First Take SA

As the country grapples with the spread of the Coronavirus, poverty-stricken communities - particularly in the rural areas - have started to feel the effects of the 21-day lock-down. Some, who relied on odd jobs, are finding it hard to make ends meet.

An international team of researchers have unearthed the earliest known skull of Homo erectus - the first of our ancestors to be nearly human-like - in the Cradle of Humankind, North West of Johannesburg. The discovery pushes the possible origin of Homo erectus back between 150,000 and 200,000 years.

An estimated 500 foreign nationals have been removed from the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town despite attempts to resist the police operation. The group is being taken to the new site in Bellville, where they will be staying in a marquee that can accommodate up to 600 people. Foreign nationals have been living in the church since October last year.

Over one hundred and twenty South Africans remain stranded in Vietnam and wish to be repatriated back home. This as South African Airways has announced that it will operate Charter Flights for various governments across the world to repatriate their nationals from South Africa. Rueben Gerber has been teaching English in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, and is now stranded in the Asian country with n...

South Africa has recorded 82 new COVID 19 cases. The number of COVID 19 positive cases has risen to one thousand - 462 in 24 hours with the death toll still standing at five . This, while the government continues to investigate whether another two fatalities are also linked to COVID 19. The latest stats were announced by health minister Zweli Mkhize at National Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein. T...

Government officials are being cautioned to always exercise social distancing in their pursuit to spread information about the covid-19 pandemic. YESTERDAY, Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula visited Noord Taxi rank in Johannesburg CBD to inform taxi operators and commuters about amendments to transport regulations. Mbalula was flanked by the City of Johannesburg mayor, Geoff Makhubo and other off...

Taxi body SANTACO is not happy with Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula's announcement that taxis may now load passengers to full capacity provided all commuters are wearing masks and have been sanitized. Mbalula was addressing minibus taxi drivers and commuters at Noord Street taxi-rank in Johannesburg. SANTACO says this is now what they agreed on at the meeting and it will compromise the safety of...

South Africa will be able to conduct about 30 thousand tests for COVID19 each day. Thanks to the 60 new mobile sampling and testing units procured by the National Health Laboratory Services, unveiled by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize last night. Currently about five thousand tests are conducted in 24 hours and Mkhize says this figure is far too low for our population. Mkhize announced that currently...

The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has expressed concern about the increasing incidents of violence against women and children amid the Covid-19 lock-down period. She has called for harsher action against perpetrators.

Senior Pastor Mohau Rammile of the Global Reconciliation Church says there needs to be more faces to the corona virus statistics constantly being updated by government. Mohau, aged 48 tested positive for the covid-19 virus last week on Wednesday and has been in self-isolation since. He was part of the 480 congregants at the Divine Restoration Ministries in Bloemfontein where five international wor...

The C19 People's Coalition is calling for the provision of a basic income grant to all unemployed South Africans between the ages of 18 and 59. According to the presure group, this will mitigate the economic hardships facing millions of people imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdown

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority SAHPRA) has advised that the Serological test kits that are being used to test for COVID-19 are not suitable for diagnosis. It found that Serological test kits are being sold, outside medical facilities to individuals for testing at home.

Department of Justice to spell out Co-Parenting procedure during lockdown after a Pretoria father was arrested for allegedly abducting his son and ignoring rules around the movement of children of separated parents during the national lockdown.

Government will roll-out a massive screening and testing process for Coronavirus symptoms and infections at homes across the country in the next few days. That's according to President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address to the nation at the Union Buildings in Pretoria last night. The president's address followed his regular meeting with members of the National Command Council.

Members of the South African National Defence Force and other law enforcement officials have been accused of heavy handedness and abuse of power while enforcing the lockdown regulations. Several videos have gone viral on social media showing SANDF soldiers, the SAPS and metro police officers assaulting people and punishing them with physical exercise for not adhering to the lockdown regulations. A...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially released the 114 South Africans who were quarantined at the Ranch Resort, near Polokwane, in Limpopo, after being evacuated from the Chinese City of Wuhan where Coronavirus originated. The president has reiterated that all of them have tested negative for Covid19 and are displaying no symptoms of the Coronavirus. They will now be re-united with their famili...

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa has met with the team that embarked on a mission to evacuate 114 South Africans from Wuhan city in China, as well as workers of the Ranch Resort, near Polokwane, where the repatriates were quarantined. He has thanked them for their service in ensuring that the evacuated citizens are safe and well looked after. The group of 114 has tested negative for Covid19 an...

Zimbabwe is starting a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from today to help curb the spread of coronavirus. President Emmerson Mnangagwa says only state and health workers will be exempted from the lockdown. Zimbabwe has five confirmed coronavirus cases, including one death.

Homeless people around Johannesburg say they feel let down by government as the 21-day lockdown starts. News has not filtered through to them that they will be allowed to stay at temporary shelters across the province. Many are still on the streets despite Acting Gauteng Social Development MEC Panyaza Lesufi announcing that they have identified 30 schools in Gauteng which will be used as temporary...

Some healthcare workers who are at the forefront of combating COVID-19 say they are fearful of contracting the virus, while others say they have decided to isolate themselves from their families. South Africa currently has more than 900 confirmed corona virus cases. The national lockdown, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa commenced at midnight LAST NIGHT. Healthcare workers who will continue...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged members of the South African National Defence Force to serve the nation with great respect and humility during the 21 day nation-wide lockdown which began last night. He was speaking at the official deployment ceremony of soldiers at the Doornkop army base in Soweto last night. These SANDF members were called in to support the police to help stop the spread of t...

Traditional healer and author, Credo Mutwa has been hailed as a doyen of African culture and traditions. This follows Mutwa's death in Kuruman after a short illness. The Sanusi predicted many historic events, including the 1976 Soweto student uprising and the demise of apartheid architect, Hendrik Verwoerd.

The fear of contracting the Coronavirus is very real and people in the Mthatha area in the Eastern Cape say they have no option but to heed the president's call for a 21-day lockdown. Villagers at KwaTshemese village believe remaining indoors is the only solution to contain the spread of the virus.

To preserve the indigenous knowledge that the future generation will benefit from , the National Lotteries Commission funded the Credo Mutwa Museum and Library in 2019. Credo Mutwa was a prominent and respected resident of Mahikeng. His cultural home at Lotlamoreng Dam fell into disrepair, when he left, following his expulsion by the then Bophuthatswana President Kgosi Lucas Mangope. He was expell...

So it's going to be a Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games rather than a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The Olympics have been postponed to no later than the summer of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced YESTERDAY.Tokyo had completed preparations when the virus started spreading across the world. Despite insisting for months the Games wou...