Unfounded Claims on the GERD

Nader Nour EL-Din

Ahram Online

Wednesday 22 Jul 2020

Ethiopia is desperately trying to delude the international community into believing that Egypt is trying to seize control of the Nile’s water and that Ethiopia, the source of 85 per cent of the Nile, gets none.

It also claims that Egypt has allocated to itself its current quota of water without the consent of other Nile Basin countries. Needless to say, the Ethiopian claims are not only false, but they also defy geography and logic. Egyptians did not dig a course for the Nile from the Ethiopian Highlands to the Mediterranean. The Nile dug its own course from there and from the African Great Lakes over the millennia.

For thousands of years, Egypt has received an average of 84 billion m3 of water from the four main tributaries of the Nile, the White Nile, the Blue Nile, the Atbara and the Sobat. The amount would increase by about 20 billion m3 during heavy flooding years and decrease by the same amount during drought years. So, rather than setting itself a quota, Egypt agreed to share the amount of water the Nile had granted it over the millennia with Sudan by means of a formal agreement that granted Sudan a one-third share of the 84 billion m3.

This agreement was not only just, but it was also generous given Sudan’s other abundant water resources compared to the meagre alternatives available in arid Egypt. In addition to the water it receives from the Blue Nile, the Sobat, the Atbara and the White Nile, Sudan has the Bahr Al-Ghazal, the Bahr Al-Zeraf, the Bahr Al-Arab, the Lol River and Lake No, not to mention the 40 billion m3 of fresh water in the Sudd and other marshlands that it has access to and the rainfall in Sudan’s Blue Nile and Kassala states.

Most Nile water reaches Egypt during the flooding season, which lasts four months from July to October. Whether the flooding is heavy or light, the river flows fast, which has meant that over the millennia vast amounts of water have sped unused into the Mediterranean. The Aswan High Dam Aswan was conceived in the 1950s to conserve some 22 billion m3 of water a year. Egypt did not “rip off” this water from some other country; it kept it from going unused into the salty Mediterranean. It then split that quantity with Sudan, which received 14.5 billion m3 while Egypt, the builder and owner of the High Dam, received seven billion m3. Sudan also received about 150km of the High Dam reservoir with its wealth of fish, an important source of livelihood for many Sudanese.

As to why Ethiopia objects to Egypt’s having saved billions of m3 of fresh water from going to waste in the Mediterranean, Egypt remains mystified. Why would Addis Ababa complain to the UN Security Council and threaten to build more dams in order to make Egypt’s own dam obsolete, despite the fact that this has never harmed Ethiopia or “stolen” water from the Blue Nile, the Atbara, or the Sobat? Is it pure envy that Egypt has succeeded in making use of water that would otherwise have been lost?

Ethiopia also continues to adhere to a very narrow view of what constitutes the water in an international watercourse, which, under international law, should be distributed equitably with other countries along the same watercourse. Under the UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, which became binding on all countries once it had attained the necessary number of ratifications, a watercourse containing water subject to distribution consists not only of the water that flows between the banks, but also the totality of its sources, whether from tributaries, aquifers, rainfall or freshwater lakes.

The convention also states that the principle of equitable distribution should take into account the existence of alternative water resources, or the lack thereof, in the countries that lie on the watercourse in question. The six White Nile Basin countries have had no problem accepting this and acknowledging the fact that they are blessed with billions of tons of water from Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake Edward, and Lake George. They have never raised an issue with Egypt over the water that flows between the banks of the White Nile or that gets lost in the marshlands in southern Sudan.

Ethiopia, on the other hand, excludes from its calculations the 40 to 50 billion m3 of water in Lake Tana, from which the Blue Nile flows, and the 10 billion m3 capacity reservoir it constructed in 2009 on the Tekeze, a tributary of the Atbara. It thus obtains at least 60 billion m3 of water from the Blue Nile and the Atbara alone among the many other Ethiopian rivers. Yet, it begrudges Egypt the 55.5 billion m3 of water it receives exclusively from the Nile.

As mentioned above, the Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses includes rainfall among the sources of river waters. Ethiopia receives 936 billion m3 of water per year, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in 2014. Thanks to the unpolluted water of this rainfall, Ethiopia is the world’s largest exporter of organic coffee and the second-largest exporter in Africa of organic foods to Europe.

These organic food industries use massive quantities of fresh water that is most likely not recycled. The rainfall also sustains vast swathes of pastureland for Ethiopia’s livestock industry. The country has some 100 million heads of livestock, of which half are cattle and the other half sheep or similar ruminants, according to the 2014 FAO report. A single head of cattle consumes 5,000 m3 of water by the time it reaches three years old. For 50 million heads of cattle, that makes 250 billion m3 over three years, or 84 billion m3 of water per year.

Add to this half the amount for the 50 million smaller ruminants — that is 42 billion m3 — and you get 126 billion m3 from a source of the Nile consumed by the Ethiopian livestock industry per year. Add this to the 60 billion m3 of water from Lake Tana and the Tekeze reservoir, and you get 186 billion m3 of Nile water, or twice the amount that Egypt and Sudan receive together, or three times the amount that Egypt receives from the Nile.

Despite such documented facts, Ethiopia still insists on claiming that it receives no share of Nile water. This comes from a country where the amount of physically available water per person is three times that in Egypt and where the land under cultivation is 10 times that in Egypt.

*The writer is a professor of soil and water sciences at Cairo University’s Faculty of Agriculture.

**A version of this article appears in print in the 23 July, 2020 edition ofAl-Ahram Weekly

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/375080.aspx

GERD - Legal and Technical Committees to Discuss Points of Contention 4-5 August

Zeinab El-Gundy 

Ahram Online

Tuesday 4 Aug 2020

'Ethiopia's initial filling of the dam 'bears negative implications that show Ethiopia doesn't want to reach a fair agreement,' said Mohamed Abdel-Atti, the Egyptian minister of irrigation

Egypt slammed Ethiopia's unilateral initial filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Monday during the second round of African Union (AU)-brokered talks.

