Daily news update: Cost of Suez Canal mishap, D-Day for Ace Magashule

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SA won’t be going back to level 5 lockdown – Mkhize

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize. Picture: GCIS

The government will not move the country to lockdown level 5, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said ahead of the long Easter weekend.

It has been a year since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. After 1,541,563 cases  and 52,535 confirmed deaths, the country is wondering if the government will implement another lockdown.

How much is the Suez Canal mishap going to cost?

This satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies shows tug boats and dredgers attempting to free the MV Ever Given on 26 March 2021, in the Suez Canal. The container ship, which is longer than four football fields, has been wedged diagonally across the entire canal since 23 March, shutting the waterway in both directions. Picture: Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies/AFP

Paris – The total cost of the Suez Canal accident is clearly hard to calculate, and analysts say much will depend on how long it takes to sort out.

The Taiwan-owned, Panama-flagged MV Ever Given, a 400-metre (1,300-foot) long and 59-metre wide container ship, has been lodged sideways across the waterway since Tuesday.

Charges against Malusi Gigaba’s ex dropped

Norma Mngoma, Malusi Gigaba’s estranged wife in court. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Former Home Affairs minister Malusi Gigaba’s estranged wife Norma Mngoma left court on Friday with a weight off her shoulders when charges of crimen injuria and malicious damage to property against her were dropped.

This has put an end to more than seven months of legal drama between Gigaba and Mngoma.

D-Day for Ace Magashule’s tenure as ANC secretary

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule. Picture: Gallo Images.

It’s D-Day soon for ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule as the party’s national executive committee (NEC) convenes to tell him to pack his bags and leave Luthuli House.

This could happen as soon as this weekend, say insiders.

Major court victory for SA consumers

Picture: iStock

The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) scored a major victory for consumers on Friday when the Pretoria High Court confirmed the lawfulness of the Consumer Goods and Services Industry Code of Conduct, as well as the powers of the CGSO to levy annual participation fees.

As an independent and accredited alternative dispute resolution scheme, as defined in the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), the CGSO has signed up 979 organisations that includes most of the major retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors.

Why the Kruger Park is demolishing artificial water sources

One of the Kruger Park’s 53 artificial dams being demolished as part of an ongoing programme to restore natural water sources and river connectivity.

Strategically placed boreholes to cope with fluctuating rainfall patterns were first constructed in the Kruger National Park (KNP) as early as 1927. Now it is a programme the park is seeking to destroy.

This is because scientists and conservationists have discovered that years of artificial water sources in the park have led to a number of ecological problems and landscape degradation.

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