Category Archives: South African News

News24.com | FEEL GOOD | Cops reach into their pockets to help family who lost home in blaze

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Police give back to a destitute family after their home was destroyed in a fire.

Police give back to a destitute family after their home was destroyed in a fire.

PHOTO: Supplied by SAPS

  • A wheelchair-bound widow of a late retired police officer and her five grandchildren, woke up to a raging fire that destroyed their home.
  • They survived, but the home and their belongings didn’t. 
  • Northern Cape police officers have now reached into their pockets to help them with donations.

A group of Northern Cape police officers were moved to help a family left destitute after their home was destroyed in a fire, opening their hearts and wallets to donate to the family.

The group, led by Brigadier Jean Westly, Brigadier Thabo Moeng, Brigadier Dick de Waal and Brigadier Adri Basson contributed clothing, bedding and groceries through their acts of kindness.

The family of six, a wheelchair-bound widow of a late retired police officer and her five grandchildren, woke up to a raging fire, police spokesperson Brigadier Mohale Ramatseba retold.

ALSO READ | FEEL GOOD: Young Durban environmental activist pledges R12 000 to support bird sanctuary

According to Ramatseba, the family managed to escape with minor burns and the grandmother was rescued by neighbours in the nick of time, just as the roof collapsed. 

“The team extended a helping hand by contributing clothing, bedding and groceries through their acts of kindness,” said Ramatseba. 

He said that the group dedicated their 67 minutes on Mandela Day to the destitute and invoked the theme to take action, inspire change and make every day a Mandela Day in order to make a difference to this family. 

Police give back to a destitute family.

Police give back to a destitute family.

News24.com | EXCLUSIVE | Leaked document: Eskom leadership ‘gutted’ by state capture as utility fights to turn around

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  • Despite considerable efforts by Eskom to improve project delivery, challenges remain, a leaked document shows.
  • State capture has “gutted” leadership capacity, it indicates. 
  • Recommendations include strengthening technical governance, capacitating of staff, and expanding project portfolios and possible private-public partnerships.

Plant failures, trust deficits, and the “state capture” shadow, which has gutted leadership at Eskom, are among a long list of challenges that are bogging down the power utility as it tries to make headway, a leaked document has revealed.

The first revision of a 44-page position paper titled: The Eskom deliver projects methodology in the context of Eskom’s present strategy, sets out a range of interventions for the power utility to improve project delivery.

The document was signed off by chief operations officer Jan Oberholzer on 6 July. It was developed in the latter half of 2019 and earlier in 2020, Oberholzer said in a separate note to Eskom “Guardians” or employees, which Fin24 has seen.

‘Phenomenal’ pace of change

“Changes in Eskom are unfolding at a phenomenal pace, the Covid-19 global pandemic is likely to have a major [if yet uncertain] impact, however, significant progress has already been made in what is tabled in the position paper,” Oberholzer wrote to staff.

Despite the changes brought on by the pandemic, the document is still relevant and Oberholzer said the position paper was to be used as a reference point for the utility’s project offices to use to plan for the short and medium term.

The Eskom deliver projects methodology had existed and been developed over a number of decades, the introduction of the document noted.

The paper has supported notable strategies of Eskom in the past, including the massive rollout of electrification of households during the first decade of democracy.

However, it also acknowledges the negative impact of state capture on project successes.

Taking on past failures

The power utility is hoping to use the Eskom deliver projects methodology this time to correct past failures and improve project delivery, while taking into account the organisational restructure underway.

But there are a number of external factors Eskom is challenged by, such as a drop in demand for electricity, an inability to raise funding at viable borrowing rates or through tariff increases, the latter of which is contributing to the utility’s death spiral.

Eskom has a debt burden of R450 billion which it wants to reduce to R200 billion and has been struggling to secure cost-reflective tariffs. It also has a junk credit rating, which contributes negatively to its cost of borrowing.

There are also internal factors or own goals which have worsened Eskom’s prospects of moving forward. The document indicated plant failures outstripped supply needs. Eskom implemented loadshedding due to plant failures earlier in July, amid a lockdown with already reduced demand.

It recently warned there was a risk of loadshedding being implemented, with the system facing “severe pressure”.

‘Trust deficit’

Based on the position paper, it is also battling a “trust deficit”, created by “past and present obfuscation of matters” which have resulted in a breach of law in terms of public procurement, contractual terms and fair labour practice.

“Leadership has been gutted … by the state capture shadow” the document continued.

