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The government’s “you can move house until June 7” concession will come as a relief for those who’ve been financially compromised by the ban on relocating during lockdown. But the wording is too restrictive, says the removals company which made it happen.

The concession was announced by means of publishing new regulations in the government gazette late on Thursday.

Eezi Move, one of SA’s largest independent moving companies, applied to the Pretoria high court on Monday for an urgent interdict forcing the government to allow the removals industry to operate in level 4 of lockdown.

Company representatives began liaising with co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) department officials on Tuesday and met on Thursday to finalise the concession.

“It’s a huge relief for our company, our workers, the industry and for all those who desperately need to move,” said Eezi Move’s CFO Pieter Townsend.

The wording of the regulation left many key questions unanswered, including “Are removal companies allowed to operate?” which Townsend was happy to confirm is indeed the case.

“We have 1,000 moves lined up, starting tomorrow [Saturday],” he said.

The regulations state that the concession applies to those who have signed a new lease or if their new home was transferred into their name before lockdown.

But many of those desperate to move do not fit into those two categories — does that mean they have to stay put?

No, Townsend says. “We discussed this with Cogta officials. You just need to get documentary proof of why you are moving.

“But our legal team is not happy with the wording of the regulation, so we have not withdrawn our interdict court date of May 12.

“The wording of the regulation is too restrictive, and does not reflect the understanding we came to in our meeting.”

That understanding was that all those who had an urgent need to move house could do so until June 7, Townsend said, provided they first fill in the permit — as contained in the published regulation — and obtain written proof of the reason for their move. “So if you are moving out of a flat and in with your parents because you can’t afford the rent, for example, you must get a letter from your landlord and your parents, backing up your story.”

The news was met with delight and relief by Andy* of Claremont — he and wife have spent lockdown working in their two-bedroom open-plan flat with their young children, and desperately want to move to a bigger place.

Jacob*, an unemployed Nelspruit husband and father who was offered a job in the Western Cape but hasn’t been unable to take it up until now because of the government’s ban on relocation, is madly making move plans on Friday [today].

“We celebrated last night,” he told TimesLIVE, “with cups of tea!”

Eezi Move and many other removal companies have had their clients’ possessions in storage since late March when the country went into lockdown, unable to deliver them.

“It goes without saying that not having the most basic of household items at your disposal because it can’t be delivered causes unimaginable hardship,” the company told TimesLIVE when applying for the urgent interdict. “Many of our customers have reached out to us and shared the difficulties they face, from having to sleep on the floor and not being able to take occupation of their new homes, to not even having access to their winter clothing.”

Certain requirements have to be met before embarking on a move. These are:

• Obtain a permit to travel across provincial, metropolitan or district boundaries from the station commander of a police station or a person designated by him or her. The permit is Form 1 of the gazetted directions, available here.
• It must indicate the people who are part of the household who will be required to move.
• You must have in your possession the relevant lease agreement indicating the date of expiry of the old lease and the date of commencement of the new lease.
• The transfer documents attesting to the change in place of residence or change of ownership of property, or other documents substantiating your reason for relocation, such as confirmation of a job offer.
• A letter from your landlord stating that you can no longer afford the rent.
• A confirmatory letter from the person owning the property into which you will be moving.

The lockdown will lead to 29 times more lives lost than the harm it seeks to prevent from Covid-19 in SA, according to a conservative estimate contained in a new model developed by local actuaries.

The model, which will be made public today for debate, was developed by a consortium calling themselves Panda (Pandemic ~ Data Analysis), which includes four actuaries, an economist and a doctor, while the work was checked by lawyers and mathematicians. The process was led by two fellows at the actuarial society of SA, Peter Castleden and Nick Hudson.

The group have sent a letter, explaining their model, to President Cyril Ramaphosa, entitled ‘lockdown is a humanitarian disaster to dwarf Covid-19”. In the letter, they call for an end to the lockdown, a focus on isolating the elderly and allowing children to go back to school, while ensuring the economy restarts so lives can be saved.

“Had the prospect that coronavirus could kill tens of millions of people been increasingly confirmed, lockdowns may have been justified. That possibility no longer exists. It now seems unlikely that more than a 1-million will die worldwide. The humanitarian crisis provoked by lockdown, however, is a matter of sheer certainty,” they say.

