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Good heavens: Fears raised by the insurance industry, regarding the sluggish vaccine rollout, suggest the pandemic 'will not be left behind' in 2021.
The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.
He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.
South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.
AFP
The Rape Impact Cohort Evaluation (RICE) study enrolled 1 019 HIV negative women and found that among those who were raped, there was a 60% increased likelihood of contracting HIV
The Institute for Race Relations wants Health Minister Zweli Mkhize to explain why the private sector is not allowed to buy the vaccines intended to prevent Covid-19.
The EFF said that from all organisations who have made contributions to the Solidarity Fund, the party have been front-runners.
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The world risks a “moral catastrophe” if COVID-19 vaccinations are delayed in Africa while wealthier regions inoculate their entire populations, the head of the continent’s disease control body said on Thursday. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hopes significant vaccination campaigns on the continent will begin in April, its head, John Nkengasong, told reporters. “That’s a long way to go given that this virus transmits very quickly,” he said, adding that in Africa, “the second wave is here with a vengeance”. Cases of the new coronavirus increased by nearly 19% since last week and deaths increased by 26%, according to Africa CDC data. Africa has recorded 2.7 million coronavirus infections and 64,000 deaths as of Thursday, it says. South Africa, where a new variant of the virus has been detected, recorded 82,000 cases in the past week, he said. “We cannot delay, we need those vaccines and need them now,” Nkengasong said. The major blockers to vaccinations beginning in Africa are global availability of doses and financing, he said. Wealthy nations have acquired vaccines in excess of what they need, he said. “We don’t have to get into a moral crisis, where these things are stocked in the developed world and we in Africa are struggling to have,” Nkengasong said. The African Union is in talks with the European Union, Canada and pharmaceutical companies to secure vaccines, he said, in addition to what Africa has been promised by the COVAX programme, co-led by the World Health Organization, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. COVAX is a global scheme to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries “This would easily become a moral catastrophe if we should not come together as one to address going forward as early as possible in 2021 and meet Africa at its point of need.” Approval processes for various vaccines will likely be fast-tracked through a central African Union process, he said. A handful of nations on the continent are further along. Morocco said earlier this month it plans to roll out China’s Sinopharm vaccine within weeks as soon as its Phase 3 trials are over, while Egypt received its first shipment of Sinopharm vaccines on Dec.11. South Africa expects to get the COVAX vaccine by the second quarter of 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday. The COVAX alliance said on Dec. 18 its first deliveries were due in early 2021, without giving a specific date. African governments should learn the lesson that local manufacturing of vaccines and strong testing capacities are critical, Nkengasong said, noting that the continent faced the same scenario of a scramble for vaccines - and Western nations far ahead - more than a decade ago during the H1N1 swine flu outbreak. - Reuters
[GroundUp] Progressive policies linked to drop in new infections in Southern Africa
BY REX MPHISA AVIOLENT thunderstorm that lashed Beitbridge put smiles on hundreds of travellers stuck at the South African border after officials hurriedly cleared them fearing a disaster. Most Zimbabweans have been stranded at the border, with South Africa employing delaying tactics, including rejecting COVID-19 certificates produced elsewhere. On Tuesday night, nature stepped in when the hundreds of travellers cleared on the Zimbabwean side but stuck on the South African side, were hurriedly cleared. The heavy storm, which plunged Beitbridge into darkness, started at midnight and lasted more than an hour before diminishing into showers that lasted until morning. “Officials began to let them in for shelter and an arrangement was made to have them cleared into South Africa,” said an official on the South African side yesterday. “We expect to finish this queue today before cut off time. We realised most people who were stuck in no-man’s land were waiting for buses and we cleared the buses into South Africa. There were about 50 buses, which translates to about 3 000 people,” said regional immigration officer in charge of Beitbridge, Nqobile Ncube. Strict scrutiny of travellers and total disregard of other countries’ COVID-19 certificates by South African officials have been blamed for the delays that have seen some people spend a week in queues before entering South Africa. South Africa, after the new lockdown downgraded to level three, has stopped international travel by road and insists that only those with resident, education and workers’ permits enter the country where a new COVID-19 variant is ripping that nation apart. Meanwhile, stranded travellers have left Beitbridge in a mess after using the bush as toilet during the days they were in queues. Some even relieved themselves on the bridge. This happened as South Africans took a swipe at their Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi for the escalating crisis at the region’s busiest border post. Political leaders in that country want both presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Emmerson Mnangagwa to step in and solve the problem that has seen people queueing for more than a week. On Twitter, Economic Freedom Fighters spokesman and parliamentarian Mbuyiseni Ndlozi questioned Mnangagwa’s absence from the frontline. According to TimesLIVE, Ndlozi slammed Mnangagwa, saying he should stop “grandstanding on Twitter”. Mnangagwa is on leave and one of his two deputies, Kembo Mohadi, is in charge. Ndlozi, who on Tuesday rejected calls for the border to be closed claiming that it would be “inhumane” and “breed a worse humanitarian crisis than COVID-19”, asked Ramaphosa to intervene. Social media user Jonathan Jansen, who also reacted to the crisis, said: “Dear President Ramaphosa, please say something about Beitbridge. Show that you are concerned about this unfolding humanitarian crisis. Please speak for us.” Motsoaledi could spark a diplomatic row after he accused Zimbabwean soldiers and policemen at the border of being corrupt.
