“When it comes to unemployment, the Presidential Employment Stimulus is not about vague commitments for some time in the future, but about jobs being created right here and now.”
“There have been 40 attacks on emergency medical staff in the Western Cape since the start of the lockdown. It’s become such an issue that provincial health authorities are looking into getting body cams for staff, said an official from the emergency medical services.”
“It’s been just over a month since the Department of Health launched the COVID-19 Alert South Africa app to improve its COVID-19 contact tracing system. The app promises South Africa that the choice is not between individual privacy and public health, but that the two go hand in hand.”
“Research in KwaZulu-Natal found that some municipalities in the province had bloated staff complements and were unprepared for the pandemic, leaving them unable to deal with the challenge. Municipalities need to ‘proactively train their staff, councillors and communities so that the impact of disasters can be minimised when they occur.'”
“Teams of experts and tracers have arrived in Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape where a huge outbreak of COVID-19 infections has been traced back to a school. As education officials rush to find a way for the school’s Grade 12 learners to write exams, renewed concerns have been raised about statistics for the province that have not been updated for a week.”
“South Africa’s most generously endowed local philanthropic fund could continue its work for the foreseeable future. As the country prepares to move to Level 1 of lockdown, some of the Solidarity Fund’s major donors have indicated their desire for the fund to continue operating.”
“President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the country will enter a ‘new normal’ under Level 1 of the COVID-19 lockdown, beginning on Monday 21 September, which will remove a large number of the social and economic restrictions implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus.”
“Scientists have warned against complacency, saying that a second wave is possible and that the continent’s health services could still easily be overwhelmed by COVID-19.”
“During the initial hard phase of the lockdown in April and May, South Africans were firmly of the view that the COVID-19 pandemic would promote solidarity around concern for the welfare of others. However, this ‘ubuntu moment’ appears to have been short-lived, with a sceptical outlook more prevalent during the latter part of lockdown in July.”
“The FNB/BER Consumer Confidence Index posted a 10-point rebound in the third quarter of 2020, to -23. In the previous quarter, it had crashed 24 points to a 35-year-low of -33. Aside from that blow-out, the index is at levels last seen in 1993, suggesting that consumer confidence has been all but shattered.”
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