South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Monday 30 March

If you need to stay in tune with all the latest news in South Africa, be sure to review the country’s top headlines on Monday 30 March.

While President Cyril Ramaphosa rejoiced in seeing off the repatriated Wuhan students after declaring The Protea Hotel Ranch Resort a “green zone”, a second patient in the Free State succumbs to the deadly virus and the first lockdown weekend sees several arrests and teething problems as many South Africans display an utter disregard for the imposed restrictions.

Today’s latest news in South Africa, Monday 30 March

Day three of South Africa’s lockdown

South Africa observed the third day of its 21-day lockdown to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus on Sunday.

The day started on a positive note when Ramaphosa, accompanied by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and several other government officials, headed to the remote The Ranch Resort near Polokwane in Limpopo, for the release of the 112 South African students who had been isolated since 14 March when they were evacuated from China.

The group had been working and studying in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak of the virus in China which was placed under lockdown for more than two months after the novel coronavirus was first detected in December.  

Ramaphosa ordered their repatriation at the end of February, responding to calls from their families.

They were all free of the deadly novel coronavirus on their return, but still quarantined.

Ramaphosa said the group — having been under quarantine in Wuhan for 51 days and a further 14 days in South Africa — were proof that lockdowns were the right strategy.

“You are the best campaigners for a lockdown because you more than anyone else have seen that a lockdown does work.”

The president also praised all the stakeholders who played a part in the successful repatriation and quarantine of the students and said he would issue these “heroes” with certificates of excellence.

The number of coronavirus infections, however, rose to 1 280 on Sunday, with the City of Cape Town recording the country’s first positive case in a township.

According to Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, a case had been detected in Khayelitsha, the city’s largest township, where hundreds of thousands of people live in shacks. 

An outbreak in the crowded townships where water and sanitation are problematic, could prove difficult to contain in the country which already has the highest number of infections in Africa.

Government has identified 17 land parcels for resettlement and “de-densification” purposes for people who stay in informal settlements should the need arise.

“Of these, 13 land parcels are state-owned and four pieces of land parcels are privately owned. We have already started preparing some areas for resettlement,” Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu said.

Mkhize also reported the country’s second death from the coronavirus in Ladysmith, Free State — a 74-year-old man who had skin cancer.

Lockdown law: The good, the bad and the ugly

Ramaphosa has ordered the country’s 57 million inhabitants to stay at home, deploying the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African Defence Force (SANDF) to enforce restrictions.

Despite many South Africans taking heed of the president’s call, authorities often struggled to get people to comply and had to resort to more heavy-handed tactics.

On Saturday, Police Minister Bheki Cele reported that a total of 55 people had to be taken into police custody in only the first 24 hours of the national lockdown.

“In the Free State we arrested five; Gauteng, we arrested 20 (of which six were in Alexandra); in KwaZulu-Natal we arrested seven; in Limpopo, we arrested 10; in the North West we arrested 10 and in the Western Cape, we arrested 11,” he said.

“They were arrested for hosting street bashes and public drinking.  They were undermining the law, but above that, undermining the lives of South Africans and their own lives. What is happening here is not a war on any South African. It is a war against the enemy called coronavirus,” the police minister said.

Many in working-class neighbourhoods ventured out to buy food on Saturday, standing close to each other in lines while waiting for turns to get into grocery stores.

In a heavy-handed enforcement of the lockdown regulations, the SAPS fired rubber bullets towards hundreds of shoppers queueing outside a supermarket in Yeoville, Johannesburg, to adhere to social distancing regulations.

Scrambling to secure their spots, many did not observe the recommended safe distance between each other.

Police arrived in 10 patrol vehicles and started firing rubber bullets with startled shoppers trampling one another other and a woman with a baby on her back falling to the ground.

Later the police used whips to get the shoppers to observe social distancing rules. (Source: AFP)

In another questionable enforcement of the lockdown rules, a group of SAPS officers have landed themselves in hot water this weekend, after footage of them telling citizens to get off their own yards and back inside their houses went viral on social media.

It should therefore come as no surprise that the Democratic Alliance (DA) interim leader John Steenhuisen has proposed that government must establish a dedicated ad hoc committee to hold both SAPS and SANDF officials to account during these testing times. 

Streamlining Sassa: Mbalula to relax public transport hours

As the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) readies to pay almost 17 million beneficiaries over the next couple of days, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula will relax the public transport operating hours for a week to allow social grant recipients time to collect their grants, his office said on Sunday.

“Effective from Monday 30 March until Friday 3 April, buses and taxis will be permitted to operate from 05:00 until 20:00 in order to cater to the transportation needs of society’s most vulnerable. The exercise of social distance by all those using public transport must be observed and enforced. We will issue further directions in this regard,” his office said.

In addition to the lockdown’s public transport ban being lifted, thousands of community patrollers will assist to ensure the quick and easy collection of social grants.

The Department of Social Development (DS) has also urged beneficiaries to make use of the South African Post Office (SAPO) as their primary pay-points and spread out the collection dates as follows:

• Elderly and disabled – 30 and 31 March;
• Child social grants – 1 April.

Exceptional COVID-19 tax measures

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Sunday announced exceptional tax measures to counter the economical impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These measures are over and above the tax proposals made in the 2020 Budget on 26 February 2020.

The tax measures, which will take effect from 1 April 2020, include:

• The introduction of a tax subsidy to employers of up to R500 per month for the next four months for private sector employees earning below R6 500 under the Employment Tax Incentive. This will help more than 4 million workers.
• The South African Revenue Service (SARS) will accelerate the payment of employment tax incentive reimbursements from twice a year to monthly to get cash into the hands of compliant employers as soon as possible.
• Tax compliant businesses with a turnover of R50 million or less will be allowed to delay 20% of their employees’ tax liabilities over the next four months and a portion of their provisional corporate income tax payments without penalties or interest over the next six months. This intervention is expected to assist 75 000 small and medium-term enterprises.

The announcement comes as Mboweni also indicated on Sunday that he will approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank for assistance in light of the COVID-19 crisis. (Source: SANews)

Smoke signals on lifting cigarette ban?

Cigarettes have been exempted from the list of essential items which would be on sale during the three-week lockdown. Many a smoker have been huffing and puffing at this ban, but there might be some reversal of the decision in the pipeline.

On Sunday, The George Herald claimed grocers that sold essential items will be allowed to sell cigarettes to curb the sale of illegal cigarettes during the lockdown period. This would exclude tobacco-only traders though.

According to Eden District Disaster Management Centre manager Gerhard Otto, the decision to reverse the ban on cigarettes was communicated by the SAPS legal department to all the municipalities in the Western Cape on Sunday morning at their daily digital operations meeting. 

In a Business Insider article, it seems as if the lifting of the ban is not a finality yet.

It mentioned that a “well-placed source” said that “high-level discussions are underway to allow cigarettes to be sold during the lockdown and that an announcement could be made within the next few days.   

Eskom gives assurance of ‘no lockdown load shedding’

Electricity demand in South African has dropped, Eskom said on Sunday, adding that it did not expect to implement load shedding during the lockdown.

“Eskom does not expect to implement load shedding during the COVID-19 national lockdown. Demand for electricity has dropped by more than 7 500MW since the start of the national lockdown. We anticipate further demand reduction for the duration of the lockdown,” Eskom said.

“In order to protect the integrity of the system, Eskom has started taking some generation units off the grid. These units are available to return to service at short notice should the need arise.”

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