Egypt criticised the Ethiopian action that was taken without consultation or agreement with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan, a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Water and Irrigation said.

Ethiopia's initial filling of the dam "bears negative implications that show Ethiopia doesn't want to reach a fair agreement," said Mohamed Abdel-Atti, the Egyptian minister of water and irrigation.

The Ethiopian action "violates the Declaration of Principles" signed in 2015, Abdel-Atti stated.

Monday's trilateral meeting was conducted via video-conference in the attendance of observers and experts from the United States, EU Commission and AU Commission.

Abdel-Atti urged the need to swiftly seal an agreement on the filling and operation of the dam to reach consensus on contentious issues.

He referred to Egypt's suggestion concerning the working mechanism of the talks held for two weeks, stressing that based on the 21 July AU mini-summit -- held via video-conference between the heads of state of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia as well as the president of South Africa, the current chair of the African Union -- the current negotiations will focus on filling and operating the GERD and that talks over future projects will follow in a later stage after an agreement over the mega-dam is reached.

Sudan stresses trilateral accord; Ethiopia repeats stance

During the meeting, Sudan urged signing a trilateral agreement that safeguards its Roseires Dam on the Blue Nile and ensures the smooth exchange of information in accordance with international law, the Sudanese water ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Sudan also criticised the unilateral filling of the dam by describing the move as one that "raised concerns in case of the reoccurrence of such a move in the future, specifically over the environmental and social impacts of the Renissance Dam on farmers on the banks of the Blue Nile."

Meanwhile, Ethiopia "reiterated its commitment to expeditiously finalise talks with a win-win outcome," a statement by the Ethiopian water, irrigation and energy ministry read on Monday night.

Ethiopia’s water minister Seleshi Bekeli, "underscored the resolve of the heads of government of the three countries to reach a “speedy agreement on the first filling in short term and a comprehensive agreement addressing the outstanding issues on the GERD negotiation."

The statement did not address Cairo’s and Khartoum’s objections over the “unilateral” dam filling and other outstanding issues.

Officials from the three nations have agreed that the technical and legal committees will hold meetings to discuss points of contention on 4-5 August before presenting their conclusion at a ministerial meeting slated for 6 August.

AU-sponsored negotiations

Monday's round of AU-sponsored talks came two weeks after the announcement by Addis Ababa that it had completed the first-year filling of the dam’s reservoir.

The first round of AU-sponsored talks over the project ended two weeks ago without reaching an accord.

The leaders of the three countries agreed in a mini-summit held later on the need for continued discussions over the filling and operation of the dam.

Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly expressed their concerns over Ethiopia's unilateral initial filling of the dam.

Egypt said it agreed with Sudan and Ethiopia on the need to priortise reaching a legally binding deal on the filling and operation of the mega-dam, and the AU called on the three countries to "work expeditiously to finalise the text of a binding agreement."

However, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti said at a press conference in Addis Ababa two weeks ago that Ethiopia wants a guiding agreement on the GERD that is non-binding.

Egypt has voiced concern over Ethiopia's refusal to agree on rules regulating the filling and operation of the GERD during drought and dry years.

Cairo is also concerned about future projects on the Blue Nile, a main tributary of the Nile, and demands binding dispute settlement mechanisms, which Addis Ababa has refused to include in a deal.

Egypt, which relies on the Nile for 95 percent of its fresh water, fears the dam will significantly reduce the river’s flow, especially during the filling stages through periods of drought and dry years. Ethiopia, on the other hand, says the project is key to its development.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/375856.aspx

Cairo’s City of the Dead: A Thousand Years of Architectural History

Ahram Online looks back at the long history of Cairo’s historic cemeteries, which each hold up mirrors to the rich heritage of Egypt

Amira Noshokaty  

Ahram Online

Thursday 30 Jul 2020

Bab El Qarafa Gate: 1922-1924. Courtesy of Lehnert & Landrock- Dr. E.Lambelet

Cairo woke up last week to disturbing news that the governorate is demolishing the outskirts of the famous City of the Dead — the historic Cairo cemetery where, now, residents inhabit mausoleums — as part of a new road expansion plan.

The news was denied by both the head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish antiquities sector at the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities as well as Cairo governorate.

Official statements explained that very few grave sites were demolished and they were not registered as antiquities, and that the main grounds are completely safe.

Ahram Online set off to revisit the complex heritage of the City of the Dead.

Eternity and beyond

Registered as part of Historic Cairo, and on the list of world heritage sites held at UNESCO since 1979, the City of the Dead has always been an enchanting and mysterious place that holds up a mirror to the intangible and tangible heritage of Egypt. Its formal listing with UNESCO aside, the site became a living representation of an ancient idea: that death is not the end, but rather a beginning. Ancient Egyptians spent much of their lives preparing for the afterlife.

Very little have changed since then. During holy feasts, lots of families choose to start off the Eid celebrations with their lost loved ones. Visits to the cemeteries include distributing special bakeries (shouriek and orass) to the area's poor as well as bringing flowers . In more modern times, whole communities have lived side by side the dead in the tombs built to hold their remains.

“As far back as the 9th century there was official residence in the City of the Dead," explained May El-Ebrashi, architect and founder of Mogawra, a built environment collective. The cemetery, added El-Ebrashi, had accommodation for overnight stays for visitors as well as the long term accommodation of scholars and Sufis who lived and studied in its madrasas, zawiyas, khanqahs and takiyyas. Religious endowments set up for funerary complexes with institutions attached to them paid for the upkeep of these scholars, as well as salaries for the staff of these establishments. The cemetery grew a population of its own.

