Tag Archive for: Cyril Ramaphosa

Andrew Stegmann
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New Lock-down Rules for South African Schools

The Department of Basic Education has published a new directive outlining the return plan for students after a government-mandated break.

South Africa’s public schools began the four-week break from physical teaching from 27 July amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

While some students are due to return before this four-week break concludes, a number of grades have not returned to school since the introduction of restrictions in mid-March.

The latest directive outlines the returns process as follows:

Week 1 (27 – 31 July 2020)

  • The principal and the school management team will determine the staffing requirements to ensure compliance with social distancing requirements and to assist with the distribution of learning material and the roll-out of the daily school feeding programme;
  • The principal and the school management team must be on duty to make arrangements for the receipt of the learners anticipated in the weeks ahead;
  • Schools will remain open for feeding of qualifying learners in terms of the National School Nutrition Programme.

Week 2  (3 – 7 August 2020)

  • Grade 12 and Year 4 learners at schools of skill will return to school on 3 August 2020;
  • Grade 12 and Year 4 schools of skill teachers and support staff will return to school on 3 August 2020;
  • The principal and the school management team (as required) will be in attendance at school;
  • Officials will return to school on 3 August 2020, to assist in ensuring compliance with the health, safety and social distancing requirements and to assist in the distribution of learning material and the roll-out of the daily school feeding programme for all qualifying learners.

Week 3 (11–14 August 2020)

  • Grade 7 learners will return to school on 11 August 2020;
  • Grade 7 officials and teacher support staff will return to school on 11 August 2020;
  • The principal and the school management team will be in attendance at school;
  • Officials, who are at school, will assist in ensuring compliance with the health, safety and social distancing requirements and to assist in the distribution of learning material and the roll-out of the daily school feeding programme for all qualifying learners.

Week 4 (17– 21 August 2020)

  • All officials will report for duty on 17 August 2020 to prepare for the return of learners in the remaining grades;
  • Grade 7; Grade 12; and schools of skill: Year 4 learners and officials will already be at school;
  • Officials who are already at school will assist in ensuring compliance with the health, safety and social distancing requirements and to assist in the distribution of learning material and the roll-out of the daily school feeding programme for all qualifying learners.

Week 5  (24 August 2020)

The following learners will return to school on 24 August 2020:

  • Grade R; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Grade 4; and Grade 6;
  • Grade 9; Grade 10; and Grade 11;
  • Schools of skill: Year 1; Year 2; and Year 3;
  • Schools with Learners with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disabilities (LSPID): Year 1; Year 2; and Year 3;
  • Schools for Learners with Severe Intellectual Disabilities (“SID”): Grade R; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; and final year ;
  • Schools with autistic learners: Junior group (below 13 years); Senior Group (13 years and above); and final year;
  • The schools must ensure compliance with the health, safety and social distancing requirements in accommodating this group of learners.

Week 6 (31 August 2020)

Learners in the following grades or schools will return to school on 31 August 2020:

  • Grade 5 and Grade 8;
  • Schools for Learners with Severe Intellectual Disabilities (SID): Grade 4 and Grade 5

Students not returning to school 

The directive also provides for students that will not be returning to school during this period.

It states that a parent, caregiver or a designated family member may choose not to send a learner to school for reasons that may include:

  • Any medical condition of the learner, including comorbidities;
  • Anxiety and fear related to Covid-19, concern for family members that are over the age of 60 or concern for family members with comorbidities;
  • A preference for the learner receiving learning and teaching instruction through the online or virtual platforms provided by an independent institution which is not related to the school that the child is registered at;
  • A preference for the learner receiving learning and teaching instruction through the online or virtual platforms provided by the school;
  • An application for home education and deregistration of a learner from the school.

In these cases, a parent or caregiver are required to fill out an application form and send it to the Head of Department.

The required form, as well as the application process, are outlined in more detail in the gazette below.

Updated calendar 

While it does not form part of the official directive, the Department of Basic Education has also published the new calendar for the rest of the 2020 school year, which has been structured so that the academic year won’t push into 2021.

In terms of the new calendar, there are now 163 actual school days for teachers, and 156 for learners.

The department said that the school year will complete on 15 December 2020 for grades R to 11, and will not be carried over into 2021.

A break will be required to separate the third and fourth terms, so a small holiday will take place between 26 and 30 October.

