First Take SA

The mood is sombre at the SABC as the retrenchment process unfolds. The public broadcaster has continued to issue letters of redundancy and surplus to affected staff following the conclusion of last month's extended consultation process. The SABC says it has reduced the number of employees who'll be affected from 600 to just over 300. It says it has to reduce the wage bill to make the organisation financially sustainable.

Gauteng Premier, David Makhura says residents must brace themselves for a tough two weeks as they expect Covid19 cases to rise even higher . Makhura says the infection rate in the province has already doubled in the past Seven days.The Premier visited the Steve Biko Academic hospital in Pretoria, which has since turned its parking bay into a ward for patients under Covid19 investigation as it could no longer accommodate such cases inside the hospital due to a high influx of patients.

Teacher unions in KwaZulu-Natal have called for the Education Department to halt marking in centres that are not adhering to Covid-19 safety protocols. This is after a marker died due to Covid-19-related illnesses in Estcourt in the Midlands. Meanwhile, the provincial Department of Education says they have decontaminated the marking centre.

All learners are expected to start the new school year on January the 27th. The Department of Basic Education says it doesn't expect its timetable to be affected by lockdown regulations since there's no evidence that schools pose a greater risk to spread the coronavirus than during the first wave of infections. Basic Education Director General, Mathanzima Mweli, made the announcements at a briefing YESTERDAY (monday 11 January) on the marking of matric scripts. He says that 238 matric markers have tested positive for Covid-19 and that two-thousand-700 had withdrawn from the process.

The Solidarity Fund says it will be making a 327-million-rand down payment towards a Covid-19 vaccine as early as next week. The Deputy Chairperson of at the Solidarity Fund - Adriaan Enthoven - says the prepayment will help to secure a vaccine for 10-percent of the South African population. The Solidarity Fund says it has allocated over 800-million-rand towards the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment and 400-million-Rand towards testing. Enthoven was delivering a virtual presentation at the Solidarity Fund's Impact report released yesterday.

Organized business and labour say South Africa cannot afford to go back to a hard national lockdwon. This as as the country is still reeling from news yesterday that the dreaded second wave of with high COVID-19 infections is upon us.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) says it expects more arrests in the temporary relief fund fraud case -- which involves owner of Impossible Services company. Thabo Simbini appeared briefly in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. His case was postponed to the 29th of next month for further investigation.

The Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in Limpopo has resolved that the Collins Chabane Local Municipality will start providing services to the Vuwani area. Since its establishment in 2016, the municipality has not serviced Vuwani after angry residents, who demanded to be returned to the Makhado Local Municipality, embarked on violent protest. Some provincial departments stepped in as a temporary measure.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says South Africa is now experiencing the 2nd wave of COVID-19 and has breached the six-thousand mark in new cases in the last reporting period. Mkhize says South Africa is officially in the second wave of the coronavirus. The death toll has risen to 22-thousand-574 after 135 COVID-19 related fatalities were recorded. Briefing the nation LAST NIGHT, Mkhize said four provinces are the key drivers of the new wave, namely the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng.

Western Cape Judge President, John Hlophe, has again disputed claims that meetings he had with Constitutional Court judges were meant to influence them to rule in former President Jacob Zuma's favour in a matter before them in 2008. Hlophe was testifying at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal underway in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg. The tribunal is hearing charges of gross misconduct levelled against him. He's accused of trying to influence Justices Bess Nkabinde and Chris Jafta when he met them individually on different dates 12 years ago.