Thousands of small-scale farmers given aid, South Africans headed home from India, and coronavirus hits a mine

17 May 2020

It was announced over the weekend that 15,000 small-scale farmers would receive financial aid from the government. Meanwhile, an Implats mine was forced to close after miners tested positive for Covid-19. On Friday, the more than 300 South Africans stranded in India for the past seven weeks were told they are flying home at the end of the month.

Covid-19 in South Africa
Infogram

Swipe through the gallery below to view the Covid-19 numbers available on 14 May at the district level. All maps are sourced from provincial health departments; however, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal did not provide updates by the time of publishing:

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More than 15,000 small-scale farmers will be receiving financial aid from the Agricultural Disaster Fund, according to Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza during a briefing on Sunday. As Sandisiwe Shoba reports, the department has set aside more than R500-million in financial aid for small-scale farmers to safeguard food security during and after the pandemic.

There are still applications which need to be processed. Successful farmers will be notified in the coming week and grant vouchers will be dispensed to provinces from Monday, 18 May.

Impala Platinum closed its Marula platinum mine on Saturday after a number of employees tested positive for Covid-19. Most were asymptomatic and the screening process picked up that they had the virus before they entered the mining operations. As Ed Stoddard reports, Implats closed Marula’s clinic last Wednesday to screen the staff, and three health practitioners have since tested positive.

About 300 South Africans stranded in India for the last seven weeks were told on Friday that they would be repatriated home on an SAA charter flight from Mumbai and New Delhi on 22 May. Peter Fabricius spoke to them about their struggle to fly home.

The South African government has also approved several repatriation flights from Doha, with South Africans flying there to connect to these flights. Meanwhile, small South African airline CemAir is currently collecting 75 South Africans from across West Africa.

Meanwhile, Peter Wagenaar is continuing to provide daily meals to the homeless in Sea Point despite his car being torched a week ago and the hostility from a small group of residents. As Karabo Mafolo reports, no arrests have been made for the burning of the car. MC/DM

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