Rivers overflowing in Kruger Park after Cyclone Eloise hits.

• A number of main roads have had to be closed, bushveld camps evacuated, with rivers filling up and flowing strongly due to the heavy rains inflicted by tropical storm Eloise.
• The wet weather is expected to continue beyond Monday, as predicted by the South African Weather Services.
• The public is warned against the circulation of fake news that may cause panic and anxiety.

A number of main roads have had to be closed, bushveld camps evacuated and rivers having been filling up and flowing strongly due to the heavy rains inflicted by storm Eloise that hit Mozambique on Sunday.

According to the Kruger National Park, weather conditions are changing minute by minute, however they are on high alert as heavy rainfalls have been pouring throughout the day.

“Currently, there are heavy downpours, rivers are filling up and flowing strongly,” Kruger National Park spokesperson Ike Phaahla told News24.

PICS | Cyclone Eloise causes flooding in Limpopo, KZN

Phaahla said that bushveld camps which had been evacuated were inaccessible. The road between Punda Maria and Shingwedzi in the park was also under water and closed, as well as the Mopani, Phalaborwa main road.

The Mpumalanga Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said they also had been experiencing heavy rains, although no major incidents had been reported since the heavy rain started. Sporadic cases of damaged houses had, however, been reported at Mkhuhlu in the Bushbuckridge Municipality.

“All our disaster management systems remain on high alert,” MEC Mandla Msibi said.

“Our roads are slippery and we urge road users to drive carefully,” he added. 

Msibi warned that those in the proximity of rivers and dams should monitor the water levels and be ready to evacuate.

The wet weather is expected to continue beyond Monday, the South African Weather Service said. Nkomazi, Mbombela, Thaba Chweu and Bushbuckridge municipalities in the Ehlanzeni District have also experienced heavy rains.

In the Nkangala District, the Emalahleni, Thembisile Hani, Emakhazeni and Steve Tshwete municipalities have also been affected by the heavy rain. The Gert Sibande, Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme areas also recorded heavy rain falls.

Msibi further cautioned communities not to risk their lives by crossing bridges and walking under power lines.

The public is warned against the circulation of fake news that may cause panic and anxiety.

A geostationary satellite image (Meteosat Second Generation) of southern Africa at 8am SAST on Friday 22 January. Severe Tropical storm “Eloise” is clearly visible as an impressive swirl of clouds, located in the middle of the Mozambique Channel, lying to the north-east of Beira, Mozambique. RGB false-colour image courtesy EUMETSAT 2021.

• Tropical storm Eloise is expected to hit parts of South Africa by Sunday. 
• According to the South African Weather Service, northern eastern parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) are expected to be affected. 
• The storm is expected to cause significant rains which may lead to flash flooding as well as strong winds.

The national, provincial and municipal Disaster Management Centres in the provinces that are expected to be hit by tropical storm Eloise have activated their contingency plans and are preparing response measures.

Eloise, which had already made landfall in Mozambique is expected to reach South Africa by Sunday, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS).

The tropical storm is expected to cause significant downpours which may lead to flash flooding, as well as strong winds in the northern eastern parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

In a statement, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said that the National Disaster Management Centre had convened a meeting of the National Joint Flood Coordination Committee, which forms part of the National Disaster Management Advisory Forum, on Saturday.

“The national, provincial and municipal organs of state shared details on the activation of their contingency plans and the activities they will follow in the coming days to prepare response measures, provide early warnings to the public and monitor the development of the storm,” the statement read.

The Disaster Management Centres in the areas that will be affected are activating their disaster operations centres and will meet regularly with organs of state to coordinate preparations and response efforts where they become necessary.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma noted the updates on Eloise.

She also emphasised that, with heavy rainfall and storms expected to cause havoc in most parts of country, communities should be extra cautious and protect themselves.

“Members of the public are urged in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic to maintain their social distancing and practice other preventative measures.

“Government will issue further guidance and information through the various media channels in the coming days on the development and trajectory of the storm.”

The department has urged that residents in the affected provinces:

Communities have also been urged to:

Jacob Zuma is seen in court.

• French arms company Thales is a co-accused in Jacob Zuma’s fraud and corruption case.
• Thales was attempting to have the racketeering charge it faces scrapped from the matter.
• The State is now one step closer to bringing the matter to trial.

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg has dismissed with costs French arms company Thales’ bid to challenge the racketeering charge it faces along with former president Jacob Zuma.

