COVID-19 WRAP | Court rules lockdown was 'unconstitutional' as Covid-19 death toll climbs to 755

June 2 2020 - 21:40

Covid-19 death toll climbs by 50, cases pass 35,000

SA's Covid-19 death toll climbed to 755 on Tuesday night - an increase of 50 fatalities in the past 24 hours.

The number of cases of the respiratory illness increased from 34,357 on Monday to 35,812 on Tuesday.

Two children under the age of 10 died of Covid-19, the health ministry said on Tuesday night. Another three, aged between 10 and 19, also succumbed.

June 2 2020 - 18:43

ANC youth task team calls for review of alcohol unbanning

The ANC national youth task team has called on the government to reconsider the unbanning of alcohol sales under lockdown level 3.

The structure said the sale of alcohol had the potential to put a strain on the health system unnecessarily.

Alcohol consumption, said task team spokesperson Sizophila Mkhize in a statement, may also sabotage the “stability” that had been achieved in the country’s healthcare system in preparation for Covid-19.

June 2 2020 - 18:24

Everything you need to know about flying under lockdown level 3

Arrive two hours early, get dropped off or use public transport, get your bags wrapped and do not take off your mask at any point.

These are among the new rules for flying under level 3 of lockdown. Transport minister Fikile Mbalula announced at the weekend that new gazetted regulations allow domestic flights for work-related purposes only.

June 2 2020 - 18:10

Lockdown "unconstitutional and invalid", high court rules

The North Gauteng High Court on Tuesday declared the national lockdown regulations for level 3 and level 4 "unconstitutional and invalid". The case was brought by the Liberty Fighters Network’s (LFN), which argued that the lockdown restrictions were unlawful and unconstitutional because a state of emergency has not been declared. In a statement issued by cabinet, government said it noted the judgment.

June 2 2020 - 17:23

Hard-hit Hilton hotel in talks to let Durban workers go

One of the premier hotel chains in the country is contemplating the retrenchment of 145 staff members at the Durban Hilton hotel in light of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism industry.

In a letter to employees, seen by TimesLIVE, the hotel said it had started a consultation process as it was considering closing the hotel until the tourism industry recovered from the effects of the pandemic.

June 2 2020 - 17:20

KZN to give back over R6bn to national government for Covid-19 relief funds

The KwaZulu-Natal government will repurpose its budget and return R6.21bn to the national government for the 2020/21 financial year as part of its equitable contribution to the “extraordinary coronavirus budget” of R500bn injected into the economy.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a R500bn relief package to combat the pandemic, allocate money for municipalities for provision of services, issue grants to relieve the plight of the poorest, fund job creation, provide tax relief for distressed businesses, provide assistance for spaza shops and small businesses, and to be used as a loan guarantee scheme for qualifying businesses.

June 2 2020 - 17:03

Smokers smoldering after police interrupt protests at Union Buildings

Smokers marching against the ban on tobacco products said their rights to protest were violated when police officers waited for them at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

The planned protest - started and shared via a Facebook lobby group called Unite Against The Tobacco Ban - was expected to be held at the Union Buildings on Tuesday and in nine other places around the country. Marches went ahead in Cape Town and Durban.

When TimesLIVE arrived in Pretoria, a few protesters - all wearing masks - also arrived, but were turned away by police. The officers said the gathering was illegal.

June 2 2020 - 16:44

Gauteng government drops 'peanut butter sandwich ban'

Peanut butter sandwiches are back on the menu for hundreds of hungry people in need in Krugersdorp West.

Faced with an urgent court action brought by NPO Cradle of Hope, the Gauteng provincial government has withdrawn its “guidelines” which effectively banned the distribution of food, unless done by one of its own agencies.

Cradle of Hope and other charitable organisations went to court saying the need for food among poor people was increasing daily, but regulations had prohibited them from helping.

-GroundUP

June 2 2020 - 16:30

New law's demerit system for drivers delayed due to Covid-19: department

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act - which among other things puts in place a points demerit system for SA's drivers - has been delayed due to Covid-19.

In a statement on Tuesday, the transport department said the act was meant to take effect by "mid-2020", after it was signed into law in August 2019. However, this will no longer be the case.

June 2 2020 - 16:01

Motorcyclist killed after hitting car 'full of alcohol', says distraught father

Twelve hours after the ban on booze sales was lifted, a motorcyclist died after ploughing into a stationary vehicle as its occupants allegedly drank alcohol on the roadside.