It also highlighted critical decision-making “at every level” was protracted, or “simply not made”. Some committees have not been functioning properly.

There have also been staffing issues, with people who are experienced, knowledgeable and properly equipped, not in critical positions.

“Success of projects, initiatives and intended benefits are hugely dependent on the integrity of the team of people involved in the work and stakeholders.

“The mega project environment was launched with a foundation, which became more and more compromised with vested interests and corruption.”

The paper also pointed out structural stability had a role in ensuring responsibilities or tasks of a project were fulfilled on time and properly.

“Poorly initiated, thought-through and implement organisational restructurings in the last decade and related challenges in job profile development created numerous functional gaps and overlaps,” it said.

“People need to be trained in the substance of what they need to know to do their particular jobs.”

Goals for improvement

Responding to the challenges, Eskom sets out a range of short-, medium- and long-term objectives to improve delivery.

This includes implementing a technical governance framework for Eskom operations – which would, among other things, create organisation stability despite restructures. It also aims to implement the professional registration of key personnel appointed to increase resilience of staff and manages accountability.

In the medium term, a “dummies’ guide” should be in development for procurement, key appointments and contract strategies, which will help avoid breaches of legislation.

It also puts forward taking steps to provide industry resource centres: this serves to pool knowledge and avoids duplication of functions of different entities involved in projects.

Longer-term objectives involve public-private partnerships and expanding the portfolio of projects to include green elements such as off-setting carbon emissions with African rainforest protection or rehabilitating open-cast mines and ash dump areas.

Overall, improving project delivery could help Eskom achieve several “aspirations”, such as complying with the Public Finance Management Act and relevant legislation, and allowing it to meet socio-economic objectives, such as creating employment and reducing the cost of doing business.

In the long term, Eskom aims to have its projects have a zero net environmental impact, reduce its dependency on electricity sales for income, and drive industrialisation and local manufacturing supportive of inclusive and equitable growth.

News24.com | ‘Hunger crisis is growing, emergency food aid is dwindling’ – new Western Cape report

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Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

  • A top level report to the Western Cape government paints a stark picture of the lockdown food crisis in some communities.
  • One community reports: “Families are starving, struggling and urgently waiting for food hampers. The situation is very bad.” 
  • Another says “hunger is going to dramatically increase as these funds dry up and donors are dramatically decreasing.”

A top level report given to the Western Cape government paints a dire picture of the impact of the lockdown on hunger and community kitchens, most of whom have seen rising food requests and dwindling resources.

And amid this is a need for mass assistance from society and ongoing humanitarian aid as community kitchens “cry out for help”.

This is urged in a new report presented to the senior leadership of the Western Cape government (WCG), by the the Economic Development Partnership (EDP).

EDP CEO Andrew Boraine has reported to News24 the province and City have now responded with a range of urgent measures, including numerous funding and food interventions.

The report is the first comprehensive picture of the suffering after the “lockdown” and is headlined: “Hunger is growing, emergency food aid is dwindling – Community kitchens crying out for help and support.”

READ | SA facing double storm of Covid-19 and hunger

Presented, are heart-breaking stories of hunger and desperation – and that the elderly are bearing the brunt of the food crisis.

A massive humanitarian response has prevented the dam wall of hunger from breaking, including by the Western Cape NGO-Government Food Relief Coordination Forum, convened by the EDP.

Deteriorating 

But the situation is now deteriorating, the report warns.

In mid-June, in a survey of NGOs, “89% indicated that they were experiencing an increase in requests for food in poor and vulnerable communities. At the same time, 70% indicated that they were experiencing dwindling resources, due to donor and volunteer fatigue.

“This coincides with the WCG and similar public bodies facing severe fiscal constraints and budget cuts.”

The report cites anecdotes from various communities, after a survey of NGOs:

Witzenberg: “Families are starving, struggling and urgently waiting for food hampers. The situation is very bad, we cannot feed our babies and our children are asking for bread, they need to eat. We are single moms who have lost jobs.”

Delft: “We are funding ingredients for 28 kitchens preparing 72 000 meals a week. We are seeing real hunger and desperation in all the sites, N2 Gateway, Macassar informal settlement, Sophiatown, Overcome Heights, Steenberg, Retreat areas, Heinz Park, Delft … Feeding lines are getting longer as more people are losing their jobs and or other feeding sites are closing down. Also seeing the incredible impact on dogs in these areas too. Dogs lived on scraps of food – there are no scraps left. Dogs are just walking bags of bones and animal charities are not getting the funding and resources they need either.”

