Weekend Argus Saturday Saturday, August 29, 2020

BZZZY BZZZY COVID-19 Anger over deaths at care centre Health worker lodges complaint of suspected abuse NATHAN ADAMS nathan.adams@inl.co.za ARMAND HOUGH African News Agency (ANA) COURTNEY A HEALTHCARE worker says she is at her wit’s end as nothing has been done after seven elderly residents died at GH Starck Centre within two weeks due to Covid-19. Yolanda Mutiba is on the local health committee in Hanover Park, where the GH Starck Centre is home to more than 60 pensioners. The seven residents – Francis Roberts, Doreen Messiah, Daphne Dixon, Olga Smith, Connie Hoffman, Aubrey Mitchell and Doreen Heinrich – died between August 10 and 24. Their deaths prompted Mutiba to lay an official complaint of suspected abuse against the elderly with the Western Cape Department of Social Development this week. She…

PANDEMIC Preparing for second surge of the virus SHAUN SMILIE NEWLY released antibody tests for Covid-19 might be the weapon South Africa needs to better prepare if the country is hit by a second wave. Across Europe, Covid-19 has returned with a vengeance. Infections are rising as countries scramble to implement new measures to halt its spread. In Paris for the first time, it has become mandatory to wear a mask in public. However, in South Africa infection rates have been falling. But this might not be for long. There is debate whether South Africa will experience a second wave. Some researchers believe that because the country went into early lockdown, it might be spared. Others think it is going to be a slow burn rate of infections that will…

Motorists’ last-ditch bid to avoid fines on expired licences KEAGAN MITCHELL keagan.mitchell@inl.co.za TRACEY ADAMS African News Agency (ANA) MOTORISTS braved the rain, wind and frosty conditions in a last ditch effort to avoid fines for expired licence discs. The deadline for licence discs renewal expires at midnight on Monday. Motorists who have not taken advantage of the grace period would be fined R500 and the vehicles would be deemed unlicensed. On top of the fine you would also be slapped with penalties for late payment. According to the gazetted regulations: •l Discs that expired on June 30, payment and renewal had to be completed by July 21. •l Discs that expired on July 31, payment and renewal had to be completed by August 21. •l Motor trade vehicle numbers/ trade…

FRAUD Businesswoman loses big in mask scam NATHAN ADAMS nathan.adams@inl.co.za AN Athlone businesswoman has lost R300 000 after she was conned into believing that she had been awarded a contract to supply nebuliser masks to the Department of Health in Pretoria. The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she had responded to an email which she thought was a request to tender for 12 000 masks. She went in search for a supplier in Airport Industria and needed a batch number to send to, what she thought was the Department of Health. “When you deal with government they put you on a supplier database and emails come to you straight to your inbox and that’s what I thought had happened to me. I clicked on the email and I…

NATION One-way ticket home offer Minister reaches out to stranded citizens SIYABONGA MKHWANAZI HOME Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has offered South Africans stuck abroad a one-way ticket home after their passports expired. The minister also revealed that his department was sitting with 300 000 identity documents that have not been collected by South Africans. The decision by Motsoaledi on South Africans abroad comes after some opposition parties had complained that the government needed to help people whose passports have expired. But the minister said they cannot grant the passports to people stuck abroad because the rules of the International Civil Aviation Authority do not allow this, to prevent fraud. He said the only solution was for the government to offer those South Africans a one-way ticket home through the emergency…

COURT UWC 2017 elections ‘unlawful’ UWC is forging ahead towards its October convocation elections with a new voting protocol after its 2017 election were found unlawful this week. On Wednesday, the Western Cape High Court declared that the elections be set aside. Judge Jody Kollapen also ordered that the respondents pay 75% of the applicants’ legal fees. “I find that the respondents acted in violation of the principles of legality by failing to adhere to the statute of the university in the manner they dealt with the eligibility to vote on the part of members of convocation,” Judge Kollapen wrote in conclusion. “It must follow that the elections … stand to be reviewed and declared unlawful on that basis.” However, Judge Kollapen rejected the claim that the elections were not…