Yusuf Sedick, 24, a truck driver from Lansdowne, in Cape Town, was on his way from work around 9pm when he collided with the car.

The vehicle sped away after the crash but was found later, allegedly containing bottles of booze. A case of culpable homicide is under investigation.

June 2 2020 - 15:41

Testing backlogs will not hamper fight against Covid-19: Mkhize

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has moved to allay fears that a shortage of testing kits and a backlog at labs will hamper government’s efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Mkhize made the remarks at a press conference on Tuesday. The briefing followed his inspection of hotspots in the Western Cape.

The minister announced that the country now has 35,812 confirmed Covid-19 cases, and said the death toll was yet to be confirmed for the past 24-hour reporting period.

June 2 2020 - 13:34

SA's Covid-19 cases over 35,000

Health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday that the number of positive Covid-19 cases in the country had risen to 35,812.

He was speaking during a tour of the the Sonstraal field hospital in the Western Cape, where he was inspecting preparations for an expected surge of patients in the province.

He said the latest death toll would be updated later in the day.

June 2 2020 - 13:20

Smoking protest stubbed out under police watch

A planned march against the ban on the sale of tobacco products during the lockdown, organised by "a group of ordinary South Africans", fizzled out at the Union Buildings on Tuesday when police officers were the first to arrive at the scene.

A few protesters wearing masks arrived for the protest in Pretoria, but were turned away by police who advised them their gathering was illegal.

June 2 2020 - 12:48

KZN to employ almost 5,000 nurses and general hospital staff in June

Almost 5,000 nurses and general hospital staff will be employed by the department of health in KwaZulu-Natal over the next two weeks.

This is according to health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, who on Tuesday revealed that there was dire shortage of health care workers at the province's public hospitals.

“The department of health in KZN has been extremely short-staffed when it comes to professional nurses, enrolled nurses and nurse assistants.”

She added that public facilities in the province didn't have enough clerks and general orderlies either.

June 2 2020 - 12:15

Herman Mashaba slams railway unpreparedness on level 3: 'Prasa had nine weeks'

Herman Mashaba has criticised railway agency Prasa and the department of transport for its failure to use the lockdown to prepare trains for thousands of commuters who returned to work on Monday under level 3 of the lockdown.

“The government has had more than nine weeks to prepare for the easing of the lockdown and level 3. Was that not the point of lockdown? To prepare?” he questioned.

Mashaba was responding to a report by TimesLIVE which quoted transport minister Fikile Mbalula sayingthe railway agency was not ready to resume its operations under level 3.

June 2 2020 - 12:10

SA’s first drive-through strip club opens its doors under lockdown

What's believed to be SA’s first drive-through strip club has opened its doors in Walmer, Port Elizabeth.

Candy's opened on Monday and is offering drive-through shows while selling takeaway beers and snacks.

The strip club also launched a new online site to help its adult entertainers make money under the lockdown. The site charges per view and chats.

“Basically, they can work from home during this lockdown until the clubs, bars and restaurants open again. Who knows when this will happen?” said the club on its Facebook page.

June 2 2020 - 12:09

Salons hopeful hair and beauty care could soon make the cut on level 3

While there is no clarity about whether salons, spas and tattoo parlours will be allowed to operate during lockdown level 3, the beauty and hair industry is viewing the government's finalisation of guidelines as a sure sign of imminent reopening.

The government sent a letter to the Employers Organisation for Hairdressing, Cosmetology and Beauty (EOHCB) on Monday to advise it was finalising guidelines for the reopening of the industry.

In a statement on Facebook, the organisation said that because of the sensitivity and confidentiality of the matter,  the letter could not be published in full.

June 2 2020 - 11:46

PPE worth millions of rands goes missing en route to KZN schools

Large quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE) have “disappeared” en route to KwaZulu-Natal schools.  

“The MEC for education in KwaZulu-Natal, Kwazi Mshengu, has received with shock the reports of the disappearance of large quantities of PPE in the Umlazi, Pinetown and Zululand districts. It is said that the equipment disappeared en route to circuit offices and schools,” the provincial education department said on Tuesday morning.

June 2 2020 - 11:20

DA challenges 'irrational and arbitrary' ban on hairdressers working under level 3

he DA’s lawyers have written to co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma seeking reasons for the “irrational and arbitrary” ban on reopening personal care businesses such as hairdressers — threatening to go to court if no answer is forthcoming.