These are the remaining terms:

  • Term 3: 24 August – 23 October
  • Term 4: 2 November – 15 December

Matric exams will also be concluded by 15 December, the department said, with marking expected to be done by 22 January 2021, and the results released on 23 February 2021.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
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South African Health Minister’s Plea: Social Distance and Wear Your Masks. South Africans Get Lazy as COVID-19 Cases Continue to Skyrocket

Health Minister’s plea to South Africans

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has delivered an ‘urgent and important’ plea to all South Africans around the country’s flagging response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As Government, we have mobilized every resource, every faculty and wherewithal at our disposal to effect the necessary interventions. But government cannot manage this unilaterally.

“Every single South African now needs to focus on adhering to recommendations pertaining to non-pharmaceutical interventions,” he said.

“We are extremely concerned that fatigue seems to have set in and South Africans are letting down their guard at a time when the spread of infection is surging. We see poor or no social distancing in communities.

“Masks are being abandoned or not worn properly and there is laxity setting in around frequent hand-washing.”

The minister said that this will directly influence the rise in numbers in the next two weeks. “We must all appreciate that there is a direct causal link between the surge of cases and our ability, or inability, to ad- here to these very basic principles.

“We do not have a vaccine. We do not have a cure. Our ability to break the cycle of infection depends on our willingness to remain focused and disciplined and take non-pharmaceutical interventions seriously.

“We can beat this pandemic together. We have already proved this during the lockdown,” he said.

“It remains in each and every citizen’s hands to admonish family members, colleagues, friends. who refuse to adhere to measures that protect lives by limiting the spread of this virus.”

Case numbers soar

South Africa is now ranked 5th in the world for the most COVID cases. You can view the Microsoft case number tracker here.

Before this article was originally published (July 20, 2020), the minister announced that there were a total of 350,879 cases of coronavirus in South Africa.

An update: as at July 31, 2020, cases in SA stand at 482,169.

Quarantine recommendations

Mkhize also published a new directive which details the self-isolation and quarantine criteria that should be followed for people returning to South Africa.

In the context of the regulations, these criteria are specific to people re-entering the country from abroad. However, they also provide clarity around what is expected of people who are self-isolating at home.

These criteria include the following:

  • A separate well-ventilated bedroom with a bathroom and toilet, or a residence that is not shared with persons who are not subject to quarantine;
  • Meals should be served in the room in disposable utensils or utensils that are separate and are washed properly if there are persons who are not subject to quarantine;
  • Support from friends or family that can facilitate the drop off of food and medicine at the gate if they are not able to make use of online shopping facilities and contactless deliveries;
  • A thermometer that will allow him or her to measure his or her temperature daily;
  • Access to the internet and a phone that allows the daily reporting of symptoms;
  • Access to a private physician that he or she can contact should he or she require medical advice or care; and
  • A contact number where he or she can be reached during the period of self – quarantine or self -isolation.

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

South Africa Will Embrace Private Power Generation, President Ramaphosa Says

South Africa will embrace efforts by businesses to generate their own electricity, President Cyril Ramaphosa said recently, reacting to growing frustration at red tape throttling private power generation.

Ramaphosa is under pressure over nationwide power cuts that have dented economic output and sapped investor confidence in Africa’s most industrialized economy.

Ailing state-owned utility Eskom generates more than 90% of the country’s electricity but regularly struggles to meet demand because of breakdowns at its coal-fired power plants.

Many power-hungry companies such as mines want to build their own renewable energy plants to reduce their reliance on Eskom but have not been able to secure the necessary regulatory approvals.

“For the first time we are now saying let us have self-generation,” Ramaphosa told an economic conference in Johannesburg. “We have opened up a new era … that says we are now embracing the fact there are those companies and households that want to generate their own energy.”

“We cannot stop technology, we cannot stop the future from arriving,” he added.

South Africa’s mining industry body the Minerals Council on Monday urged the government to act urgently to bring online new power sources and ease licensing rules.

Roger Baxter, chief executive of the Minerals Council, told Reuters last month that miners could build between 500 megawatts (MW) and 1,500 MW of their own generating capacity over the next few years if regulations were eased.

Ramaphosa’s government has been slow to procure more power since the electricity cuts escalated last year.

Some labor unions and members of Ramaphosa’s governing African National Congress party are deeply suspicious of allowing in more independent power producers. A vocal coal lobby has also blamed renewable energy firms for hastening Eskom’s financial decline.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: Johanna Montoya [1], [2].