tameTIMES Flipbook - 30.07.2021

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30 July 2021

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Fourth Covid Wave Expected Within 3 Months Experts have warned of an approaching 4th wave of infections just as the 3rd wave appears to have reached its peak. President Cyril Ramaphosa eased lockdown restrictions this week, citing fewer Covid-19 infections, most notably the decrease in Gauteng. The president, however, cautioned that a slowing in the infection rate does not mean the wave is over but is simply in decline. Some provinces are still experiencing rising numbers.

“There are areas in the country where we still need to be concerned because the rates of infection have not yet shown signs of decline. “As infections in gauteng fall, daily new infections in the western cape, eastern cape and kwazulu-natal continue to rise. There has also been a concerning rise of infections in the northern cape after a period of relative stability,” the president said. This was echoed by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa, whose latest report shows that the country is not yet in a ‘post-wave’ period – meaning the third wave is still very much in effect and could continue for weeks to come.

The NICD’s modeling predicts that most provinces will likely have peaked by early to mid-August, with the third wave ending in early September. But some health experts have now warned that the low numbers of infections could be short-lived – predicting that a fourth wave could start emerging as early as October. Wits University vaccinologist professor Shabir Madhi and the head of the South African National Aids Council, Dr Fareed Abdullah, both agreed in a report compiled for the Independent Electoral Commission, investigating the feasibility of holding the 2021 local elections at the end of October. The report included testimony from Madhi and Abdullah warning that the country faces a resurgence of infections in October, largely due to the delayed vaccine rollout. Madhi said that for South Africa to avoid another resurgence, the population would have to reach herd immunity against the virus by September, with at least 80% of the most vulnerable population vaccinated. At the current rate of vaccination, along with widespread vaccine hesitancy among this population group, this is highly unlikely to

be achieved. Abdullah said that the waves of infection tend to peak six months apart. He said that the fourth wave, in his opinion, is likely to peak sooner rather than later, and warned that by the end of October, the country will be in the early stages of a fourth wave, with cases showing an upward trend once again. This would put the country on course for a fourth-wave peak somewhere in December 2021. Professor Francois Venter, the director of Ezintsha at Wits health sciences, expressed similar sentiments. According to Prof Venter, a fourth outbreak of the coronavirus could hit South Africa around November. He said that future waves of Covid-19 in South Africa are highly dependent on the vaccine rollout – more than just the numbers, but also which group is being vaccinated. Venter said that the government must pay attention to how many older people are being vaccinated. “Vaccinating one 60-year-old is more important than vaccinating two 35-year-olds,” he said. This is of particular importance, given the health department’s new target of vaccinating 35 million people by Christmas, and opening

up vaccines to people over 35 in August, and those older than 18 in September. According to Venter, while it would be wonderful if 35 million people received a shot by the end of the year, it wouldn’t be good if many people over 50 years old were still not vaccinated. The vaccine rollout was opened to younger population groups after turnout by those over 60, and then over 50, which was considerably lower than anticipated. The Department of Health meanwhile said that opening vaccines to younger population groups will not overload its system. The department hopes that younger populations will take the older populations with them to get vaccinated. According to the Department of Health, of the latest distributed shots, 44,470 people received the Johnson & Johnson, while 170,879 received the Pfizer vaccine. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 death toll has now surpassed the 70,000 mark after another 243 people lost their lives to the virus. GET THE LATEST COVID-19 NEWS AT WWW.TAMETIMES.CO.ZA

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION FOR THE PROPOSED DECOMMISSIONING OF THE COBRA WATERTECH FACILITY LOCATED IN FACTORIA, KRUGERSDORP

Applicant: Project:

Cobra Watertech (Pty) Ltd (A part of the Lixil Group of Companies)

Application for an Environmental Authorisation for the Proposed Decomissioning of the Cobra Watertech Facility located in Factoria, Krugersdorp