The party said in a statement on Tuesday that the “continued criminalisation of the personal care services industry under level 3 is irrational, arbitrary and unlawful”.

The letter to Dlamini-Zuma questioned the exclusion of hairdressing, beauty treatments, make-up and nail salons and piercing and tattoo parlours from operating, saying there were more than 100,000 registered salons and a similar number of unregistered salons that employed hundreds of thousands of people.

June 2 2020 - 12:40

Western Cape tops the list as Mkhize visits Covid-19 hotspots to assess preparedness 

June 2 2020 - 12:27

UK government faces mockery over coronavirus "sex ban"

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government faced widespread mockery on Tuesday over coronavirus rules which were cast by some media as a "sex ban", though a junior minister said the regulations were aimed at keeping people safe.

Under amendments introduced to the rules on Monday, no person may participate in a gathering which takes place in a public or private place indoors, and consists of two or more persons. Britain's tabloid media cast it as a "bonking ban".

"What this about is making sure we don't have people staying away from home at night," British junior housing minister Simon Clarke told LBC radio when questioned about the so called "bonking ban".

June 2 2020 - 09:35

Drunk drivers, fatal car accidents and pedestrians knocked down on first day of level 3

As the country entered level 3 of the coronavirus lockdown on Monday, which saw millions of people returning to work, travel time restrictions being eased and liquor stores open for operation, Arrive Alive noted several incidents of arrests of drunk drivers and fatal road accidents.

In one incident, a motorist lost her life in a tragic accident in Ndwedwe Mission in KwaZulu-Natal. She had been travelling with five other people when the accident occurred.

Arrive Alive said members of the Reaction Unit SA (Rusa) rushed to the scene after receiving  multiple calls from the public and family of the injured reporting the accident.

June 2 2020 - 09:14

Stranded South African describes debilitating anxiety amid no job, cash

He has clawed his index finger to a raw and bloody mess, contemplated suicide and broken down at the airport, but thanks to his fellow South Africans in Vietnam, Ruan van Niekerk is fighting to keep it together so he can see his family again.

The Jeffreys Bay resident, who was teaching English in Vietnam, spoke about the debilitating anxiety disorder he has developed, how he was surviving on one meal a day and the nightmare of not being able to return to SA because of lockdowns in both countries.

June 2 2020 - 08:29

WATCH | Joyful South Africans get ready to come home

A video of South Africans on a cruise ship singing for joy as they finally make their way back home has gone viral.

In it, more than 20 South Africans who are making their way home can be heard and seen singing loudly and proudly, as it's only a matter of time before returning to their loved ones.

June 2 2020 - 08:28

Over 100,000 grants of R350 paid out, nearly 1.6 million declined

The SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) has paid 116,867 destitute South Africans a grant of R350.

A total of 1,597,127 applications have been disapproved since they have some or other means of income, said the agency.

“We have received approximately 13 million enquiries/applications about the temporary special Covid-19 SRD grant as at Monday, 25 May 2020. About 6.3 million of these were valid complete applications. The rest were either duplicate applications, incomplete, had inconsistent data, or were just pure enquiries”, said Busisiwe Memela, Sassa CEO.

Jube 2 2020 - 08:27

A very clean takeoff: airports back in action, but not taking any chances

Up to 28,000 passengers go through the Cape Town International Airport on a normal day.

But on Monday the huge facility’s parking lot and terminals were eerily deserted​.

June 2 2020 - 07:10

IN MEMES | 'The most anticipated Monday in history': SA happy as booze ban lifted

As South Africans welcomed the easing of the lockdown to level 3 on Monday, the sale of alcohol seems to be the most celebrated aspect of this - at least judging by social media.

The sale of liquor is now permitted, following the ban that was introduced when the country went into lockdown on March 27.

As usual, South Africans didn’t miss an opportunity to share their humour with memes, expressing their excitement to be able to buy booze again.

June 2 2020 - 07:15

Blues, booze and thieves with tunnel vision: welcome to level 3, SA

Millions returning to work, queues of jubilant drinkers, frustrated taxi commuters, dejected pupils, a deflated minister.

That was day one of level 3, folks.

June 2 2020 - 07:26

'We’d rather miss a grade than dig a grave'

Terrified moms and dads explain to Times Select why their kids won’t be going back to class.

And that's no matter what the minister says.