Castleden and Hudson stress that this shouldn’t be seen as a willingness to swap the lives of the elderly for ending the lockdown. It’s an accusation, they say, which is desperately naive. “The effects of poverty in terms of death and sickness are well known — so well that they are even modelled by insurance companies when they set their premiums … hunger causes long-term illnesses, retards development and condemns children to lives of misery and dependence,” they say.

Rather, they say their model aims to use science and data to help political leaders make choices that will lead to the least harm for the country. It notes that deaths from poverty are slow, out of the public eye and easier to ignore.

Either way, it’s an important contribution to the debate about SA’s response to the virus, since the government has not publicly released models of either projected Covid-19 deaths or the economic implications of the lockdown.

‘Years of life lost’

The actuaries used a model comparing “years of lives lost” from Covid-19, to “years of lives lost” from the lockdown. Panda’s analysis says “the impact of the virus on the vast majority of the population, particularly the economically active and school children, has been massively overstated”.

Since SA’s Covid-19 data is so sparse, Castleden and Hudson used New York’s public extensive data, overlaying the percentage of people who died in each age range onto a model of SA’s population. This allowed them to establish what percentage of 40-year-olds, and what percentage of 80-year-olds, would die. For example, if a female dies at age 40 of Covid-19, and typically only very sick young people die, they work out she would have lived another 17.7 years but for the virus. A death of an 80-year-old equals fewer years lost.

In SA, they estimate that 5,4-years of life have been lost per Covid-19 death. They then multiply this by the range of deaths which they predict, 20,000, as well as the Actuarial Society’s prediction of 88,000 fatalities. They factor in that the lockdown will have reduced some deaths, but not all. In the end, their model translated into a minimum of 26,800 “years of lives lost” due to Covid-19, and a maximum of 473,500 years. (This, critically, shouldn’t be confused with the actual number of fatalities expected from Covid-19.)

The actuaries then used the figures predicted by national Treasury to model the impact on poverty. On Friday, Treasury estimated that between 3-million and 7-million jobs will be lost due to the measures taken to combat the virus. The actuaries then work out that, conservatively, 10% of South Africans will become poorer, and as a result, will lose a few months of their lives.

In the end, their model showed that the number of years lost owing to the economic contraction caused by lock down lies between 14m and 24m years. They say they erred on the side of caution: had they used a lower estimate of Covid-19 deaths and greater estimate of job losses, the result would be a figure far higher than the 29 times calculation they reached.

“We should wear masks, we should cocoon our old and infirm, and we should be cautious in our interactions. We should not incarcerate the masses in their homes, limiting their hard-earned freedoms and decimating the economic system that furnishes their livelihoods. We should be doing everything we possibly can to allow businesses to operate,” they say.

Panda’s model highights that based on all public European data, 90% of Covid-19 deaths were in people 70 or older with one or more disease, while the relative risk to the young and healthy is negligible. The actuaries then used a second actuarial model, called the Preston Curve, to check their initial calculations and ensure they match up.

Actuaries typically spend their time working out models for how long people will live, to ensure life insurance premiums can be properly calculated. If they get it wrong and people die sooner than expected, premiums will be too low, payouts will be made sooner than expected and insurance companies will go bankrupt. But actuaries also try to model what risk factors can shorten life expectancy, and the impact of wealth and health measures.

Article by Financial Mail

As many as 7-million South Africans could join the ranks of the jobless if large swathes of the economy remain shut until the end of the year, with more than 2.5-million jobs at risk even if the pandemic is contained quickly and the economy bounces back.

The Treasury presented the bleak scenarios on the impact of Covid-19 on Thursday, in a briefing in which it outlined the government’s approach to rebooting the economy and detailed its R500bn stimulus package.

About one-fifth of the money is earmarked for the creation and protection of jobs. Finance minister Tito Mboweni is expected to discuss this when he tables a special adjustment budget within a couple of months.

The Treasury’s grim forecast draws on a study by researchers at Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-Tied), a collaboration between the government and local and international bodies including the UN.

The researchers project that even a “quick” recovery would see the economy contract 5%, “an economic outcome that would have been considered catastrophically bad a little more than one month ago”.

But the outcome would be even worse in a “slow” scenario of prolonged disruption to the economy, which could shrink 16% this year.

Jobs in construction and manufacturing will be hard hit, and the trade and accommodation sector, which includes restaurants and hotels, could see more than 1-million job losses in a worst-case scenario.