“The City of the Dead included funerary complexes and Sufi establishments which at one point were the only source of education. That is why it is easy to find Islamic scholars listed in the obituaries of the 14th century with their last title qarafi —which is another name for the historic cemeteries of Cairo." El-Ebrashi added that the graveyards of the 1920s and 1930s were "more rest houses where you could find a kitchen, a salon and even a place for the hired help. That aspect of intangible heritage reflects the liberal history of Egyptians. This is where most of the elite would bury their dead."

According to a report conducted by El-Ebrashi within the framework of the Urban Regeneration Project for Historic Cairo, under the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the cemeteries of Cairo are an integral part of the history of Cairo. They were born with the inception of the Islamic capital of Al-Fustat in 642 and continued to develop with the city, taking on a role that went beyond the mere funerary or sacred.

The six cemeteries

The cemeteries cover six areas: Al-Qarafa, Sahra, Al-Sayyida Nafisa, Bab El-Wazir, Bab El-Nasr and Zeinhom.

Al-Qarafa is the oldest cemetery, stretched between Al-Fustat in the east and Al-Muqattam in the west, with the outcrop where the Saladin Citadel is located marking its northern border, and the alluvial lake of Al-Habash (where current Al-Basatin is) marking its southern border.

In the Ayyubid period, with the construction of a dome on the shrine of Al-Imam Al-Shafi’i, the founder of one of the rites of Sunni Islam in the eastern section of Al-Qarafa, it came to be known as Al-Qarafa Al-Sughra, with the older western section whose centre was the Fatimid Jami’ Al-Qarafa named Al-Qarafa Al-Kubra.

Al-Qarafa Al-Sughra then became more developed and rose in importance due to its proximity to Qal’atal Jabal (the Citadel), the new seat of rule, and its most important development was the area known as Kharij (Outside) Bab Al-Qarafa in which over 10 Mamlukamirs, mostly linked to the Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad, built their tombs in the 14th century. This cemetery came to be known as Al-Imamayn in the Ottoman and Muhammad Ali period after the two imams Al-Shafi’i and Al-Layth. With the waning popularity of Al-Layth it came to be known as Al-Imam after Al-Shafi’i.

At the turn of the 20th century, the construction of the quarry railroad resulted in new site restrictions as well as new magnets for settlement — particularly of quarrymen and stone masons — around the rail stations, which led to the development of residential pockets around them. This period also saw the densification of the cemetery and the division of its land into plots where walled funerary structures with spaces for accommodation (hawshs) were built.

Al-Sayyida Nafisa is located north of Al-Qarafa and west of the Citadel. It grew around the shrine of Al-Sayyida Nafisa, the granddaughter of Al-Hasan, who in turn was the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

While it can be seen as the northern gateway of Al-Qarafa, it was partially disconnected from it with the construction of the Ayyubid city wall (although medieval visitors continued to start their visit at Al-Sayyida Nafisa and walk south into Al-Qarafa). The site includes the Ayyubid tomb of the Abbasid Caliphs, and the street of Al-Khalifa houses a large number of shrines of Ahl Al-Bayt, some of which date to the Fatimid period.

This street (historically called Al-Mashahid after the shrines) was the gateway to Al-Sayyida Nafisa and consequently to Al-Qarafa. The western section of the cemetery is a later mid-20th century extension.

Al-Sahra’ is referred to academically as the Northern Cemetery, with Sahra’ Al-Mamalik referred to as the Eastern Cemetery. Established in the 14th century, the former soon grew in both size and stature as six Mamluk sultans built their tombs there in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries. It beholds a better preserved and more legible urban fabric with more impressive hawshs, particularly from the Muhammad Ali period (1805-1952). Originally organised in a linear manner along the hajj road (to the Hijaz by way of the Levant), it is now bound by Salah Salim Highway in the west and the Autostrade in the east.

This cemetery, too, has residential pockets, mostly around the Mamluk complexes of Barquq and Qaytbay, with some of its tombs inhabited both by the community of caretakers and gravediggers that have lived in the cemetery for centuries as well as rural immigrants.

This cemetery is the only one regularly visited by cultural tourists. This is due to the impressive grandeur of Mamluk funerary structures such as Qurqumas, Inal, Barquq, Barsbay, and the most impressive of all, Al-Ashraf Qaytbay.

Bab Al-Wazir, located north of the Citadel mount, witnessed the construction of a number of Mamluk funerary establishments dating back to the 15th century. Meanwhile, a Fatimid cemetery lies north of the gate of Bab Al-Nasr. It originally had a number of important burials, such as that of historian Al-Maqrizi and the famous Sufi burial enclosure which lay further east, closer to the northern section of Al-Sahra’.

In the 20th century, it was the first port of call for migrant villagers who sought refuge in the capital during times of economic and political strife, particularly during and after World War I and World War II, and flash points along the path of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Looking back in time

The intangible history of the City of the Dead is carefully stitched together with its tangible history in the book Architecture of the Dead: Cairo’s Medieval Necropolis by Galila Al-Qadi and Alain Bonnamy.

The book, based on thorough study, highlights one of Cairo’s marvels, beholding a “diversity of plot sizes [that] engendered a wealth of architectural diversity” from simple stone parallelepipeds adorned with stelae at either end, marvelous cabin-like structures adorned in fine wooden lacework, villas with several outbuildings, and even great domed mosque mausolea: "truly proud monuments standing majestically in vast green gardens,” representing "a thousand years of architectural history." 

