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UN Human Rights Office highlights 'toxic lockdown culture' in SA

On Monday, Georgette Gagnon, director of field operations and technical cooperation for the UN Human Rights Office, highlighted a "highly militarised" law enforcement response to Covid-19 in South Africa.

"We've received reports of disproportionate use of force by security officers, particularly in poor and informal settlements," she said.

"Rubber bullets, tear gas, water guns and whips have been used to enforce social distancing in shopping lines…and outside their homes."

International Covid-19 wrap | Lockdown restrictions ease, UN warns on workers safety and cases top three million

Coronavirus morning update: Concern over Western and Eastern Cape infection rates

The Western Cape has the most cases in the country, by some distance, and the health minister has raised concerns about outbreaks among essential workers in the province.

New Covid-19 infections jumped by a staggering 247, taking the total positive cases to 4 793 as of Monday night. The death toll is now 90.

These figures come after President Cyril Ramaposa said the coronavirus pandemic has thrown into sharp focus the poverty and inequality that still defines our society.

"Some people have been able to endure the coronavirus lockdown in a comfortable home with a fully stocked fridge, with private medical care and online learning for their children. For millions of others, this has been a month of misery, of breadwinners not working, of families struggling to survive and of children going to bed and waking up hungry," he said in his Freedom Day speech.

Here are some of our top stories of the day:

Outbreaks among essential workers have led to the Western Cape overtaking Gauteng as the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa, while funerals and an outbreak in the correctional services system drove up the Eastern Cape's figures. "We're seeing changes in the outbreak on a day-to-day basis," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said. "When we started with the outbreak, Gauteng province was the highest, things have shifted with the Western Cape now the epicentre."

As it stands currently, South African hospitals are currently not overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic, said acting director-general of the Department of Health, Anban Pillay. He added at the moment there isn't a high demand for high care of Covid-19 patients.

To help scale up our fight against Covid-19, more than 200 Cuban health professionals touched down in South Africa in the early hours of Monday morning. The specialised Cuban medical brigade is made up of family physicians, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, healthcare technology engineers, biotechnology experts and other specialists.

South Africans older than 60 may face many more months at home under proposed 'risk-adjusted' lockdown rules from 1 May, if the projected coronavirus peak indeed hits the country around September. Various health experts have predicted South Africa's "peak" may only be in September. This could mean the elderly could have to remain at home for at least the next five months.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance said it is in support of a much wider opening of the economy, and will also challenge the nationwide curfew in its submissions to the government's risk-adjusted strategy. "Firstly, there is no evidence to say why this should not happen. There has been little to no transparency around that data or the analysis being used to guide government's response," DA leader John Steenhuisen said in a statement on Monday.

Here are some popular stories making international headlines:

People caught without masks forced to sweep streets in Madagascar: Police in Madagascar are forcing citizens caught outside without a coronavirus face mask to sweep pavements.

Hundreds die in Iran after drinking alcohol to cure coronavirus: More than 700 people have died in Iran after ingesting toxic methanol, erroneously thinking it can cure the new coronavirus.

France daily coronavirus deaths rise: France on Monday reported 437 new deaths from Covid-19 in hospitals and nursing homes over the last 24 hours, marking a rise after lower daily figures in the last days.

Nearly half of New Yorkers personally knew someone who died from coronavirus: Almost half of New Yorkers knew someone who died of the new coronavirus, according to a poll which found overwhelming support for confinement measures opposed elsewhere in America.

Back at work, British PM warns against easing virus lockdown: Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his first public appearance since being hospitalised with coronavirus three weeks ago, saying Britain was beginning to "turn the tide" on the outbreak but rejecting calls to ease a nationwide lockdown.

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List | These are the permissions and restrictions for Level 4 lockdown
Talking point | Do your keys, phone, money need disinfecting
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- Compiled by Adiel Ismail

MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ON THE OCCASION OF FREEDOM DAY

27 APRIL 2020

Fellow South Africans,

Sanibonani. Dumelang. Inhlekani. Molweni. Lotjhani. Ndi masiari. Goeie dag. Good afternoon.