A study by PwC last month projected that SA’s unemployment rate – which is already one of the world’s worst at 29% – could jump to nearly 48% in a worst-case scenario in which the economy crashed, while even a milder scenario could push it to 33%.

In the last quarter of 2019, the workforce totalled 16.4-million, with 6.7-million people jobless.

Household incomes will fall dramatically, the SA-Tied study found, particularly in the middle-income bracket that does not qualify for social grants.

Across the economy, the lockdown could see total wages and salaries shrink as much as 30%, but company profits will be slashed by even more than that.

Mboweni confirmed again this week that SA was approaching the International Monetary Fund and other lenders in the hope of borrowing a total of R95bn this year to support businesses and protect jobs.

South Africa’s National Treasury expects job losses, tax losses and a contracting economy due to the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown to halt its spread.

The finance minister will only present an adjustment budget, which accounts for the impact of the pandemic and economic relief measures, in June or July, according to Treasury and tax officials who briefed lawmakers on the potential impact of the virus on Thursday.

South Africa’s economy could contract by as much as 16.1% this year, depending on how long it takes to contain the coronavirus pandemic and for the economy to recover to the end of 2020, Treasury estimates showed.

“We have to move quickly to get the economy back to normal, but also take into account that we have to contain the impact of the virus,” Dondo Mogajane, the National Treasury’s director-general, said.

Treasury’s scenarios showed that more than 7 million jobs could be shed as a result of the virus and lockdown that has brought almost all economic activity to a standstill. Manufacturing, construction, trade, catering and accommodation, as well as financial and business services will be the worst-affected sectors.

The Treasury expected a “substantial” shortfall in revenue from the 1.43 trillion tax-collection estimate in the February 26 budget. That’s due to weakness in the economy and virus-related tax relief measures, the Treasury said.

While the forecasts still need to be updated, the tax take could fall by 32% or more, according to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

A ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco products during the lockdown has already led to an under-recovery of more than 1.5 billion rand last month alone, said Edward Kieswetter, the commissioner of the South African Revenue Service.

The country is counting on accessing $5.07 billion from multilateral lenders and development banks including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and New Development Bank to help finance the government’s stimulus package.

The tenor for some of these loans would be as long as 35 years, which includes a grace period and no conditionality post-disbursement, according to the Treasury. The cost of funding the loans is favorable relative to market pricing because they are not based on country-risk premium, the Treasury said.

The Treasury’s presentation followed a credit rating downgrade by S&P Global Ratings, which took South Africa’s debt assessments to lowest levels yet.

The downgrade is “big blow to the country” and underlined the need for structural reforms, Mboweni said.

Article by News 24

• Trade and industry minister Ebrahim Patel said e-commerce may be expanded during lockdown level 4 to include items currently excluded.
• For now, online retailers may only sell the same stuff as other retailers, with hot food newly added.
• E-commerce companies have argued that deliveries should be allowed as it limits contact between consumers and employees compared to traditional retail stores.  

E-commerce may be expanded incrementally during lockdown level 4, now referred to as Alert Level 4 in government documents, to include items currently excluded, trade and industry minister Ebrahim Patel said on Thursday night.

South Africa is due to embark on a phased reopening of the economy on Friday, starting with lockdown level 4, which will see several industries returning to work, and the purchase of additional items allowed.

Patel said online retailers will be allowed to sell essential food items, winter clothing, bedding, hot foods, stationery and cellphones during lockdown level 4 – but that could change.

“E-commerce will be expanded incrementally as an immediate step,” Patel said during a press conference on the differences between hard lockdown and level 4. “Deliveries of a larger list of products will be possible and it will be expanded further in level 4”

But regulations from the department of cooperative governance and traditional, due to be gazetted on Thursday, say that before e-commere is expanded, how to limit movement on roads will be considered.

Contact between people, law-enforcement challenges, and the impact on other businesses will also be considered.

South African logistics and e-commerce businesses have called on the South African government to fully open up home deliveries during the coronavirus epidemic.

They argued that contact between consumers and employees can be limited for online transactions in ways not possible in traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

Proponents have also argued that mental well-being can be improved by having access to certain non-essential goods such as devices for home entertainment and other items to remain occupied and healthy at home.

