A security fence was supposed to be installed around Joe Slovo Primary in Port Elizabeth but the lockdown delayed that plan

10 June 2020 – By Phumlani Saul

Parents cleaning classrooms at Joe Slovo Primary in Port Elizabeth ahead of the resumption of school for grade 7 learners on Wednesday morning. Photo: phumlani saul

Parents at Joe Slovo Primary in Port Elizabeth have decided to send grade 7 learners back to school on Wednesday despite some serious challenges.

In early March, the school was shut down by parents for two weeks, demanding that steel palisade fencing be installed at the school.

Parents said teachers and learners did not feel safe as the school had become an easy target for criminals and had been ransacked five times since 2019. Stray animals and strangers have also been found roaming in the school yard during the school hours.

It is the only school in the area. It was overcrowded and under pressure as families from the surrounding wetlands were relocated to Joe Slovo.

In March the provincial education department committed to installing a new fence but the countrywide lockdown derailed these plans and the school was hit by vandals again.

When Daily Kasi News visited on Tuesday afternoon, some parents were busy cleaning classrooms and younger children were playing on school grounds.

School governing body secretary Malisakhe Mthwalo said: “This is too much. Our school is vandalised daily and has become a playground for children. The main cause of this is the community itself. It encourages the vandals to keep on breaking our school by buying stolen goods.”

Mthwalo said that during the lockdown, the electrical cables and toilet doors were stolen as well as some of the labelled Jojo tanks. “It’s time the community of Joe Slovo decides whether it still needs this school. This is the only school in this area. We should stand up and protect it from the vandals,” she said.

Provincial education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani said: “We said all the schools that are not ready should not reopen until all the precautionary measures are in place. The lockdown disrupted everything and no construction could take place.

“For now the focus is on reopening the school. The other projects would be considered later,” he said.

By Thelma Vena

The Life Esidimeni Care Centre in Kirkwood plans to file an urgent application at the Eastern Cape High Court in Port Elizabeth against National Education Health Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) and South African Civic Organisation (SANCO) to interdict them from interfering with its operations.

This comes after a meeting on Tuesday morning between SANCO, NEHAWU and hospital management was disrupted, according to the hospital. The parties called the meeting after the Eastern Cape Department of Health released statistics last week about 35 Covid-19 cases at the hospital and six deaths.

The hospital said staff and patients had been put at risk. Police had to be called.

On Wednesday, the Department of Labour was approached by NEHAWU to inspect the hospital and to check whether it was meeting precautionary measures against Covid-19. SANCO threatened to approach the local taxi associations to stop transporting workers to the hospital. It said they were posing danger to the community.

The hospital wants SANCO and NEHAWU to refrain from interfering with its business and intimidating employees such as blocking access, entering the premises without permission, inciting or threatening to incite employees or the public to “close down” the hospital.

SANCO said it will challenge the court application.

Mxolisi April, sub-regional chairperson in Sunday’s River, said, “This shows their arrogance. What they wrote here – none of it is true. We entered there with their permission.”

“Right now I am in self isolation because one of the staff members who I was in contact with has tested positive on Wednesday.

“I am currently giving my lawyer a statement of what had happened on that day. He will advise on the next step to take as I am in self isolation,” he said.

Dk news was unable to reach Sweetness Stokwe, NEHAWU regional secretary in Thabo Moshoeshoe region, before publication.

By Phumlani.saul

Management of the Life Esidimeni Psychiatric Hospital in Kirkwood has accused the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) of “storming the centre” on Tuesday and placing lives of staff and patients at risk. NEHAWU is protesting at what the union considers to be inadequate Covid-19 safety protocols at the hospital.

The provincial Department of Health reported last week that the hospital had 35 cases of Covid-19 and six deaths. Provincial health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo confirmed these numbers to GroundUp, but also sent a Department of Health report on the hospital dated 31 May, saying that 27 patients and 10 staff members had been tested positive. The document referred to six deaths, but the table in the document recorded eight deaths.

