South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced this Thursday, July 23, a new closure of public schools for a period of one month this time, while " the storm " caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is hitting the country. “ The government decided today that all public schools should close for the next four weeks, ” Ramaphosa said in a televised intervention.
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“ South Africa is in fifth place in the world for the number of confirmed cases, and is home to more than half of all cases in Africa. The coronavirus storm has indeed arrived, ”he said. " To date, the total number of confirmed cases is 408,052 " in South Africa, including " more than 6,000 deaths ", he said. " We must do everything in our power to minimize " the spread of the disease, he added to justify the new closure of public schools.
The South African authorities had imposed a very strict confinement at the end of March, which has since been relaxed to prevent a collapse of the economy of the continent's leading industrial power. In public schools, several levels, including the final, had resumed classes gradually since early June.
Schools will close as of July 27 and will reopen on August 24, with some exceptions, President Ramaphosa said. Final year students, for example, will have a single “ vacation ” week and will resume classes on August 3. " Given the disruptions caused by the pandemic, the current school year (which runs from January to December 2020, editor's note) will be extended beyond the end of 2020 ", the head of state said, adding that the Ministry of Education would " provide details " on this later. Cyril Ramaphosa explained that he " adopted a deliberately cautious approach " to the health of children and teaching staff " at a time when the country is experiencing its greatest increase in cases of infections ".
Misappropriation of funds in the fight against the pandemic
But the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), denounced the president's decision to close public schools which "is going to have a devastating effect on children ". The president " knelt before the powerful teachers ' unions " who had asked for a new temporary closure of schools and who " do not have the best interests of children at heart ," the DA assured in a statement.
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During his speech Thursday, Mr. Ramaphosa also announced the opening of around thirty investigations for theft and embezzlement of funds released in the context of the fight against the pandemic, in particular to finance food distributions and the purchase of protective equipment. While the official number of Covid-19 deaths in South Africa is just over 6,000, it could be vastly underestimated, experts warned on Wednesday.
The country has indeed recorded an increase of nearly 60% in the total number of natural deaths in recent weeks, according to the South African Council for Medical Research (SAMRC). " The weekly death reports revealed a huge gap between confirmed deaths from Covid-19 and the number of excess natural deaths ," according to the SAMRC.