On this day twenty-six years ago, a new nation was born in Africa.

On the 27th of April 1994, the men, women and children of South Africa emerged from the dark vale of oppression to stand in the light of freedom.

As millions cast their votes for the first time, they boldly declared to the world that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.

The price of our freedom was paid by generations of patriots.

We pay tribute to the great leaders who resisted colonial domination and who fought for our liberation, both those who have left us and those who are still living.

We remember Chief Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Oliver Reginald Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Albertina Sisulu, Stephen Bantu Biko, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, Ruth Segomotsi Mompati and Mam Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

We remember John Langalibalele Dube, Dr AB Xuma, Sefako Mapogo Makgatho, ZR Mahabane, Josiah Gumede, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, King Cetswayo, King Hintsha, Makhanda, Sekhukhune, Makhado, Bambatha and the many brave leaders of the Khoi and San rebellions.

They watered the tree of liberty so we could enjoy its fruit and stand under its shade today.

We honour their memory and the contribution of the many ordinary compatriots whose names are unknown but whose sacrifices were just as great.

Our Constitution, and the Freedom Charter from which it draws its inspiration, both begin with the words: ‘We, the People’.

President #Ramaphosa: Our Constitution and #FreedomCharter from which it draws its inspiration, both begin with the words #WeThePeople, an ever-present reminder that everything we have achieved as a democracy & everything we hope to achieve is founded on the will of the people. pic.twitter.com/Nv83Xl1l1m

— Presidency | South Africa ???? (@PresidencyZA) April 27, 2020

They are an ever-present reminder that everything we have achieved as a young democracy and everything we hope to achieve is founded on the will of the people.

Our Constitution is the defender of all who live in our great land, be they black or white, rich or poor, young or old, man or woman, citizen or resident.

Over the past 26 years we have made great progress in building a common future in which all South Africans have a part.

We have been building homes, schools, hospitals, clinics and universities.

We have been providing water, sanitation and electricity to many South Africans who never had access to such services.

We have expanded access to health care and education.

We have been hard at work to rebuild our economy and strengthen our institutions.

We have initiated work, internship and study opportunities for young people, assisting them to secure jobs or to be self-employed.

We have accelerated programmes to give our people access to land, and returned land to those who were forcibly removed.

We are supporting vulnerable families, parents, the elderly, persons with disabilities and our veterans with social grants.

Our young democracy has much to be proud of.

But the devastating legacy of our past runs so deep that at times we ourselves have been found wanting in addressing the suffering it has subjected our people to.

Poverty and inequality continues to stalk our land.

A child born to parents of means has a comfortable home, is fed and sheltered, receives a good education and has good prospects for a prosperous life.

For a poor child, every day of life can be a struggle for shelter, for food and for opportunity.

For such a child, their chances of finishing school, of studying further, of gaining useful skills and of finding a job are much smaller.

Even now, after all the progress we have made, the circumstances of one’s birth largely determines where and how we live, where we study, where we work and where we are cared for when we are sick.

It is the greatest form of injustice. It is a stain on our national conscience.

The triumph of 1994 was about much more than being able to vote.

It was about setting right the wrongs of the past, about redress, restitution and restoration.

It was about levelling the field for the black child and the white child, and making sure they each have an equal chance in life.

The promise we made on the 27th of April 1994 can no longer be deferred.

We must make real the right of all our people to health care, food, shelter, water, social security and land.

In this final decade of the National Development Plan, we must change the pace of social and economic transformation.

As a country, we are more than capable of building a more equal society where these rights are realised.

For as long as this is delayed, freedom for some is freedom for none.

This Freedom Day, we find ourselves engaged in a struggle that has thrown into sharp focus the poverty and inequality that still defines our society.

The coronavirus pandemic forces us to confront this reality.

Though we are certainly all braving the same tide, we have not been impacted in the same way by this pandemic.

Some people have been able to endure the coronavirus lockdown in a comfortable home with a fully stocked fridge, with private medical care and online learning for their children.

For millions of others, this has been a month of misery, of breadwinners not working, of families struggling to survive and of children going to bed and waking up hungry.

