(Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Branden Grace has withdrawn from the Barracuda Championship prior to the third round after testing positive for COVID-19, the PGA Tour said on Saturday.



Grace, who was tied for second place after two rounds at Tahoe Mountain Club in California, must now self-isolate for 10 days, which will rule him out of next week’s PGA Championship.



“I felt great all week,” said Grace. “Last night, I was tired and thought it had to do with the altitude. This morning, I notified the PGA Tour about my symptoms before going to the golf course.



“I wanted to get tested out of respect for my peers and everyone involved with the tournament.



“While it is unfortunate given my position on the leaderboard, the most important thing is our health.”



The PGA Tour has implemented its response plan in consultation with medical experts, including working with those who may have had close contact with Grace.



Grace’s caddie tested negative for COVID-19 but will quarantine for 14 days in line with the Tour’s health and safety protocols.

Branden_Grace_2016_Qatar_Masters_Champion_,photos_by_Hanson_K_Joseph

South African Grace tests positive for COVID-19 at Barracuda Championship

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 have crossed half a million, its health ministry said on Saturday, while cases in Africa as a whole approached a million.



Africa’s most industrialised nation recorded 10,107 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, pushing the total to 503,290, the ministry said.



Just over 3 million people have so far been tested for the virus in South Africa, which confirmed its first case five months ago, and 8,153 deaths have been recorded. Africa has recorded 934,558 cases, 19,752 deaths and 585,567 recoveries, according to a Reuters tally.



South Africa imposed a nationwide lockdown at the end of March to curb the spread of the virus, but it has now eased many restrictions to boost economic activity &#8211; as have other countries across the continent, a large chunk of whose populations are poor and face hunger.



“The lockdown succeeded in delaying the spread of the virus by more than two months, preventing a sudden and uncontrolled increase in infections in late March,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a separate statement.



As restrictions have eased, infections have spiked over the last two months.



However, the daily increase in infections appears to be stabilising, particularly in the worst-hit Western Cape, Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces, Ramaphosa added.



The World Health Organisation’s top emergencies expert Mike Ryan last week warned that South Africa’s experience was a precursor for what was likely to happen across the continent.



The difficulty &#8211; if not outright impossibility &#8211; of socially distancing in Africa’s poor, tightly packed urban areas, has also been an enabler for the spread of the virus.



Cases in South Africa, which has the fifth highest total in the world, have overwhelmed an already stretched healthcare system.



That presents a cautionary tale to the other African countries, whose health services are for the most part even more stretched.



During August, the National Ventilator Project will deliver 20,000 locally-produced, non-invasive ventilators to where they are most needed, Ramaphosa said, as the government continues to mobilise additional facilities, equipment and personnel in provinces still experiencing an increase in infections.

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South Africa’s COVID-19 cases surpass half a million

MELBOURNE (Reuters) &#8211; Australia’s second-most populous state of Victoria declared a state of disaster on Sunday and imposed a nightly curfew for the capital Melbourne as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain a resurgent COVID-19.Near empty shelves are seen at the vegetable section of a supermarket amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in this August 2, 2020 photo obtained from social media. Klarissa Leahy/via REUTERS



Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city already under a reimposed six-week stay-home order, has struggled to rein in the disease, with record numbers of infections of the new coronavirus reported last week.



On Sunday, Victoria reported 671 infections, one of its highest, and seven COVID-19 deaths. High numbers of community transmissions and cases of unknown origins have forced the new restrictions, which will be in place for six weeks, officials said.



“The current rules have avoided thousands and thousands of cases each day, and then thousands of people in hospital and many more tragedies than we have seen. But it is not working fast enough,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told a televised briefing.



A curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day will be implemented from Sunday evening in Melbourne, barring the nearly five million people in the city from leaving their houses except for work or to receive or give care.



The sweeping new restrictions limit the time Melbourne residents may spend on outdoor exercise and essential shopping. All schools will move to remote learning from Wednesday.



Supermarkets will remain open, and restaurants, already closed for dining in, will be able to continue with their takeaway and delivery services.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">FEDERAL BACKING</h3>



The federal government backed Victoria’s measures, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying in a post on his Facebook page that they were “regrettably necessary” to stop the spread of the pandemic.



“We are all in this together and we will get through it,” Morrison said.



Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt said at a televised briefing the federal government supports the measures with a ‘heavy’ heart.



