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Daily news update: Magashule asbestos case, Rosettenville shooting and vaccination programme changes
Here is your daily news update. Click on the links below for the full story or visit our home page for the latest news.
Picture File: Suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule. Photo: Felix Dlangamandla/Pool
Here is your daily news update. Click on the links below for the full story or visit our home page for the latest news.
Daily news update 22 February
Asbestos case: Magashule’s pre-trial hearing postponed
The Bloemfontein High Court has postponed the pre-trial hearing in former Free State premier Ace Magashule’s R255 million corruption case to June.
Magashule and some of his co-accused challenged aspects of the case, including the asbestos corruption evidence given by witnesses at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry that the state relied on.
The suspended ANC secretary-general further filed papers in the high court demanding the state provide him with a list of all witnesses who implicated him.
In Rosettenville, eight would-be robbers were killed during a foiled cash-in-transit heist, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said on Monday.
Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the crime scene on Monday evening as police rounded up the criminals.
According to IPID spokesperson Grace Langa, five police officers were wounded.
“12 rifles were found on the scene and about 100 bullets were found on the scene,” said Langa in a statement.
‘I went to speak with the old man’: Cele says there were signs of unrest before Zuma’s arrest
The South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) investigative hearings in the July riots got underway on Monday, with Police Minister Bheki Cele taking the stand.
The SAHRC is conducting a national investigative hearing into the devastating riots that swept through parts of Gauteng in July 2021.
The hearings are set to continue until 4 March.
While the focus will be on Gauteng this time, the SAHRC is also expected to hear evidence stemming from the hearings conducted in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) between 15 November and 3 December last year.
The 8 to 19 July riots resulted in more than 330 people losing their lives, and cost R25 billion in damages.
Govt reduces time intervals between Covid-19 vaccine doses
The Department of Health announces changes on vaccination programme, which will be effective from today and Wednesday.
With the guidance by scientific evidence, the changes will help increase uptake to Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa.
All individuals older than 18 years of age that have received one dose the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine are now eligible to receive a booster dose of eithe rJ&J or Pfizer after two months.
This change will take effect on Monday.
Government has also changed the reduction of time interval between the first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Uni students hospitalised after suspected gas leak at Parktown residence
A number of students were assessed and hospitalised after a suspected gas leak at a residence of an unnamed university in Parktown, Johannesburg on Sunday night.
ER24, City of Johannesburg EMS and other services were called to the scene after students began complaining of shortness of breath.
ER24 paramedics said when they got to the scene, the students, aged 18 and upwards, had already evacuated the building, and were standing on the sidewalk and street awaiting assistance.
A triage area was set up, where around 170 people were assessed. 60 ended up being hospitalised, with the remaining patients declining further medical treatment.
Bystander caught in cross-pavement robbery crossfire
Police in Gauteng have activated a 72-hour activation plan following the murder of an innocent bystander during a cross-pavement robbery.
Crime statistics show there has been a marked reduction in cash-in-transit heists (CIT) across the country.
Gauteng, which is the province where CIT heists are most prevalent, recorded the largest decrease of nine fewer cases.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) reported a crime that took place in Eden Park, Gauteng on Sunday afternoon.
It was reported that a group of armed men aggressively approached security officials of a cash solution company, while they were collecting money from a business outlet in Eden Park.
