Cape Town - A total of 1 913 new Covid-19-related cases have been identified in the country, with the cumulative number of detected cases rising to 685 155, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday.
There have been 145 more Covid-19-related deaths: 1 from Eastern Cape, 11 from Free State, 42 from KwaZulu Natal, 41 from Gauteng, 24 from Limpopo, 11 from Mpumalanga, 7 from Northern Cape and 8 from Western Cape, Mkhize said. This brings the total number of deaths to 17 248.
'’Our recoveries now stand at 618 127, which translates to a recovery rate of 90%,’’ said Mkhize.
The cumulative number of tests conducted to date is 4 318 514, with 23 583 new tests conducted since the last report.
Meanwhile at least one of the 40 Gauteng companies linked to Covid-19 PPE corruption could not pay its employees after its bank account was frozen.
This emerged at the Special Tribunal hearing at the South Gauteng High Court, where the implicated companies were expected to argue why the court’s earlier decision to freeze their bank accounts should not be made final.
On August 21, the Special Tribunal of South Africa was granted an interim order which froze about R38.7m held in several accounts of 40 Gauteng-based contractors who were involved in supplying PPE to the provincial government at the height of the pandemic.
These accounts included those belonging to Ledla Structural Development, Royal Bhaca Projects and Mediwaste, companies at the centre of the unfolding PPE scandal.
Royal Bhaca Projects is owned by Madzikane II Thandisizwe Diko, who is married to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko. She is on special leave.
The order also interdicted the Government Employee Pension Fund from releasing the pension money and benefits to the former Gauteng Health Department chief financial officer, Mantsu Kabelo Lehloenya, who allegedly signed off irregular PPE contracts worth more than R2bn.
IOL and The Star