Author: The Free Stater

Staff Reporter Police in Sasolburg in the northern Free State want to question a man after his wife and two children were found dead this Sunday morning in their home in Zamdela township. Free State provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele told The Free Stater in a brief telephone interview that the man has not been seen since the discovery of the alleged murder and police are keen to question him about the incident. “The man is not being treated as a suspect in the alleged killing but police would like to question him to establish what he knows about…

Schools in Mangaung and other COVID-19 hot spots might remain shut when the rest of the schools around South Africa begin reopening on June 1. This is reportedly part of the proposal tabled by the Department of Basic Education, according to the latest edition of the Sunday Times. If approved by the cabinet, more than 5 000 schools, including 929 private ones, in Mangaung, Buffalo City, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay will remain closed as they will be regarded as being on lockdown Level 5. Keeping these schools shut would affect 3.7-million pupils and 134 779…

Staff Reporter The Free State province is calling on all unemployed nurses and those who are retired to come forward and assist the province in the fight against COVID-19. Health MEC Montseng Tsiu told The Free Stater that the province would like to sustain its vicious fight against the pandemic and more nurses are urgently needed. “We want more nurses to help in the tracing of the contacts of those who test positive,” she said in an interview on the sidelines of a handover ceremony of blankets and other goodies donated by ABSA to nurses across the province at Pelonomi…

Staff Reporter Diverging views have emerged on whether waste water that could possibly contain the coronavirus could possibly contaminate surface or groundwater if not disposed of correctly. While some scientists find it a purely academic view as the coronavirus is not expected to survive for long under certain conditions, others feel it should be investigated further to be certain that human life is not at risk. University of the Free State (UFS) mathematics lecturer Professor Abdon Atangana says he is worried not much is known about the coronavirus’ ability to thrive in waste water or underground after a body infected…

Staff Reporter Local water board Bloemwater says there has been a case of COVID-19 at its Bethulie regional office but water treatment operations have not been affected. “Bloemwater would like to confirm its first reported case of COVID-19 at Bethulie, Orange River regional office,” Bloemwater said in a statement. “The water treatment works were not exposed, so the plants will continue to render uninterrupted water supply,” it added. Bloemwater said the Free State provincial health department had been informed and had provided the necessary support and testing. “All the necessary procedures have been followed as prescribed in government regulations and…

Staff Reporter The Bethlehem police station in the eastern Free State has been temporarily closed after one of its officers tested positive for COVID-19. A statement issued Thursday by national police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the station had been closed to allow for decontamination before it could be open to the public again. “All communities serviced by the Bethlehem police station are advised that this police station is currently closed (after) one of its members . . . tested positive for the COVID-19,” Naidoo said in the statement. “The community service centre will now be operating from the Sederhof…

The DA and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) are approaching the courts to challenge the constitutionality of legislation allowing the creation of the government’s key coronavirus decision-making body, bringing the entire lockdown under legal scrutiny. The National Command Council (NCC) is responsible for the strategy and regulations related to South Africa’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and the parties’ criticism is that the lack of oversight or accountability of the body challenges the principles of democracy. If the challenges to the Disaster Management Act are successful, the national state of disaster declared by the government, and the attendant regulations, could…

Staff Reporter The Free State Department of Treasury has rubbished as “fake news” claims that the provincial government awarded an unnamed company a contract for R80 million to sanitise its buildings as a measure to minimise the spread of the coronavirus. In a statement issued Thursday by provincial treasury spokesperson person Tshidiso Mokokoane, the department said the post was both untrue and misleading. It said it had had taken a deliberate decision to support local businesses and not just a single one. “The Free State provincial government took a conscious decision not to procure COVID-19-related items through any other process…

Staff Reporter With oral healthcare severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic because of the risk involved for both dental professionals and patients, a Central University of Technology (CUT) academic has helped in establishing guidelines for the sector to navigate the crisis effectively. Dr Jeanné Oosthuizen, a senior lecturer in dental assisting at the Free State institution, is one of the experts who drafted the safety protocol that was recently published by the South African Dental Association in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Titled “Infection Control Guidelines for Oral Healthcare South Africa” (Oosthuysen J, Potgieter E and Fossey A, 2020),…

Staff Reporter Most parts of South Africa could be moved to alert Level 3 by the end of this month as the government tries to strike a balance between slowly reopening the economy and saving lives amid the COVID-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said. In a televised national address to update the country on the latest initiatives by the government to confront the pandemic, Ramaphosa said consultations are underway to prepare for Level 3 restrictions from the end of May. He said areas with a high prevalence of the disease may however stay at the current level. “Easing the…