Cape Times 2021-12-24

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THIS has been a year of challenge and triumph for South Africans as the country grappled with the unknowns of new Covid-19 variants and managing their economic and social effects. In the first few weeks of the year, the country made strides in acquiring vaccines with then-health minister Zweli Mkhize announcing that South Africa would receive one million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and 500 000 in February. The country confirmed more than 1.3 million infections at the time. But just as South Africa came to grips with the pandemic, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in June confirmed the new Delta variant had become dominant in Gauteng and quickly spread throughout the country. Delta, causing severe infections and hospitalisations, drove a third wave of Covid-19…

From page 1 “This year fortunately we had the first priority group which is nurses and other health workers who got the vaccine. “Since then there have not been that many cases of deaths of nurses and that has given us much relief,” he said. “We were making a lot of noise just before they got vaccinated but things have been better, much better than they were. Especially from late last year during the second wave.” The South African Depression and Anxiety Group’s operations director, Cassey Chambers, said since the beginning of Covid-19 their call volumes had increased each month. They currently log 2 500 calls every day. Sadag is open throughout the holidays – Christmas Day and New Year’s Day included – and is able to provide free…

Nicola Daniels nicola.daniels@inl.co.za AFTER a gruelling year for many, locals will use the New Year period to lift their spirits and enter 2022 in a celebratory fashion. The city is not short of activities and events over this period, and as lockdown alert level 1 means that the curfew starts at 12am, many event organisers have taken this into account by cutting the party just a little earlier to allow for celebration and adherence to the rules. This year the V&A Waterfront will again celebrate the New Year by shining a beam of light into the sky that will be visible for some distance across Cape Town. Violinist and DJ duo DeVille will lead the celebration with house remixes infused with hypnotic electric violin. Halfway through their 20-minute performance they…

Nicola Daniels and Siphokazi Vuso THIS year many households are living with grief as the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the sudden deaths of fathers, mothers, brothers, uncles, aunts, grandparents and children – leaving countless families to close the year without their loved ones. According to provincial health data, the official number of Covid-19 related deaths as at December 15 was 13 105. The figure however did not represent the people who died without being tested, or at home. The family of the late Winston Cogill, the longest Covid-19 patient at Groote Schuur Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said they were taking it a day at a time. The 54-year-old from Diep River had spent 122 days in ICU. Today marks five months since his death. His widow, Claire Cogill, said…

Lisa Isaacs lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za THREE years after the death of her newborn baby as a result of listeriosis, Thenjiwe Dodo of Bloemfontein said the trauma for her and her family continued as the class action law suit against Tiger Brands, involving more than 900 claimants, dragged on. At eight months pregnant in 2018, Dodo was preparing for the final stretch of her pregnancy – a miracle one, as she and her husband had tried for eight years to start a family. She said eating polony was a way to make sure she and her unborn child were nourished. “Everything was well, the baby would play every morning. Then one morning I could feel the baby wasn't playing like he used to. “I first went to a private doctor and he told…

Chevon Booysen chevon.booysen@inl.co.za SEXUAL assault-accused traffic chief Farrel Payne will not be suspended from his position while he is expected to go on trial in the Cape Town Regional Court next year. Currently out on R5 000 bail, Payne faces charges of sexual assault, crimen injuria and attempt to commit a sexual act. He will go on trial March 23 after a co-worker accused him of sexually assaulting her at the workplace. Department of Public Works and Transport (DPWT) spokesperson Jandré Bakker said they would not review their decision to not institute disciplinary action against Payne after the Director of Public Prosecutions rejected Payne’s representations made to the senior public prosecutor. “The department is unable to review its own decision,” said Bakker. Anti-GBV and community activist Alexis Serra, having submitted…