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SA sees a huge jump in coronavirus infections, with 170 more people testing positive. Two more people have also died. Police Minister Bheki Cele says crime has dropped dramatically and the Western Cape sees an increase in looting of stores.
CAPE TOWN – SA sees a big jump in coronavirus infections, with 170 more people testing positive. Two more people have also died. Police Minister Bheki Cele says crime has dropped dramatically and the Western Cape sees an increase in looting of stores.
BLOCKING DAY 27
BY THE NUMBERS
• A jump of 170 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 3,635.
• Unfortunately, 7 more deaths were recorded: 5 in the Western Cape and 2 in KZN, bringing the total to 65.
• 133,774 patients have been tested so far.
• 6,868 tests performed in the last 24 hours: that number has increased steadily, but quite slowly.
• More than 2.6 million people have contracted the virus worldwide; It has killed more than 180,000 but more than 700,000 are listed as recovered.
CRIME? What crime?
• Police Minister Bheki Cele’s team has compared crime statistics for the penitentiary month to the same month last year and discovered some staggering declines in crime.
• Murder in 72%; violation reported in 87%; 65% attempted murder; GBH assault 85% and robbery with aggravating circumstances 69%; vehicle theft was reduced by 80% and residential theft was reduced by 53%.
• Cele also promotes a radical decrease in domestic violence, with a 69% decrease in those numbers. But be very careful with this, since most of the NGOs working in the space believe that the blockade could be a disincentive to report such crimes, with the movement restricted, people subjected to domestic violence have nowhere to go. fleeing and it is more difficult for them to escape and It is more difficult to access external help that will allow them to seek refuge.
• Cele also announced at the end of the initial shutdown that 118,000 people had been charged with violating the regulation.
• One of them is Cele’s cabinet colleague Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, who paid a guilty fine of R1,000 for her lockdown transgression that saw her having lunch with her former colleague Mduduzi Manana and her family. She was also suspended for two months and was paid a month of docking.
LOOK: COVID-19 situation table – April 22, 2020 PM
SAPS AND SANDF TRANSGRESSIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS
• Those arrested include the same law enforcement officers: Dozens of SAPS members now face a variety of charges including bribery, corruption, and breaking blockade regulations. There’s even a case in the Western Cape where policemen organized a robbery at a liquor store to stock up on alcohol.
• The Military Ombud has received 20 complaints from members of the public since closing.
• To give a perspective on those numbers: Before the ombud office closed, about 30 complaints were handled per month, most of them from former SANDF members or members. And since the military ombud began 8 years ago, they have only heard 177 complaints from members of the public and only 23 of them related to the conduct of the SANDF.
• So 20 lock complaints of the lock is a pretty high number.
• Some of the complaints were only video clips, without any information on where they occurred, on what date they occurred, if there were witnesses, etc. In those cases, they have to ask the people who sent the videos back to Get more information.
• 5 of these complaints were filed anonymously, so they have no way of conducting any preliminary investigation.
• So, regarding the 15 that can investigate, they are still in the initial stages of the investigations.
• Ombud also noted that they have received 3 letters of public recommendation actions from SANDF.
FOOD AND WARS
• Protests for food delivery at Mitchells Plain on Wednesday.
• Another apparent looting attempt, with people attempting to storm the Westgate Mall in Mitchells Plain.
• And a shop on Halt Road was also looted.
• The president acknowledged Tuesday that they have to do better in terms of bringing food to those in need and that they cannot survive without help during the shutdown.
• And the Western Cape government is trying to map food aid projects to see where the gaps are and plug them; the prime minister expects a report from his team on this on Friday.
MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS ABOUT SOCIAL AID PLANS
• Among the president’s announcements on Tuesday night was a suggestion that Sassa had some sort of technology solution to help the most vulnerable access food stamps or cash transfers; a promise to deliver 250,000 food packages nationwide next week; and a special grant of R350 per month for those who have no other access to grants and are unemployed.
• But given the obvious inefficiencies in food aid provision and Sassa’s long history of problems, how is the government going to ensure that all this reaches those in need?
• In the COVID-19 grant (the R350 / month), there really is no plan: they recognize that they need to work on some kind of metric to decide who qualifies for the grant and make sure there is no double-dip. Expect details on this on Friday when social and economic groups are expected to report.
• In food parcels, they are talking about expanding the current systems they have in place to deliver them, but whether the current systems really work is questionable.
GLOBALLY
• The head of the World Health Organization has asked the United States to reconsider its decision to withdraw funds, warning that the virus will be with us “for a long time.”
• The UK’s leading doctor warns that social distancing will be the new normal at least for the next calendar year.
• Speaking of the new normal, the House of Commons held its first Zoom meeting, and it was nearly perfect.
• Companies around the world hope that their governments will help them stay afloat during the blockades and the general consequences of COVID-19 and in Peru, the coca growers also want government help. The prices of coca leaves (used to make cocaine) sold to drug gangs apparently fell 70% when Peru closed.
• And love in the COVID-19 era, it’s possible, a Columbia story about a couple who met at a COVID-19 shelter, fell in love, and just got married at the same shelter. I guess when you know, you only know.
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