“We do so because they will help save and protect lives,” Hunt said.



The backing by the federal government, ruled by a Liberal Party-led coalition, for the measures by Victoria’s Labor Party government shows national unity across the political spectrum in a country with a loose federal system.



Australia has fared far better than many other countries in keeping the coronavirus from spreading, but at a high economic cost. It has recorded around 18,000 coronavirus cases and just over 200 COVID-19 deaths, but the recent surge in Victoria has proven difficult to contain.



The state of disaster gives Victoria police additional powers to ensure people are complying with public-health directions.



“We have no choice but to make these decisions and to push on,” Andrews said. “This is the only option we have.”Slideshow&nbsp;(2 Images)



Restrictions on movement and business operations elsewhere in the state will be less severe than in Melbourne. Andrews said further restrictions for Victoria businesses will be announced on Monday.



Neighbouring New South Wales, the most populous state, reported 12 infections on Sunday, with the state now “strongly” recommending the use of face masks in public.

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Australia’s Victoria declares disaster, sets curfew to curb COVID-19

By Anu Shah



China is facing an unprecedented global backlash currently and many are advocating to look at India as its alternative.India has sensed an opportunity and is keen to make inroads to a space China is likely to vacate.



 The GDP/capita of India is $2000,similar to China in 2005. So will India replace China? One needs to understand fundamentals key to manufacturing to predict the outcome.



India has 1.2 billion people, and 65% of the population is below 35 years of age. English also seems to be an advantage of India. However, the literacy rate of India in 2019 is only 69% v/s 77% in China in 2005 and 96.8% in 2019. While this loophole makes Indian human resources cheaper it also reflects the lack of skilled or educated labour in the market. In 1990, the economic level of India and China were almost the same. However, in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in China, the EU imposed an arms embargo on China, followed by US economic sanctions,absteniations from the international banks, suspension of export licences etc.China hence called a truce with Taiwan, Japan, US, and made allies by getting in trade agreements with them. China is aware that in case of a recap of previous years its maritime lifeline can easily be cut off. So in 2001, China strived to join WTO and fostered deeper international trade ties. Which in effect helped China gain more volume ( > US and equal to EU) in trade. India has a better geo-political standing however it has not fully harnessed these relationships for the political (including resolving issues with Pakistan) or economic advancement. India has joined WTO since its foundation, but even now its total trade volume is less than Hong Kong. Post 1990 China dedicated its resources to the low skilled manufacturing and ousted competitors such as Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.In the early 21st century US, EU and Japan fought each other in the upscale market while China became a leader for primary and ordinary products. China has now reevaluated its strategy and is eyeing the upscale high tech market.The Chinese government has launched “Made in China 2025,” a state-led industrial policy that seeks to make China dominant in global high-tech. The program aims to use government subsidies, mobilize state-owned enterprises, and pursue intellectual property acquisition to catch up with—and surpass—Western technology across industries. This actually leaves room for India to undertake the industrial transfer from China. India can certainly take the baton from China in the low cost, low skilled manufacturing space with least effort. Lastly, China is 3 times the size of India and ranks first or at the forefront of the world in many resources. Example : Extensive deposits of coal, oil and gas. Yet with increased demands China imported 12% of the global coal and 20% of global oil imports in 2019. India is not abundant in coal, oil or gas. India imports 80% of its oil from OPEC nations and is unlikely to be self-sufficient e anytime soon. From this it seems like Manufacturing or economic growth of India would come at a higher cost than that of China, making it less competitive in pricing. All in all, it looks like with a lack of a proper internal policy infrastructure and stronger geopolitical play, India will only settle to be a low cost manufacturing hub to replace China.

anu shah

OPINION: Can India replace China as the manufacturing and tech hub

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos will allow churches and mosques to resume in-person services from August 7, the state’s governor said in a press briefing on Saturday.



Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also said restaurants, social clubs and recreational centres will be allowed to reopen with limited capacity from August 14 as the state, the epicentre of Nigeria’s coronavirus outbreak, eases restrictions despite a continued rise in infections.



Lagos state, home to the megacity of the same name with 20 million people, has more than 15,000 confirmed cases and 192 deaths, by far the largest share of Nigeria’s 43,151 cases.



It ordered widespread closures and a lockdown in March to halt the spread of the highly infectious virus.



