Update@Noon

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) says it is disappointed about the reports of some Councillors are acting in direct contravention of the Regulations issued in terms of the Disaster Management Act. Salga says it condemns the unlawful and criminal behaviour and has called upon the municipalities to urgently initiate proceedings against the said Councillors, who are found to be...

Yet another school has been set alight in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria; Soshanguve High school. Four schools have been burnt in the area in the past three weeks. The Gauteng Education Department said that the administration block had been razed to the ground after the roof caved in. Police are still investigating what caused Wednesday morning's blaze. We spoke to Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Les...

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has apologized for breaking lock-down regulations. This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa placed her on special leave for two months - one month of which will be unpaid. The presidency issued a statement earlier today saying the President has accepted her apology for the violation but was unmoved by mitigating fact...

Researchers from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the University of the Western Cape's (UWC) South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) have sequenced the first SARS-COV-2 genome, which could help contain the spread of corona virus. SANBI researcher and co-author of the new report presenting the sequence Peter van Heusden says finding the "fingerprint" of a...

Some members of the public are unwilling or refusing to be tested for the corona virus because of fake news reports that the swabs are contaminated. According to the Gauteng Health Department, this has hampered the country's efforts to curb the spread of the fatal respiratory illness. We spoke to Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku...

Police Minister Bheki Cele says there's been a decrease in serious crimes. He says incidents of murder, rape, assault, hijackings, business and house robberies have gone down compared to the same time last year. Murder cases have dropped from 326 to 94; rape cases from 699 to 101; cases of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm dropped from 2 673 to 456; and business and house robberi...

Some refugees who are still living on the streets around the Central Police Station and the District Six Museum say they are pleading with the authorities to take them to a safe and humane space during the lock-down. They are currently sheltering in makeshift plastic tents, as Cape Town experiences rain. Mercedes Besent has more...

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has accused the Limpopo Health Department of not adhering to the conditions of the national protocol for those who test positive for the corona virus. SAMA is expected to approach the High Court in Polokwane today, to make an urgent application against the Department - following the isolation of the two doctors at a medical facility, allegedly against t...

The SA Drug Policy Initiative (SADPI) says the decision to ban the sale alcohol and tobacco during the national lock-down should be reversed as soon as possible. SADPI says although the decision to ban the sale of alcohol and tobacco during the lock-down period was made with the best intentions, there are reasons why it is not a good idea. We spoke to the founder of the SA Drug Policy Initiative,...

South Africans are concerned about health workers who will be deployed to do home testing for Covid 19. South Africans fear that criminals will also use this as an opportunity to enter their homes. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Monday that provinces that have been identified as coronavirus hotspots will be prioritised as the government ramps up its fight against the virus. More than 10,00...

The National Taxi Alliance says it waiting for more clarity on the taxi industry's role during the lock-down period. They are also worried about loss of income due to social distancing regulations which will reduce passenger capacity. The taxi alliance also says that they should be considered for a 3 month holiday payment like other businesses. We spoke to spokesperson of the National Taxi Allianc...

Traffic volumes are expected to increase on the N1 to Limpopo today with motorists planning to escape the lock-down in Gauteng. Most people prefer to be home before Thursday fearing that they will be restricted from being with families during the Easter holidays. This, despite the warning by the MEC of Health in Limpopo, Dr Phophi Ramathuba that should the virus reach remote villages, it will be d...

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) says it supports the measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to contain the spread of corona virus in the country. SAMA says in addition to the strategies already announced, two additional steps are needed. Firstly, the Association says it is imperative that the areas - not just the provinces - of the identified cases be made known. And secondly...

Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi says workers can apply for leave using the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Nxesi says they are negotiating for special leave conditions for those who fall ill during work......

Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says tourists who entered the country since the 09th of March have been place under quarantine for 14 days...

Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza says the department has set aside 1.2 billion to address the effects of the corona virus, post the pandemic. Didiza says the country has sufficient food supply- hence there is no need to panic buy.....

Trade and Industry minister, Ebrahim Patel has highlighted various financial relief plans to assist South African citizens and business owners during this time. Patel says the Competition Commission is investigating eleven companies for allegedly hiking the prices of products - such as face masks, gloves and hand sanitizes - amid the corona virus outbreak. Patel says those who take advantage of th...

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says South Africa is learning from countries such as China in dealing with the virus. He also says many people may be tempted to travel home to rural areas in the next 24 hours before the lock-down, but he is confident that many South Africans will adhere to the lock-down regulations....

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced that the number of corona virus cases in South Africa has risen to 554. President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a three week national lock-down, starting at midnight on Thursday, to help stem the spread of the corona virus. There are over 370-thousand confirmed Covid 19 cases across the globe - with over 16-thousand deaths linked to the virus. Addressing...

As churches scale down services due to the corona virus, some are taking advantage of technology to reach their members. Government has issued guidelines prohibiting public gatherings of more than 100 people at a time. Tshepo Phagane visited Soweto to check how churches are dealing with the new regulations, what measures they've put in place to deal with the virus, and how they ensure they keep wo...

A group of South Africans who are stranded in Morocco following the global outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent banning of all international flights to and from Morocco last week are appealing for assistance from the South African Government. Unlike other countries who gave tourists more time to make alternative arrangements, the complete airspace closure in Morocco was immediate. We spoke to t...

MTN South Africa has announced that it will reduce the tariffs of its monthly data bundles of 1GB and below by between 25-50 per cent while the 1GB monthly bundle will decrease by 33 per cent to R99 with effect from next month. MTN made the announcement at a briefing held at its headquarters in Johannesburg, joined by minister of communications and digital technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. Aft...

The South African Music Rights organisation "SAMRO is appealing to financial institutions and landlords to save local artists amid Covid 19. SAMRO says most of its members have two major income streams including royalties collected by SAMRO and also rely on income from events which are now all being cancelled. SAMRO says many artist will instinctively turn to them for financial bail outs. The fina...

Events Planners in the country are some of the hardest affected by the gathering restrictions since the president's speech declaring Covid 19 a national disaster, many of them have received cancellations of their services after clients have had to cancel events, We spoke to a young entrepreneur and events planner in Johannesburg Lesego Dibodu...

The South African Airways (SAA) has cancelled a total of 162 flights. Of these, 38 are international and 124 are regional (destinations on the African continent) flights. This will be in place between 17th of March until 31st March 2020. We spoke to SAA spokesperson, Tlali Tlali...