After a slow start, production has been ramped up… writes Raymond Joseph, from GroundUp. A race against the clock is underway to source vitally needed masks and other personal protection equipment (PPE) for health workers at the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic. With South Africa able to only produce 10% of the medical-grade masks it […]

The physical distancing measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 15 March followed by an extended lockdown may have bought us time to prepare for Covid-19. Good leadership has helped the response, but the current lockdown is not sustainable. In city centres and middle-class suburbs there is largely adherence, but in many marginalised areas the lockdown […]

The Eastern Cape is gearing up for its fight against COVID-19 with the province boosting its hospital capacity. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize paid the Eastern Cape a visit on Tuesday where he met with the Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba. Mkhize was taken through the province’s contingency plans to fight the outbreak […]

Numbers tell stories. Usually, stories of people – often happy stories, like births, marriages, finishing school, getting a degree, getting a job. Even paying taxes. Sometimes they tell sad stories – death, divorce, disease, liquidations. Statistics do not provide a cold or inanimate way of dealing with the world – they are one key part […]

South Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 3 465 as of Tuesday. The total number of tests conducted are 126 937 of which 5 427 were done in the last 24 hours. Provincial breakdown is as follows: Gauteng – 1199 Western Cape – 1010 KwaZulu-Natal – 671 Eastern Cape – 345 Free State – […]

Even the opposition party – the Democratic Alliance (DA) – has welcomed President Ramaphosa’s announcement on Tuesday night of a suite of economic support measures to counteract the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on individual South Africans, on businesses and on the SA economy as a whole. Announcing a R500-billion extraordinary budget for coronavirus response, […]

Here are the details for the final repatriation flight from Europe for South Africans stuck abroad. Please pass on to any South Africans you know in the region (including the UK and Ireland) who may want to make their way to Germany to fly home. South Africans in Egypt are also advised to urgently contact […]

The One World, Together at Home global concert – organised to raise funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic – has raised over US$127 million. The eight-hour concert which took place on Saturday – and featured South African DJ Black Coffee – was co-organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with Global Citizen’s Hugh Evans and […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation this evening – Tuesday, 21 April 2020 – on additional economic and social relief measures that form part of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The President’s address comes as a result of recent deliberations at Cabinet, the National Coronavirus Command Council, the President’s Coordinating Council, and […]

South Africa on Monday confirmed four new COVID-19 deaths, leading to a total of 58 people who have succumbed to the virus to date. According to a statement released by the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the country now has 3 300 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 121 510 tests having been conducted in both […]

The Kiffness has done it again – with The Sound of Sirens (Sound of Silence Lockdown Parody). Watch below… Dave Scott (aka The Kiffness) said it’s “a song for all those in lockdown with cabin fever”. It’s already had over 100,000 views on YouTube with most people giving it the thumbs up. Dave joked: “The […]

As I accompanied members of a community-sponsored, volunteer-based feeding scheme around Pretoria recently, I saw several communities who might have been of different races. But they had one thing in common – they are desperately in need of food as they reel under the economic effects of lockdown in South Africa. We arrive at the […]

There is no word to describe a parent who has lost a child… writes Hayley Reichert from Home Away From Home. The closest word that is used among those who have experienced such a loss, is ‘Vilomah’, a Sanskrit word that means ‘against a natural order’. One such angel is nine-year old Max Claase, a […]

What strategy should South Africa follow to contain the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus after the current 35-day lockdown? Any strategy should be informed by the trajectory of the disease, the effectiveness – or otherwise – of the current lockdown and how the particularities of the country will interact with the virus. These include high […]

South Africa has confirmed a total of 3 158 COVID-19 cases, having conducted 114 711 tests to date. Gauteng is still leading with 1 148 people testing positive for the virus, followed by the Western Cape at 868 cases. KwaZulu-Natal has 617 cases of COVID-19, the Eastern Cape province has 293 cases, Free State has […]

Loyal South African Airways (SAA) staff are begging the South African public to please support them in persuading the government to not turn its back on the airline. Listen below to a heartbreaking message from one of the airline’s pilots to South Africans to take to social media and help #SAVESAA. According to reports, the […]

South Africa has 3 034 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 903 recoveries and 52 deaths, the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said on Saturday. Mkhize held a virtual briefing on Saturday evening, where he released the country’s latest COVID-19 statistics. Gauteng has the majority of COVID-19 cases at 1 101, while the Western Cape has […]

Watch British singer James Blunt’s moving tribute to the brave workers in the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic, following his father’s lifesaving kidney transplant in January. The world-famous musician, who first released The Greatest, in October 2019, has released a new version containing visuals celebrating the ‘brave and powerful’ workers on the frontline of the […]

On a large open field in Lavender Hill known as ‘the battlefield’, where clashes between rival gangs the Mongrels and Junky Funky Kids take place, over 300 children sit, spaced one-and-a-half-metres apart to reduce the possibility of Covid-19 transmission. Ranging in age from three years to early teens, the children are waiting in the autumnal […]

South Africa has confirmed a total of 2 783 COVID-19 cases, having conducted 100 827 tests to date. Gauteng has the highest number of cases with 1 018 people testing positive for the virus, followed by the Western Cape at 717 cases, KwaZulu-Natal at 591 cases, Eastern Cape at 246 cases, Free State at 100 […]

There have been 403 incidents of vandalism, burglary and destruction of schools across several South African provinces since the start of the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown, according to the Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, who has condemned the criminal activity. The damage of school property includes torching of schools, the theft of learning as well as […]

Despite South Africa being on standstill and citizens urged to stay at home during the lockdown, 26 crashes were recorded in the country over the Easter Long Weekend… resulting in 28 people losing their lives on the roads during this period, according to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula. Usually South Africa experiences fatalities in the hundreds […]

Some townships and informal settlements are quiet, the streets empty as people observe the rules of the lockdown. In others, life goes on just as it always did. GroundUp’s reporters describe the areas they know. Hanover Park, Cape Town In areas like Hanover Park, where people live in cramped spaces and there is nothing but […]

Following reports alleging that black African nationals, in particular, are being discriminated against in China as an anti-foreigner sentiment sweeps parts of the country, blaming them for causing the second outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, South Africa’s DIRCO Minister Naledi Pandor has said she believes Chinese authorities will attend to this “awful” […]

South Africa has 2 605 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with Limpopo and the Eastern Cape recording their first deaths, according to the SA Department of Health. “It is with regret that we inform the public that the COVID-19 related deaths is now 48. “We note that two provinces, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, have also recorded […]