The lockdown was eased in early May, but Sanwo-Olu scuppered plans to reopen churches and mosques in June, citing a continued rise in cases.



Christianity and Islam are widely practised in Lagos and the rest of Nigeria, and houses of worship in normal times often host services with thousands of people.



Houses of worship will only be allowed to open for services once a week at no more than 50% capacity. Sanwu-Olu also increased the limit on public gatherings from 20 to 50 people.



Nightclubs, cinemas and some arcades will remain closed.

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Nigeria’s Lagos to allow places of worship to reopen: governor

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya Airways (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/KQNA.NR">KQNA.NR</a>) resumed international flights on Saturday, heading to about 30 destinations for the first time since the routes were suspended in March due to the coronavirus.



The carrier, in which Air France KLM (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AIRF.PA">AIRF.PA</a>) holds a small stake, resumed domestic flights in mid-July after the government cleared local air travel.



“We announced we are starting with 27 destinations, we increased it to 30 just following demand,” Allan Kilavuka, the airline’s chief executive officer, said during a ceremony ahead of seeing off a flight to London.



He said for the rest of the year the airline expected demand to remain below 50% of capacity, but it would increase flight frequencies depending on demand.



“In fact 2020, we call it a lost year. Because at some point we even see demand of 25% in some months, in some months we see 38%,” he later told Reuters.



The COVID-19 pandemic has depressed the global aviation industry, with African carriers alone expected to lose $6 billion this year in revenue.



In July, Kenya Airways said it would lay off an unspecified number of number of workers, reduce its network and offload some assets due to the coronavirus crisis.



Kilavuka said so far the company had laid off some 650 people, mostly trainee pilots, trainee cabin crew, technician trainees and newly hired staff on probation.



“What I have to emphasise though is it’s not because we want to. Those employees have done nothing wrong. They are very good employees. It’s just that we cannot afford to keep them,” he said.



The airline was struggling long before the coronavirus outbreak, posting 2019 losses of almost 13 billion shillings ($120 million).



Last month the Nairobi Securities Exchange suspended trading of Kenya Airways shares for three months, citing the government’s plan to restructure the carrier, after it submitted to parliament a draft law on nationalising the airline.

Rolling out, AMS.

Kenya Airways resumes international flights after virus curbs lifted

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; When coronavirus patients started arriving at South Africa’s government-run Thelle Mogoerane Hospital, workers scrambled to set up isolation wards to treat them.



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They can’t keep up. Video filmed inside the hospital and seen by Reuters shows patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, being treated in a general ward, separated from other patients only by curtains.



“There’s no space anywhere,” nurse Rich Sicina said outside the modernist, iron-roofed hospital in a southern Johannesburg township. “It’s a mess.”



Kwara Kekana, spokeswoman for the department of health in Gauteng, the province containing Johannesburg, said that at the beginning of the pandemic, Thelle Mogoerane Hospital had dedicated wards for patients under investigation.



“Once we had a first positive case, a ward was created for confirmed positive cases,” she said, adding that it strictly followed South Africa’s national infection prevention guidelines.



The struggle is what President Cyril Ramaphosa wanted to avoid when he imposed one of the world’s toughest lockdowns in late March &#8211; when the country had confirmed just 400 cases &#8211; to buy health workers time to prepare.



But the measures battered the economy of Africa’s most industrialised nation, which was in recession before the pandemic, and Ramaphosa lifted many of them long before infections peaked in order to save livelihoods.



Four months later, South Africa faces a runaway epidemic that has overwhelmed public&nbsp;hospitals in a country where roughly half the population lives below the poverty line, according to the latest government figures from 2015.



With the number of cases approaching 500,000 &#8211; more than half of Africa’s total and the world’s fifth-highest &#8211; the country’s harsh inequalities appear to have contributed to its undoing, government advisers and independent experts said.



The first cases were wealthy travellers who brought the virus in from Europe, Asia and beyond, they said.



“They could isolate in their mansions,” said Wolfgang Preiser, a virologist at Stellenbosch University. “The problem is that these places are maintained by a whole crowd of domestic workers. They were exposed, and they travelled home in (communal) taxis.”



Once the virus reached South Africa’s poor, densely populated townships &#8211; a legacy of decades of oppressive white minority rule &#8211; it spread quickly, said Yunus Moosa, chief infectious disease specialist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a senior member of the government’s COVID-19 advisory panel.



