Chinese people to gain independence and
liberation to build a strong and prosperous country and deliver wellbeing for the people. The CPC has in the past 100 years led the Chinese people to embark on a development path that suits China’s national conditions. China's development also has a profound influence œ ˜ the world, making important contributions to the noble cause of global peace and development.
Today, China officially announced it had built a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
From a new historical starting point, the CPC will continue to lead a vibrant China to embark on a new journey toward rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We look forward to sharing development opportunities with South Africa and other African countries including South Africa, and see the fulfillment of the Chinese dream together with Africa's dream.
I. THE CPC’S LEADERSHIP IS THE INEVITABLE CHOICE OF HISTORY AND THE PEOPLE
History chose the CPC. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that: “History is the best textbook, faithfully recording the course of each country and providing inspiration for future development.” To understand China's development, it is necessary to first view China's history and the role of the CPC in a correct context China is a major country with a
civilization that is over 5,000 years old. It was at the forefront of the world for a long time. In modern times, China was reduced to a poor and weak country subjected to foreign
aggressions and even faced with the danger of extinction. To save the nation from danger,
people of all classes and political forces in China came up with various programs and visions.
Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary system, multi-party system, and presidential system were all put to test in China. However, none of them provided an effective prescription for building a strong country and bringing wealth to the people. In this process, various political forces competed against one another. And the CPC was born as Marxism-Leninism was adopted in the movement of China’s workers.
The CPC united and led the Chinese people to defeat Japanese imperialism, overthrew Kuomintang’s reactionary rule, completed the new democratic revolution during 28 years of tough battles, and finally founded the People’s Republic of China. After 29 years of
painstaking work, China has completed socialist revolution and transformation, made initial results in establishing an independent and complete industrial system and national economic system, established the basic system of socialism, and laid a sound and solid foundation for the development and progress of contemporary China. More than 40 years of reform and opening-up has stimulated the creativity of the people, unleashed and developed productive forces, and opened up the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
In the new era, the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core has been forging ahead with determination and accomplished many things that were wanted but never got done. For the cause of the Party and the country, it has made historical achievements, and brought about historical changes. It has composed new chapters of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and laid a solid foundation for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The People’s Republic of China has achieved a tremendous transformation: it has risen up, grown richer, and is becoming stronger.
The people chose the CPC. Mao Zedong instructed the whole Party to “serve the people wholeheartedly.” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Our Party comes from the people. The Party is rooted in the people. We are born for the people. We grow by the strength of the people, stay with the people, and work for the people’s interests. This is our ultimate goal as the Party becomes stronger. The country is the people, and the people are the country." It is due to the intimate fish-and-water relationship between the CPC and the people that the CPC, with over 91 million members and over 70 years in governance of the world’s largest socialist country, has evolved into the world’s largest Marxist governing party that enjoys the support of the 1.4 billion Chinese people.
— It is the people who run the country. In old China, there was no democracy or human rights to speak of for the people. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a host of basic political systems were established, such as the system of people’s congresses, the system of Party-led multi-party cooperation and political consultation, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and the system of community-level selfgovernance. The people fully enjoy constitutionally and legally protected rights such as right to democratic election, consultation, decision-making, management and supervision. Within the boundaries of the constitution and laws, the people enjoy rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association, among others.
Human rights including the right to livelihood and to development are fully guaranteed. The Chinese people are running their own country, and the people’s democracy in China is more substantial and more effective than the capitalist democracy in Western countries. A survey report by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government showed that the Chinese people’s satisfaction with the CPC and the government is 93.1%, which is one of the highest ratings in the world.
Gauteng officials to be disciplined
Public Protector wants two senior officials charged for
advertising, evaluating and awarding a R30m cyber security tender within six days
• Pretoria News
• 1 Jul 2021
• LOYISO SIDIMBA
| African News Agency (ANA)ADVOCATE Busisiwe Mkhwebane briefs the media on findings from her various investigations.