The report said management had reported “sufficient supplies” of personal protective equipment for staff, though it was difficult to issue these to patients because of their condition. Staff adhered to distancing protocols but most patients were not able to understand them, the report said. Patients’ temperatures were taken every four hours, and all staff were screened daily on entrance. Staff were recommended to go for private tests “as turnaround time is faster”.

NEHAWU and the SA National Civics Organisation (SANCO) called for the hospital to be closed on Tuesday. They said that a meeting with hospital management about safety protocols had “collapsed” and called for the shutdown of the hospital, the intervention of the Labour Department and the removal of Covid-19 patients.

However, hospital management denied that the meeting had collapsed. Puseletso Jaure, Managing Director, Life Esidimeni, told GroundUp: “Life Healthcare emphatically denies that a scheduled meeting between Life Esidimeni Kirkwood Care Centre management with NEHAWU or SANCO collapsed. We would like to clarify that representatives from both SANCO and NEHAWU arrived at the Centre, forced themselves in and in the process circumvented the strict adherence to the COVID-19 screening protocols before entering the facility.

“In storming the facility, they knowingly disregarded our strict Covid-19 guidelines, placing staff and patient lives at risk. Furthermore, they refused to leave the premises and had to be escorted out of the facility by the SAPS.”

“The disturbance by NEHAWU and SANCO has caused much anxiety to staff and patients.”

Patrick Bayini, NEHAWU shop steward and a maintenance worker at the hospital, said the official figures did not include new deaths. Bayini said staff, including nurses, worked without protective equipment and patients with Covid-19 were not isolated.

“In Unit 7 there are 72 patients in two wards. Those who are positive are not in an enclosed place.”

Jaure said the hospital would not disclose information on deaths. But she said the hospital followed the guidelines set up by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases about staff and patient safety, and “”independent audits and audits done by the Department of Health confirmed compliance to guidelines and protocols.”

Mxolisi April, SANCO secretary in Sunday’s River, said the organisation had decided to intervene after staff had complained to SANCO. He said management was not prepared for the Covid-19 epidemic.

“The staff that works here is posing a danger to the communities of Kirkwood, especially in Moses Mabhida township where the bulk of the workers come from. They share public transport with us and have not been tested.”

April said they would also ask the taxi association to stop transporting workers to and from the hospital if management did not resolve the problem.

Sweetness Stokwe, NEHAWU regional secretary in Thabo Moshoeshoe region, said safety must come before profit.

“Our staff members are not safe here because precautionary measures are not taken. The management is more concerned about profit than the safety of our members. The staff has been calling for tests but management says testing is too expensive because it costs R800 per person. The staff also lacks PPE. The positive patients are kept at Unit 7 and have no masks. That unit was not meant for isolation.”

“Six ambulances have been in and out of here today – that shows there is a crisis here. The hospital must be closed temporarily for decontamination and all the staff and their contacts tested. Also, management must find an alternative place to quarantine the positive patients because they easily infect one another because it’s hard to control them due to their condition.”

April said the patients who tested positive should be quarantined “in a place that is far from the people because Kirkwood is a small town.”

Jaure denied that the hospital was refusing to test patients or staff because of cost.

“The cost of the test is not a factor. All employees who have met the testing criteria and are showing symptoms have been tested as per the NICD and Department of Health,” she said.

Jaure said staff had been victimised by the community, “merely because they work at the facility”.

“We believe the storming of the facility and the staff victimisation is purely as a result of the community’s lack of understanding of Covid-19, PPE protocols and testing which is causing them anxiety and fear as they see the virus spreading easily between people. “

NEHAWU was now waiting for a report from the Department of Labour after a visit by the Department on Wednesday, Stokwe said.

By Nomathamsanqa Magwa
Swift action by Uitenhage police has led to the arrest of a hijacking suspect and the recovery of a stolen truck and a 9mm pistol.

Police spokesperson, Captain Gerda Swart, said SAPS members received a report of a truck that was hijacked in Caledon Street, in Uitenhage, at around 10 am on Saturday.

She said they responded immediately and upon arrival at the scene spotted the vehicle moving in the direction of Despatch.

The truck suddenly stopped in Mills Street and two suspects jumped out and fled with police in pursuit. One man was arrested and the firearm, with the serial number filed off, was recovered.