It overwhelmed public hospitals “already on the brink of collapse”.



Police and soldiers battled to enforce the lockdown in areas where people live in close quarters and depend on daily earnings to eat. Bustling markets in Soweto, Johannesburg’s biggest township, were a stark contrast to nearly deserted streets in the city’s more affluent suburbs.



Mismanagement and looting of public funds, which have hollowed out public services for years, exacerbated shortages of protective clothing and other supplies at some hospitals, according to both the government and its critics.



Ramaphosa pledged a crackdown, saying on July 23 that authorities were investigating at least 36 corruption allegations in areas including COVID-19 procurement and relief programs.FILE PHOTO: People stand in a queue to receive food aid amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Itireleng informal settlement, near Laudium suburb in Pretoria, South Africa, May 20, 2020. Picture taken May 20. 2020. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko



Other factors were less foreseeable: some epidemiologists think the virus was circulating before it was first detected in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province in early March, including across the country in the tourist hotspot of Western Cape.



Global shortages of testing materials undid an ambitious screening policy.



“I understand people might ask if things could have been done better, but honestly, what more could we have done?” Moosa said.



“If we had a magic wand we could wave and turn our healthcare system into a world-class one overnight, then we would have done it.”



The World Health Organization says South Africa is a “wake-up call” for other African nations, where confirmed infections are lower but climbing.



“South Africa may unfortunately be a precursor, &#8230; a warning for what will happen in the rest of Africa,” the WHO’s top emergencies expert Mike Ryan said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">FROM RICHES TO RAGS</h3>



The first cases identified in Johannesburg, the country’s biggest city now at the outbreak’s epicentre, were concentrated in Sandton, a wealthy northern suburb.



Provincial officials declined to release case figures for specific suburbs and neighbourhoods that could better explain how the virus spread, but there are clues.



In the greater Soweto area, cases increased 252% this month compared with 200% for the rest of Johannesburg.



Drawing on experience tackling HIV and tuberculosis, the government began screening and testing in communities to catch new infections early.



But the virus spread too swiftly, and there weren’t enough personnel or reagents to process so many tests, researchers at two laboratories and Moosa told Reuters.



Data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases show wait times at public hospitals, the worst hit by shortages, shot up from two days in mid-April to 12 by mid-June, before falling to between four and six days in July.



“That’s clearly far, far too long for it to be of any use in terms of preventing spread of infection. Two days is what you need,” said Richard Lessells, an infectious disease specialist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform.



Officials at the department of health did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.



Twenty-six years after apartheid ended in 1994, healthcare remains divided between a world class private system for those who can afford it, and an overburdened public one for the mostly Black citizens who cannot.



Just 17% of South Africans have medical insurance, the latest government figures from 2017 show. But healthcare provider Netcare estimates more than half of the country’s 6,000 critical care beds are in private hospitals.



When the first coronavirus cases came to Thelle Mogoerane, on the edge of the mostly black Vosloorus town, southeast of Johannesburg, “it was pure chaos,” Sicina said.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



A 30-bed isolation ward was set up in mid-April, but it filled so quickly that 18 critically ill patients were put in a regular casualty ward.



Five more COVID-19 wards have been added since then, but some patients are still spilling over into general wards, Sicina said. Until early May, nurses treated the patients protected only by a surgical mask and apron, he added.



Another nurse corroborated his account; she is not authorized to speak to media and declined to be named.



Kekana said PPE has been available at the hospital since the beginning of the pandemic.



At least eight patients admitted for other complaints caught COVID-19 there, they said, along with 240 staff. Last week, they held a memorial service for two nurses who died.



Kekana said she was not aware of the figure of 240 staff infected, but confirmed a memorial service for one nurse.



The hospital now has the masks, gowns and visors it needs, the nurses said. But shortages persist at other facilities, said Sibongiseni Delihlazo, spokesman for the main nurses’ union, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa.



A nurse at Bisho Hospital, in the more rural Eastern Cape province, said patients were getting just 30 minutes of oxygen at a time because there weren’t enough access points.



Nurses sometimes filled balloons with oxygen for the sickest patients, she said, on condition of anonymity.



The hospital and provincial health department did not respond to requests for comment.



The government has recruited health workers and is building field hospitals with partners to accommodate the overflow. It has also negotiated with private providers to take public patients if needed.



