Gauteng outbreak a growing concern as court is asked to force government to continue feeding all learners

12 Jun 2020

On Friday, two public interest law centres filed an urgent application to compel the Department of Basic Education to feed all learners, whether their classes resume or not, through its national school feeding scheme. Meanwhile, Premier David Makhura has appealed to the government for more resources to help Gauteng prepare for a Covid-19 peak. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has come out in support of South Africa’s Covid-19 response. The City of Cape Town, however, has been grilled over why it continues to evict residents of informal settlements during lockdown.

Covid-19 in South Africa
Infogram

Swipe through the gallery below to view the latest Covid-19 numbers available on 12 June at the district level. All maps are sourced from provincial health departments, though KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Eastern Cape did not provide an update by the time of publishing:

Grade 7 and 12 learners will receive a daily nutritious meal from their school feeding scheme now that they’re returned to the classroom. But nine million schoolchildren in other grades continue to go hungry.

On Friday, public interest law centres SECTION27 and the Equal Education Law Centre filed urgent papers to force the Department of Basic Education to feed all learners, whether their classes have resumed or not. As Zukiswa Pikoli writes, the department has provided no alternative measures during the lockdown to feed the 12 million learners that previously relied on it for a daily meal.

Maverick Citizen has been given access to affidavits from the SECTION27 and Equal Education Law Centre clients and will publish 15 extracts.

Maverick Citizen writes:

“Learners’ affidavits, particularly, make for stomach-churning reading, but it is important to read their stories to try to understand the lived realities of people in small, off-the-map, far-flung villages in South Africa. People, even worse children, going hungry in South Africa is unforgivable. It is also important to pay tribute to the bravery of teachers, parents, school governing bodies and learners who are speaking out despite being fearful of intimidation and losing their jobs.”

Visit Maverick Citizen’s homepage to find all the extracts.

The number of people who have Covid-19 has almost doubled in Gauteng since the start of lockdown Level 3. The number of active cases has increased from 52% to 62% in a week, while hospital admissions have gone up from 256 to 493 within the last week.

Premier David Makhura has appealed to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize to allocate more resources to the province, specifically to hire more medical professionals and increase the number of hospital beds. As Greg Nicolson writes, Makhura says he is asking for more support now to be better prepared for the peak in August or September.

South Africa’s high infection numbers reflect intensive testing, according to the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Dr John Nkengasong. He has praised South Africa’s response to the Covid-19 epidemic and counters arguments that say the country is lifting the lockdown too soon. Peter Fabricius writes that the African Union is set to launch the Africa Medical Supplies platform, through which African countries can buy critical medical supplies.

The City of Cape Town has installed about 200 water tanks in informal settlements since the start of lockdown, it said during a briefing to the parliamentary committee of co-operative governance and traditional affairs. It said that installing the tanks was a challenge given the space constraints and criminals targeting water trucks.

However, members of the committee wanted to know why the City was evicting residents in informal settlements despite there being a moratorium on evictions during lockdown. As Karabo Mafolo writes, the committee also wanted to know why Mayor Dan Plato was not in attendance. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Maverick Citizen