PUBLIC Protector adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane has ordered the Gauteng finance and e- government department to discipline two senior officials who advertised, evaluated and awarded a R30m cybersecurity tender within six days.
This comes after she found the department’s acting information and communications
technology deputy director-general Khuliso Muthivhi and supply chain management director Noma-Afrika Koyana guilty of advertising the contract for 24 hours, evaluating it and
informing the successful bidder long before the department officially sent an appointment letter.
The contract was awarded to In2IT Technologies on March 30 last year just after 10am. The company was informed through an e-mail from Muthivhi, who informed the firm its
appointment letter had been delayed due to the department’s building being sanitised.
Mkhwebane has since ordered Cyril Baloyi, head of the Gauteng finance and e-government department, to discipline Muthivhi and Koyana for their role in the debacle that saw the request for quotations (RFQ) advertised after 5pm on March 25 last year inviting responses by 10am the next day.
Disciplinary action against Muthivhi and Koyana must be taken within 30 days, Mkhwebane declared yesterday.
The contract was then awarded to In2IT Technologies on March 30 last year just after 10am and the company was informed through an e-mail from Muthivhi, who informed the firm its appointment letter had been delayed due to the department’s building being sanitised.
Muthivhi is charged with advising In2IT Technologies of the awarding of the tender before the letter of appointment was issued and the contract signed.
Koyana will be disciplined for failing to follow supply chain management (SCM) processes by evaluating only two RFQs on her own and outside the prescribed policies.
Mkhwebane found In2IT Technologies had been told to continue with the start of the project to run the security operations centre to protect the Gauteng provincial government from
cybersecurity threats for 12 months until its appointment letter was issued when the
department’s officials returned to the building. In her response to Mkhwebane, Koyana said Muthivhi instructed her the RFQ process must go out on March 25 and that it must close on March 26 considering the Covid-19 lockdown, which President Cyril Ramaphosa had declared to start at midnight on March 27.
The public protector found the department’s former acting chief financial officer Sanele Zondo allowed Koyana to unilaterally evaluate the R30m RFQ despite being aware that members of the bid evaluation and adjudication committees had not not duly appointed.
However, Mkhwebane let Zondo off the hook because she had resigned from the provincial government. She did the same with Rashid Seedat, formerly the acting head of the e-
government department, after he returned to his position in Gauteng Premier David
Makhura’s office, where disciplinary steps were taken and he was issued with a final written warning in November.
Mkhwebane has been informed that Muthivhi and Koyana have been issued letters for them to respond to the impending institution of disciplinary action and a presiding officer
identified and appointed. “Baloyi advised that the charge sheet was drafted on 14 May, 2021, and it was submitted for approval and the hearing to commence on May 28,” reads the public protector’s report.
Meanwhile, Mkhwebane wants the 14 municipalities that illegally and improperly invested almost R3.2 billion in the doomed VBS Mutual Bank to institute proceedings to recover the public money.
The investments were made in violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Investment Regulations.
Mkhwebane has also ordered the municipalities to take action within three months against officials and councillors implicated in wrongdoing through forensic investigations.
The municipalities in Limpopo, North West and Gauteng invested amounts ranging from almost R1.1bn in the case of the Vhembe District Municipality to the R50m spent by the Merafong Local Municipality.
Mkhwebane also revealed four of the 14 municipalities – Fetakgomo Tubatse, Madibeng, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati and the West Rand – did not respond when given the opportunity to answer to the evidence obtained during the investigation.
Stock thief released on parole due to Covid back in prison for stealing sheep
By Jonisayi Maromo 19h ago
Pretoria - A 34-year-old man who was serving time for stock theft and released on parole when Covid-19 hit last year is back behind bars for committing the same crime.