Private hospitals, though under strain, have fared better, said Charl van Loggerenberg, head of emergency medicine at private provider Life Healthcare, by putting in “big orders for PPE” and training extra nurses.



But he added, “it isn’t the world class super centres that are dealing with the public health pandemic. It’s the places in the trenches.”

south-african-flag-1486137288VYk

How inequality and poverty undermined South Africa’s COVID response

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo has been asked to step down by the governing African National Congress party’s integrity commission for involving an elite police unit in a dispute with a former lover.



Masondo has been tasked with driving pro-growth economic reforms and is among potential successors to current Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.



A former leader of the Young Communist League, he is seen as more left-wing than Mboweni. Earlier this year he called for the central bank to print money to fund the government response to the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.



In a letter to Masondo seen by Reuters, the ANC’s integrity commission said his actions had brought the party into disrepute and showed poor judgment.



Masondo’s written response, also seen by Reuters, insists he had acted on the advice of his lawyer when reporting the former partner to the police for harassing him and his family.



He sent WhatsApp messages to the commission that he said corroborated the harassment claim. He asked the commission for further guidance and said he was aware that ANC leaders were expected to subject themselves to “organisational processes”.



Neither Masondo, the ANC nor the chairman of the integrity commission responded to requests for comment.



The integrity commission is expected to deliberate further. If it maintains he must resign, Masondo could appeal the decision, or the matter could be referred to the ANC’s national executive committee.

International travel for South Africans is now allowed, this is how it will work

South Africa’s deputy finance minister asked to step aside over abuse of power claim

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; The first of thousands of South African-designed ventilators rolled off a Cape Town assembly line on Friday, responding to requests from hospitals needing them for severe COVID-19 cases but unable to get them on global markets, officials said.



Poorly resourced hospitals across Africa, which is nearing a million cases of COVID-19 — more than half of them in South Africa — have struggled to cope with a burgeoning case load amid a global scramble favouring richer nations in procuring ventilators and protective gear.



South Africa, which now has the world’s fifth highest infection burden of around 482,169 confirmed cases, launched a 250 million rand ($14.80 million) project in April to make them here.



“Today the first batch of completed ventilators are coming off the assembly line, part of an initial order of 10,000 units,” Ebrahim Patel, the trade and industry minister, said during a COVID-19 conference.



He added that 20,000 would be built in total.



Based on the clinical experience of COVID-19 epicentres such as China, Britain and the United States, the government decided that the production of non-invasive Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices would have the greatest chance of saving lives in South Africa, Patel said.



Ventilators are used to supply oxygen to the lungs of severely ill patients, who make up around 5% of overall cases.



Each CPAP device consists of some 30 separately manufactured components, he said, adding that final assembly currently takes place at the Cape Town factory of medical supplies firm Akacia Medical ahead of distribution to hospitals across the country.



“There is a worldwide shortage and extraordinary demand on some of the components,” Peter Brierley, operations director at Akacia Medical, told Reuters.



The company only this week managed to find a local machine shop able to make vital “peep valves” which help control the pressure in the device and allow the patient to exhale, he said.

Clarification on COVID-19 “hotspots” as SA moves to level 3 lockdown

South Africa produces its first ventilators to fight COVID-19

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s economy could contract 8.2% this year and grow just 0.6% in 2021, if it is hit by a second wave of coronavirus infections that also affects major trading partners, the OECD said on Friday.



If a second wave of infections is avoided, the economy will probably contract 7.5% in 2020 before rebounding 2.5% next year, the OECD said in its latest report on Africa’s most industrialised economy.

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South Africa economy could contract 8.2% if second COVID-19 wave hits, OECD says

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s businesses were shut and streets deserted in the capital Harare early on Friday as security forces increased patrols to stop anti-government protests called by activists over corruption and economic hardship.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is under pressure to revive a stricken economy, has said the protests constitute an “insurrection” by the opposition.



In central Harare and nearby Mbare township &#8211; a hotbed of past protests &#8211; businesses, including banks and supermarkets, were shut as police and soldiers patrolled the streets.



“Workers were told not to come today just in case there was trouble,” said a security guard, who identified himself as Martin, having a meal of tea and sweet potatoes at a bank.



Security forces increased check points on roads leading into central Harare.



A journalist in the second biggest city Bulawayo said businesses were also closed with few cars on the road.



