Daily news update: J&J booster shot, Eskom scores legal victory and UniZulu students’ protest

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Daily news update 15 March 

Government announces second booster dose for J&J vaccine 

The Department of Health says that people who received the Covid-19 J&J single-dose vaccine are eligible to receive an additional or second booster jab from either J&J or Pfizer as of Monday 14 March. 

The government is encouraging people to get jabbed or boosted to build up immunity against Covid-19 infection.  

There have been some challenges with the recording of the doses on the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS), but that is expected to be resolved during the course of the week. 

“Individuals can receive the second booster dose at least 90 days or 3 three months after their first booster dose,” said the health department in a statement. 

Kulula.com: How to get a refund from cancelled flights 

 
Kulula.com customers can get a refund from their cancelled flights following the suspension of Comair PTY ltd. 

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has grounded Comair indefinitely on the 13 March 2022. 

The suspension of their Air Operation Certificate (AOC) was a result of a number of incident-related occurrences. 

Comair operates the budget airline Kulula.com and the local British Airways franchise. 

The airline was initially suspended for 24 hours on 12 March 2022 until SACAA said that it was suspending it indefinitely. 

Eskom scores big legal victory over municipalities who refuse to pay electricity bills

South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, has scored a legal victory against delinquent municipal customers at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

The SCA on 9 March affirmed the power utility’s right to payment for services rendered to municipalities.

It ruled that the Letsemeng Local Municipality in the Free State province must pay Eskom all amounts, in respect of the electricity it receives from the power utility when it is payable.

The SCA further directed the municipality to pay to Eskom a portion of the equitable share that relates to electricity within 24 hours of receipt of the equitable share, pay all arrear debts due and payable to Eskom in accordance with the terms of the acknowledgement of debt and payment plan.

Natural disasters set to increase by 37% globally by 2025 – Report 

 
A new report has revealed that the annual number of natural disasters is set to increase by 37% (from 442 to 541 occurrences) by 2025 globally. 

The details are contained in a report by Access Partnership and comes after organisations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, Vision of Humanity and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) all agree that weather-related disasters are likely to become more frequent and widespread in coming years, thanks to climate change. s

The report titled Fair Tech Institute whitepaper also outlines the urgency with which governments and the private sector need to leverage satellite technology for more effective disaster management efforts in Africa and globally. 

Polokwane professor shot and killed while jogging 

 
Police are continuing their search for criminals involved in the shooting of a Polokwane professor who was shot and killed on Sunday. 

Professor Saber Tayob Mohammed, a lecturer at the University of Limpopo, was killed while jogging. 

Tayob was murdered after a passenger in a VW Polo shot him several times at point blank before fleeing the scene. 

While the circumstances surrounding the shooting remains unclear the acting Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo Major General Jan Scheepers has urged the community with information about the murder to come forward and assist police in their investigations. 

WATCH: UniZulu students up in arms over crime wave at accommodation facilities 

 
University of Zululand (UniZulu) students are protesting at the KwaDlangezwa campus to implore the institution to beef up security. 

This comes after a spate of criminal activities at off-campus accommodation facilities, Zululand Observer reports. 

Demonstrations reportedly began on Sunday night, with angry students saying they were fed-up with being victims of crime. 

Windows were broken and tyres burned. 

UniZulu Student Representative Council (SRC) president Nkosiyapha Dumisa told the publication a student was allegedly killed and others sexually harassed in their cottages last week. 

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