SACP 99th-anniversary Statement Delivered by General Secretary Cde Blade Nzimande

Learning from the Past, Active in the Present, Building the Future, Building Socialism Now

Virtual rally, 2 August 2020

Learning from the Past, the Roots of the Communist Party

This week marked the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party. We celebrate this historic occasion, the founding of the oldest Communist Party in Africa, under the theme ‘Learning from the Past, Active in the Present, Building the Future, Building Socialism Now’.

99 years ago, on 29 July 1921, communist militants announced the formation of the Communist Party at a public meeting held in Cape Town. The founding Congress of the Communist Party officially opened the following day, on 30 July 1921, at 20 Plein Street in Cape Town. It was on that day that the resolution formally establishing the Communist Party was passed. The Congress was held over three days until 1 August 1921.

However, the formative process of the Communist Party dated back to 1914, and the outbreak of the inter-imperialist First World War

Opposition to the inter-imperialist First World War (what Lenin at the time described as a war of thieves for control over the world) came from revolutionary wings of existing mass socialist parties in many parts of the world. Here in South Africa, revolutionary progressives in the South African Labour Party broke with that party, in opposition to its reformist, sell-out position of joining the war in defence of the British Empire. In the name of working-class internationalism against imperialism comrades like David Ivon Jones, Bill Andrews and S.P. Bunting established the International Socialist League, the nucleus of what would soon become the Communist Party in South Africa.

In 1918 T.W. Thibedi, a member of the International Socialist League organised the first African trade union, the Industrial Workers of Africa. The history of the Communist Party since that time in building the progressive trade union movement in our country is unparalleled. During that year, 1918, the formation of the Industrial Workers of Africa led to the Johannesburg ‘bucket-workers’ strike. 152 workers were arrested and sentenced to two months’ imprisonment under the so-called Masters and Servants Act. S.P. Bunting, five other members of the International Socialist League, and several members of the ANC, then called the South African Native National Congress, were also arrested.

The International Socialist League was the largest component when different Marxist formations and comrades came together to form the Communist Party as a unitary Marxist-Leninist formation in 1921. This step forward was inspired by the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and by the Communist International, formed in 1919 following the revolution in Russia. The formation of the Communist International was an active expression of Communist Party organisation and working-class unity on a worldwide scale. This required unity of Communist Party organisation in every country. The Communist International admitted only one affiliate per country that met its basic conditions of admission. This principle of unity was one ground upon which our Party was established in 1921, championing before all others the principles of anti-imperialism, working-class internationalism and non-racialism.

Now as much as ever before it is critical to recall the anti-imperialist foundations of our Party. For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, as the SACP insistently noted at the time, the very notion of imperialism seemed to disappear from the strategic perspectives of our ally, the ANC. Perhaps confused by the global celebrity of Cde Nelson Mandela and the apparent embrace of our democratic transition by all and sundry, there was a tendency to imagine that a new peaceful and more equal global order had emerged.

But the collapse of the Soviet bloc of countries did not mean the disappearance of imperialism. Imperialism became more arrogant, more triumphalist. This aggressive arrogance is still in evidence today, in the midst of the current coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, as imperialist-backed pharmaceutical companies are competing for mega-profits by cornering the market on a vaccine and treatment. With the deepening global capitalist economic crisis, imperialism has become more aggressive, more dangerous. In the midst of what some are calling the Greater Recession following the Great Recession of 2008, and as the US’ global hegemony begins to slide, Trump is determined to make ‘America great again’. He is sabre-rattling in the South China Sea, he is threatening to unleash war on Iran, he is deploying masked federal storm-troopers onto the streets of US cities against peaceful Black Lives Matter protests, and he has withdrawn from the World Health Organisation.

This is the context in which our own National Treasury and Reserve Bank have made the grievous mistake of taking on a dollar-denominated IMF loan, exposing our economy to further suffocation by imperialist interests. In the midst of important discussions within the ANC-led Alliance on an economic response to our many challenges, it is hard not to see the behaviour of the National Treasury and the Reserve Bank as an attempt to achieve through IMF conditionalities what they cannot achieve through a democratic discussion here at home. In confronting this situation, we need to draw courage and learn lessons from our past determination and resilience in our struggle for liberation and social emancipation. We come a long way.

The Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) was re-named the SACP in 1953, when we reconstituted it in underground, following the apartheid regime’s Suppression of Communism Act of 1950.  

The resoluteness and resilience of the Communist Party

Throughout our 99-years, Party cadres have made a major contribution to the struggle for national liberation, national sovereignty and democracy. To name but a few areas of contribution:

The Communist Party consistently exposed the connection between class exploitation of workers by capitalists, racist oppression and patriarchy.

The Communist Party was the first political formation in South Africa to organise based on the principle of, and to advance, non-racialism.

The Communist Party built progressive trade unions and our national liberation movement, also forming part of it, to bring to an end all the facets of oppression and exploitation of one person or social group by another.

It was the Communist Party that was the first political organisation to be banned in South Africa, as a reaction by the apartheid regime to the aims, objectives, programme and activism of the Communist Party.

It was the Communist Party before all else in South Africa that first advanced the struggle for one-person, one-vote.

It was Communist Party activists, like Dora Tamana, who ran co-operatives in informal settlements in the 1940s and 1950s, and Ruth First, who advanced progressive journalism and freedom of the press.

Ruth First was martyred. She was killed by the apartheid regime through a parcel bomb. She numbers among many, many martyrs of our struggle for liberation and social emancipation, Johannes Nkosi, Vuyisile Mini, Alpheus Maliba, Basil February, Ahmed Timol, Matthew Goniwe, Chris Hani, and many others.

The Communist Party continues to be a target of the exploiters and the corrupt. In recent years, decades after the end of white minority rule, there have still been assassinations and attempted hits on SACP activists. Most recently the SACP lost members who were killed for being vocal against the looters of the VBS Mutual Bank in Limpopo Province. Their sin was to be in the forefront of our campaign against those involved in the ‘Great Bank Heist’. The SACP has also lost anti-corruption fighters killed in Mpumalanga, KZN and other provinces. The SACP and our loyal activists on the ground will not be deterred.  The looters of public resources must be rooted out and sent to jail to wear orange overalls.