Herman Mashaba has weighed in on the situation at the Beitbridge border, as swathes of South Africans demand that the crossing must close.
[spotlight] In 2019, only 53% of the estimated 1.8 million children living with HIV world-wide were diagnosed and on treatment. That means that over 800 000 children living with HIV are not receiving the treatment they need to stay healthy.
Travel regulations have been revised to make flying less cumbersome over the December holidays.
Family meeting confirmed: Ramaphosa will address SA on Thursday. You can catch it via our live stream, and find out what time things get underway here.
THE completion of the multi-million-dollar Kazungula River Bridge is certainly sweet music in the ears of Botswana and Zambia, but for Zimbabwe, it presents a headache over loss of transit fees. by ALFONCE MBIZWO/MTHANDAZO NYONI The new Kazungula River Bridge, which is expected to be functional by year-end, links Zambia’s Kazungula town with Botswana. It also offers an alternative route to road transporters from South Africa to Zambia and other northern countries in the region. Currently, the Beitbridge-Chirundu road is a key component of the Trans-African Highway Network Zimbabwean link between South Africa and Zambia. It is also part of the North–South Corridor Project and the Cape to Cairo Road, and a gateway to the common market for Eastern and Southern Africa. But Zimbabwe has neglected the roads that make up the corridor. The Beitbridge-Harare Highway was built in the 1960s and has far outlived its 20-year lifespan. After haggling over tenders since 2003, government finally started work on the dualisation of the road last year, with different companies working on parts of the project to expedite completion, but this may have come too late to save the situation. Zimbabwe still needs to address the bottlenecks at its Beitbridge Border Post which often sees haulage trucks stuck for days on end waiting for service. The Beitbridge port is the busiest transit border for cargo from South African ports with destinations in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and often as far as Tanzania. There are relatively few studies on the financial benefit the corridor brings to Zimbabwe but a situation analysis carried out in 2009 showed that the waiting time at the border was about 33 hours for south-bound traffic while for north bound traffic waiting time was about 45 hours. It was estimated that the cost associated with this waiting time was about US$29.3 million for south bound and US$35 million for north bound traffic per year. In contrast, the South Africa/Botswana Groblersbrug border post is quicker to process documentation at between eight-10 hours. Botswana roads are better maintained than Zimbabwe’s and fuel costs are lower. Distance-wise, Johannesburg to Lusaka, Zambia through Beitbridge is 1 525km while via Kazungula, the journey is 1 730km. But with Zimbabwe’s poor road network, congestion and long winding queues at the country’s points of entry, especially Beitbridge, truckers will likely avoid the frustrations of using the Zimbabwe route, losing the southern African nation billions of dollars in potential revenue to the new crossing point. According to a recent study, delays at Beitbridge are costing transport operators up to US$350 per day per truck, negating the cost benefit of its connectivity to multiple seaports in Durban and Mozambique. To complement the Kazungula Bridge, Botswana in 2016 said it was building several truck stop facilities for cross-border operators, making the route more attractive to haulage trucks. “It should be a wake-up call to Zimbabweans that the whole region cann
(Reuters) - England are trialing a system where coded information is passed from the team’s performance analyst to captain Eoin Morgan during their limited-overs matches against South Africa, vice-captain Jos Buttler said.
The article England experimenting with live data system, says Buttler appeared first on Stabroek News.
