Minibus taxis again blocked roads in the Cape Town CBD early on Friday early afternoon, slowing down traffic and causing “heavy delays” out of the city along all major routes, the City of Cape Town’s traffic services said.

Spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout said traffic authorities and police were engaging with the drivers to get them to move.

Christiaan Barnard Street had been closed in both directions, between Hertzog Boulevard and Tennant Street, as taxis blocked the road.

Traffic along the N2 outbound, at the M5, was also slowed down.

Nelson Mandela Boulevard in and outbound was blocked at Searle Street. The road has since been reopened, Bezuidenhout said.

On the N2 outbound at Raapenberg Road, tow trucks removed taxis, she said. At 14:45, the road was reopened.

Tyres were also set alight in the left lane of the N2 outbound at Bhunga Avenue.

She was unable to say if the unrest was related to Tuesday’s action in which taxi drivers protested over warrants during afternoon traffic, blocking roads.

Commuters had been threatened and violently forced out of minibuses, News24 reported.

The action was condemned by mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, who slammed the “violent reaction to the rule of law”, in which a police officer was assaulted and robbed of his firearm.

The unrest was believed to have been related to the issuing of warrants and impounding of illegal taxis during an operation on Tuesday, the fact that they were fined in the first place, and the fine amount, Smith said at the time.

Fine amounts, he pointed out, were set by the provincial government.

Police all over near the Cape Town taxi rank. They’ve blocked traffic in certain sections. pic.twitter.com/67BV8DdF4j

— Ethan Van Diemen ???? (@Ethan_VD) October 18, 2019

The SAPS is still on the scene maintaining order. Traffic is blocked in certain sections in the Cape Town CBD and parts of Woodstock. pic.twitter.com/tsGc1ocucN

— Ethan Van Diemen ???? (@Ethan_VD) October 18, 2019

Cape Town – N2 Outbound (Update): #TaxiStrike Blockades / Go-Slow between the CBD and the Airport: – NOW Burning tyres at Langa ???? – HEAVY TRAFFIC DELAYS

— Rob Beezy (@TrafficSA) October 18, 2019

17 October, 09:09 AM

Convicted child rapist Nicholas Ninow’s grandmother, Pauline Gericke, is expected to continue testifying in mitigation of his sentence on Thursday morning.

Taking the stand in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday, Gericke said there were two sides to Ninow.

After a week-long trial in September, Judge Mokhine Mosopa found Ninow guilty of rape, the possession of an illegal substance and defeating the ends of justice.

He was acquitted of the assault of two Dros employees.

READ MORE | Ninow’s gran tells court: ‘He’s not just the Dros rapist … there’s a side I raised to be a good boy’

WARNING: This live stream may contain upsetting testimony. Viewer discretion is advised.

Eastern Cape police have so far recovered 19 mortars from the Strelitzia Dam in Uitenhage.

Fifteen of the projectiles were recovered by the police’s bomb disposal unit on Monday.

The discovery on Monday came after four other bombs were found by local residents in the dam. They were easily visible because of low water levels.

All 19 bombs, which were live, were deactivated by members of the bomb disposal unit.

The police have since warned residents not to pick up any suspicious objects that they find in or near the dam.

READ: Bombs discovered in Eastern Cape dam: Residents warned not to pick up unknown objects close to Strelizia Dam

Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said they launched an operation on Monday when more live explosives were recovered. 

Kinana added it was up to the local municipality to close the dam to prevent injuries.

“It is up to them to determine if the dam should be closed or not. As the police, we can’t say the dam must be closed off. All we are promising is that we will, from time to time, continue visiting the dam searching for more bombs.”

Kinana said a passer-by found a mortar in the dam two weeks ago and alerted the police. On Friday, two other mortars were found while a third one was discovered on Saturday.

The police earlier said the mortars did not belong to the South African National Defence Force.

Kinana added they were investigating their origin and how they ended up in the dam. 