Today, as we celebrate the 99th anniversary of the SACP, we dip our Red Flag in honour of all of those who have fallen. Let us pick up their fallen spears and intensify the struggle against corruption. A luta continua!

The SACP is no longer an underground organisation and cannot be stuck in the past methods of organisation. The SACP must move with the times and be innovative. Today, the SACP is larger than ever before. It has surpassed a membership of 311 000. It is continuing to grow. However, as we state in our programme, the South African Road to Socialism, what we seek to build is a large but vanguard Party capable of setting an example of discipline, commitment and strategic capacity on all fronts of struggle. There is a big difference between such a sizeable vanguard Party and a mass party.

The SACP has grown because it has been active and attractive to an increasing number of activists.

Developing, continuing and deepening vanguard role of the Communist Party

We have grown because we have been prepared to speak up in defence of workers and poor:

When our government introduced its misguided GEAR macro-economic policy in 1996, the SACP said we need a state-led industrial policy. We said macro-economic policy must be subordinated to and support national production development.

When our government launched a misconceived privatisation drive in the late 1990s, the SACP said ‘Down with Privatisation’, and mobilised against it. We said we need a strong, democratic developmental state instead.

It was the SACP that started the vitally important land and agrarian transformation campaign, post-1994, in the 2000s, challenging, among others, the so-called willing-seller, willing-buyer, and pushing land redistribution.

Again it was the SACP that started the campaign for the transformation of the financial sector, resulting in important advances for the working-class and poor. 

It was the SACP that first exposed the existence of corporate state capture (state capture) in our country. Back then, implicated elements, their factional networks and hangers-on reacted by dismissing the existence of state capture.

The SACP persisted. Again it became the first to call for a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture. This call was rejected by the same networks and in addition by almost all parliamentary parties. The former Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela reached the same conclusion as the SACP, prescribing the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture following an incomplete investigation, and as part of the remedial action the Chief Justice had to identify the judge to head the commission for the President to appoint. It was at this stage that the SACP saw, and also welcomed, the change of attitude from many quarters that opposed its call for the establishment of the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture.  

The struggle is not over.

Internal threat to the revolution and the liberation movement

Tenderisation of the state and the corruption that it breeds make up a great threat to the same national liberation movement that brought about democracy in our country. Our national liberation movement waged decades-long, gallant struggles against the apartheid regime. The movement enjoyed revolutionary moral high ground. With the overwhelming support of the people, the liberation movement finally dislodged the apartheid regime in 1994. Today we cannot say the movement has the same level of support. The rise of corruption has eroded and continues to corrode, the support that the movement enjoyed. The material basis of corruption lies in the tenderisation of the state, which is used as an instrument to empower a few. This is done in the name of the masses that remain economically exploited and continue to be impoverished in many respects with no empowerment.

Rising inequality, unemployment, poverty and unequal development are indicators of the conditions of the masses, while a few have been ‘empowered’ through state power, including state policy and tenders—even where tenders are unnecessary. The SACP is warning against this self-destructive trajectory and calls on our movement to reset to its revolutionary historical mission. The movement cannot be held hostage by the interests of a few, by greedy interests and their associated factionalism. A failure to reset to the revolutionary historical mission will see a continuing decline until all power is gone. The movement has to act in the interests of the masses, not in the private wealth accumulation interests of a few in the name of the masses.  

Active in the present, building the future, advancing to socialism in the here and now

Many of the post-apartheid achievements experienced by millions of the working-class and poor are indeed under threat. We need to learn from the past, intensify our activism in the present and build the future, socialism, in the here and now. The key priorities we must advance must include the following:

We must strive to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring that we do not return to the chronic crisis before the crisis but we advance through a developmental path – the SACP appreciates the work done by the frontline workers in the fight against the pandemic. This requires building a democratic developmental state with an internal capacity to serve the people.

We must intensify the struggle to end the tenderisation of the state, the corruption it breeds and tackle its associated tendencies, tenderpreneurs and their Covid-19 manifestation, the covidpreneurs. Every cent in the government’s Covid-19 expenditure must be accounted for. Those involved in fruitless and wasteful expenditure, corruption and looting, must be taken to task and held to account. This must include successful prosecution and severe sentences, asset forfeiture and other forms of lawful punishment.

We must advance rapidly to building a National Health Insurance that serves all our people on an equal footing.

We must push for the building the publicly owned economic sector in the interest of the people, especially the overwhelming majority, the working-class and poor. This requires state-owned enterprises to be turned around to thrive. In order for this national imperative to succeed, the SACP has to intensify its campaign against privatisation in all its disguises, including neoliberal structural reforms. Such reforms directly contradict the aim of building a capable democratic developmental state and are bent against the working-class.

Going to the root, we need to advance structural transformation to build, diversify and raise the levels of national production. This requires a decisive drive to achieve industrialisation, transformation of the mining sector to support high-value-added manufacturing, localisation, accelerated land redistribution, agrarian transformation, and transformation of the financial sector, to name but a few programmes needed to radically reduce inequality, unemployment, poverty and unequal development. In order for this strategic aim to be realised, the SACP has to intensify the campaign including new state capture and its networks.

The rising high levels of inequality, unemployment, poverty and the associated crisis of social reproduction make up the real and single biggest crisis in South Africa. In contradiction, according to the neoliberal recidivism of the National Treasury, the crisis is the debt to GDP ratio. To solve what it sees as a crisis, the debt to GDP ratio, the National Treasury has embarked on the dangerous path of increasing the accumulation of foreign currency denominated debt as a solution! To defend our country’s democratic national sovereignty, our fundamental right to self-determination, our hard-won democracy, the SACP rejects domestication of foreign economic agendas including the neoliberal structural reforms pushed by the IMF and its ilk.

