News in South Africa 7th April: 1. Essential food prices volatile: Avocados, oranges, tomatoes, chicken portions and cooking oil are some of the food items that have seen volatile price increases over the last two years as a result of global inflationary pressures as well as local disruptions and extreme weather events, says the Competition […]
1. PCR tests and travel issues: South Africa’s coronavirus-induced state of disaster has ended, but some transitional regulations remain, including rules on entering the country, which could complicate family holidays. This new phase sees an end to the state of disaster, announced on Monday night, and a transition to legislation within the National Health Act that deals […]
News in South Africa 5th April: 1. State of disaster over: On Monday night, co-operative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma terminated South Africa’s national state of disaster on Covid-19, fulfilling the promise made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in an address to the nation just hours before. In a notice in the Government Gazette, Dlamini Zuma said she […]
News in South Africa 30th March: 1. Covid-19 deaths under-reported: The national Department of Health, in what appears to be a significant departure from its previous position, admitted this week that government may be under-reporting deaths from Covid-19. Previously, the department was apparently dismissive of compelling research that showed significant excess deaths – a higher […]
News in South Africa 10th March: 1. State of disaster continues: The South African government is considering extending the country-wide state of disaster, which was imposed in mid-March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, regulating the movement of people, the size of social gatherings, curfews and introducing mandatory mask-wearing in public. Sources involved in […]
News in South Africa 9th March: 1. Stage 4 load shedding: Eskom has announced that it will move to stage 4 load shedding at 09h00 on Wednesday (9 March) due to a further breakdown in units. The power utility said stage 4 load shedding will continue until 05h00 on Friday (11 March), thereafter load shedding […]
News in South Africa 28th February: 1. SA patching up relations with Russia: South Africa has scrambled to patch up relations with Russia after International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor issued an unusually strong statement calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. President Cyril Ramaphosa was reported by the Sunday Times to be unhappy with the […]
News in South Africa 20th January: 1. Vape industry targeted: National Treasury published a discussion paper on the intended taxation of electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems – vaping products – on December 15 last year, following the heads-up given by the Minister of Finance in the 2021 February Budget. The government had signalled its intention to start […]
News in South Africa 19th January: 1. Request for ease of restrictions: Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has written to president Cyril Ramaphosa, formally requesting that the government ease lockdown restrictions around gatherings. Hill-Lewis said that this includes two specific requests which are necessary for helping restart the economy: That the 50% capacity rule for […]
News in South Africa 11th January: 1. Schooling in 2022 discussed: Representatives of SA’s five teacher unions will be meeting Wits University vaccinology professor Shabir Madhi on Friday to get an update on the Covid-19 pandemic and the implications for schooling. This comes as schools in inland provinces — Gauteng, the Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga […]