(Compiled by James de Villiers)

Parliament, Wednesday, 29 April 2020 –  A joint meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, and the Select Committee on Education and Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture, today heard that schooling is likely to start incrementally as of 6 May 2020.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) told the committees that it plans to start schooling next week with Grade 12 and Grade 7 as they are the exit grades and also have less numbers. Grade 11 and Grade 6 will follow two weeks later on 20 May, followed by Grade 10 and Grade 5 on 3 June, Grade 9 and Grade 4 will follow on 17 June, Grade 8 and Grade 3 on 1 July, Grade 2 and Grade 1 on 8 July, and Grade R on 15 July. This will allow the country to get ready and most likely also lead the country to move to a lower level regarding the Covid-19 lockdown. This was, however, subject to guidance by the committees.

The committees expressed confidence in the plans presented to it. The Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Ms Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, appreciated the work done by the DBE behind the scenes. “Please communicate so our people know what is happening. If there are changes, please inform the public. We are all stressed. But we need to work together. Even if our kids go back to school there will be challenges and our responsibility as MPs is to support and assist and report for those challenges to be rectified.”

The committees further heard that the June rewrite examinations for Grade 12 have been cancelled and will now occur together with the annual National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations at the end of the year. This has led to a drastic increase in the number of candidates that will sit for these exams, which in turn will lead to the release of the 2020 NSC results being postponed possibly to the third week in January 2021.

Furthermore, the June examinations for other grades will also not happen and will be used for schooling. The Winter school holidays in June will be reduced to one week and the Spring vacation in September will be reduce to a long weekend.

The committee commended the department for its efforts in getting the sector ready for the start of schooling next month. This includes providing masks to learners up to quintile 4 and to all teachers, a basic sanitation and hygiene package, mobile facilities to replace pit latrines, cleaners, screening, additional teaching posts as no classes should have more than 40 learners, additional substitute posts, provision of mobile classrooms to deal with overcrowding as a temporary measure, and incubation camps for progressed and weaker learners, especially in Grade 12.

Dr Reginah Mhaule, the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, said the curriculum for all grades, except Grade 12, will be reworked. All grades will just cover strategic topics in order for them to have knowledge of the content. Grade 12 papers are already set so extra effort will be put in. The implementation of the phasing in of schooling is an inter-departmental project and not just the DBE, as the Department of Health and the Department of Public Works were also involved. She said this presentation is made in order to get guidance from the committees and are not cast in stone.

Select Committee Chairperson, Mr Elleck Nchabeleng, commended the work done so far. He further called for the sharing of information on the continent so that all can survive the pandemic.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION, MS BONGIWE MBINQO-GIGABA, AND THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, ARTS AND CULTURE, MR ELLECK NCHABELENG.

Government has indicated that South Africa’s risk-adjusted approach to the coronavirus is expected to last at least 6-8 months.

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday (28 April), Tourism minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said that government currently predicts that the coronavirus curve peak will probably arrive in September 2020.

She added that government will continue to prioritise funding and resources for businesses during this time, but noted that the economy will not return to business as usual.

“In undertaking this risk-adjusted approach we have phased in key sectors and priority areas with the view of deepening the fight against Covid-19 whilst rebuilding the economy,” she said.

“In some cases, a sector will not able to return to full production during Level 4 (of the phased lockdown) or even at lower levels while the risk of infections remains.

“If government does not coordinate its response, there is a risk of more job losses and the contracting of the economy to unprecedented levels,” she said.

South Africa’s risk-adjusted strategy is made up of five levels, that will determine the risk and infection rate nationally, and in each province, district and metropolitan area.

The approach has been guided by scientists and experts, who have warned that a sudden end to the lockdown will lead to a massive increase in the number of infections, the president said.

The levels, which denote the level of action needed to stop the spread of the virus, are as follows:

• Level 5 – drastic measures are required;
• Level 4 – some activity can be allowed, subject to extreme requirements;
• Level 3 – the easing on some restrictions on work and social activities;
• Level 2 – further easing of restrictions, but the maintenance of social distancing;
• Level 1 – most normal activity can resume, with caution and health guidelines followed at all times.Article by Businesstech

An open letter from 328 South African published authors, academics, and readers, asking that all books be available for trade at Level 4 of Lockdown. The letter has been submitted to the National Coronavirus Command Council through the correct portal, and letters will be written, individually, to the key ministers on Tuesday, 28 April 2020. 

An Open Letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and the South African National Coronavirus Command Council.