Masiphumelele, Ocean View and Redhill: “In Fish Hoek a network of 103 community kitchens (run by various NGOs together with independent community volunteers) have been feeding approximately 10 000 a day for the past six weeks – concentrated on the disadvantaged communities of Masiphumelele, Ocean View and Red Hill… resources are dwindling for all involved and we have two Covid hotspots as an additional challenge. Our distance from economic and industrial centres means employment is another challenge even at the best of times. Coupled with the failures in distributing UIF and TERS grants, we continue to see the need for food-aid increasing.”

George: “Recently received message from Carpe Diem school for the disabled, which the Eden Lions support frequently, indicating approximately 60 families with disabled children who are essentially “dying” of starvation. The school has been assisting them where possible, but their resources have dried up… The story is simple but complex – hunger is going to dramatically increase as these funds dry up and donors are dramatically decreasing.”

Ekuphumleni, Khayelitsha: “Running a soup kitchen and currently feeding 400-450 people a day from Monday to Friday. The need has grown so much and I’m afraid to say that we are gradually running out of resources slowly but surely.”

Helderberg: “In Nomzamo, Lwandle, Strand and Zola there are people without papers who are scared. Children are being fed but adults go hungry. People are unemployed and the collapse of the informal economy means there is no income. There is no opportunity for isolation and people feel helpless.”

“In Macassar (which has the greatest number of Covid cases in the Helderberg) children are suffering from hunger when their parents become Covid positive and there is no food. They need support in the form of food parcels.”

Ladles of Love (supplying to 400 partners in local areas in the greater Cape Town metro): “Our challenge is that providing the amount of food we are currently buying and producing is not sustainable going forward. The situation is no longer an immediate crisis but a long-term economic disaster.”

The EDP report makes eight hard-hitting recommendations, which has since been tabled before the Western Cape cabinet by the social development department.

Together, they form a comprehensive plea for urgent government support for NGOs.

Only a massive effort – largely by civil society – has prevented food shortages from deteriorating so far, according to the report.

The report details how the pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity in poor and vulnerable communities in three ways:

  • Impact of lockdown: Lockdown, and curtailment of economic activities since end-March, has negatively affected the livelihoods of the “existing poor” – street traders, spaza shops, small scale fishers and farmers, seasonal farm workers, as well as the circumstances of the “newly poor”, through job losses and small business closures.
  • Performance of national government: Research by Professor Jeremy Seekings has shown that “the total amount of food distributed (through food parcels and feeding schemes) in the first three months of the lockdown was a tiny fraction of what was needed urgently – and was even a small fraction of what would ordinarily have been distributed without a lockdown, according to the report.
  • Unequal burden of disease: As the recent Global Nutrition Report makes clear: “Covid-19 does not treat us equally. Undernourished people have weaker immune systems, and may be at greater risk of severe illness due to the virus. At the same time, poor metabolic health, including obesity and diabetes, is strongly linked to worse Covid-19 outcomes, including risk of hospitalisation and death.” The disease burden of the pandemic has further exacerbated food insecurity… and community organisers have also had to deal with fighting the stigma of the virus, bitterly cold weather, winter flooding, psycho-social needs, violence and gangsterism, etc.

A “whole-of-society effort” has been the saving grace for many of those trying to feed hungry mouths.

“For the past three months in the Western Cape, food insecurity and hunger was partly assuaged through massive efforts of the Solidarity Fund, the WCG, municipalities, private donors and civil society organisations – in other words, a genuine whole-of-society effort.

“The Solidarity Fund distributed 31 579 food parcels in the Western Cape. The WCG has spent over R80m on humanitarian and food aid. The City of Cape Town has allocated R12.1m to 61 NGOs for distribution of food parcels and vouchers, which are currently being distributed. CSOs, backed by private donors, provided over 3.1m meals and distributed 77 000 food parcels in the first 74 days of the lockdown. CSOs, mainly through community kitchens, continue to provide the bulk of food aid at the moment.”

Following a meeting on Thursday, Boraine said, at least in the Western Cape, a range of urgent measures weere being considered, including funding allocations from various city of provincial budgets, enhancing the school feeding scheme and sourcing more private donations from the public.

News24.com | OPINION | Does the data support the alcohol ban?

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Restricted mobility during the Level 5 lockdown is what led to fewer cases in hospitals, not the alcohol ban, argues Marjana Martinic.

As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to grow, so does the need to manage demands on the healthcare system, protect the fundamentals of the economy, and ensure that other public health objectives aren’t disregarded. 