“It will be sent for ballistic testing,” Swart said.

She said other SAPS managed to recover the truck with all the stolen property.

“The 35-year-old man is due to appear in the Uitenhage Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 25 May 2020 on charges ranging from hijacking, kidnapping, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition,” Swart said.

The hunt for his accomplice is continuing.

By Phumlani Saul

With the sale of alcohol banned for over seven weeks, the illegal booze trade has mushroomed and prices rocketed. People who used to frequent shebeens in the southern Cape, say syndicates have stepped in and are charging exorbitant prices for conventional brands of alcohol. In response, people have started to brew their own liquor at home. Pineapples and apples are used mostly.

On the south coast, many people are now making a living from it, brewing up 25-litre buckets of iqhilika in places such as Gunguluza in Kwanobuhle . near Uitenhage.

The home-brewed alcohol sells for about R10 a litre or R20 for a 2.5-litre bottle. In contrast, Mamtshawe of KwaNobuhle. told Daily kasi news ” A bottle of Smirnoff vodka is now going for R450 and beer prices have doubled, even trebled.

“I have resorted to drinking homemade booze because it’s much cheaper and affordable,” he said.

Pineapple alcohol is made with sliced pineapple, lukewarm water, brown bread, oats, ginger, yeast and sugar. Apple beer is a concoction of teabags, sugar, yeast and brown bread. The ingredients are left to ferment overnight.

A popular drinking spot in Gunguluza area 11, that dates back to the 1950s, has become known for its cleanliness and the pleasant taste of its pineapple brew.

“Lockdown has actually taken us back to dark days [of apartheid], where people made alcohol from home and sold to community members,” says Mona.

“I make sure that l don’t get in close contact with my customers. I wear gloves and mask and sell through the burglar door.”

“This township is dead without booze. People are bored of sitting at home doing nothing. People don’t sit here, they just buy and go drink in their homes,” she says.

Another seller in Peace Village, said that at first she only brewed for her family, but everyone in the area now wants her booze. “People don’t have money to buy expensive backdoor alcohol … We just pray that the government suspends the lockdown so that people can return to their favourite booze.”

Police spokesperson Captain Dumile Gwavu said that selling and brewing of alcohol during the Covid-19 national lockdown is a criminal offence.

By Phumlani Saul
President Cyril Ramaphosa said that he was pleased with the progress that the Eastern Cape was making in putting systems and measures in place to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in the province.

He was in Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday to get progress reports from the Provincial Government and to inspect the Livingstone Hospital, a designated treatment centre as well as Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium which has been prepared as a quarantine facility.

Premier Lubabalo Mabuyane presented an overview to the President, providing details of the provincial strategy, tracing and treatment programme and provision of Personal Protective Equipment.

The Eastern Cape has the third-largest infection rate in the country and as of Wednesday, that number stood at 1 534 confirmed case, with 31 deaths and 632 recoveries.

The Province had come under fire for its apparent lack of readiness, prompting the Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, to announce a range of interventions that included additional experts seconded to the Province, including the utilisation of Cuban doctors.

A senior health expert from Bhisho, Dr Litha Matiwane, was also seconded to Nelson Mandela Bay, an identified hotspot, to oversee the implementation of the Health Department’s programme to fight Covid19.

“From what I have heard you are making fantastic progress and I’m rather glad and in a way privileged to have this opportunity with Minister Mkize to come and be at the ringside of listening to the full outline of the initiatives that you have embarked upon,” Ramaphosa said.

“I must say that I’m really impressed with the strategy that you have put in place and I can see that the Eastern Cape is really awake, you are alive and awake and are energised,” the President said.

He said the Eastern Cape has “come to grips” with the task that is at hand and has a clear strategy to deal with Covid19 and “I’m sure that we are going to start seeing the levelling of the infections”.

In a wide-ranging speech, President Ramaphosa he reiterated that the country’s health workers at the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus must have all the protection that they need.

By Nomathamsanqa Magwa
The Department of Correctional Services has warned of consequences for the ringleaders behind an incident at St Albans Correctional Centre in Port Elizabeth where awaiting trial prisoners set fire to their prison uniforms.