Scores were killed during a crackdown on the last major protests in January 2019 and the government shut the internet.



Zimbabwe’s worst economic crisis in more than a decade is marked by inflation running above 700%, acute shortages of foreign currency and public hospitals crippled by strikes and a lack of medicine.



Critics say Mnangagwa is exploiting a COVID-19 lockdown to stifle dissent. Mnangagwa imposed an overnight curfew and restricted free movement last week to curb coronavirus infections.



The president’s opponents say he has failed to unite a deeply divided nation after much hope when he took over from Robert Mugabe, who was removed in a coup in 2017. Mnangagwa, like Mugabe before him, says the economic crisis is the result of sabotage by businesses and an opposition funded by the West.

Zimbabwe tightens coronavirus lockdown in capital Harare as cases hit 203

Zimbabwe businesses closed, streets deserted on day of protests

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Swiss-based Glencore said a stellar performance in trading would see it hit the top end of guidance for the year but posted lower production figures for its first half.



Copper output fell 11% to 588,100 tonnes for the six months to June 30 while cobalt output was down 33% to 14,300 tonnes owing to the closure of the Mutanda mine in Democratic Republic of Congo.



Glencore stuck to its full-year expectations for most of its commodities including copper and cobalt but said it expected to mine 14% less coal mainly due to the continued closure of its Prodeco operation in Colombia.



The marketing division, which sets Glencore apart from its mining peers, is now expected to be at the top end of the $2.2-$3.2 billion range this year.

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Glencore ups expectations for trading, cuts coal guidance

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s central bank will extend its tool kit to manage market liquidity by adding short-term, bilateral reverse repurchases of government bonds from commercial banks, it said on Friday.



The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has taken a number of measures since March to manage market liquidity as the spread of the coronavirus crisis globally hit demand for government bonds, including the launch of a bond-buying programme.



The bank has decided to expand such operations, it said in a statement, with changes to be introduced from Aug. 3.



“The SARB will commence conducting short-term buy-sell backs, of up to one month, with commercial banks on a bilateral basis for the purposes of managing money market liquidity,” it said, using a term for reverse repurchases.



The programme would be on an ad-hoc basis, it said, while the sum on offer would be at the SARB’s discretion.



It added that the SARB would also apply greater flexibility by allotting debentures and long-term reverse repurchases at a wider variety of rates.

South Africa’s central bank plans more reverse bond repurchases

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African investigators are probing 102 suppliers of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the country’s most populous province after news reports alleged that politically connected individuals had won lucrative COVID-19 tenders. 



David Makhura, premier of the Gauteng province where major cities like Johannesburg and Pretoria are located, said payments of around 1 billion rand ($60 million) to PPE suppliers had been halted, after an initial audit raised red flags like overpricing and bad quality.



A top Gauteng health official, Bandile Masuku, will take at least four weeks of leave during the investigations, he added.



Gauteng has more confirmed COVID-19 infections than any other province, accounting for around a third of South Africa’s 470,000 cases.



President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokeswoman, Khusela Diko, took a leave of absence on Monday after a news report said her husband had won PPE contracts worth 125 million rand with Gauteng’s health department.



Diko and her husband, king of the Bhaca people, have denied doing anything illegal. In a statement, they said a PPE contract awarded to Royal Bhaca Projects, a company linked to Diko’s husband, was cancelled before public funds were paid out.



Masuku has also refuted allegations of impropriety. But Makhura said the allegations against Masuku and the province’s health department were serious and could not be ignored.



“These allegations we are facing now have profoundly eroded public confidence,” Makhura said. “PPE is very, very important for our frontline workers, it is meant to protect them, to empower them to be able to do their work, it was not meant for the loot.”



Makhura said he did not suspect all 102 companies being probed by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) had committed wrongdoing, but he wanted all PPE contracts scrutinised.



An SIU spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.



Makhura added: “This PPE story has the potential to sidetrack us from the battle of saving lives, and it is shameful.”

South Africa probes medical suppliers over COVID-19 tender allegations

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s security forces on Thursday cleared people off streets of the capital Harare and forced shops to close, a day before planned anti-government protests during the worst economic crisis in more than a decade.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa has struggled to keep his promise to revive the economy, with many Zimbabweans complaining they are worse off than when he replaced the autocratic Robert Mugabe after an army coup in 2017.



