Daily news update: Adjusted Covid-19 restrictions, ActionSA fires Khoza and Dirco’s R50m Cuba donation

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Daily news update 23 March 

Ramaphosa lifts more restrictions – Here’s what you can and can’t do

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced several changes in Covid-19 restrictions effective from Wednesday after they have been gazetted.

This follows a meeting Ramaphosa had on Tuesday with his Cabinet ministers, South Africa’s nine premiers, and mayors of metropolitan municipalities to discuss the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On 15 March, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma extended the National State of Disaster to 15 April as government continues to finalise the new National Health Act regulations.

Mashaba was ‘shocked’ to learn Makhosi Khoza was plotting against him

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba was apparently shocked to learn that the party’s now-fired senior leader, Makhosi Khoza, was in communication with dismissed party members who were allegedly plotting against him.

That’s according to ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont who revealed on Tuesday that Mashaba couldn’t understand why Khoza, as one of the founding members of the party, was allegedly in communication with the ringleaders of a group of dismissed ActionSA members from Soweto.

The group had previously been found to have acted to deliberately destabilise ActionSA.

“I think he was shocked and he could not understand why an individual in Dr Khoza’s seniority in the party would elect to behave in a manner that she did.”

AfriForum successfully interdicts Dirco’s R50 million Cuba donation

Civil rights organisation AfriForum on Tuesday successfully interdicted the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) from making a R50 million donation to Cuba.

The case was heard at the High Court, Gauteng Division sitting in Pretoria.

Judge J Neukircher found that Cuba had not asked for funds, but humanitarian aid in the form of medical supplies and food.  

Neukircher made damning findings against Dirco and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, saying that Godongwana’s approval of the donation was irrational and maybe even unlawful.

Four SA cities listed among world’s 50 most violent places – report

The Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice has identified four South African cities among the 50 most violent cities in the world.

According to that report, Cape Town is ranked as the 11th most violent city, followed by Gqeberha at 23,  Durban in 35th place and Johannesburg ranking in at 48th.

The rankings are based on the number of murders per 100,000 people in the cities.

Cape Town has the highest number of murders in South Africa overall, with 2,911 murders recorded for the period, giving a murder rate of 62.22 people murdered per 100,000.

Winde pushes for end of state of disaster as Ramaphosa calls meeting on Covid regulations 

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says he will reiterate his call for the national state of disaster to be lifted immediately, during the meeting of the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC).

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday is meeting with his Cabinet ministers, South Africa’s nine premiers and mayors of metropolitan municipalities to discuss the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meeting comes amid growing calls from business, civil society and opposition parties for government to scrap the state of disaster that was implemented almost two years ago at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gauteng Health Department dealing with over 10 900 post-mortem reports backlog

The Gauteng Health Department has revealed news that there are currently over 10 900 post-mortem reports in the province and is working around the clock to decrease the backlog.

The department said the turnaround time for conducting and producing a post-mortem reports vary case by case and it can take between 60-90 minutes to be conducted, while reports can take between four to six weeks per case.

Spokesperson Kwara Kekana said this is due to the complex nature of performing a post-mortem which involves various role players and the nature of each case.