Cape Town —
Parliament Pays a Visit to Eskom's Medupi Amid Stage 4 Rolling Blackouts
The standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) is visiting Medupi in Lephalale in light (no pun intended) of the increasing power outages experienced nationally, this week. The members will also visit Kusile power station in Emalahleni tomorrow April 21.
South Africa was this week hit by the latest round of rolling blackouts, with Eskom saying this could continue into winter. Eskom first implemented stage 2 load shedding and this was later scaled up to stage 4.
Things Not Looking Good at State Hospitals - Western Cape Tops But Only Just
The Western Cape is said have the country's most efficient health-care system but it fast deteriorating and "nearing collapse", according to ANC's Rachel Windvogel, a member of the Western Cape provincial government.
Among the challenges is dilapidated infrastructure in hospitals such as Groote Schuur and Tygerberg Hospitals.
Canegrowers Suffer Huge Losses In KwaZulu-Natal Floods
SA Canegrowers Association has revealed that cane losses as a result of recent heavy rainfall and floods in KwaZulu-Natal stood at R222.9 million.
The Association's Dr Thomas Funke said that the catastrophic damage comes just as many cane growers had started recovering from the riots and arson attacks that took place in July 2021, which saw 554,000 tons of cane being burnt and R84 million in losses.
By April 19, 2022 over 300 cane growers responded to the association's survey, reporting that 2 516.65 hectares of cane had extensive crop and root damage, would require the total replanting of the fields to bring them back into production. The situation has been worsened by the washing away of local roads and bridges - the main transport nodes to mills and also the access routes for workers employed on the farms.
Singer Lira Back Home After Suffering a Stroke In Germany
Popular singer, "Feel Good" hitmaker Lira was in Germany for a performance when she suffered a stroke, which has affected her ability to communicate and has impacted her speech. In a statement, her family said: "She is currently undergoing treatment here in South Africa, led by the best medical team available. Her medical team has advised that her journey to recovery will require patience and therefore, it is unlikely that she will be able to perform in the short term.