In South Africa, the government has taken various well-advised emergency actions, but also others that are both less popular and less well founded. One such measure is the reintroduction last week of a controversial ban on alcohol sales. 

The rationale for the measure was a significant decline in trauma admissions during the initial lockdown, notably from road traffic crashes and interpersonal violence, both of which rose once the alcohol ban was lifted. Banning alcohol again would, the argument goes, dramatically reduce hospital admissions so that priority can be given to Covid patients. 

It is hard to argue with providing relief to the healthcare system, and equally hard to argue with the need to address South Africa’s high rates of interpersonal violence and road traffic crashes, and its pattern of heavy drinking, particularly among younger males. What is less clear-cut is whether a renewed ban on alcohol sales will open up needed hospital beds.

Restricted mobility 

Data points to a decrease of more than 50% in the overall hospital admission rate in recent months, coinciding with the severe lockdown measures imposed. Among these were a 40% decline in non-elective procedures and a 60% drop in surgical interventions. These figures are very much in line with trends seen in other countries that did not prohibit the sale of alcohol. 

Common sense would suggest that, where physical movement and congregating are limited, the likelihood of traffic crashes and violence drops. According to data collected from smartphones, the mobility of South Africans during the first lockdown (and alcohol ban) decreased by 80%. Put simply, restricted mobility means restricted opportunity for harm.

Data from the Medical Research Council does show that, following a drop at the beginning of the crisis, South Africa’s mortality rate has increased. But closer examination suggests that the increase was independent of the availability of alcohol, and began in April: five weeks before the first alcohol ban was lifted.

There has also been some inconsistency in available data. 

Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, for example, reported a 30% increase in trauma admissions in May 2020, a month during which alcohol was not on sale. And there is always a question about how “alcohol-related” cases are defined and the difficulty in attribution of trauma and violence.

Like other alcohol bans throughout history, South Africa’s experiment with prohibition offers important lessons. Before it was lifted at the beginning of June, the original ban resulted in an upsurge in the production of dangerous “home brews” and boosted alcohol smuggling. Neither is a new development. Criminals were already profiting from this lucrative trade, but their profits have been multiplied by the government’s decision to outlaw alcohol sales. 

Illegal alcohol 

Illegal consumption presents further major risks to public health which the country can ill afford. Given the absence of safety regulations and quality controls within the black market sector, poisoning deaths have been recorded in South Africa.

The renewed alcohol ban also has significant implications for the already strapped economy.

The increase in illicit trade has deprived the state of billions of rand in excise. But, as the South African Revenue Services Commissioner Edward Kieswetter has publicly acknowledged: “Alcohol is still for sale… We  are not raising this because of the revenue, but because illicit trade and criminal activity is a scourge which also distorts our economy and robs South Africans of thousands of honest work opportunities.”

The ban is also severely jeopardising the future of many small businesses, which survived the first ban, but may not survive this one.

In fact, 15% of the National Liquor Traders Council’s members had closed permanently by the time the first ban was lifted, a figure that translates directly into jobs and livelihoods.

Evidence justified the South African government’s original decision to lift the ban on alcohol sales.

It is now more important than ever that it calmly assesses its options and heed evidence and advice from leading scientists.

If this is not done, the unintended consequences for public health and for the economy could be vast.

 – Marjana Martinic is an international expert on alcohol policy. She holds a Ph.D in Neuroscience from Harvard and Northwestern Universities and led the science and policy work of the think tank ICAP and the organization IARD, dedicated to reducing alcohol misuse worldwide. She is widely published on alcohol issues and has served as an independent Scientific Advisor to the European Commission, on the OECD Task Force on Illicit Trade, and on the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions.

*Want to respond to the columnist? Send your letter or article to opinions@news24.com with your name, profile picture, contact details and location. We encourage a diversity of voices and views in our readers’ submissions and reserve the right not to publish any and all submissions received.

Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.

The South African Reserve Bank’s annual Ordinary General Meeting of shareholders for 2020

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Publish Date: 2020-07-24
Category: Media Advisories

​The 100th annual Ordinary General Meeting (AGM) of the shareholders of the South African Reserve Bank (the SARB), will take place on Friday, 31 July 2020 at 10:00 as a virtual meeting.

Members of the media should RSVP to Leisel Radebe at media@resbank.co.za, after which the details will be shared.