“We don’t know where they came from and how long they have been in the water for. At the moment, we can’t speculate and our investigations are continuing,” he said.

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says the demand for health services in South Africa is increasing and funds to address the change are limited mainly due to the continuous rise of immigration and the increasing burden of disease.

Mkhize made the remarks in response to a parliamentary question from Freedom Front Plus MP Phillipus van Staden who asked him what the reasons were for the shortage of doctors and nurses in South African state hospitals.

In his response, Mkhize said: “The primary reasons why the Republic [of South Africa] has a shortage of doctors and nurses is the fact that the public health sector budget has not been increasing in real terms for the past 10 years, impacting on the number of staff that can be appointed.

“Furthermore, the demand for health services in the country is increasing while there is no additional funding to address the change, which results primarily from immigration and the increasing burden of disease.

“The shortage of health professionals is a global phenomenon and is more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries as health workers are more likely to migrate to upper-middle-income countries in search of better living and working conditions.”

City Press previously reported that Mkhize’s predecessor, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, claimed foreign nationals were overcrowding the local health system.

Speaking at the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union’s nurses’ summit in November 2018, he was quoted as saying: “The weight that foreign nationals are bringing to the country has got nothing to do with xenophobia … it’s a reality.

“Our hospitals are full, we can’t control them. When a woman is pregnant and about to deliver a baby you can’t turn her away from the hospital and say you are a foreign national … you can’t.”

Motsoaledi continued: “And when they deliver a premature baby, you have got to keep them in hospital.

“When more and more come, you can’t say the hospital is full now go away … they have to be admitted, we have got no option – and when they get admitted in large numbers, they cause overcrowding, infection control starts failing.”

Despite this, the UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health says contrary to popular belief, immigrants are not a huge burden on health care. 

In terms of immigrants being carriers of disease, the report is emphatic: “Suspicion against migrants as carriers of disease is probably the most pervasive and powerful myth related to migration and health throughout history.”

News24 previously reported that migrants and asylum seekers would have access to Gauteng’s hospitals when the National Health Insurance (NHI) is implemented.

“Migrant access to health care will not be affected in any way, the Constitution guarantees anyone access to health care.”The NHI fund guarantees that registered migrants, asylum seekers, etc. – you will still have access,” Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku told News24.

COPE has questioned when Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola will blacklist controversial company Bosasa and terminate its existing contracts.

In a statement on Sunday, COPE spokesperson Dennis Bloem took a swipe at Lamola, asking if he was waiting for the US to teach him a lesson.

Bloem was referring to the recent revelations where the US announced sanctions against the controversial Gupta brothers and Salim Essa, who will no longer be able do business in the US or with US companies.

READ | SA urged to take swift action against the Guptas as US piles on pressure

“COPE is very disappointed that the minister has failed to get educated from the recent embarrassing action by the Americans against the Guptas,” Bloem said.

“It remains crystal clear and no more a secret that an unhealthy relationship existed  between Luthuli House, the headquarters of the ruling party [ANC], some government ministers and Bosasa/AGO.”

Bosasa is now called African Global Operations.

Bloem made mention of the testimony by former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi who appeared before the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture and made numerous allegations of corruption, where politicians and government officials were allegedly on the company’s payroll in exchange for lucrative contracts.

READ MORE| EXCLUSIVE: Taxman guns for Bosasa boss Gavin Watson

“[COPE] wants Minister Lamola to tell the country if this controversial company Bosasa/AGO continues to enjoy lucrative tenders in the South African government despite Agrizzi’s explosive testimony against it before the Zondo Commission.

“It is well known that Agrizzi told the commission that these individuals have bribed their way open to get these contracts.

“We are saying Minister Lamola must know that the whole world is keeping a close watch on how the South African government is dealing with this rampant corruption.”

ALSO READ | We haven’t been ‘given the opportunity to defend’ ourselves at Zondo commission – Gavin Watson’s nephew