Location: 20 Wright Street, Factoria, Krugersdorp, Gauteng Province Notice is given in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations: GN. R 982, promulgated in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act 107 of 1998) (NEMA) that Cobra Watertech is applying for Environmental Authorization (EA) for the proposed decommissioning of the existing activities. The facility currently holds an Atmospheric Emissions Licence (AEL) and a Waste Management Licence (WML), the proposed decommissioning of the facility will therefore require authorisation in terms of NEMA. NEMA activities that are listed in regulations published under NEMA may not be undertaken without an bold EA. Activities listed in GNR 983 require a Basic Impact Assessment to be conducted prior to commencement. The proposed activities will trigger the following activities listed in GNR 983: Activity Description The decommissioning of existing facilities, structures or infrastructure for — (i) any development and related operation activity or activities listed in this Notice, Listing Notice 2 of 2014 or Listing Notice 3 of 2014; (ii) any expansion and related operation activity or activities listed in this Notice, Listing Notice 2 of 2014 or Listing Notice 3 of 2014; (iii) ……. Activity 31 (iv) any phased activity or activities for development and related operation activity or expansion or related operation activities listed in this Notice or Listing Notice 3 of 2014; or (v) any activity regardless the time the activity was commenced with, where such activity: (a) is similarly listed to an activity in (i) or (ii) above; and (b) ……. Therefore, a Basic Assessment process must be conducted prior to the commencement of the proposed activities. GN.R 982 provides for the notification and participation of any Interested and Affected Parties. To obtain further information, raise any issues or concerns, or submit any comments please contact Zantow Environmental Consulting Services at the contact details below within 30 days of this notice. Karien Zantow Fax: 016 932 4976 Cell: 083 393 3897 Email: info@zantow.co.za Postal Adress: PO Box 3858, Vanderbijlpark, 1900 Please note that the draft Basic Assessment report will be available for review from the 30th of July 2021 up to the 30th of August 2021 at the following locations: Website: www.zantow.co.za E-mail: info@zantow.co.za (on request) Hard copy: At the Site Entrance


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30 July 2021

Commission Of Gender Equality Fighting For The Rights Of Looters Police and soldiers are still going house to houses in some of the local communities to recover looted items as part of the evidence to be used in the court cases of over 3,000 people who’ve been arrested. The Commission for Gender Equality is calling for an immediate investigation into what it called the “inhumane treatment” of some of the looters in the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng riots of recent weeks. Widespread violence and looting in these provinces cost billions in damages. Police and soldiers are still going house to houses in some of the local communities to recover looted items as part of the evidence to be used in the court cases of over 3,000 people who’ve been arrested. Thousands of people ransacked malls earlier this month. They stole food, clothing, and electronics while in other instances, factories and warehouses

were destroyed and set alight. Fear gripped the country as president Ramaphosa referred to the violence as an insurrection. While the Commission for Gender Equality said that it condemned these criminal acts, it was outraged by the videos seen on social media where women were allegedly made to swim in liquid that appeared to be water or alcohol at a mall in Pretoria. “The degrading of people and the dehumanising of the individuals during the time is a crime on its own. Those people that are found to be doing that would actually be punishable by law, as they are directly infringing on the rights of people of south africa,” said chairperson of the commission, tamara mathebula.

Employers Can Not Fire Unvaccinated Employees – Cosatu

Cosatu said that although it was encouraging all workers affiliated with the union to get vaccinated, it also warned that employers did not have the right to fire anyone who refused to get the jab for whatever reason.

Donate to the Act For Change Fund At the till point in any Shoprite, Checkers, or Usave, or scan the qr code to donate Online via Computicket. SCAN ME

Proceeds will help aid communities affected by the unrest in KwaZuluNatal and Gauteng. The Shoprite Group has made an initial donation of R1 million to boost the Fund, to assist vetted community organisations.

The trade union federation said that there were other avenues available to employers instead of going the extreme route of dismissing their unvaccinated employees. The spokesperson for Cosatu Sizwe Pamla said that to accommodate legitimate reasons for refusal, employers should try to minimise contact with other workers in the workplace. “You can accommodate and work outside of ordinary hours, so you can allow that individual to continue to work with an n95 mask now. Otherwise, why are we reopening and saying workers can go back to work,” pamla said. Meanwhile, Tony Healy, a labour consultant, said that employers actually did have a leg to stand on when it came to making vaccines mandatory. “Where there’s a high risk of infection and transmission, that employer would absolutely be entitled to make vaccination compulsory. They would of course still need to go to great lengths to see whether this employee could be accommodated elsewhere but ultimately if they refuse and if the employer can justify the mandatory policy in their environment, then that employee will be entitled to be dismissed and there will no doubt be many test cases on this.”


