Author: The Free Stater

The closure of South Africa’s schools seven weeks ago halted a national feeding programme providing meals to nine million extremely poor children, filling their stomachs and helping them get through the classroom day to get an education. Now a potential hunger crisis looms. The economic hardship has been severe since President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered most citizens to stay indoors and shuttered all but essential businesses in late March. “We have kids here at school who faint (from hunger),” said Shireen Valentyn, 41, a volunteer at Hoofweg primary school in the impoverished Blue Downs community in Cape Town. The school is…

Staff Reporter Only 22 COVID-19 cases remain active in the Free State after the province reported on Wednesday that six more people had recovered from the deadly disease. The latest figures indicate that the province has now recorded a total of 130 confirmed coronavirus cases since the disease was first reported in the country at the beginning of March. However, six more people have recovered in the Free State, bringing the number of recoveries to 102 from the previous tally of 96. Up to now, six people have succumbed to COVID-19, leaving the province with only 22 active cases. Authorities…

The Department of Basic Education has warned all schools against reopening prematurely. The department said it was aware of some independent, private and public schools that were already preparing to reopen much earlier than required. Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said some schools had even received pupils ahead of the schedule announced by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga. “In some schools, teachers have already been reporting for duty and parents’ meetings have been held where plans were announced to have learners back in school in May,” he said. “The premature reopening of schools is not permitted, as the department is still finalising…

Soweto giants Orlando Pirates have confirmed that one of their players has tested positive for COVID-19, which is believed to be the first such case among footballers in the country. The Buccaneers confirmed this Thursday that midfielder Ben Motshwari presented with flu like symptoms last week and, after undergoing tests, his result has come back positive. Motshwari, 29, is now asymptomatic and is currently in self-isolation at home for the next 14 days. In accordance with relevant protocols, the relevant health authorities have been notified of the case by the club. “The health and wellbeing of our players, officials, and…

Speaker Thandi Modise says she does not want to be exposed again to the pornography and racial insults that disrupted a meeting of the National Assembly’s programming committee on Thursday morning. Modise was singled out for verbal insults from hackers who screened graphic pornographic images at the start of the virtual meeting. It later resumed without further problems, but Modise and shocked MPs do not want it to happen again. MPs condemned the hacking of the meeting as “sick” and “disturbing” after racial insults were directed at Modise and pornographic images were shown. Democratic Alliance chief whip Natasha Mazzone said:…

Staff Reporter Free State Health MEC Montseng Tsiu believes the stringent measures implemented by her department have helped the province avoid a potential COVID-19 catastrophe. The province came under the spotlight in March after five overseas guests who attended a religious conference at the Devine Restoration Ministries in Bloemfontein tested positive for COVID-19. This prompted the provincial health authorities to launch a massive exercise to trace the over 200 people who attended the conference and their immediate contacts. Several religious leaders and some members eventually tested positive and were isolated for treatment. At about the same time, a woman who…

Staff Reporter South Africa’s COVID-19 cases have surged to 7 220, with seven new deaths recorded within a day taking the tally to 138, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced. The Free State now has 125 confirmed cases and six deaths, the latest victim in the province being a 51-year-old man from Freedom Square in Bloemfontein. The provincial health department said the patient presented at Pelonomi Netcare Private Hospital on April 30 with underlying health conditions consistent with other COVID-19 deaths around the world. He was treated and stabilised around 6pm but his condition suddenly deteriorated and he was declared…

Hundreds of South African health workers were given a century-old tuberculosis vaccine this Monday in a trial to see whether the venerable formula can protect against coronavirus. Devised at France’s legendary Pasteur Institute 100 years ago, the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is one of the world’s oldest and most trusted immunisations. “We vaccinated (injected) the first participant this morning,” Duncan McDonald, head of business development and marketing at a clinical research organisation called TASK, told AFP. Trials started in Cape Town, where BCG booster shots were administered to 250 health care workers, while another 250 received a dummy formula, or…

“It’s good to be back at work,” said Rayhaan Coovadia as he busied himself around a car tyre fitting service in South Africa’s financial capital Johannesburg. The garage reopened on Saturday after a five-week shutdown meant to halt the spread of coronavirus in Africa’s most industrialised economy. Around 1.5 million South Africans returned to work from May 1 as stay-at-home measures were eased and some businesses allowed to partially resume their operations under “strict health conditions”. In a face mask and overalls, manager Coovadia made sure clients were sprayed with hand sanitiser on arrival and kept a safe distance from…

Staff Reporter The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has declared Lerato Rubeta Sengadi the rightful wife of the late musician Jabulani Tsambo, popularly known as HHP, as lobola had successfully been negotiated and paid in part before he passed on in 2018. The matter, which was heard before a full bench on March 6, had been brought to the SCA by the late musician’s father Robert Tsambo who wanted the court to determine whether a customary law marriage ever subsisted between HHP and Sengadi. But in a detailed judgment delivered on April 30, the Bloemfontein court dismissed the appeal and…