Cape Town — Measles Outbreak Spreads to Mpumalanga as Cases Rise

A week after the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported 35 confirmed measles cases in Limpopo has seen the total rise to 57 as the outbreak begins spreading to Mpumalanga, TimesLive reports. "Capricorn and Waterberg districts in Limpopo and Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga reported three or more laboratory-confirmed measles cases within 30 days in the district that meets the criteria for declaring a measles outbreak," the NICD said. The health body said that cases rose to 52 in Limpopo since the outbreak began and confirmed in laboratory tests that once case was epidemiologically linked to measles infections circulating in Zimbabwe. Measles symptoms include cough, red eyes and runny nose and complications of the disease may lead to diarrhea, pneumonia, dehydration, encephalitis, blindness and even death.

Eskom Implements Stage 4 Load Shedding Indefinitely

Eskom has cited breakdowns resulting in decimated generation generation capacity as its reason to institute stage-4 power cuts "until further notice", EyeWitness News reports. "Breakdowns amounting to 17,056MW of generation capacity, low pumped storage dam levels and lack of diesel are the reasons for the increase in load shedding," said the national power utility. Eskom added an additional warning of more potential power cuts through the holiday season and into 2023.

Public Sector Workers Warn of Another National Shutdown

Unions with ties to the three major trade union federations warned of a national shutdown of public services next Tuesday, eNCA reports. This comes in the wake of a national stay-away which saw over 240,000 public service workers take to the streets demanding a wage hike greater than the 3% unilaterally implemented by government after negotiations with unions failed. Unions have said that their demand for a 6.5% hike is now off the table and reverted to their initial appeal of a 10% increase.