Activists have called for street rallies across the country on Friday over corruption in government and economic hardships. Soaring inflation has eroded salaries and pensions.



On Wednesday, Mnangagwa said the protest would constitute an “insurrection” by the opposition.



Melanie Johnson, the ambassador from former colonial ruler Britain, called for restraint from both sides, saying on Twitter she was concerned by “toughening language on and off social media in Zimbabwe.”



In central Harare, armed soldiers and anti-riot police patrolled on foot and in trucks, telling people to leave, while checkpoints blocked roads in.



“Why are they forcing shops to close before the stipulated time?” asked one nervous motorist, asking not to be named.



After midday, downtown Harare was largely empty.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘FULL ALERT’</h3>



A police statement said no demonstrations would be allowed.



“All security arms of government are on full alert and will deal decisively with any individuals or groups fomenting violence and sending threats or provocative messages through the social media or any other means,” it said.



Scores were killed during a crackdown on the last major protests in January 2019 and the government shut the internet.



Activists said they would press on and people would demonstrate in their neighbourhoods. “The protest is fluid. It will take whatever form that will disable the regime, and would be the beginning of many more in future,” Promise Mkwananzi said by Twitter from a secret location where he was hiding from police.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



“The regime has already been shaken to the core. We have disrupted their comfort zones.”



Critics say Mnangagwa, like other authoritarian leaders round the world, is exploiting the coronavirus lockdown to stifle dissent.



Illustrating the crisis, senior doctors at government hospitals said they stopped work on Thursday over poor conditions, joining thousands of nurses who quit work last month.



Seven babies were stillborn in one night at a major hospital this week because their mothers did not get adequate medical care due to the nurses’ strike.

zimuuu

Zimbabwe’s security forces clear streets ahead of planned protests

(Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the possibility of delaying the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, but the Constitution bestows that power on Congress, not the president.



Below are some facts around what changing the date of the election would entail:



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CONGRESSIONAL POWER</h3>



Article II of the Constituti<a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript#toc-section-1--2">here</a>&nbsp;gives Congress the power to set the date of the presidential election. (archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript#toc-section-1&#8211;2)



Since 1845, that day has been every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which in 2020 is Nov. 3.



Even if Trump declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus, he would not be permitted to change the day, legal experts said.



“President Trump has absolutely no legal authority to delay the election,” said Joshua Douglas, a professor at the University of Kentucky and an election law expert.



Douglas noted that every presidential election since 1845 has gone forward as scheduled, even in the midst of wars and pandemics.



Congress could technically extend the ability to postpone an election to the executive, according to a 2004 Congressional Research Service report&nbsp;<a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32471.pdf.">fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32471.pdf.</a>&nbsp;(fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32471.pdf)



However, given that Democrats currently control the House of Representatives, it is virtually certain that Congress would not entertain any sort of postponement.



Any delay in the election could also require Congress to postpone other deadlines, including Dec. 14, when the Electoral College &#8211; the electors from each state whose votes technically determine the presidential winner &#8211; must submit its ballots. By law, Congress must also gather on Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. to count the electoral votes and formally declare a winner.



Those dates are set out in the U.S. Code, a compilation of federal law.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DELAY COULD ONLY BE TEMPORARY</h3>



Even if Congress decided to delay the election, Trump&#8217;s presidential term would still end at noon on Jan. 20, 2021, a date that is set in the Constitution&#8217;s 20th Amendment&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27#toc-amendment-xx.">here</a>&nbsp;(archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27#toc-amendment-xx&nbsp;<a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27#toc-amendment-xx">here</a>)



Only another amendment, which requires a supermajority of two-thirds approval in both chambers of Congress as well as ratification by at least 38 U.S. states, can alter that date.



If there were no winner of the presidential election by Jan. 20, the Constitution dictates that the Speaker of the House &#8211; currently Democrat Nancy Pelosi &#8211; would become acting president until a successor was confirmed.

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What would it take to postpone the U.S. presidential election?

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti’s chief executive Kelvin Dushnisky will step down on Sept. 1, the company said on Thursday, without giving a reason for the change in leadership.



Dushnisky has spent just two years in the role as CEO of the Johannesburg-listed gold miner. Current Chief Financial Officer Christine Ramon has been appointed interim CEO.



“The Board thanks Kelvin for his contribution in delivering on its strategy and wishes him well in the future,” the company said in a statement.

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