Let us also combat with equal determination if not more gender-based violence, criminality, drug and substance abuse. These scourges are destroying our society.

A key task facing the SACP with respect to all these programmatic areas is to help to unite the working-class and build both a popular Left front against austerity and an even wider patriotic front in defence of our democracy, and our national sovereignty. 

The Jobs bloodbath

The SACP is seriously concerned about the rising tide of the jobs bloodbath. Retrenchment notices in the private sector have been increasing at an alarming rate. The private sector overwhelmingly controls our economy. It commands dominance and, in many sectors of the economy, also absolute monopoly. In the retail sector, workers at Edcon (Edgars) and Dion Wired, for example, are facing neoliberal restructuring, branch closures and job cuts. In the metal sector, retrenchment notices have been rising. This is the case in other sectors of the economy that wholly controlled by the private sector. It is very clear, also, that there are mismanagement and bad governance in the private sector. This is highlighted by the rising number of insolvencies and liquidations. The recent statistics released by Statistics South Africa on insolvencies and liquidations are shocking. It is also very clear that capital is forcing the working-class to absorb the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We strongly denounce the private sector for the jobs bloodbath. We strongly caution the state and public entities against taking their cue from the private sector. We are equally concerned about retrenchments in the public sector, including at, but not limited to, the SABC and SAA. The state has the duty to create employment and not to increase unemployment.

At SAA, the rescue process seems to have finally been placed on a way forward. However, there are problems in terms of governance and top management. A new board that meets competency requirements must be appointed as a matter of urgency. This means that the board under whose auspices SAA was placed under business recue must be dissolved as a matter of urgency. The top/senior management structure and all categories and levels must be changed to reflect South Africa’s demographics based on competency. Management control must be placed in the hands of competent South Africans. Operations must resume, as at other airlines. The state must deliver on its commitment to support the rescue and restructuring of SAA to become viable, thrive and grow. The national carrier must also offer working-class flights. This requires a whole-of-state approach, and an integrated, affordable, reliable and safe public transport system and aviation industrial strategy.

There is no other way forward for the working-class but to unite from all walks of trade union affiliation. The SACP is calling upon organised workers to work together to advance the common interests of all workers against economic exploitation. Airing out of our Fourth Special National Congress in December 2019, we called upon the progressive trade union movement to convene a joint national summit and discuss a common response to economic exploitation and, associated with it, the high levels of inequality, unemployment and poverty. We are calling on unorganised workers to realise that they share common problems and a common destiny with organised workers and to join unions and fight against economic exploitation. The SACP will continue working with trade unions to unionise un-unionised workers.    

International solidarity

The SACP expresses its unwavering solidarity with.

The people of Swaziland struggling for democratisation;

the people of Western Sahara struggling for an end to occupation by Morocco;

The people of Palestine struggling for an end to oppression and theft and occupation of their land by the apartheid regime of Israel;

The people of Cuba in defence of their right to the fundamental right to self-determination and against US imperialist aggression;

The people of Venezuela against imperialist machination by the US and its puppets;

The people of Bolivia and President Evo Morales; and

All the oppressed and exploited across the world.

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY | SACP

EST. 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA | CPSA

Dr Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo

Central Committee Member:

Head of Media & Communications

FOR MEDIA LIAISON & CIRCULATION SERVICES

Hlengiwe Nkonyane

Communications Officer:

Media Liaison, Social & Multi-Media Digital Platforms Co-ordinator

Mobile: +27 (0) 79 384 6550

OFFICE, WEBSITE, SOCIAL & MULTI-MEDIA DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Office: +27 (0) 11 339 3621/2

Website: www.sacp.org.za

Twitter: SACP1921

Facebook Page: South African Communist Party

SASCO Statement on the Occasion of the 99th Anniversary of the SACP

2 August 2020

The South African Students’ Congress (SASCO) wishes its ideological guardian, the South African Communist Party (SACP) a more revolutionary morale and continued consistent fight against imperialism. As our party advances towards its centenary birth, we wish to reiterate that it must continue the fight and active campaigning for;

Overall transformation of the post-schooling sector and free education

The transformation of the financial sector;

The building of a non-racial society as it’s the first organisation in the land to be a non-racial organisation;

Continued fight against corruption and corporate capture of the state;

Actively campaign for the full implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI);

Ban of labour brokers;

Ultimate establishment of South African socialist state in our lifetime.

The vanguard role of the party is not a concept that belongs to history books and concepts that can be explained in its documents, but it is a role our party has earned in the battlefield through its consistency against oppressive policy positions of the apartheid regime and neo-colonial bourgeois democratic state. The South African working class always looks up to the communist party for leadership and the party must never fail our motive forces.

As the student movement a majority of our membership and general constituency largely comes from working class and poor backgrounds and thus our adoption of Marxism and Leninism as tools of analysis and a guide to action. In our country the communist party remains the only organisation founded on Marxist ideas and as members of communities, young people in general, young women, queer bodies, and prospective wage laboures we identify with the struggles waged by the SACP and in our own right we shall be members of the Party and actively participate in the life of the party.

The struggles ahead in our country require a focused party, the current political climate in our country where corruption is at its peak, ideological inclination of our broad movement is flip flopping, functioning of state organs and state owned entities are being paralysed by leaders of the liberation movement and the future prospects of a socialist South Africa are bleak as a result of these present day realities, the South African Communist Party and its individual leadership and base must take centre stage and lead the South African revolution.