As published South African authors, and readers and writers, we are proud of and grateful for the sober, compassionate, and science-based leadership our government has shown during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are mindful of the difficult choices you have to make, every day, in an attempt to save our lives and our livelihoods, and we have noted your call for public response to the proposed regulations governing the easing of the lockdown. It is in this spirit that we submit our request: that all books, not just “educational” ones, be available for trade, at Level 4 of the lockdown.

The book industry was vulnerable even before the pandemic. We as a country are at great risk of losing not only our booksellers, but our publishers too. We are concerned about the jobs that will be lost, as well as the loss of vital cultural and intellectual space. This space will not be easily regained once the Covid-19 crisis is over.

From May 1, restaurants will be able to deliver cooked food. We understand the value of this, to the economy, the service industry, and consumers alike. We would like to urge that brain-food be delivered, too, as an essential service: not just so that writers can keep writing and publishers can keep publishing and booksellers can keep selling, but so that readers can keep reading, new ideas can keep sprouting, and that the life of the mind of our country can keep growing.

Reading is one of the few art-forms that can be practiced at a social distance; it is a pastime that both encourages safe behaviour in the present and is an investment in our individual and collective future. University students, in particular, need uninterrupted access to books to prepare them for a meaningful contribution to the knowledge economy.

We are not being simply nostalgic when we say that there is nothing like a physical book: it distills, holds, and transmits knowledge like no other “device”. From the young child discovering the world through her first storybook to a grandmother, now alone during the lockdown, with only her books to comfort her, it is the foundation of our literate society. If we are going to ensure that our country continues to develop and strengthen a reading culture, we need to nurture and protect writers, publishers, booksellers and readers.

We have noted the new ways technology is being adopted because of the pandemic, and we understand that, in the future, there might be more trade in e-books and less in physical books. Still, publishers will be necessary to make those e-books, and so we don’t want to lose them. And, of course, the pandemic has put into sharp relief the digital divide. For a long time to come, e-books will not be an option for most South Africans, and for this reason the paper publishing industry must stay alive.

Of course, there are books in circulation already, and it could be argued that it is not essential for more to be bought and sold right now. We would disagree. To allow the book industry to trade right now is to give it a lifeline. Without that lifeline, we could well lose it. Forever.

In South Africa, purchasing a book is often a luxury, but many in the book community work to promote national literacy, to ensure that books are widely available for loan and purchase, and to promote the understanding that books are a necessity rather than a privilege. We would like to see emerge, out of this crisis, an opportunity for developing better book delivery at a community level, so that the key work already done to build literacy in South Africa will not be lost.

We do not ask that bookshops be open physically for business just yet. Rather, we ask for a simple addition to the current Level 4 regulations: that all books be available for purchase online or over the phone and for delivery, and that all booksellers, big and small, be allowed to trade.

All books are educational.

Signed:

