First Take SA

President Cyril Ramaphosa has until TODAY (Tuesday) to respond to requests by the Gauteng Liquor Forum to relax the total ban on alcohol sales or face court action. The forum, which claims to represent about 20,000 township shebeens and taverns, wants government to allow for the sale of alcohol with limited operating hours, allow online sales and taverns to operate as takeaway outlets.

The government of Botswana may extend its state of emergency to 6 months. President Mokgweetsi Masisi says this will enable the state to channel all its resources and energies to fighting the coronavirus. He met with opposition party leaders on Monday in the capital Gaborone. However, the main opposition party, the Umbrella For Democratic Change, did not attend the meeting.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says it is still early to decide if the nationwide lockdown should be extended. He was speaking during his visit at Rand Water's headquarters in Glenvista - south of Johannesburg. This is the Water and Sanitation National Command Centre which ensures the distribution of water across the country during the country's battle with the Coronavirus

There has been uproar since the picture of Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni Abrahams emerged on social media where she appeared to be enjoying lunch with former Deputy Higher Education Minister, Mduduzi Manana, during the lockdown period. The Democratic Alliance has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to lay a criminal complaint against Ndabeni-Abrahams and fire her

The National Education Health and Allied Workers Union - NEHAWU - will be approaching the Labour Court today in an attempt to force the health department to provide Personal Protective Equipment for all its front-line workers amid the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The union says there are not enough masks, gloves and sanitisers to go around during the ongoing lock-down period, but healthcare workers at clinics and hospitals were still expected to tend to patients.

Tributes are continuing to pour in for veteran entertainer, Vinolia Mashego. 'V-Mash' as she was popularly known shot to stardom in the 90s with the hit show, Jam Alley on SABC 1. Mashego died in her sleep at her home in Mamelodi in Pretoria on Sunday night. She was 56.

Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza has outlined how the 1.2 billion Rand COVID-19 disaster fund intervention in the agricultural sector will be allocated. This follows the announcement of funding intended to alleviate various sectors that will be hard hit during the 21-day lock-down

Communities continue to disobey Covid-19 regulations. From taxi drivers trying to stop essential services workers from going to work, to motorists being on the road despite not having the necessary documents proving they are performing an essential service. Some communities have bizarrely taken the initiative of enforcing lock-down regulations themselves.

As the country grapples with the spread of the Coronavirus, poverty-stricken communities - particularly in the rural areas - have started to feel the effects of the 21-day lock-down. Some, who relied on odd jobs, are finding it hard to make ends meet.

An international team of researchers have unearthed the earliest known skull of Homo erectus - the first of our ancestors to be nearly human-like - in the Cradle of Humankind, North West of Johannesburg. The discovery pushes the possible origin of Homo erectus back between 150,000 and 200,000 years.