The Ermelo Regional Court sentenced 34-year-old Veli Morris Mashinini from to eight years in prison following his arrest and subsequent conviction for stealing sheep and driving reckless driving.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in Mpumalanga Monica Nyuswa said Mashinini had a previous conviction of stock theft.
However, he was released on parole due to Covid-19 pandemic.
A few months later in October, police officers spotted a suspicious vehicle on the N2 highway and attempted to stop it.
However, Mashinini - who was the driver - sped away at high speed.
“On a curve, the driver lost control and crashed his vehicle. The police found the driver stuck in the vehicle with six sheep carcasses inside,” said Nyuswa.
“Upon questioning him, Mashinini gave different explanations as to how the carcasses got into the vehicle and he was arrested and hospitalised.”
During trial, Mashinini initially told the court that he had been hired to transport the sheep to an abattoir, but later changed this version, Nyuswa said.
“The prosecutor, Charles Lloyd, led the evidence of the arresting officer who testified that there was no other person in the vehicle when he arrested Mashinini. The
magistrate rejected Mashinini’s version and sentenced him accordingly,” said Nyuswa.
“The court ordered the remainder of the sentence be taken into consideration and he was sentenced to a further eight years imprisonment. It further ordered the
sentences not to run concurrently with the previous conviction. He was sentenced to effective eight years for stock theft and three months for reckless driving. The three months will run concurrent with the term of eight years.”
SA government expresses ’great concern’ over eSwatini crisis,
rights group wants embassy shut
By Jonisayi Maromo 95s ago
Pretoria – The South African government said on Thursday it had noted with great concern the ongoing political and security crisis in neighbouring eSwatini, insisting that citizens’ rights to peaceful protest should not be curtailed.
“We are particularly concerned by reports of loss of life and destruction of properties.
The right to peaceful protest is universally recognised,” the department of
international relations and cooperation’s (Dirco) spokesman Clayson Monyela said in a statement.
“The South African government calls on the security forces to exercise total restraint and protect the lives and property of the people, in keeping with the country’s
constitutional provisions and laws. In addition, South Africa urges all political actors and civil society to engage in meaningful dialogue in order to resolve the current political challenges facing the country.”
On Wednesday, the Swaziland Youth Congress (Swayoco) said at least 21 people had been allegedly killed by eSwatini's security forces during pro-democracy protests. The internet has reportedly been shut down and a curfew imposed, although there are reports of some protesters defying it.
The protests started peacefully in the Manzini region of Africa’s last absolute
monarchy on June 20 when young people took to the streets in a push for the right to democratically elect the prime minister, currently appointed by King Mswati III. They have however since turned violent.
"We were off-line due to an internet shutdown. We have 21 confirmed cases of Swazi patriots killed by the state security. In honour of our fallen patriots we will soldier on until democracy,” youth movement Swayoco said on its social media platform.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s civil rights movement #NotInMyName called on Pretoria to condemn what it called the “barbaric actions” of the eSwatini regime.
“Furthermore the embassy of eSwatini must be closed with immediate effect. We cannot sit still and watch emaSwati die. The struggle is no longer theirs alone. The monarch must stop eating his own,” #NotInMyName secretary general Themba Masango said.
He said transparency and good governance were fundamentals which must be respected in every nation, particularly on the disposition of state funds and revenue, as well as the decisions taken by those in power.
“However, the regime in eSwatini has reactivated its authoritarian systems to crush dissenting voices: reports state that pro democracy leaders and citizens are being arrested for demanding the monarch to accept democracy as the order of the day, the community lives in constant and persistent fear of prosecution with many arrests and abductions being made public,” said Masango.
“It is evident that the eSwatini regime is hell-bent on subverting civil liberties and constitution through thwarting and prosecuting dissenting voices.”
