South Africa

It comes as no surprise that at a time when the country finds itself at its most vulnerable, there will be companies and individuals that will take the opportunity to profiteer for their own gain and take advantage of the current state of national disaster, finding ways of exploiting consumers by selling COVID-19 related items and passing them off as locally made and/or safe to use against the spread of the pandemic.

As the pandemic continues to plague the entire nation, the Electoral Court has since been forced to postpone the by-elections that were set for June due to COVID-19.

The Employment and Labour Department has referred the public wishing to collect their R350 social grant to the Social Development Department.

With winter fast approaching and confirmed COVID-19 cases now at 7 220, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has urged South Africans to continue to stay home to ease the burden on the country’s healthcare system.

South Africa has once again come joint first with New Zealand in the 2019 Open Budget Index (OBI), conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) through an Open Budget Survey.

South Africa has committed an amount of US $1.3 million in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The South African Social Services Agency (SASSA) has identified and resolved a glitch that has led to some beneficiaries not being able to access their grants.

A majority of creatives, who applied to the R150 million COVID-19 Relief Fund established for the creative and sports sectors, have failed to meet the requirements.

Acting Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Jackson Mthembu, has signed and gazetted directions on the Risk-Adjusted Strategy for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s COVID-19 Relief Fund has come to the rescue of 293 financially distressed athletes, Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced on Monday.

African Union Chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa, will today participate in a World Health Organization (WHO) global response pledge conference convened by the European Union (EU).

President Cyril Ramaphosa will today participate in a virtual COVID-19 Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

The South African Post Office (Sapo) has commenced with the process of rolling out cashless ATMs that will serve as additional payment points for the payment of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants.

An earlier decision by government to allow the sale of cigarettes during the COVID-19 lockdown was rescinded after the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) consulted medical experts and various role-players.

South Africa will have sufficient staple grains supply in the 2020/21 marketing year, which starts in May 2020 and ends in April 2021.