Some of the headlines in your City Press newspaper today:
Stay home, avoid trouble
Police Minister Bheki Cele has given the clearest indication yet that regulations prohibiting the sale and drinking of alcohol during the lockdown will not be relaxed, even remarking that he wished they were extended beyond this period.
Will Tito revise the budget?
As speculation mounts in political and business circles about whether Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will revise the 2020/21 budget in light of South Africa’s dramatically altered economic conditions, it has emerged that government has initiated talks to launch a massive infrastructure project to kick-start and boost the economy once the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has run its course.
Outrage over 24-hour, R30m express tender
The Gauteng government has been accused of using the cover of the Covid-19 coronavirus to rush through a big information technology (IT) contract without proper tender processes.
People think I’m God Stella
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has taken a swipe at critics who disapprove of how she runs her department, saying: “There is the Trinity – God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But others think there is also God Stella.”
South Africans shine during lockdown
For most people, the national lockdown has been a time of anxiety. But amid the chaos, South Africans have proven to be remarkably compassionate and united. Grethe Kemp rounds up a few of the good news stories that have come out of the crisis
Covid-19 heightens queer struggles
The global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has heightened the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of the most marginalised people in our societies, among them members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Fear grips vulnerable KZN health workers
Nurses in KZN have expressed fear and trepidation over “what is coming” as South Africa battles to contain the Covid-19 coronavirus, with the constant increase in the number of infections.
Khoisan group defies lockdown
A group of seven Khoisan activists from the Eastern Cape say no hunger or coronavirus will deter them from camping on the Union Buildings lawns to supports their bid to have government recognise Khoisan people as the “first nation”, not classify them as “coloureds” and include their language as one of the official languages of South Africa.
Will it be ‘normal’ again?
‘The first week was almost exciting but the second week has hit us hard – it feels as if we’re in prison’
Mkhize ignored our calls for protective gear – union
At least 25 public healthcare facilities across the country are without basic protective equipment such as gloves, masks and gowns for healthcare workers. And this is what prompted one of South Africa’s largest public-sector trade unions to haul Health Minister Zweli Mkhize to court this week.
What about our muthi?
Alternative health practitioners - traditional healers and herbalists - say they have an important role to play in the fight against the spread of coronavirus.
Virtual run to get you through quarantine
As we begin the second week of the lockdown, people have become ever more creative in putting useful and entertaining things online for us to join in. #Trending rounds up online activities – for you and the kids – that will help with the constraints of confinement
Cabinet forced to go high-tech
For all the talk about planning for the fourth industrial revolution, the Covid-19 coronavirus has done more to spur government to implement new-age technologies than anything preceding it.
I’m in quarantine, you can’t arrest me
When police officers arrived this week at a Boksburg, Gauteng, man’s home to arrest him on a charge of assault, they were forced to leave empty-handed – and with red faces.
Soldiers and police face heat over brutality
The enforcement of lockdown regulations has resulted in 38 reported incidents against the police, ranging from murder, assault and rape to discharging of a firearm.
The allegations, lodged with the police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), include eight deaths and one rape.
Ravaged: WHO urges lockdowns stay
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against relaxing lockdown regulations by countries, saying that such a move could have devastating outcomes in the fight against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
Blessed with Covid-19 allowance
Slay queen ‘Lolo’ says she is grateful to have boyfriends who have been financially supportive in these trying times
Prepare yourself Madam and Mercy
Tears, emotions and vulnerability. This is what viewers are going to witness as they get a deeper insight into Evodia “Madam” Mogase and her daughter Mercy on their new 13-part reality show Madam and Mercy.
Mzansi’s enemy number one presenter speaks
“My lows included witnessing the level of disrespect shown by the side chicks to the wives. My highlights included seeing the side chicks, who wanted to enter into polygamy without clearly understanding what they were getting themselves into – thinking they were better than the first wives,” says polygamist presenter Musa Mseleku.