Sibongile Zungu takes over as Gauteng health as Covid-19
cases soar
Zungu was appointed the acting head of health in the Eastern Cape after the resignation of Thobile Mbengashe in September 2020
0 1 J U LY 2 0 2 1 - 1 0 : 1 1 A M A N D A K H O Z A
Sibongile Zungu. Picture: SOWETAN
The Gauteng health department has appointed Dr Sibongile Zungu as its acting head from Thursday in a bid to bring about stability, as the province battles a rampant third wave of Covid-19.
“I have signed a concurrence with the premier‚ David Makhura. We are taking Dr Sibongile Zungu. She will come and act as head of department in Gauteng until they can do the recruitments and stabilise the system‚” said acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi in a recent interview with TimesLIVE.
Provincial government spokesperson Thabo Masebe confirmed the appointment.
“Dr Zungu starts after the secondment by national government to bring about stability in the province.”
The third wave of Covid-19‚ driven by the Delta variant‚ has hit Gauteng harder than any other province so far.
Zungu was appointed as the acting head of health in the Eastern Cape after the resignation of Dr Thobile Mbengashe in September 2020‚ and she is the former head of department in KwaZulu-Natal.
In addition to Zungu’s appointment‚ Kubayi said the national department was
assisting the province with filling key vacant posts‚ and she had asked public service and administration minister Senzo Mchunu for help.
“There were challenges where people were leaving. Now there is an acting CFO‚
acting head of department. Even in terms of all of these plans‚ there must be people in place to implement and run them so that we can see these plans going into the hospitals‚” Kubayi said.
The minister said she was trying to assist the province to address a shortage of nursing staff. “We had conversations with nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) such as Right to Care and Gift of the Givers to ask them to come on board to assist Gauteng‚ to which they agreed‚” she said.
“There are conversations with the Solidarity Fund to assist‚ and currently in Gauteng they are looking at additional nurses to help us with the surge. We are hoping for about 480 and hoping that they can come quickly. It is not that the beds do not exist:
they exist — they just need to be activated. So they need the human capacity to activate those beds.”
Kubayi has also asked for a report on doctors who are waiting to be placed at various facilities to do their community service training.
“I have asked the team to give me a report. I was speaking to [finance] minister Tito Mboweni, saying it is an indictment on him and me‚ as people who believe in
education and who have seen what education has done in our lives‚” she said.
“I need to understand because it does not make sense to me from where I am sitting.
Informally they are saying there is no money so I am trying to figure out what the problem is because every year‚ surely we should know that we have this amount of students ready to be placed where there is a shortage.”
Masebe welcomed the assistance from the national department. “Hopefully, in the next few days we will have enough manpower to help us manage the situation‚” he said.
“Last year, the premier appointed a strategic team … to help stabilise the department. This work continues and we are working closely with the national government.”
Gauteng excess deaths hit highest level since start of pandemic
0 1 J U L Y 2 0 2 1 - 0 9 : 2 6 A N T O N Y S G U A Z Z I N
Picture: 123RF/HXDBZXY
Excess deaths, seen as a more precise way of measuring total fatalities from the coronavirus, rose to their highest level in Gauteng since the pandemic began.
In the week to June 20, a total of 2,242 more deaths than normal were recorded in the province that includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, according to a report from the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC). That compares with the 475 deaths officially attributed to Covid-19.
Excess deaths in the province, which are measured against a historical average, have risen for seven straight weeks from 229 in the week to May 2, highlighting the
severity of a third wave of coronavirus infections. Gauteng, where one in four South Africans live, has in recent days accounted for between 57% to 69% of all daily national infections.
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases has attributed the rapid climb in cases and deaths to the emergence in the country of the delta variant, first identified in India. The SA National Blood Service said on Monday that samples from blood donations showed Gauteng had the second-lowest incidence of Covid-19 antibodies of the country’s nine provinces, making it more susceptible to a new wave of
infections.
The number of excess deaths in Gauteng compares with a peak of 2,114 in the week to January 10 during the second wave of infections, and 2,172 in the week to July 12 2020, the crest of the first.
