First Take SA

International Relations and Co-operation minister, Naledi Pandor, says the department will NOT pay for South Africans, who were repatriated from abroad. The department has received requests from people, who intend going back overseas, and want the department to foot the bill. This, as lockdown restrictions are being eased in some parts of the world. Pandor held a virtual media briefing in Pretoria.

Medical aid scheme members have an option to take a payment holiday of up to three months as people battle financially as a result of the national lockdown. The proposed payment holidays vary with each scheme. Some say non-payment will mean no access to medical aid services for that period of time while others are offering lower packages.

Over 200 Soweto families could spend this winter out in the cold after the City of Johannesburg served them with eviction notices for unlawfully occupying incomplete and vandalised RDP houses. The houses were turned into drug dens and hidding spots for criminals after a contractor abandoned the project allegedly due to contractual dispute with the city. Most of the occupants have refurbished the properties but the City of Johannesburg wants the families out of the houses.

An investigation into the Covid-19 outbreak which led to the closure of Netcare St Augustine's Hospital in Durban has shown how the virus spread widely within the hospital, including a local nursing home. The investigation found that a single positive patient admitted into the emergency department resulted in the infections of 39 other patients and 80 staff members. Fifteen of those patients have since died while a further four positive cases where found in the nursing home

The majority of provinces are not ready for the re-opening of schools on the 1st of June. That's the view expressed by teacher unions and school governing bodies. This is in reaction to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's announcement that Grades 12 and Seven will be returning to class as part of a phased approach. However unions and school governing bodies are not convinced that all schools would have received personal protective equipment and other essentials required to curb the spread of the corona virus before the 1st of June.

The South African Informal Traders Alliance intends on approaching the Western Cape High Court in order to challenge the City of Cape Town's decision to refuse operating permits for certain informal traders during level four of the national lockdown. The Alliance, represented by the Legal Resources Centre alleges that the City has been inconsistent in the issuing of permits by not allowing trading at the Grand Parade Market while trading at Oranjezitch Market is permitted. The City describes the former as a 'flea market' adding that its traders should seek assistance through the R350 Social Relief Grant.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says the delivery of essentials such as sanitisers, masks, water and sanitation is well underway ahead of the reopening of schools on the 1st of June. Addressing a media conference in Pretoria yesterday, Motshekga confirmed a phased re-opening of schools nationwide with Grades seven and 12 resuming classes from the first of next month. There has been concern in some quarters that schools will not be ready.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura says he estimates that up to two million people could lose their jobs in the province as the economic impact of Covid-19 is expected to be far worse than initially thought. The premier was answering questions during the Gauteng Legislature's first Virtual House Sitting. The sitting marked the official launch of Gauteng's Digital Legislature.

Schools, in South Africa, are reopening at the beginning of next month. Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga announced this in Pretoria, where she was giving an update on the 2020 academic year amidst coronavirus pandemic. Motshekga says her department has consulted all parties concern about the date set for schools reopening. This despite there being concern in some quarters that schools will not be ready.

Some civil society organisations say they are keenly awaiting clarity from the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, on how schools will be prepared to open amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools have been closed for nearly six weeks as government battles to contain the virus. To get schools ready to operate during the lockdown, precautions must be implemented. Civil society organisations like Equal Education and Section 27, say they want specific issues to be clarified. Motshekga is scheduled to address the public on these matters later today.