We are not apologetic of our close association with the Party as it represents the future we want to see for ourselves and the children of this country. We will be commemorating all its historic struggles it waged throughout its existence as we advance towards it anniversary birth.

Long Live the SACP Long Live!!

Issued by SASCO NEC

Bamanye Matiwane (President), Buthanani Ngwane (Secretary General) at sg@sasco.co.za

For Enquiries:

Luvuyo Barnes

Media and Communication Liaison

079 393 7131

F: SASCO National | T: SASCO_Jikelele | IG: SASCO_National

Sudan Urges Decisive Progress on GERD Filling Process

August 3, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan Monday said that decisive progress was needed in negotiations over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and called to discuss specific agenda during a period not exceeding two weeks.

Irrigation ministers from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia resumed Monday afternoon, virtual negotiations on the GERD filling and operation hosted by Cyril Ramaphosa head of the African Union and South Africa President.

In a speech delivered during the meeting, Sudanese Minister of Irrigation Yasir Abbas demanded that "the current round of negotiations be decisive and to set specific agenda for a two-week period."

Also, he called to give the observers a greater role to narrow the gaps between the parties, focus on the outstanding issues and not to present any new issues to the negotiations. He expressed hope that this approach would help to reach a "binding agreement" on the GERD filling and operation, including a deal on future projects on the Blue Nile River.

"The Sudanese negotiating delegation held wide consultations since the end of the last round of negotiations, especially after the negative effects of starting the filling of the dam without prior consultation," said the minister.

"Unilateral action before reaching an agreement between the three countries re-raised concerns about a repeat of such a move in the future, specifically the GERD environmental and social impacts on farmers along with the banks of the Blue Nile river and their safety" he further said.

On 21 July, Ethiopia announced the achievement of the initial filling stage of the mega-dam stressing it was not planned but the natural result of the heavy rains. The move angered Khartoum which rejected the unilateral step.

The Sudanese reiterated his country demand for a legally binding agreement under the international law, another point of discord which Ethiopia which calls for a guideline and rejects any agreement saying it will impede its future projects on the Blue Nile.

Sudan calls for a tripartite agreement that guarantees the safety of the Roseires Dam which is not far from the GRED demanding that the deal include the exchange of information between the two dams to protect the small dam.

Sudan is mainly interested in the protection of the Roseires Dam but refused in the past bilateral agreement with Ethiopia on the matter.

For its part, Egypt sees the GERD as a threat to the vital water supplies and seeks an agreement that ensures its annual needs of water.

(ST)

Sudan’s FFC Calls to Nominate Candidates for Vacant Ministerial Posts

Sudan's council of ministers hold a meeting (SUNA photo)

August 2, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Central Council of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) in Sudan called on the groups of the ruling coalition to nominate their candidates to fill the vacant seven ministerial portfolios.

The call was issued in an internal letter seen by Sudan Tribune dated on 31 July.

Also, it came some days after a meeting between FFC leadership delegates and representatives of the office of the prime minister to coordinate the selection process in line with the Constitutional Declaration with provides the ministers are appointed after consultations with the FFC.

The Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok will receive 3 candidates for each ministry from the FFC and he will choose one of them.

The vacant ministries are Finance, Health, Agriculture, Energy and Mining, Infrastructure and Transport, Foreign Affairs, and Livestock.

On July 9, the Sudanese Prime Minister accepted the resignation of six ministers and dismissed the Minister of Health, after an assessment of the performance. Also, some were directly or indirectly relieved as a result of a lack of coordination or divergences.

It is not clear if Hamdok will form his reshuffled government immediately after receiving the nomination or will wait for the signing of a peace agreement with the armed groups.

(ST)

Sudan’s Health Ministry Confirms 94 New Coronavirus Cases

Sudanese health worker speaks to Aljazeera TV about coronavirus pandemic in Khartoum on 18 March 2020 (STphoto)

August 20, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Federal Ministry of Health on Sunday confirmed 94 new coronavirus cases, taking Sudan’s tally to 11,738.

The Sudanese health authorities also reported six more deaths, bringing the virus-related death toll in the East African nation to 752.

The ministry further said that 18 people have recovered according to the 30-31 July epidemiological report bringing the total of those who have recovered to 6,137.

The report indicated that 11 out of 18 states did not record new infections.

As the celebrations of the 4-day Eid al-Adha have begun on 31 July, health authorities will not be able to assess the impact of social and religious gatherings on the spread of the respiratory disease which is transmitted via secretions of saliva and respiratory droplets.

The World Health Organisation has advised to seriously consider cancelling social and religious gatherings, but Sudan Tribune noted that prayers and social gathering almost did not much change this year.

The new cases were recorded in Khartoum State (33), Al Jazirah State (7), Northern State (17), Nile River State(9), Kassala State (17), Red Sea State (10), and West Kordofan State (one case).

(ST)

War Veterans Conference Held, Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Delivers Congratulatory Speech

The Sixth National Conference of War Veterans took place at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang on Monday.

Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, attended the conference.

War veterans and persons of wartime merit took part in the conference.

Also present there were chairmen of provincial Party committees, officials from ministries, national agencies and military organs, the faculties and students of revolutionary schools, and youth and students in Pyongyang.

Amid the playing of the welcome music, Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un appeared on the platform with war veterans.

All the participants burst into rapturous cheers in great reverence for and with absolute confidence in Kim Jong Un who represents the might and dignity of Juche Korea and symbolizes invincibility.

The Supreme Leader warmly waved back to war veterans.

Seen on the platform were Choe Yong Rim, Yang Hyong Sop, Thae Jong Su, Ri Myong Su, Ri Yong Mu, O Kuk Ryol, Kim Si Hak and other war veterans who worked as senior officials of the Party, the government and military organs for a long period.

The platform was also taken by Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, first vice-chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, and Pak Pong Ju, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, vice-chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and vice-chairman of the WPK Central Committee.