Overall 32,974 excess deaths have been recorded in Gauteng and 176,700 nationally over the course of the pandemic, according to the SAMRC. That compares with an official total of 60,647 attributed to Covid-19. While not all excess deaths may be due to Covid-19, the SAMRC says most likely are. The cause of death may not be
accurately recorded if people die at home or in remote areas far from medical facilities.
SA’s official death toll and almost 2-million infections make it the country hardest hit by the virus in Africa, though testing and accurate recording of the causes of death is weak across much of the continent.
While the third wave of infections in SA has so far largely been concentrated in Gauteng, which accounts for two-fifths of the national economy, the proportion of new cases from the province fell to 57% of the 19,506 cases recorded on
Wednesday. That’s the first time it has been below 60% for a number of days, possibly indicating infections are accelerating in other provinces. Daily infections are at their highest since January.
SA only started the main part of its vaccine rollout in May with 3.03-million vaccinations administered, of which just over 700,000 were in Gauteng.
Shot in the arm for Africa vaccine output as Aspen gets R10bn
3 0 J U N E 2 0 2 1 - 1 8 : 3 3 T A M A R K A H N U P D A T E D 3 0 J U N E 2 0 2 1 - 2 3 : 2 5
Vaccines at Aspen Pharmacare’s factory in Gqeberha. Picture: WERNER HILLS
SA’s biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer, Aspen Pharmacare, is to receive a €600m (R10.1bn) long-term debt financing package from a consortium of development financiers led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support the development of vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa.
It is the first financing deal announced by the partnership, which was launched during French President Emanuel Macron’s visit to SA in May.
The partnership includes the IFC, the French development institution Proparco, German development institution DEG, and the US International Development
Finance Corporation (DFC). It is the largest health-care investment led by the IFC to date and includes €200m from the IFC’s own account, €156m from Proparco,
€144m to be arranged by DEG and €100m from DFC.
Africa has lagged the rest of the world in rolling out Covid-19 shots, partly due to the lack of vaccine manufacturing capacity on the continent. The continent produces only about 1% of the vaccines it uses, and Aspen is the only pharmaceutical
manufacturer in Africa contracted by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to help compound, fill, finish and package its Covid-19 shots, which it does at its sterile facility in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.
“We are actively seeking opportunities to further extend and capacitate Covid-19 vaccine manufacture at this world-class production facility,” said Aspen CEO Stephen Saad. “Aspen is seeking to play a meaningful role in contributing to the objective of delivering the majority of Africa’s needs from production sites located in Africa.”
Aspen said the debt financing package would be structured as an amortising loan, with a two-year grace period and the final instalment due seven years after its
effective date. The proceeds will be used to refinance a portion of Aspen’s existing euro-denominated syndicated debt facilities, it said.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the partnership said the investment would support Aspen’s production of vaccines and other therapies in African and emerging markets. The AU and Africa Centres for Disease Control said in April they aimed for Africa to manufacture 60% of its vaccine needs by 2040.
“President Joe Biden has been clear since coming into office that with this pandemic no-one is safe until everyone is safe. The trick is how do we ramp up [vaccine]
production around the world. We are looking at sites in Africa and around the world,” said US charge d’affaires to SA Todd Haskell.
The investment in Aspen is expected to lead to production of up to 250-million doses of the J&J vaccine by the end of the year, 30-million of which will be provided to SA and the rest distributed to other African countries, he said.
The first of these vaccines would be available “in the coming weeks”, he said.
Haskell said the US would donate 1-million PfizerBioNTech Covid-19 vaccines to SA, due to arrive in the next few weeks.
The bilateral donation is part of the 500-million doses the US previously said it would buy from Pfizer to donate to other countries, primarily through international vaccine financing agency Covax and the AU.
“SA is one of the few countries we have identified for a bilateral donation.
“Getting as many shots in arms as quickly as possible to save SA lives is a priority.
The situation here right now is particularly difficult,” said Haskell.