Issued by SARB Media Relations

media@resbank.co.za  

News24.com | FIRST TAKE | Ramaphosa evades another opportunity to lead as he caves in to unions

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President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa opted to listen to the unions and career politicians rather than experts and scientists when he made the decision to close the country‘s public schools. He has yet again missed an opportunity to lead, writes Pieter du Toit.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, ignoring volumes of evidence about why schools can and must remain open, on Thursday night buckled to pressure from teachers’ unions and announced the public schools system will be shut down for four weeks.

Somberly addressing the country in his umpteenth televised address, he meekly capitulated to teachers’ unions which have over the years used children’s education and the schooling system as a bargaining chip in the all-consuming game that politics and the attainment of political power has become in this country.

Ramaphosa spoke unconvincingly of the need to put the health, social and educational needs of children first, before listing the advisory by the World Health Organisation (WHO) – that schools should be reopened in areas where there is low community transmission – as the main reason for his collective’s decision.

And as has become the wont of Ramaphosa and his government, he announced the decision – which will have far-reaching consequences for millions of families, children’s academic development and the economy – without providing anything remotely approaching a coherent argument.

South Africans now understand – as they were forced to learn with previous unmotivated and unsupported regulations, decrees and announcements – it will be near impossible to get to the bottom of why whatever ministerial council or body or grouping took the decision they did.

That is because this government remains averse to any form of accountability.

The president never answers questions from the media, and there is no prospect of him doing so soon. The relevant ministers will also bob and weave from behind the cloak of invisibility created by a phalanx of spokespersons, while the scientists and experts – the people who produce research based on empirical evidence – will be sidelined or threatened.

Ramaphosa is afraid to lead.

In all the criticism levelled against him in recent weeks, no one has ever said there are easy decisions. In fact, given the poor state of the state, there are only decisions with bad and worse outcomes. But that is the job. Without visible and strong leadership as well as transparent and clear decision-making processes, South Africa will keep on muddling through.

EDITORIAL | Ramaphosa cannot be the referee between divergent views, leading means making unpopular decisions

In his address, Rampahosa attempted to garner sympathy by saying more than 60 stakeholder organisations were consulted but it was “difficult to find consensus on the right approach”.

But there will never be any consensus when you are governing a country like South Africa – in fact any country, unless it is a dictatorship or a city state. There will always be contestation and vested interests. It is the job of a leader to cut through the noise and use evidence-based decision-making to lead and make the tough calls.

In this case, the scientific evidence to keep schools open was overwhelming. The politics, however, spoke louder.

Angie Motshekga, the minister of basic education, wanted schools to remain open and functional. She was supported by a range of experts and academics, from both education and medicine, who argued the rate of transmission among children, and from children to adults, does not justify a wholesale closure of schools.

But the concerns of unions, notably the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union and the National Professional Teachers’ Association of South Africa, that their members were being exposed to the coronavirus while teaching, weighed heavier. And why? Because the unions can exact a political price from an errant president, and for a governing party obsessed with remaining in power come hell or high water, the prospect of a union going rogue is too much too bear.

Ramaphosa, however, did not explain the arguments for and against, neither did he refer to the body of research supporting or dismissing either argument. This government, like it has done with so many other decisions, does not want to engage with evidence in a dispassionate and scientific way.

On Thursday night, the word from some members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 was there was vehement disagreement with the president’s announcement. But experts, academics and scientists can be humoured and then ignored.

Just like schoolchildren.

PS: The economy is being ravaged, the tourism industry is collapsing and the hospitality industry imploding. Nationwide protests took place yesterday to try and bring the government to other insights. Ramaphosa did not once mention it. He did, however, say the government will continue to protect lives and livelihoods.

News24.com | WRAP | Schools close again as SA breaches 400 000 mark in Covid-19 cases

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WRAP | School’s out: Ramaphosa announces closure for up to four weeks, talks tough on Covid-19 corruption

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that all public schools will “take a break” for the next four weeks.

This will run from 27 July until 24 August. However, Grade 12 pupils and teachers will only take a week-long break and will return on 1 August. Grade 7s will take a two week break, returning on August 10.

The current academic year will be extended beyond 2020, Ramaphosa said, the details of which will be communicated in due course.

He has also said that the government is taking major steps to stamp out acts of corruption related to Covid-19 relief funds and initiatives. Ramaphosa today signed a proclamation for the Special Investigating Unit to investigate any allegation of corruption across all spheres of the state.

School nutrition programmes will continue and parents or pupils will be able to collect meals from schools.

Ramaphosa said the interruption of teaching and learning could harm a generation of pupils. He said the government has had to weigh this up with potential health risks associated with schools reopening.

