South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Tuesday 26 May

Never miss a beat when it comes to the latest news in South Africa, stay up to date with major headlines on Tuesday 26 May.

As schools rush to ready classrooms for the return of teachers and pupils before 1 June, government faces a fresh batch of legal challenges associated with its Level 3 lockdown regulations. Parliamentary Health Committees conduct an oversight visit to Cape Town to gauge levels of medical preparedness.

TODAY’S LATEST NEWS IN SOUTH AFRICA, Tuesday 26 MAY

School timetable delayed due to protective equipment shortages

Government’s plan to have Grade 7 and 12 pupils back in classrooms on 1 June is under threat. The decision taken by the Department of Basic Education, in addition to being heavily criticised as premature and reckless, may be undone by the inability to fulfil its supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to school staff.

Most teachers, who were due to return to school on Monday, were ordered to stay home by local departments and unions who cited national government’s failure to deliver PPEs on time.

Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, Elijah Mhlanga, explained that the delays, which would likely see some schools miss the 1 June deadline, were a result of over-demand straining the production and delivery of PPEs. Mhlanga reiterated that the wellbeing of both pupils and teachers would remain a priority.

Almost every province, beyond Gauteng and the Western Cape, has voiced concerns about the lack of PPEs.

Legal bid to overturn cigarette ban charges on

Government’s controversial decision to maintain the prohibition of tobacco products — while lifting the ban on alcohol — during Level 3 lockdown, has reignited an on-going legal challenge. The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita), which has described the cigarette ban as “irrational and unworkable”, will continue the fight to have the prohibition repealed.

Fita chairperson Sinenhlanhla Mnguni confirmed that its legal challenge, which first emerged when government backtracked on an announcement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa prior to the move to Level 4, would enter a new phase.

Mnguni says that government will need to provide reasons for the ban’s continuation today.  Fita has also argued that records or minutes of the National Coronavirus Command Council’s (NCCC) voting process be made public. Government is hoping to defer the case until 9 June.

Cape Town facilities under the microscope

The Portfolio Committee on Health and the Select Committee on Health and Social Services will be visiting Cape Town today to determine the region’s state of readiness in preparation for the inevitable peak of COVID-19 infections. The Western Cape, which is considered the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, accounting for more cases than all other provinces combined, has been labelled a ‘serious concern’ by President Ramaphosa and Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

The parliamentary committees will be investigating both quarantine sites and hospital readiness:

• Tygerberg Hospital
• National Health Laboratory Services
• Cape Town International Convention Centre

National Coronavirus Command Council briefs South Africa

The NCCC, led by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and tasked with adapting regulations within the Disaster Management Act, will address the public on the move to Level 3 lockdown.

This follows an announcement by President Ramaphosa that the nation, as a whole, would enter Level 3 lockdown on 1 June.

The NCCC briefing, scheduled to take place at 16:00, will be followed by the social cluster’s address on socio-economic interventions for COVID-19 Level 3 restrictions.

Level 3 lockdown enables faster payment of COVID-19 grants

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says a move to level 3 lockdown, which will commence from 1 June 2020, will enable the agency to accelerate the pace of paying out the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant.

“At the moment SASSA is operating with a third of its staff during level 4 and a move to level 3 will increase human resource capacity drastically so that payments are made quicker than it is the case currently,” said SASSA CEO Totsie Memela.

Memela said that much progress has been made in preparing for the payment of large numbers of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grants.

He said SASSA started using WhatsApp for applications but had to move to other platforms including srd.sassa.gov.za website and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).

This follows the WhatsApp system which was flooded with unprecedented numbers of applications per hour, which it struggled to cope with.

“The situation was also further challenged by the fact that applicants tried to upload supporting documents through the various platforms, despite this not being necessary. All these application channels have been stabilised and the application process is now significantly smoother,” Memela said.

After increasing capacity of the application channels, Memela said, SASSA moved swiftly to testing the payment side of its system, where a sample of 10 beneficiaries was used to test the efficacy of the payment mechanism and nine were successfully paid.

“One applicant had captured his banking details incorrectly [and] this has since been corrected. This payment test should be seen for what it is,” Memela noted. (Source: SAnews)

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