SA is in the grip of a third wave of Covid-19 infections that has stretched hospital services to their limit in Gauteng.
Infections have surged as the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant rapidly displaces older and less contagious lineages.
The vast majority of SA’s population is unvaccinated due to a series of delays that saw the national rollout only begin in mid-May. The rollout was launched with severely constrained supplies while US regulators assessed the safety of the J&J vaccine, leaving the government with only limited volumes of Pfizer shots on hand.
"에스와티니 시위에 21명 사망…계엄령 선포"
송고시간 2021-07-01 00:06 김성진 기자기자 페이지
에스와티니의 불타는 시위 현장
(요하네스버그=연합뉴스) 30 일(현지시간) 오전 에스와티니에서 교민들을 비롯해
외국인들이 많이 사는 에줄위니의 한 도로에 시위대가 사용한 것으로 보이는 타이어가 아직 불타고 있다. 2021.6.30. [김한기 에스와티니 한인회장 제공, 재판매 및 DB 금지]
(요하네스버그=연합뉴스) 김성진 특파원 = 아프리카의 마지막 절대왕정 국가인 에스와티니에서 민주화 요구 시위 과정에서 최소 21 명이 보안군에 의해
살해됐다고 남아프리카공화국 온라인매체 IOL 이 30 일(현지시간) '스와질란드 청년회의'를 인용해 보도했다.
민주화 진영 청년단체인 스와질란드 청년회의는 소셜미디어를 통해 "우리는 스와지(에스와티니) 애국자 21 명이 군경에 의해 살해됐음을 확인한다. 쓰러진 애국자들에 경의를 표하며 우리는 다당제 민주주의를 향해 계속 싸울 것"이라고 밝혔다.
이날 독립성향의 온라인 매체 스와지뉴스에는 소요 지역에 배치된 군이
민간인에게 발포하는 모습의 동영상도 올라왔다. 보안군이 아주 가까운 거리에서 한 청년에게 총을 쐈으며 부상자가 250 명 이상이라는 보도도 나왔다.
에스와티니 민주화 운동 진영이 시위를 더 강화할 것이라고 다짐한 가운데 현재 인터넷이 차단된 상태인 것으로 알려졌다.
에스와티니 청년들은 지난 20 일 국왕 음스와티 3 세에 의해 임명되는 총리를 민주적으로 뽑을 권리를 요구하며 평화적 시위에 나섰다.
그러나 정부가 이들의 청원을 거부하고 집회 금지령을 내리면서 지난 주말부터 과격 시위로 변했다.
이 과정에서 경제 중심 만지니와 산업 허브 맛사파 등에선 일부 상점과 트럭이 불타고 약탈당했고 국왕이 부분적으로 소유한 주류회사 건물이 불타는 동영상이 회자됐다.
정부는 '불법 시위' 차단과 함께 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나 19) 확산을 막는다는 명분으로 오후 6 시부터 다음날 오전 5 시까지 야간 통행금지령을 내렸다.
시위대가 장애물로 차단한 에스와티니의 한 도로 [김한기 에스와티니 한인회장 제공, 재판매 및 DB 금지]
김한기 에스와티니 한인회장은 이날 연합뉴스와 통화에서 "오늘 계엄령이 선포돼 외출이 금지됐다"라면서 "이전과 달리 시위대가 도로를 막고 타이어를 태우는 등 매우 과격해졌다"고 현지 사정을 전했다.
이어 "밤새도록 간헐적인 충돌이 있었고 (보안군이) 최루탄과 고무탄으로 진압을 했다고 한다"라면서 "현재는 대부분의 시위대가 해산된 상태"라고 말했다.
그러면서 약 80 명인 현지 교민들은 무사하다고 덧붙였다.