The case brought by Thales, which is being represented by Oscar Pistorius’ former defence advocate Barry Roux, represented the only barrier standing in the way of Zuma’s long-awaited trial actually proceeding.

READ | State vs Thales: Judgment on Friday will determine future of Zuma’s corruption prosecution

Thales has yet to comment on the decision. Should it elect not to appeal, the Zuma and Thales corruption case could start as early as April this year.

It is the State’s case that Thales agreed to pay Zuma a R500 000-a-year bribe, in exchange for his “political protection” from any potential investigation of South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal. Thales, then known as Thompson-CSF, had scored a R2.6-billion contract to provide four navy frigates to SA’s government in 1997, as part of that deeply controversial R60 billion deal.

Zuma’s financial advisor Schabir Shaik’ s company Nkobi had been chosen by Thales as its black empowerment partner in SA after alleged lobbying by Zuma. Shaik was convicted in 2005 of having brokered that deal as part of his corrupt relationship with Zuma.

The NPA is now pursuing Zuma and Thales for racketeering, a charge usually reserved for the prosecution of organised crime, and is pursued against individuals and entities embroiled in an organised criminal enterprise. It carries with it a 25-year jail sentence.

In a brief statement on Friday morning, the NPA said it welcomed the court’s decision.

“We look forward to the criminal hearing,” the statement ended.

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WHO has recommended a course of Covid-19 treatment.

• Health officials with resuscitation kits will be on hand to help should anyone have an adverse reaction to the Covid-19 vaccines. 
• Health Department official Aquina Thulare briefed the ANC’s Progressive Business Forum on the vaccine rollout. 
• The military will help safeguard sites and everyone who receives vaccines will be registered on a central database. 

Health professionals will be on standby at Covid-19 vaccination sites to tend to anyone who might have an adverse reaction to the vaccines, while the military is set to be deployed to safeguard distribution.

Those who agree to be vaccinated will be issued with a vaccine registration card and they will be allocated a site where they should go to get their jab.

These are some of the details of the vaccine rollout that has emerged during a briefing by Aquila Thulare from the Department of Health during a Zoom briefing to the ANC’s Progressive Business Forum on Tuesday.

She said:

Everyone who has registered will be allocated a site where they should go for their jabs, which will help the department to control how many people visit a site, but also helps the department with planning how many vaccines to deliver to a site.

“It also helps us to manage those who have to come back a second time,” she said.

To secure the distribution of the vaccines, those vehicles involved will be tracked and monitored to safeguard stocks.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be present at administration sites “to make sure that we secure this vaccine” and for security purposes and each dose will be tracked and traced through a barcode scanning system “meaning that we will have to make sure that we know where each and every vial is used”.

There will also be data verification of the vaccines that have been distributed and administered.

Vaccines must be disposed of in a secure fashion, but we also have to ensure that we monitor that there is no wastage, she said.

Vaccine distribution

In phase two and three of the vaccine distribution – once targeted groups like health workers and the elderly have received their doses – there will be mass vaccinations in urban centres of individuals and groups, while pharmacies, health facilities, community halls and schools will be used to administer the vaccines.

These sites will have to be registered and comply with a number of requirements.

“We do not want to see the vaccination programme impacting negatively on the other services that are provided, whether it is child illnesses, maternal services,” she said.

Vaccine confidence will increase through transparent and effective safety surveillance and causality assessment, Thulare added.

ALSO READ | Ramaphosa forms inter-ministerial committee on vaccines, to be led by David Mabuza

She said an electronic vaccination data system was currently being developed, and would leverage off existing systems.

The information collected by the system would include patient information, like demographics and number of doses to be received, the health establishment where it is administered, the vaccine administered, safety information and a record of vaccination issued to individuals where necessary.

“For the vaccination programme, wherever we are going to be vaccinating in the sites, there will be teams of health professionals that will be ready to manage any adverse effect that arise,” she said. This included resuscitation kits, to ensure that these are attended to “immediately and effectively”.

The department will also record how many people in the target population receive the vaccine and how many refuse, including the reasons why they do so.

The inter-ministerial committee on vaccines established by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday and chaired by Deputy President David Mabuza would coordinate the vaccination effort “to ensure that the 40 million South Africans that are going to make up the 65% [of the population who will be vaccinated] to build (“herd”) immunity are going to be vaccinated.

Ministerial advisory committees on technical issues and behavioural change will also be on hand to help with the effort.