30 July 2021

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30 July 2021

Women Power Gives Team SA Two Medals At The Tokyo Games

Swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker kicked off an all-women two-medal haul for Team SA on Tuesday morning, taking silver in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics. Just more than two hours later unheralded surfer Bianca Buitendag upstaged No.2 seed Caroline Marks of the US to reach the final where she will fight the other American, top seed Carissa Moore, for gold later in the day. David slew Goliath, but the 27-year-old from George, who was seeded 17th in a field of 20, has had to topple a series of giants to reach the podium of a sport making its Olympic debut in Japan. Using guile, psychology and good wave selection, Buitendag knocked out Australia’s third seed Stephanie Gilmore in the third round and Portugal’s No.8 seed Yolanda Hopkins in the quarterfinals. Schoenmaker touched in 1min 05.22sec — her slowest time in her three swims at these Games — to finish behind American teenager Lydia Jacoby in 1:04.95. Defending champion Lilly King of the US was third in 1:05.54. The South African is well primed to win two

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medals at this showpiece, going into the 200m breaststroke heats on Wednesday as the favourite. But had Schoenmaker replicated the 1:04.82 Olympic record she had clocked in the heats on Sunday, she would have taken gold on Tuesday morning. Her 1:05.07 on Monday was the fastest time of the semifinals. She was also the first to turn. “Coming back I was a little more tired, especially at the end, I was dying a little,” said Schoenmaker, adding she could see King on the one side, but not Jacoby on the other. “At the end I saw she was ahead and I just knew like I’m so [tired] I can’t do this but I know I gave my best. I literally couldn’t give anything more. “I‘m very happy. I was not ranked in medal position so walking out with a medal already is amazing,” said Schoenmaker, who went into this event seeded fourth. “I swam a [personal best] in the heats so I was already happy. I could have left it at that.”Schoenmaker is the first SA woman to win a Games swimming medal since Penny Heyns at Sydney 2000. She won’t be able to match her compatriot’s feat from Atlanta 1996 of being the only woman

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to win the breaststroke double at an Olympics. But making the podium has ended a long drought for SA women’s swimming this millennium. No women qualified for Athens 2004 and Rio 2016 — Schoenmaker missed out five years ago by one-hundredth of a second. Schoenmaker said her Olympic record in the heats had taken her by surprise. “I never expected that as a first swim, I just really felt comfortable. “Obviously it was getting tougher each one, and I actually did think I would feel better this morning, but I was a bit tired, so I think the racing back to back and the way it’s laid out is very different, but we’re all experiencing the same so it was … who was the strongest at that moment in time.” Schoenmaker said she hoped her success might give hope to South Africans back home. “I really hope this brings a little bit of hope for South Africa, we’re obviously going through a tough time at the moment so if that just shows us there is hope in South Africa … “We know that sport unites countries. We’ve seen it with the Rugby World Cup so hopefully the Olympics does the same.” Veteran Chad Le Clos won his 200m butterfly semifinal in 1:55.06 to go into Wednesday’s final with the third-fastest time, after nearly missing out with a slow swim in the heats. “I got the springbok here on my suit, it gave me a bit of motivation, Tatjana gave me some motivation,” said Le Clos, SA’s most decorated Olympian with four medals. “It’s Olympic Games, I maybe took it for granted yesterday, came in a little bit sloppy, I nearly paid for it, I guess I was lucky. “Today I made sure I was in the final. Tough race, tough competitors of course … kill or be killed.” World record-holder Milak Kristof of Hungary won the other semifinal in 1:52.22, ahead of Brazilian Leonardo de Deus in 1:54.97. The slowest of the eight qualifiers was Japan’s Tomoru Honda in 1:55.31.

SA Wins Second Olympic Medal With Surfer Earning A Silver

Bianca Buitendag, a professional surfer, won South Africa’s second medal at the Tokyo Olympics when she finished second in her final on Tuesday. Buitendag picked up the silver medal, Team South Africa’s second for the day after she was defeated 14.93 to 8.46 by the USA’s Carissa Marks. The American was the top seed at the Games and is already a four-time world champion.

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