에스와티니는 1973 년부터 정당활동이 금지된 상태로 35 년간 통치하고 있는 국왕 음스와티 3 세는 부인을 15 명 두고 호화생활을 하는 데 비해 110∼130 만 명에 달하는 국민은 가난에 시달리고 있다고 외신들이 전했다.
에스와티니는 2018 년까지 스와질란드로 불렸으며 남아공과 모잠비크로 둘러싸인 작은 산악 내륙국가이다.
지난 2012 년 갈대 춤 축제 당시 음스와티(전면) 3 세 모습 [AP=연합뉴스 자료사진]
아프리카, 델타 변이 확산에 코로나 19 농촌지역으로 번져
송고시간 2021-06-30 20:02 김성진 기자기자 페이지
의료시설 등 열악해 도시로 환자 이송…보건시스템 부담 가중
지난 25 일 짐바브웨 농촌지역인 즈빔바 주민들이 현지병원서 체온을 재고 있다.
[AP=연합뉴스]
(요하네스버그=연합뉴스) 김성진 특파원 = 아프리카, 그중에서도 의료 사정이 훨씬 더 열악한 농촌 지역이 최근 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나 19)의 새로운 진원지가 되고 있다고 AP 통신이 30 일(현지시간) 보도했다.
이에 따르면 최근 농촌 지역에는 인도발 델타 변이가 몰아치고 있다.
인도를 황폐화한 델타 변이는 콩고, 모잠비크, 나미비아, 우간다, 남아프리카공화국, 짐바브웨 등 최소 아프리카 14 개국에서 발견됐다.
발병 지역도 도시에서 농촌 지역으로 확대되고 있다.
아프리카 인구 대부분이 사는 농촌 지역은 농장 간 거리가 떨어져 있고, 방문자도 거의 없어 이전에는 상대적으로 코로나 19 안전지대로 여겨졌다.
지난 23 일 짐바브웨 수도 하라레 동부의 데마 공동토지에 있는 농장에서 마트리다 텐다이가 말하고 있다. 100 세인 텐다이는 자신이 너무 연약해 데마에 있는 가장 가까운 클리닉에 설령 백신이 들어와도 그곳에 갈 수 없다고 말한다. [AP=연합뉴스]
짐바브웨에서는 코로나 19 발병 진원지로 선포된 네 지구 가운데 세 지구가 주로 농촌지역인 마쇼나랜드 웨스트주(州)에 있다.
이 주는 지난 주말 짐바브웨에서 보고된 801 명의 코로나 19 확진자 중 절반 이상을 차지했다.
다른 핫스폿(집중 발병지역)도 대체로 농촌 지역에 속해 있다.
문제는 급증하는 코로나 19 감염자에 대처하기에 농촌지역의 시설이 미비하다는 점이다.
농촌에서 치료를 못 해 많은 환자가 도시로 이송됐고, 이로 인해 도시 지역 의료시설에도 부담이 가중되고 있다.
짐바브웨 수도 하라레의 의사 및 치과의사협회의 대표를 맡은 조하네스 마리스 박사는 "우리는 특히 농촌지역에서 증가하는 많은 사망자를 보게 될 것이다.
코로나 19 는 이제 농촌지역에서 오고 있다"고 말했다.
세계보건기구(WHO)와 아프리카 질병통제예방센터(CDC)에 따르면 아프리카 13 억 인구 가운데 백신 접종을 받은 이는 1%에 불과하다.
농촌지역은 열악한 보건시설과 백신 유통의 어려움으로 접종 속도가 더 느리다.
아프리카는 현재까지 530 만 명 이상의 누적 코로나 19 확진자를 기록했다.
특히 전염성이 더 강하고 치명적인 변이 확산으로 상황이 악화하고 있다.
WHO 에 따르면 아프리카의 6 월 14∼20 일 주간 신규 확진자는 39% 증가했다.
한 아기가 지난 25 일 짐바브웨 즈빔바 도로변의 행상 손수레에서 낮잠을 자고 있다.
[AP=연합뉴스]
