Author: Ground Up
Only a massive global rollout of an effective vaccine can end the COVID-19 pandemic in the short tVaccine Rollouterm. The vaccine is being rolled out in the United Kingdom and United States. It’s expected to become available in Europe imminently. This is where things stand in South Africa. The Department of Health is playing its cards very close to its chest. The department has been extremely reluctant to provide any details of how a vaccination plan would work. In response to our questions, spokesperson Popo Maja said that the department is not commenting on any vaccine related to Covid-19, and…
A city tribunal has made way for Amazon to move in to River Club mega-development in Cape Town. The rezoning was decided in the face of 180 heritage and environmental objections. Buildings up to 11-storeys high are to be constructed on a First Nation site. Amazon’s presence is a “major breakthrough”, according to the chair of the tribunal. By Steve Kretzmann The rezoning of the River Club property in Observatory to allow a R4.5bn mega-development including headquarters for Amazon was given the go-ahead by the City of Cape Town’s Municipal Planning Tribunal on Friday 18 September. Friday’s decision to rezone the…
By Tania Broughton Children found guilty of trivial offences, including the possession or use of cannabis, may not be incarcerated, the Johannesburg High Court has ruled. The question before Judges Ingrid Opperman and Ratha Mokgoathleng was whether criminal penalties should be imposed on children when, following the Constitutional Court judgment Prince v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, the same was not true for adults. “It is a narrow question regarding decriminalisation of its [cannabis] use and possession so that other, more appropriate assistance, can be given to children,” the judges said. Court-ordered audits into youth detention centres have revealed that dozens…
By Zoë Postman Two men arrested for collecting and recycling waste during lockdown in Tshwane were released from Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre at about 5pm on Tuesday after spending three months in prison. Justice Shabangu and George Mphotshe, were arrested on 7 April for continuing to work under lockdown level five restrictions which stated that everyone should stay home unless they were providing an essential service. In a virtual hearing on Tuesday, Justice Brenda Neukircher of the North Gauteng High Court, declared the detention of the reclaimers unlawful and unconstitutional and ordered that they be released immediately. On 29 June, Lawyers…
By Jeffrey Abrahams Day 104 Lockdown. Dianne Blaauw (left) walked over to chat with Elizabeth Fourie and Bridgette Frolick who were enjoying the sun while their washing dried overhead. They knew that cold fronts were approaching the Cape and had done all their remaining laundry which, with small children in the house, is a constant chore. This photo is part of a series on Cape Town under lockdown. More about Lockdown diary Lockdown in pictures – Day 103: Screening 07 July 2020 Lockdown in pictures – Day 102: Weeding 06 July 2020 Lockdown in pictures – Day 101: Wait for it 05 July 2020
By Kimberly Mutandiro, For Ground Up Hundreds of people have flocked onto private land in Midvaal. They each paid a “donation” of R250 to a group of men leading the occupation who call themselves the Big Six. The Big Six say they will use the money to legally protect the occupation. The legal owners of the land say they have been threatened and fear for their families’ safety. Some private agricultural landowners in Walkerville, Elandsfontein, Midvaal, say they have been subjected to assault and threats to their families by a group of men who call themselves the Big Six and stage…
For GroundUp and Spotlight staff Dexamethasone study is good news but caution necessary. Four suggestions for improving peer review in the wake of high-profile retractions. How deadly is SARS-CoV-2? This is issue 7 of Covid-19 Report. We point you to the latest quality science on the pandemic. If you come across unfamiliar terms, there is a glossary at the bottom of the article. Steroid reduces risk of death A randomised controlled clinical trial, Recovery, has found that the steroid dexamethasone reduces the risk of death. In this UK study, at 28 days the death rates of the 4,321 patients receiving “usual care…
By Raymond Joseph, For Ground Up The National Prosecuting Authority has declined to prosecute two criminal complaints of fraud lodged against Pretoria attorney Lesley Ramulifho in connection with a multimillion-rand Lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre near Pretoria. Over R20 million — and possibly more — of the total Lottery funding of R27.5 million for the project cannot be accounted for and almost three years later, construction of the rehab is still not complete. In response to an email to one of the complainants asking about progress in the investigation of the two complaints, Chris Smith, a senior state advocate from the NPA’s Specialised…
By Daneel Knoetze, For Ground Up The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has recalled two investigators from a special task team probing corruption allegations against top police officials, including former police commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane. The investigators have also been told to hand over their dockets to head office. Viewfinder has the names of the investigators and has seen documentary evidence from within IPID about the recall. Former IPID officials interviewed by Viewfinder see this as an attempt to scupper high-level corruption investigations and to protect accused cops from prosecution. IPID spokesman Sontaga Seisa responded to a query from Viewfinder. He…
