First Take SA

The government has so far approved 15-thousand applications from farmers seeking financial assistance during the lock-down. Most of the applications come from the Eastern Cape followed by the Northern Cape and North West. Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, announced the outcome of the Covid-19 Agricultural Disaster Fund application process in Pretoria

Business organization, Sakeliga, has launched a court case in a bid to have some of government's Covid-19 lockdown regulations amended. The organisation says the litigation seeks to restore the right for businesses to trade without state-issued permits, irrespective of the lockdown level. It wants the court to order that law-enforcement may not obstruct businesses in this regard.

19,000 prisoners are expected to be released soon, from 240 centres across the country. Earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced he was releasing 19,000 prisoners to curb the spread of COVID-19 in prisons and ease overcrowding. The parole only applies to low-risk prisoners who would have applied for parole in the last five years.

The Democratic Alliance has vowed to challenge the restrictions of the national lockdown in court in a bid to force government to open up the economy further. The party intends to file papers in the high court, questioning the rationality of three separate lockdown-related issues, namely the night curfew, the ban on e-commerce or online shopping, as well as the restriction on exercise hours. This...

For the first time in 75 years, the Comrades Marathon has had to be cancelled - because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Athletics South Africa, together with the other stakeholders involved in organising the event, took a decision to prioritise the health and safety of everyone that would have been participating in the Ultimate Human Race. The race that was scheduled to be run from Pietermaritzburg t...

The International Labour Organization says COVID-19 has become more than a health pandemic -- it is now a socio-economic pandemic. This as millions of workers here at home and around the world are out of work and struggling to make ends meet

We need to cautiously ahead and the president has to balance the risk of the economy and lives. He is also right on the phasing out of the lockdown as we cannot economically afford to be on lock down forever.

Former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba says he will be launching his new political party in August. Mashaba made the announcement during a Zoom press conference yesterday. He said the party which will contest next year's local government elections in Gauteng province's three strategic metros - Joburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane. Mashaba said the formation of the party follows engagements of 'The Peo...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says by end of May most of the country may be placed on alert Level Three pending consultations. But he said some parts of the country with the highest infection rates will remain under strict regulations at Level Four. The president made this announcement during his address to the nations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria last night

As Coronavirus deaths in the United States topped 80-thousand, President Donald Trump declared that the nation had prevailed over the novel Coronavirus while predicting a strong economy by late 2020 into 2021. And while the numbers of new cases have flattened, the country added over 18-thousand in the last 24 hours with more than 1000 dead. The Coronavirus Task Force also announced that the federa...

Health Minister - Doctor Zweli Mkhize - has dedicated International Nurses Day to the healthcare workers fighting COVID-19 and the nurses in South Africa who have paid the ultimate price. Mkhize was leading a virtual commemoration from the King Edward Hospital in Durban. Nurses' selfless work has been honoured across the country with candle lighting ceremonies

UNICEF has warned that an additional six-thousand children globally under the age of 5 years could die daily from preventable causes, due to a diversion of resources to the covid-19 pandemic. The agency, which is tasked with saving children's lives and protecting their rights, says countries which already have fragile health systems may see disruptions in medical supply chains as financial and hum...

Seven lions that escaped from a private farm in Alladays, outside Louis Trichardt have been recaptured. which include two lionesses, The lions escaped on Monday night as they were last spotted by community members roaming the surroundings of Alldays policing area on Tuesday morning. The police, together with the farm owner and Limpopo's Tourism department have dispatched teams to locate the pride.

Unemployed South Africans can now apply for the South African Social Security Agency's (SASSA) special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant. The application for the 350 rand grant is open to unemployed South Africans over the age of 18. Eligible applicants will receive the money from May until October. The grant is part of the 500 billion rand COVID-19 relief package announced by President Cyr...

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africans must be prepared for a new reality in which the fight against COVID-19 becomes part of citizens' daily existence, for the coming year or more. In his weekly letter to the nation, Ramaphosa says with many more people gradually going back to work during Level 4, there will be an inevitable increase in infection numbers as well as demands on the health ca...

Industry experts have warned thousands of Small and Medium Sized (SMEs) enterprises will go into liquidation after COVID-19 lockdown because they cannot afford the cost of a Business Rescue Practitioner. Prof Markus Pretorius a business recue analyst says the fees to hire a rescue practitioner can go up to 150-thousand Rands. He has also warned that 95 percent of businesses that will apply for Bus...

The South African Democratic Teachers' Union (SADTU) says the Department of Basic Education is not ready to re-open schools. The union says the department has failed to meet the minimum requirements to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The Department of Basic Education is set to meet with teacher unions today to discuss its readiness for the re-opening of schools. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced on the 30th of last month that Management Teams across the country should report for duty today to start preparations for the re-opening of schools in a phased-approach. However, some provincial departments have advise...

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says cluster outbreaks of COVID 19 is one of the reasons for the increase in the infection rate of the Coronavirus in the Western Cape. He was briefing the media following a meeting with the Western Cape Premier, Medical experts and the MEC for Health Nomafrench Mbombo on Saturday.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa or Prasa has reported an estimated total revenue loss of over seven-hundred-and-fifty-million-rand for the year as a result of the national lockdown. Prasa has indicated that almost two-hundred-million-rand in revenue was lost in one month from April to May 2020. Prasa's Administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo was presenting the company's financial statement in a...

Africa's economy could only start recovering from the impact of the Coronavirus in 2022. This is according to Amit Thakker - Chairman of Africa Health Business. Speaking at a joint briefing by the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organisation - Thakker says the next two years will see economies shrink due to decreased production and activity. He says strong leadership will be needed to pu...

Are the conversations between Former President Jacob Zuma and his son Duduzane a political strategy to elicit public sympathy or simply an opportunity to tell their story as they see it? These are the questions that have been asked on social media following the dialogue between the two men on a new youtube channel titled Zooming with the Zumas. The conversations between father and son earlier this...

Over a hundred South Africans stuck in Vietnam say they are losing hope of ever being repatriated back to South Africa. One of these is Marc Dumont who remains stuck in Hanoi together with his partner. He says that they are running out of money for food and medical supplies while the cost of extending their visas is also becoming unbearable.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says his department will introduce systems that will separate patients with respiratory symptoms from those with non-respiratory symptoms. He was speaking during a media briefing at the Job Shimankane Tabane Hospital in Rustenburg in the North West. Mkhize says the introduction of the systems will be in preparation for the expected increase of cases of Corona virus as...

The Traditional Healers Organisation says it's currently working on finding a possible cure for the corona virus, with the help of several local universities. The organisation is not pleased with the World Health Organisation's position on traditional medicine, accusing it of sending out confusing messages. This after the WHO warned against the use of Madagascar's untested medicine, which the coun...