First Take SA

The Passenger Rail Agency, PRASA is expected to resume its train services today with strict capacity limitation and high hygiene standards. Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula says the train lines to resume operations include those in the Eastern Cape between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage, together with East London and Berlin. Four lines will open in Gauteng, including from Pienaarspoort down to Pretoria while in the Western Cape, the Southern line from Cape Town to Retreat shall take in passengers

Board chairperson of Prasa Popo Molefe has told the commission of inquiry into state capture that the former administration under president Jacob Zuma failed PRASA. Molefe says irregularities and corruption at Prasa continued to thrive despite the board doing everything in its power to report malaise at the organisation. Molefe has accused the parliament portfolio committee on transport for failing on its oversight duties and the security cluster for failing to act on corruption at PRASA while there was extensive evidence. Molefe also explained to Justice Raymond Zondo how the board under his leadership was forcefully removed and board directors lobbied to resign from their respective board positions in an attempt to render the board dysfunctional.

In Mpumalanga, traffic was affected in the Mbombela CBD and surrounding areas yesterday following a standoff between the police and taxi operators. The taxi operators wanted to operate at 100 percent capacity in violation of the COVID-19 regulations which only permit taxis to carry 70 percent of their licensed capacity.

Taxi operators in various townships around Durban say they will continue loading 70 percent of their capacity in order to allow senior structures in the industry to negotiate with government. Yesterday some taxi ranks were defying the lockdown regulations and carrying 100 percent of their passenger capacity. But as the day progressed, they went back to 70 percent.

Battle lines have been drawn!...The South African National Taxi Council has warned that if any taxi is impounded for loading at 100 per cent capacity during alert level 3 Covid-19 lockdown, all taxis will stop operating nationwide. SANTACO and the National Taxi Alliance announced that they will be loading at 100 percent capacity starting THIS MORNING ( Monday), despite lockdown regulations restricting them to only load at 70 percent. The associations say they will also allow long distance commuters to travel without permits.

The judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture - the Zondo Commission - will resume its hearings TODAY. The commission had suspended hearings in March due to the nationwide lockdown

Westbury residents in Johannesburg have called for the deployment of the military after three people were shot and killed in the area in renewed gang violence this past week. They fear for the safety of their children. In the latest incident, Kirsten May, a popular barber in the area, was shot and killed while on his way home with a friend.

As the number of COVID-19 infections increases across the country -- frontline workers are not only contracting the virus and dying from it -- they're also at a higher risk due to the physical and mental strain on them. This the case in private and public health facilities. Those who have recovered are now afraid to return to work. They fear re-infection and placing their lives at further risk.

Deputy President David Mabuza has once again called on South Africans to abandon the culture of non-payment for services. He says while this practice was employed to fight apartheid, it is no longer appropriate in the new democratic dispensation. He was replying to questions in the National Assembly that related to among others the financial problems faced by Eskom. He also added his voice to calls for an end to gender-based violence.

Millions of workers who have come to rely on the UIF Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme or TERS, face a tough time ahead. The TERS benefit scheme is scheduled to come to an end at the end of this month.