Daily news update: Another day of load shedding, Journo’s Covid nightmare, Leopards stun Pirates

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Daily Covid-19 update: Nearly 17k patients in hospital as SA tops 37k deaths

South Africa currently has 16,909 patients in hospital beds stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases’ (NICD) Daily Hospital Surveillance report for Sunday, 17 January 2021, of the patients admitted, 2,376 are currently in ICU and 1,209 are currently being ventilated.

On Sunday evening, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that another 12,267 new positive Covid-19 cases had been identified since Saturday.

Another 254 deaths were also reported, bringing the national, official death toll to 37,105.

More Stage 2 load shedding set for Monday

Eskom has announced that Stage 2 load shedding will continue on Monday.

On Thursday, the power utility said that the current bout of blackouts would end at 11pm on Sunday.

Instead, load shedding will continue overnight at Stage 1 from 11pm until 5am, where after it will revert back to Stage 2.

Bapedi king would have been part of SA’s mass vaccination programme – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives for the Special Official Funeral service of His Majesty King Thulare Victor Thulare III of the BaPedi Kingdom in Mohlaletse, Sekhukhune District, Limpopo to deliver a eulogy | Picture: Twitter/ @presidencyZA

Bapedi king, Kgoshikgolo Thulare Thulare III would have been part of the effort to complete South Africa’s upcoming mass vaccination programme.

This according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was speaking at the Official Funeral Category 1 funeral of the king on Sunday where he implored those in attendance and those watching to not let the king’s dreams die with him.

Ramaphosa sang the praises of the monarch by highlighting all the causes close to his heart and the projects he was working on in an effort to change the lives of his people.

WATCH: Centurion resident loses four cars during house fire

17 Jan 2021 – A vehicle on fire in a garage during a house fire in Centurion | Picture: Screenshot (Twitter/ @Abramjee)

An unnamed Centurion resident recently escaped a house fire with only minor injuries, however, he has had to say goodbye to four of his vehicles after they were badly damaged in the fire.

In addition to the property’s garage, where the four vehicles were kept, a kitchen and a room of the house were affected by the flames.

Firefighters began fighting the fire at the garage upon arrival in an effort to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the house.

Load shedding a ‘high probability’ for the next three months – analyst

A frustrating week of Stage 2 load shedding for most of South Africa may last longer than expected.

Citing an Eskom forecast, energy analyst Chris Yelland unpacked what Eskom called a “code red risk for load shedding”.

“It means they don’t have any so-called reserve generation capacity and any further loss of supply and generation units will result in load shedding,” explained Yelland.

Journalist recounts Covid-19 nightmare after having to go into ICU

Corné van Zyl while recovering in the Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital. Photo: Facebook

You’ve read the news headlines, you’ve stocked up on sanitiser and you have a bunch of face masks and shields. You feel Covid-ready. You make minimal trips to the store, you prep your children on safety measures – so how is it still possible to contract this virus?

These were the thoughts of Rekord newspaper’s deputy group editor, Corné van Zyl, when she started to feel sick in December.

Van Zyl and her family, who reside in the Willows in the east of Pretoria, opted to stay home for the festive season, as she and her husband Charles both had to work.

Leopards show their claws to stun Pirates

Orlando Pirates continue to produce inconsistent results in the New Year,  stunned on Sunday by Black Leopards in a DStv Premiership match at the Thohoyandou Stadium.

Bucs had recorded an exceptional 3-0 victory over Tshakuma Tsha Madzivhandila in a midweek league clash.

But, it wasn’t to be the case at Leopards, with the home side also helped by an own goal from Innocent Maela.

Community in shock after former actor commits suicide in front of church

The Bela-Bela community is in shock after a local resident committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree on the NG Moedergemeente property in Mentzlaan.

According to information from the Bela-Bela police, the incident happened shortly before Christmas.

A member of the public alerted the local neighbourhood watch to the gruesome scene after he came the lifeless body of 57-year-old Nick Prinsloo.

The police have confirmed that no foul play is suspected and that Prinsloo’s family have been notified of his death.

Swanepoel: From hard labourer in Oz to star fullback for the Lions

Young Lions fullback Tiaan Swanepoel has grabbed the attention of the rugby public following his strong performances for the Lions in recent months. Picture: Getty Images

Former Springbok flyhalves Braam van Straaten and Louis Koen planted the seed which has turned ace Lions fullback Tiaan Swanepoel into the kicking sensation he is today.

Swanepoel has taken the country by storm with his long-range goal-kicking feats, many of them in the excess of 60 metres.

“I have put in many long hours to kick the way I do,” said the 24-year-old Swanepoel, who has scored 63 points in six Currie Cup games this year.

“It all started for me in Grade 8 when I started learning to kick with Braam and Louis during kicking camps at Swartland in the Western Cape,” he recalled.

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