Spokesperson, Singabhako Nxumalo, said the incident on Tuesday followed demands by the inmates for cigarettes and also to be taken to court for their cases to be heard.

He said officials explained to them that the sale of cigarettes is prohibited under Level 4 lockdown regulations while courts administer their own rolls and issue dates for all those awaiting trial inmates whose cases were remanded.

Nxumalo said once they realised that their demands were not going to be met they set fire to their clothes and tossed the burning items out of the cell windows.

He said the situation was contained without the need to use force and the burning items were extinguished.

Nxumalo warned though that the ringleaders would face the consequences.

Daily kasi news Reporter

The Department of Correctional Services has confirmed the deaths of two inmates at the East London Correctional Centre.

Spokesperson, Singabhako Nxumalo, said the deceased had “underlying co-morbid conditions” and died five days apart.

He said the Department had sent messages of condolence to their families.

Six new cases were also reported at the prison, taking the number of confirmed cases at the EL Centre to 100. These included 35 officials and 65 inmates.

“Our health care practitioners are already on-site providing an array of health services. They have been provided with adequate Personal Protection Equipment and they are attending to the cases and are monitoring the situation so that those in need of urgent medical attention can be attended to,” Nxumalo said.

He added that there were 58 recoveries, which he said was “a clear indication of the effectiveness of the containment and treatment pillar of the DCS’ Covid-19 Disaster Management Response Strategy.”

Under this strategy, there is rapid identification of laboratory-confirmed cases, and inmates who test positive are isolated and have access to quality healthcare that enable their recovery, he said.

Nxumalo also said that the total number of Covid19 cases within the Department of Correctional Services stood at 165 countrywide, with one death in the Western Cape under investigation.

“We continue to work with the Department of Health, adhering to all their guidelines in fighting against this pandemic,” he said.

By Phumlani Saul

Volkswagen Group South Africa said it had secured about R107m in funding to convert its Port Elizabeth plant into a temporary medical facility to assist in the fight against the covid19 pandemic.

The money would come from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, after an approach from VWSA chairman and managing director, Thomas Schaeffer.

Over the next six to eight weeks, the 66 000 square metre building in Korsten, Port Elizabeth would be converted into a medical facility, able to accommodate 1 484 patients after the first phase is completed.

At full capacity, the facility would be able to accommodate up to 4 000 beds.

Schaefer said that the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) would provide funding of 5.2 million Euros (R107 million).

This would support the conversion of the plant as well as the procurement of protective gear (PPE) for staff at regional tertiary hospitals, regional Primary Care Clinics and 49 Covid-19 test centres.

He added that VWSA would contribute R28 million to the project and would provide the project management for the conversion of the facility and management of the procurement of the critical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

“The plant will be made available to the government until March 2021, with the Department of Health and the NMBM responsible for the management and daily operations of the facility,” he said.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s role would be to assist in facilitating the project and garnering further support from its membership base.

Schaefer said that this commitment was VWSA’s latest move in the fight against the global Covid-19 crisis.

“The company has also been working on the manufacture of ventilators, respirators and masks in partnership with other local businesses, and has offered ongoing support to the Business Chamber and the Municipality in their coordinated efforts to bolster medical care in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.”

“Solidarity is crucial in a crisis and Covid-19 is an unprecedented global threat,” he said

By Phumlani Saul

The New Brighton police station in Port Elizabeth has been closed after a SAPS member tested positive for the covid19 coronavirus.

National police spokesperson, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, said that all other SAPS members are being screened and tested and are in self-isolation

He said the building is currently undergoing decontamination and the public will be informed when it reopens.

Naidoo said the community Service Centre will now be operating from the Nongeza Jebe Hall which is in Ntshekisa Street in New Brighton.

People are advised to call 10111 for all emergencies and complaints which will be attended to by the Mount Road Operational Command Centre members.

Brigadier Naidoo said that the telephone lines at New Brighton police station community service centre will no longer be accessible.

“The SAPS management apologises for any inconvenience that may arise from this,” he said.

New Brighton police station closed due to COVID 19 yesterday