South Africa Vision

Swift police action has led to the arrest of seven suspects in connection with the recent callous murder of senior Gauteng Department of Health finance official, Babita Deokaran.

The breakthrough in the case was on Friday confirmed by National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole.

The late Chief Director was gunned down by unknown suspects in Winchester Hills as she was returning from dropping off her child at school. Deokaran was rushed to hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries.

In a statement, South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson, Colonel Brenda Muridili, said the arrests were effected by the SAPS Gauteng Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, in collaboration with SAPS Johannesburg K9, Johannesburg East Crime Intelligence, Fidelity Specialised Services and Community Active Protection.

“[This came after the team] operationalised information received and conducted a takedown operation at the suspects’ hideouts in Johannesburg. During the arrests, the police recovered two firearms and two vehicles,” Muridili said.

She said a case of murder was registered by the Mondeor Police Station and transferred to Provincial Head Office for investigation by the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.

“The team of experienced investigators caught a break in the case when they received information that led to the arrest of the suspects from Crime Intelligence,” Muridili said.

The case docket has been transferred to the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation for further investigation. There is a possibility of more charges being added to the charge of murder when the suspects appear in court soon.

The National Commissioner has commended the investigating team’s breakthrough in the case.

“I am confident that the Hawks will work tirelessly to ensure that justice is served,” said Sitole.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has once again encouraged all South Africans over the age of 18 to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

This as he announced that the country is expected to enter a fourth wave of the virus in November.

The Minister updated the nation on efforts to fight COVID-19 and government’s vaccination rollout plans on Friday during a virtual briefing.

“We have opened [vaccinations] for everybody above 18 years old. We urge everybody to please come forward so that we can all be protected. We know that it is almost accepted that somewhere towards the end of the year, we will have the fourth wave and we want to make sure that all South Africans are protected against that by taking the vaccination,” he said.

As of yesterday, 12 711 more COVID-19 cases were reported, with an increase of at least 357 more COVID-19 related deaths.

In the last 24 hour period, at least 265 484 more COVID-19 vaccines were administered.

The Minister said the number of vaccines administered on Thursday was an indication that the health sector is able to reach its target of administering 300 000 vaccinations per day.

He said despite early indications of vaccine hesitancy, the male population had now begun to take up inoculation.

“As of yesterday, the female vaccinated population was 58.5% and the male was at 41.5%. So there’s and improvement on the male uptake, which we really encourage.

“The last seven days have shown that as a country, we do have the capacity to administer vaccines and we do have the necessary supplies. It shows that we can indeed reach the… target which has been set for us by President Cyril Ramaphosa,” he said.

At least 1.5 million doses of either the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines were administered over the past week.

A total of 8.8 million South Africans have received at least one vaccination, with 5 450 000 fully vaccinated.

Phaahla raised concern that the third wave of the virus is taking longer to subside than the first two, which could be harmful to health services with the fourth wave looming.

“The third wave is dragging for longer. Sometimes it looks like there will be a steep downwards [trend] and then it rises again. In the absence of new variants, what this means is that many of us are not observing the prescribed precautions.

“The risk of this is that by the time the fourth wave comes – which is predicted to come around some time in November, possibly driven by a new variant – it may find us still at the tail end of the third wave, which will mean that our health facilities and our health workers would not have had much rest. This is something that is worrying and we urge all South Africans to observe the known protocols,” Phaahla said.

The Minister said the virus may still be a factor in the near future and the best solution is to achieve herd immunity through vaccination.

“It’s going to take some time and there’s going to be a number of waves but what we are told and what seems to be the route to go is that the more we cover in vaccinations, the less mutations and if there are less mutations and less viral loads of this COVID-19, then there will be less waves coming,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

South Africa is expecting to receive at least 2.2 million more Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses at the weekend.

This was announced by Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla on Friday.

The doses were donated by the United States of America via the COVAX facility – an international group lobbying for the equal access to and procurement of vaccines.

Phaahla said the arrival of the vaccine doses would ensure that the country has a stable supply of the vaccine.

“We are grateful to the government of the USA for donating through the COVAX facility another 2.2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccines, which are arriving on Saturday, 28 August 2021, adding to the 5.6 million we received in July. This donation will reinforce our stock levels,” he said.

Meanwhile, Phaahla acknowledged that there have been calls by some for the COVID-19 vaccination to be made mandatory.

“A suggestion has been made by various influential people in society that we should consider a mandatory vaccination policy. This is a matter which we are very reluctant to venture into but it is a matter which we are discussing in various forums,” he said.

The Minister clarified that this is not a proposal government is expected to implement.

“We are discussing under what conditions this might be possible, but in my view… we don’t foresee a kind of regulation or some kind of national government regulation that says everybody must vaccinate.

“We really wouldn’t really want to go that route. But what is possible and what we consider is that where various service providers or areas of entertainment or where people obtain services or even workplaces… there is a possibility that a locally determined requirement can be [made].

“We believe that [is where] it could be done but we don’t foresee where it can be a regulation as part of the Disaster Management [Act] to say it’s compulsory for every adult,” Phaahla said.

The Minister said the possible need for extra shots of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – which are said to dramatically increase antibodies against COVID-19 – is also under discussion but the current focus remains on rolling out the current vaccines to as much of the population as possible.

“We have referred this to our vaccine Ministerial Advisory Committee to advise us but I must emphasise that our priority at this moment is to make sure that all South African adults, who are willing to get the vaccine, should get a dose as prescribed.

“At this stage, our priority is to make sure that we reach immunity population coverage,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Western Cape and Northern Cape have recorded COVID-19 positivity rates above the national average.

This is according to Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, who briefed the nation regarding the virus and government’s vaccination rollout plans.

Phaahla said the country’s overall COVID-19 positivity rate stands at about 19%, with these two provinces showing an average positivity rate that is concerning.

“The Western Cape has an average of 27% positivity rate daily. As of [Thursday], the Northern Cape had 30%. What is worrying is that the Northern Cape’s numbers have remained high relative to its population and that’s why its positivity has remained high over a prolonged period.

“Our epidemiologists and analysts often say the Northern Cape never came out of the second wave, it came straight into the third wave,” the Minister said.

He said an increase in positive cases among the youth in those provinces also raised concern.

“What is worrying is that in both provinces, there have been more younger people between the ages of 10 and 19, who have been testing positive. While some cluster [outbreaks] can be attributed to the opening of schools, there have also been indications that social activities have also had a role to play, such as young people engaging in parties without any precautions,” Phaahla said.

Meanwhile, the Minister reported reductions in new COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions throughout the country.

“Over the last seven days, there has been a 2.2% decrease in new cases, which is a very slow reduction. Admission to hospitals reduced by 0.7% to 13 600 yesterday – small but welcome.

“Over the last seven days, hospitalisation reduced by 3.3%. New cases reduced by 2.2% – again, small but welcome, even though there were increases in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Free State over the last seven days,” he said.

Youth vaccine uptake

Despite this, the Minister said the uptake of the vaccine by South Africans between the ages of 18 and 34 is showing great promise, with at least 460 173 people in that cohort being vaccinated.

“Seven days ago, we opened up for registration and vaccination of everybody over 18 years, meaning the 18 – 34 [could get vaccinated]. The response of our young people, who are the future of our country, has been overwhelming.

“We urge our young people to continue to come forward, and to also encourage their parents, older friends and relatives to also come forward because we still have a major gap to cover, especially the over 50 and the 35 plus [population group],” Phaahla said.

Source: South African Government News Agency