1. Barbara Adair
2. Lize Albertyn-du Toit
3. Kate Alexander 
4. Lucy Alexander
5. Jonathan Ancer
6. Gavin Andersson
7. Peter Anderson
8. Sally Andrew
9. Brett Archibald
10. Neil Armitage
11.  Zaheera Jina Asvat
12.  Adriaan Basson
13.   Charlotte Bauer
14.  Lesley Berry 
15.  Mark Berry 
16.  Lauren Beukes
17.  Cynthia Bevan
18. Zelda Bezuidenhout
19.  Hlumelo Biko
20. Albert Blake
21. Carole Bloch
22. Marn Bodenstein 
23. Jill Bradbury
24. Kerneels Breytenbach
25. Nechama Brodie 
26. Daniel Browde
27. Edyth Bulbring
28. Mary Burton 
29. Ndukenhle Buthelezi
30. Penny Busetto
31.      Mike Cadman
32. Edwin Cameron
33. Jonathan Cane
34. Andy Capostagno
35. Trevor Carnaby 
36. John Cartwright 
37. Alma-Nalisha Cele
38. Mukesh Chander
39. Ivor Chipkin 
40. Yvette Christianse
41. Sean Christie
42. Jakkie Cilliers
43. Francois Cleophas
44. Stephen Clingman
45. Jacklyn Cock
46. JM Coetzee 
47. David Cooper
48. Michael Cope 
49. Sharon Cort 
50. Ben Cousins
51. Jeremy Cronin 
52. Karin Cronje
53.      Jenny Crwys-Williams 
54. Lindelwa Dalamba
55. Jude Daly
56. Achmat Dangor
57. Fezile Dantile
58. Carol Ann Davids
59. Nadia Davids
60. Rebecca Davis
61. Henrietta Dax
62. Jean-Pierre de Kock
63. Ingrid de Kok
64. Phillippa Yaa de Villiers
65. Dirk de Vos
66. Fred de Vries
67. Shaun de Waal 
68. Jessica Denyschen
69. Isobel Dixon
70. S Dlamini
71. Khaya Dlanga
72. Ebbe Dommisse 
73.      Dorothy Driver
74.      Andrew Duminy 
75. Hani du Toit
76. Nomathemba Dzinotyiwei
77. Chike Frankie Edozien
78. Hagen Engler 
79.      George Ellis 
80. Zimitri Erasmus
81. Natasha Erlank
82. Martha Evans
83. Judith February
84. Andrew Feinstein 
85. Melinda Ferguson
86. Brian Fredericks
87. Sibongile Fisher
88. Fiona Forde
89. Moira Forjaz
90. Roddy Fox
91. Damon Galgut 
92. Dawn Garisch
93.  Philippa Garson
94. Mark Gevisser
95. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
96. Jeremy Gordin 
97. Tracy Going
98. Pregs Govender
99. Pumla Dineo Gqola
100. Rachelle Greeff
101. Pippa Green
102. Jane Griffiths
103. Albert Grundlingh
104. Sharon Grussendorf
105. Adam Habib
106. Ferial Haffajee
107. Rosemund Handler 
108. Ray Hartley 
109. Shafinaaz Hassim
110. Joanne Hichens
111. Nicky Falkof
112. Anton Harber
113. Shireen Hassim
114. Stefanie Hefer
115. James Hendry
116. Michiel Heyns
117. Mark Heywood 
118. Craig Higginson
119. Alan Hirsch
120. David Holt-Biddle
121. Mehita Iqani
122. Ron Irwin
123. Zubeida Jaffer
124. Ashraf Jamal
125. Ena Jansen
126. Nozizwe Cynthia Jele
127. Ashraf Kagee
128. Philippa Kabali-Kagwa
129. Aryan Kaganof
130. Ronnie Kasrils 
131. Cathy Kelly
132. Billy Keniston
133. Andrew Kenny 
134. William Kentridge 
135. Rashida Khan
136. Busisiwe Precious Khumalo
137. Siya Khumalo
138. Sarah-Jayne King
139. Bongani Kona 
140. Kelly-Eve Koopman
141. Lindie Koorts
142. Rustum Kozain
143. Sue Kramer
144. Helena Kriel
145. Antjie Krog
146. Cynthia Kros 
147. Christa Kuljian
148. Terry Kurgan
149. Ismail Lagardien
150. Mandla Langa
151. Bronwyn Law Viljoen
152. Pertunia Lehoka 
153. Tony Leon 
154. Nombulelo Leqheku
155. Sekajane Leqheku
156. Lorraine le Roux
157. Michelle le Roux
158. Lorna Levy 
159. Bridget Lotz
160. Barbara Ludman
161. Lindiwe Mabuza 
162. Wendy Maartens
163. Deon Maas 
164. Joanne Macgregor
165. Hugh Macmillan
166. Tshepo Madlingozi 
167. Bongani Madondo
168. Kathu Maestro
169. Nelly Page Magwaza
170. Siphiwo Mahala
171. Sello Mahapeletsa
172. Macdonald Mailula 
173. Joshua Maluleke
174. Desiree-Anne Martin
175. Julia Martin
176. Malose Erick Makgotho
177. Angela Makholwa
178. Justice Malala
179. Gerhard Mare
