For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: Cogta declares provincial disaster in KZN, Health Ministry announces extension for public comments on proposed amendments to National Health Act and, Eskom warns of load-shedding risk after long weekend

Cogta declares provincial disaster in KZN,

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has declared the KwaZulu-Natal floods, which have claimed the lives of over 300 people and displaced many families, a provincial disaster in line with the Disaster Management Act.

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the province yesterday, accompanied by Premier Sihle Zikalala and Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to see firsthand how the floods affected infrastructure.

Ramaphosa promised that the province would get support from the national government and other provinces.

Cogta says the decision follows the recommendation and assessments done on the magnitude and severity of the impact of the weather events by the Provincial Disaster Management Centre.

Health Ministry announces extension for public comments on proposed amendments to National Health Act

Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla on Thursday announced the extension of the public comment period on the proposed amendments to the National Health Act to allow the public to make submissions on platforms such as WhatsApp to April 24.

The regulations are part of the government’s transition plans from the National State of Disaster, which had been in effect for over two years.

The new regulations will effectively act as a new instrument for government to manage the current Covid pandemic and future pandemics.

President Cyril Ramaphosa ended the National State of Disaster earlier this month, after 750 days of it being enacted and announced interim safety protocols in its place.

Eskom warns of load-shedding risk after long weekend

Eskom has indicated that there is a threat of a resumption of load-shedding after the Easter long weekend given its assessment that more than 9 700 MW of capacity is currently “at risk” of tripping.

Generation executive Phillip Dukashe said there was a plan to use the space created by the falloff in demand over the public holiday weekend to tackle those units that were currently showing signs of being under strain.

He said some of the work would require the units to be offline for between five and seven days.

Meanwhile, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter reported that Stage 2 load-shedding was still expected to be suspended at 5:00 tomorrow, but that load-shedding would continue tonight.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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