The social relief measures announced last week that are now being implemented are therefore as much about narrowing the gulf of inequality as they are about supporting vulnerable citizens through this trying time.

With every day that passes, this experience is teaching us much about ourselves, about our society and about our country.

We are learning about the limits of our endurance, about our relations with others and about our very nationhood.

The true lessons of this experience will not just be about the necessity of social distancing, proper hand washing and infection control.

They will also be about whether we have the ability to turn this crisis into an opportunity to invest in a new society, a new consciousness and a new economy.

In this new society, the privileged cannot afford to close their eyes to the plight of the poor and sleep peacefully at night.

This is the time when we should actively work to build a fair and just country

In the South Africa that we all want, no man, woman or child will go hungry, because they will have the means to earn an income, and our social assistance programmes will be matched by efforts to enable communities to grow their own food.

In this new society, the provision of services to our people is the foremost priority of government.

The public servant understands that they are just that: a servant of the people.

Public representatives put the interests of the people ahead of their own.

Before this pandemic was visited on our country, we were deepening our efforts to address poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment and a weak economy.

This pandemic could set these efforts back by many years.

It will take a great deal of effort and resources for our society and our economy to recover.

The challenges we faced before this health emergency remain.

Even as we turn the tide on the coronavirus pandemic, we will still have to confront a contracting economy, unemployment, crime and corruption, a weakened state and other pressing concerns.

We will have to find new, exceptional and innovative ways to overcome them.

This is not something government can do alone.

A #FreedomDay Message from U.S. President Donald Trump to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africans as they Celebrate South Africa's first multiracial elections: https://t.co/tDbgkq4bbK pic.twitter.com/xWimUin7Ly

— US Embassy SA (@USEmbassySA) April 27, 2020

The collaborative spirit with which government, business, labour and civil society formations have worked to drive the national effort to combat the coronavirus is yet another affirmation of just how far we have come.

Robust engagement, strong institutions, social compacting and consensus-building are all the fruits of the national democratic project that began in 1994.

The business community has shown itself ready and willing to support the workforce and to rally its resources to combat this disease.

The labour movement has worked with its partners in government and business not only to protect its members from the worst effects of this pandemic, but to champion the interests of the poor and unemployed.

Across society, NGOs, non-profit organisations, community bodies, religious communities and individuals are working together to defend our people against this virus and its damaging economic and social effects.

In doing so, they have demonstrated the solidarity and compassion that is at the centre of the concept of ubuntu.

As President Nelson Mandela said: “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

Respect for the rights of others is the beating heart of freedom.

Violating the coronavirus response provisions and exposing others to a potentially fatal illness is the worst form of disrespect for others.

This pandemic has changed the face of humankind, not just our country.

It has reminded us of our own mortality, but also of how interconnected we are.

If we did not realise it before, we all know it now – that our interdependence is key to our very survival as a people.

This Freedom Day let us stand united against this disease.

Let us also stand united against poverty, inequality and hunger.

We can only overcome this crisis and rebuild our shattered economy if we work together.

Let the good that has come from this experience – of collective action and unity of purpose – continue.

Let the generosity of spirit endure.

We owe it to the memories of those who came before us to live the values they cherished, of empathy, compassion and solidarity.

As we are reminded this Freedom Day, we have known far worse and we have prevailed.

Let us keep our arms locked together in a column of defence against this pandemic, a united people.

Let us use this crisis to reaffirm our resolve to fundamentally change our society.

Let us emerge from the coronavirus pandemic a better country, a more equal country.

This year, we are celebrating Freedom Day apart, each of us confined to our homes.

Next year – through your determination, through your courage and through your actions – we will once again celebrate Freedom Day together.

I wish you all a happy and, above all, a safe and peaceful Freedom Day.

I thank you.

Spain counts 331 new virus deaths in 24 hours - government 

Madrid – Spain on Monday counted another 331 new virus deaths, with the overnight toll rising by several dozen from its lowest level in more than a month.

The figure raised the overall toll to 23 521 in Spain, which has suffered the world's third-highest number of deaths but which on Sunday began easing the conditions of its lockdown, allowing children out to play for the first time in six weeks.

 - AFP