By Tania Broughton, For Ground Up Justice in lockdown is being hampered because some judges, who earn almost R2 million a year, refuse to use their personal computers for “virtual hearings”. This has emerged in a letter written by the Chair of the General Council of the Bar, Advocate Craig Watt-Pringle, to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and judge presidents in which he cites several issues in getting access to high courts. While some courts are doing well under these difficult circumstances, he says, others are not, and there are huge disparities in how divisions are functioning. “Many judges complain that they do…
By Kimberly Mutandiro, For Ground Up It is around 2pm on a cold afternoon in Tsakane. Two friends, Musa*, 12, and Thato*, 11, are trying to sell the last of the stock of cigarettes and rizlas which they hide in their pockets. They are not wearing warm clothes or masks, and they haven’t showered or had breakfast yet. There is nothing to eat at home. What they can get for the cigarettes will be their meal ticket. Musa has six siblings and they all live with their elderly grandparents. They hardly ever have enough food to eat at home. They used…
By Jeremy Seekings, For Ground Up Summary The emergency ‘COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress’ grant was announced on 21 April and we were told that payments would begin on Friday 15 May SASSA’s slogan is that it gets the right payments to the right people at the right time. The right time is now. Setting up application, verification and payment systems is a massive challenge for SASSA. SASSA’s new application process will need to cope with millions of applications and allow for automated verification Payment requires unprecedented cooperation from banks (including the Post Office), mobile phone companies and retailers. The application system…
By Bernard Chiguvare, For Ground Up Every day Dorres Molalakgotla from Ga-Kobe, Limpopo, walks to collect water from a large flooded pit, five kilometres away from her village. At the pit, donkeys, sheep, goats and cattle drink while people fill their buckets. She takes three 25-litre containers by wheelbarrow on each trip, and she does about four trips a day. By the end of the day she has unbearable back pain, she says. The pit was created by Public Works employees while tarring a road through the village. It filled with water from heavy rains and has remained a water source…
When a novel coronavirus now known as SARS-CoV-2 first entered the world stage on the heels of the Chinese New Year in January 2020, little was known about it and its impact on people, health systems and countries. This was understandable given its recency, novelty and unknown transmission dynamics. Early on, in an anxious and data-sparse time, models were relied upon in order to guide country responses to the menace of a new pathogen. The lockdown that began in South Africa 52 days ago was both rational and a necessary response. It bought the country precious time in which to…
By Nicholas Ashby, For Ground Up While there is general scientific consensus that the novel coronavirus is of zoonotic origin and various groupings are advising that wildlife markets must be closed, the South African government has been putting forward legislation that could massively expand the wildlife industry to become mass meat suppliers to the world. Last year, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development amended the Animal Improvement Act, redefining 32 wild species. The practical effect of this is “to legitimise this part of the ‘game meat value chain’ and therefore to develop the industry, especially the export of…
By Mosa Damane, For Ground Up “Ithink the government is violating the rights of smokers by banning cigarettes. It is my money and health and I have a right to decide when to quit,” says Veli Hlongwane from Maliwa street, Mzimhlophe in Soweto. “I do adhere to the rules of Covid-19 lockdown … If a friend asks for a smoke I give because it is their risk not mine, but I don’t ask for a skyf anymore, ” he says. “The price of a Savannah fag jumped from R1.50 to R4.00 and the cheapest RG fag jumped from 50 cents to R3.50…
By Peter Luhanga, For Ground Up In the overcrowded township of Dunoon, Cape Town, dire warnings and the lockdown cannot convince residents to stay in-doors or wear masks in public. Here the streets are full. The Dunoon Community Health Centre started community screening on 17 April. By 8 May, 8,816 people from 3,306 households had been screened. 320 people had been referred for testing, and 77 had tested positive. This is according to data provided by Dunoon ward councillor Lubabalo Makeleni. He sits on the Dunoon Community Health Committee which interacts with hospital staff to get pandemic updates. The Western Cape government…
By Fatima Hassan, For Ground Up The COVID-19 global pandemic has unprecedented health and socio-economic consequences for millions of people across the world. Each country affected has introduced numerous measures, including public health interventions, restrictions on movement, as well as state and other relief and stimulus packages to reduce its impact. South Africa has a history of grand corruption and low public confidence in the state’s ability to ‘become uncaptured’ or to address its long-standing inability to expedite the delivery of basic services to communities, such as housing, water, sanitation, health and education, or prevent high levels of violence, mainly against…