180. Lebo Mashile
181. Sizwile Masukuma-Sibindi
182. Zethu Matebeni
183. Nixon Mateulah
184. Makanaka Mavengere
185. John Maytham 
186. Moeletsi Mbeki
187. Liz McGregor
188. Eusebius McKaiser
189. Fiona Melrose
190. Rajend Mesthrie
191. Thando Mgqolozana
192. Gcina Mhlophe
193. Ronald Miller
194. Greg Mills
195. Makodi Moepya
196. Helen Moffett
197. Thabiso Mofokeng
198. Tlaleng Mofokeng
199. Fikile Moiloa
200. Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane
201. Simphiwe Molaba
202. Natalia Molebatsi
203. Saul Kgomotso Molobi
204. Rudolf Isaac Monyela
205. Jean Moore
206. Michael Morris 
207. Floss Morrison 
208. Palesa Morudu
209. Thabo Mosole 
210. Glenn Moss 
211. Sisonke Msimang
212. Lungile Mtetwa
213. Gregory Mthembu-Salter
214. Isiphile Mthumezi
215. Nick Mulgrew
216. Pieter-Louis Myburgh
217. Eric Naki
218. Bill Nasson
219. Nicoli Nattrass
220. Charl-Pierre Naude
221. Njabulo S Ndebele
222. Nothando Ndebele
223. Senzeni Ndebele
224. Malika Ndlovu
225. Maureen Ndlovu
226. Mcebisi Ndletyana
227. Sean Newman 
228. Susan Newton-King
229. Chwayatiya Ngamlana
230. Tembeka Ngcukaitobi
231. Monde Nkasawe
232. Candice Noakes-Dobson
233. Patrick Noonan
234. Mphuthumi Ntabeni
235. Brian Vela Ntombela 
236. Sue Nyathi
237. Ike Obedike
238. Paul O’Sullivan
239. Andre Odendaal 
240. Bernard Odendaal
241. Pieter Odendaal
242. Crispian Olver
243. Margie Orford
244. Yewande Omotoso
245. Harry Owen
246. Elize Parker
247. Jacques Pauw
248. Harriet Perlman
249. Jackie Phamotse 
250. Howard Phillips
251. Jolyn Phillips
252. Phumlani Pikoli
253. Don Pinnock 
254. Marguerite Poland
255. Motlalekgotso Ponya
256. Pamela Power
257. Karen Press
258. Lizette Rabe
259. Marlise Rabe 
260. Kgotso Ramaipato
261. Iman Rappetti
262. Jo-Anne Richards 
263. Tim Richman
264. Kevin Ritchie 
265. Heather Robertson
266. Steven Robbins 
267. Kuli Roberts
268. Kate Rogan
269. Consuelo Roland
270. Megan Ross
271. Brian Rostron
272. Albie Sachs
273. Andre Sales
274. Chris Saunders
275. Karin Schimke
276. Patricia Schonstein 
277. Lauren Segal
278. Malebo Sephodi
279. Mogau Seshoene
280. Jeremy Seekings
281. Pumza Shabangu
282. Terry Shakinovsky
283. Milton Shain
284. John Sharp
285. Sandra Shell
286. Ntombi Sibande-Letlojane 
287. Kate Sidley
288. Stephen Sidley
289. Wandile Sihlobo
290. Sizwile Masukuma-Sibindi
291. Gus Silber
292. Elinor Sisulu
293. Ari Sitas
294. Angelina Sithebe
295. Sebolelo Lorraine Sithole
296. Gillian Slovo
297. Outlwile Tsipane
298. Annette Snyckers
299. Fiona Snyckers
300. Kelwyn Sole
301. Andrew Spiegel
302. Jonny Steinberg
303. Helene Strauss 
304. Raymond Suttner 
305. Richard Sutton 
306. Sandra Swart
307. Lindiwe Sweleka
308. Karina Szczurek
309. Jane Taylor
310. Jen Thorpe
311. Redi Tlhabi
312. Hazel Tobo
313. Carla Tsampiras
314. Melusi Tshabalala
315. Nthabiseng Portia Tshabalala
316. Zola Zonwabele Tshayana 
317. Karina Turok
318. Hedley Twidle
319. Chris van der Merwe
320. Kees van der Waal
321. Elizabeth van Heyningen
322. Peter van Kets
323. Mark Varder
324. Sahm Venter
325. Hein Viljoen 
326. Ivan Vladislavic
327. Michael Vlismas
328. Christiaan Vlotman
329. Megan Voysey
330. Peter Vundla
331. Marita van der Vyver
332. Hennie van Vuuren
333. Zukiswa Wanner
334. Edward Webster
335. Mandy Weiner
336. Flow Wellington
337. Virginia Welsh
338. Tony Weaver
339. Cas Wepener
340. Terry Westby-Nunn
341. Bruce Whitfield 
342. Sarah Wild
343. Brian Willan
344. Zoe Wicomb
345. Herman Wittenberg
346. Nigel Worden
347. Diana Wylie
348. Rahla Xenopoulos 
349. Jolene Young 
350. Tanya Zack
351. Zapiro
352. Songezo Zibi

