First Take SA

Unemployed doctors who are eligible to work for the state will be placed by provinces soon. This is according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize. Provinces such as Gauteng, Limpopo and the Northern Cape are recruiting to fill vacant positions of doctors. This week, government came under fire following the arrival of the more than 200 health experts from Cuba to assist with the COVID-19 outbreak - many claiming the Central Americans were favoured over local doctors who still weren't placed in hospitals. Mkhize made the comments during a technical briefing last night. He also announced that the number of cases now stood at 4-thousand-900-and-96 with 93 of those resulting in death.

Five weeks into the national COVID-19 lockdown - workers who are not registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), are among the hardest hit financially. For those registered with the UIF - under the Covid-19 Temporary Relief Scheme provision - the fund will pay employers the cost of employees' salaries for up to three months. This was announced earlier by President Cyril Ramaphosa. However, workers not registered with the fund have no financial relief.

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has some reservations following the arrival of more than 200 health experts from Cuba to help with the battle against the coronavirus. The medical brigade that arrived from Cuba YESTERDAY includes epidemiologists, physicians and biotechnologists. SAMA says government should first exhaust all the skills available locally before seeking outside assistance. The Health Department will deploy the Cuban experts in different provinces.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says as the country celebrate 26 years of freedom, the 1994 dream of a better life for all can no longer be deferred. He used his Freedom Day address to urge South Africans to work together to fight inequality, poverty and unemployment. South Africa celebrates 26 years of freedom since its democratic elections on the 27th of April in 1994. It was for the first time that the country celebrates its Freedom Day without any activity due the nationwide lock-down following the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says from the first of May, the country's current nationwide lockdown will be lowered from Level Five to level Four. He says some economic activities will be allowed to resume subject to extreme precautions to limit transmission. The president was speaking at the Union Buildings in Pretoria last night following his meeting with the National Command Council and some leaders of different political parties to ease the lockdown restrictions.

Political parties have welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement of a gradual easing of the nationwide lockdown in curbing the spread of COVID-19. Addressing the nation on Thursday, Ramaphosa said that on May 1st 2020 the country will enter alert level four of the lockdown, which means some activities will be allowed with extreme caution.

We had expected Level 3 lockdown but welcome the president's decision. We are calling on government not to sideline small business when open companies in similar sectors.

The Competition Commission has referred pharmaceutical company, Dis-Chem to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution. This after the commission established that the company had excessively inflated pricing for essential hygienic goods during the State of National Disaster which came as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. The commission says it received several complaints from the public against several retail stores owned by Dis-Chem for engaging in excessive pricing of face masks.

The South African National AIDS Council, SANAC, wants HIV and TB screening to be incorporated into the testing and screening for COVID-19. It says it does not want to see a reversal of progress made in the country's HIV and TB response due to the emergence of the corona virus. The issue was raised during SANAC's panel discussion on the impact of COVID19 on people living with HIV and TB.

Social grant recipients and the unemployed say the grant increases announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday night is better than nothing as it will help supplement the meagre cash they receive currently. The President announced that child support grant beneficiaries will receive an additional 300 rand at the end of this month; and an extra 500 rand from June to October. All other grant recipients will get an extra 250 rand per month for the next six months. President Ramaphosa also announced a special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant of 350 rand a month - for the next six-months - which will be paid to individuals who are currently unemployed.