“There have been calls for schools to close again,” he said, saying that the government has met with more than 60 organisations which are stakeholders in the education sector.

“These consultations have provided important insights… and provided a broad range of important views,” he said, saying it was difficult to find a consensus on how to go about schools reopening.

He said teaching and learning has been continuing under difficult conditions during the lockdown.

Social relief

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa said the government has secured funding from multilateral banks and other sources.

About R15 billion of the previously-announced R500 billion package would have been paid out by the end of this month as social relief. So far, R2.2 billion has been paid to people who are unemployed and receive no other relief. More than R70 billion of tax relief has been extended to businesses, Ramaphosa said.

News24.com | Bookkeeper sentenced to 8 years for stealing R1.2m from centre for the physically, mentally disabled

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  • The court heard that the money Johannes Willem Gieselbach stole was donated by the public to the centre for children and adults with severe disability.
  • The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court also ordered Gieselbach to repay R986 706 of the R1.2m he stole from his employer.
  • Between April 2016 and May 2019, on 168 instances, Gieselbach substituted the banking details of Aurora Special Care Centre’s creditors and suppliers with his.

An Eastern Cape bookkeeper who stole R1.2m from a care centre for children and adults with severe mental and physical disability, was sentenced to eight years in prison for 168 counts of theft on Wednesday.

Port Elizabeth Specialised Commercial Crimes Court magistrate Lionel Lindoor also ordered Johannes Willem Gieselbach to repay R986 706 of the R1.2 millionhe stole from Aurora Special Care Centre in Port Elizabeth.

The 45-year-old was employed as a bookkeeper at the Port Elizabeth care centre from January 2016 to June 2019.

READ | KZN man allegedly beat 19-year-old mother of his child to death

His duties included the capturing of bank statement transactions and administering payments to creditors and suppliers of the care centre, the National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement.

NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said Gieselbach had direct access to the banking system of Aurora and, apart from the general manager of the care centre, had the power to authorise payments to creditors and suppliers.

Manipulated

“From April 2016 to May 2019, on 168 instances, he manipulated the company system and substituted the banking details of Aurora’s creditors and suppliers with his own. Consequently, a total of R1 907 492.30 was deposited into Gieselbach’s three bank accounts.

“In an effort to conceal the crime, he, on various occasions, paid some of the creditors and suppliers of Aurora amounts totalling R 692 785.36. The payments were made during his tenure as a bookkeeper. Therefore, the actual loss to the care centre is just over R 1.2 million.”

Gieselbach was arrested by the Hawks in September 2019. He pleaded guilty to all 168 counts of theft during February 2020.

Senior prosecutor, advocate Lise Keech, told the court: “Gieselbach stole money which was donated by the public to children and adults who were severely disabled. This is the worst theft as that money was meant to take care of their needs; he abused power as he was in a position of trust.”

News24.com | Govt says tweet which sparked confusion about alcohol, cigarette ban is incorrect

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  • Alcohol and tobacco remain banned only under Level 3 of the lockdown – for now.
  • This comes after a tweet inferred that alcohol and tobacco would be banned for an indefinite period.
  • The sale of alcohol was suspended after overwhelming evidence showed that alcohol consumption was burdening trauma units across the country.

The government says there has been no change to Level 3 regulations with regard to the ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco products.

This comes after a tweet sparked confusion over when the bans would be lifted. 

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) spokesperson Mlungisi Mtshali told News24 on Wednesday the regulations remained unchanged.  

READ | Restaurant workers across SA take to the streets to protest lockdown stranglehold

“This [alcohol and tobacco] ban applies for Level 3 for now. I don’t want to comment on the tweet, but for now the ban is in place and the regulations in place apply under Level 3 of the lockdown,” he explained.

The government subsequently tweeted that the information contained in the initial tweet was incorrect and would be removed.

The initial tweet stated that “the ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarette will remain in place throughout lockdown period. The purpose is to save lives and protect the health and well-being of our people #Alcoholban”.

The tweet caused confusion as it was understood to infer that tobacco and alcohol would remain banned for an indefinite period, until the risk-adjusted strategy of five levels of lockdown came to an end.

The government imposed the tobacco ban at the beginning of lockdown in March as it sought to manage the spread of Covid-19.

While alcohol was permitted during the Level 3 of lockdown – which commenced on 1 June – the decision was quickly rescinded after overwhelming evidence showed that alcohol was burdening trauma wards in various health facilities across the country.