Analysts and opposition parties have called for transparency in the way government’s Covid-19 relief fund is spent, against the backdrop of a history of corruption and mismanagement.

The announcement of a whopping R20 billion bailout for municipalities around the country to help them manage the Covid-19 pandemic has raised questions around whether these funds will be used as intended, or fall prey to corruption.

Advocate Paul Hoffman, of anticorruption pressure group Accountability Now, on Wednesday warned that it would be up to civil society and the country’s Chapter 9 institutions to ensure this money was not “diverted to the pockets of corrupt individuals in public administration”.

“We’ve seen that kleptocrats regard the pandemic as an opportunity to involve themselves in corrupt practices,” Hoffman said. “It’s going to be necessary for civil society organisations, the auditor-general and the criminal justice administration to be vigilant and ensure the new package is used as it is intended”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday night unveiled “a massive social relief and economic support package of R500 billion” and said R20 billion would be made available to municipalities “for the provision of emergency water supply, increased sanitisation of public transport and facilities, and providing food and shelter for the homeless”.

“The nationwide lockdown has had a negative impact on the revenue of municipalities at a time when the demands on them are increasing,” he said.

The president on Tuesday acknowledged “reports of unscrupulous people abusing the distribution of food and other assistance for corrupt ends”.

And the Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Haniff Hoosen, said on Wednesday the way in which municipal relief funds had been spent would have to be tabled at a council level as soon as possible after the state of disaster was lifted.

“And councillors – from opposition parties in particular – will have to be extra vigilant in ensuring this information is made available, given the history of mismanagement of funds,” he said.

“The best way to prevent corruption in the country is ongoing oversight,” Hoosen said.

“The unfortunate position we find ourselves in right now is that we can only deal with corruption after the fact – not beforehand – and by then, the damage has already been done.”

Hoffman said South Africa’s state anticorruption machinery was in disrepair.

“And it has been, ever since the Scorpions were disbanded,” he added.

Hoffman said there were mechanisms which allowed for preventative, rather than curative, action.

“Developed countries have an ‘office of the budget,’ which supervises how public money is spent,” he said. “But we don’t have that sort of machinery in South Africa”.

Hoffman said, however, that the public protector could potentially be called upon to act proactively, “where there is a suspicion public money intended for the purpose of pandemic relief is not being spent as it should be”.

Corruption Watch in a statement yesterday called for “increased transparency, vigilance and accountability”.

“Particularly against the backdrop of the extremely high levels of corruption that have characterised South African public life for so long,” the organisation said.

“Corruption Watch urges government to put measures in place to mitigate and reduce opportunities of corruption during this time and, also, to take swift action against those engaging in corrupt activities.”

This is a matter of life and death and the ANC should take harsh measures to deal with these thieving councillors.

The government hardly sets a good example in times of crisis, when the nation is asked to come together as an act of solidarity for its survival.

An example of this is the scandal around food parcels and the councillors who have been using these parcels for their own gain.

Elected by the people to serve the people, it is these same public servants that are accused of feeding their friends, families and, indeed, themselves at the expense of the needy.

While many will argue that food parcels are not owed to anyone – that they are merely a helping measure by government and donors – the anger of those the parcels were intended for is perfectly understandable and justified.

While all of us are affected by the lockdown, the restrictions place a heavier burden on the poorer sector of the population.

A family dependent on an elderly grandmother who plies her trade as a second-hand clothing seller under the cover of a worn gazebo, who for the fourth consecutive week cannot garner an income, is more deserving of aid than a counsellor who buys favour for continued employment when the next elections come around.

The continued foraging of provisions meant for the greater good by officials is nothing short of animalistic.

In times of death, theft and corruption; in times of possible hunger and disease; collusion by retailers; and theft, looting and nepotism by councillors and those charged with the responsibility of delivering to the most vulnerable of society is morally reprehensible.

How blurred are the principles that govern these rooms where decisions of power are taken?

Looting, nepotism, collusion, theft and corruption are not unique to South Africa, let alone the government of our day, but this is a matter of life and death and the ANC should take harsh measures to deal with these thieving councillors.

As a people, we need to do better. Gross economic mismanagement that has become synonymous with the rule of our day needs to be probed and stopped dead in its tracks.

Decisive government action is required.