Senior Party and government officials, officials of working people's organizations and leading officials of military organs also took the platform.

Kim Jong Un made a congratulatory speech at the conference.

He extended warm congratulations to the war veterans who participated in the conference, all the participants in the great Fatherland Liberation War and persons of wartime merit on the 67th anniversary of the Korean people's victory in the war.

He also paid high tribute to sung and unsung revolutionary martyrs who dedicated their precious lives to the sacred war for the country's reunification and independence and the people's freedom and happiness and to the martyrs and veterans of the Chinese People's Volunteers who set a genuine example of militant friendship as they assisted the Korean people in their revolutionary war with their blood.

He highly appreciated the heroic life of the victorious wartime generation who performed undying feats and created the noble fighting spirit in the hard-fought war true to the leadership of President Kim Il Sung, and expressed firm belief that the war veterans would steadily hand down the spirit of the 1950s to the rising generations as the lifeblood of faith.

The participants were greatly excited by his congratulatory speech brimming with the deep appreciation and respect and noble comradely love and revolutionary obligation he feels towards the participants in the war.

Kim Sung Un, DPRK Hero and lecturer of the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, made a speech addressed to the rising generation.

General Kim Il Sung who liberated the nation and wisely led new Korea was precisely the country and the mainstay of faith for our people and fighters of the Korean People's Army during the days of the war, he said, stressing that they brought about the victorious July 27 by fighting with their hearts burning with the indomitable conviction that they would never be deprived of the land won back by the great leader and the thankful country no matter how often they might have to fall and with one mind to defeat the enemy no matter how often they might have to die.

Saying that the war veterans take pride in handing down the spirit of defending the country to the rising generation as a legacy, he expressed the absolute conviction that the DPRK would surely win as it is led by Marshal Kim Jong Un, an iron-willed, brilliant commander.

He then requested the rising generation to uphold better the Supreme Leader and trust, support and follow only the WPK in any adversity, keeping the spirit of defending the country and the revolution displayed in the 1950s as their faith.

Jo Chun Hyok, student of Kim Il Sung University, and Ji Yong Min, officer of the Korean People's Army, made speeches on behalf of youth and service personnel.

The speakers extended warm congratulations and militant salute to the war veterans taking part in the conference, reflecting the mind of all young people and service personnel across the country.

They stressed that they would become the youth heroes, who dedicate their lives for the sake of the Party, revolution and country by carrying forward the spirit and soul displayed in the great era of victorious war and invariably and single-heartedly believe in and follow only the Party in any storm and stress. They also vowed to devotedly defend the Party Central Committee headed by Kim Jong Un and take the lead in implementing Party policies, bearing in mind that the steady flow of the history of winning victory in war and the victory of socialism are guaranteed by the spirit of devotedly defending the leader.

As he warmly congratulated them once again, Kim Jong Un extended warm greetings to all the war veterans across the country who performed immortal exploits which would go down in the history of the country.

   

THE PYONGYANG TIMES

Year-old Self That the Fury of the Anti-Japanese Against Humanity Ethnic Discrimination

Japan's anti-humanitarian acts of racial discrimination, which are increasingly evident in the wake of the convective pandemic that threaten the safety of human life, sweeping the world, are fueling the wrath of the world.

In relation to the prevention of the new coronary virus infection, the Japanese Saidama City authorities supplied masks to loin nursing facilities, nurseries, and kindergartens in Xi'an on March 10, saying, ``The masks that have been distributed may be resold.'' Only the kindergarten was excluded.

On May 10, despite the fact that the Japanese right-wing thugs were an emergency state in which an emergency was declared to spread the spread of malignant epidemics, posts such as 《Chosun University is a murder university》 and 《Revocation of the permission of Chosun University'' With a transverse curtain, he flocked to the front of Chosun University, defeating the evils he had and committing an unacceptable brutality to insult and slander.

Not long ago, the Japanese authorities excluded students from Chosun University from being paid for student support payments related to the expansion of the new type of coronavirus infection.

In the midst of the global controversy caused by the spread of the new Coronavirus, the Japanese authorities' efforts to target the Korean citizens of the Republic of Korea and threaten the life and safety of Koreans residing in Japan are the beginnings of the deep-rooted awareness of Japan's deep-seated Koreans.

The voice of protests from the world's progressive people against the Japanese regime, which exulted in the ambitions of the reunion and excitement against the reunion of Japan and the Japanese regime against children and children, has risen day by day because of all kinds of misery and suffering that have overwhelmed our nation.

Even now, Japanese scrupulous people condemn the inhumane and unjust acts of national discrimination by Japanese authorities who target Japanese residents as targets and trample on human rights and living rights.

It should not be forgotten that the Japanese authorities are direct victims of the colonial rule of Japan, and have a duty to protect the lives and safety of their descendants and their children, and to ensure their rights and interests.

Japan's illegal and unlawful criminal acts committed against Chongryon and Japanese residents over the past decades and centuries will be judged worthy.

Chosun Central Communication

With the Patriotic Intelligence of Compatriots

The Patriot Knitting Factory, located at the foot of Changgwang Mountain in Jung-gu, Pyongyang-si, was established by the patriotism of Chongryun merchants in the early 1970s.

Even now, pictures of about 20 businessmen who donated facilities are displayed in the factory's history introduction room.

The employees of the factory hold the patriotism of their compatriots and try to increase the number of products and improve the quality.

Production staff member Lee Young-ran said, ``The short-sleeved jackets and sportswear in the shape of the Republic of Korea, which is one of the national symbols, are in high demand so that they cannot keep up with production.

The service clothes and work clothes produced at the factory are well received by the employees of the Yangdeok Hot Spring Cultural Recreation Area and the builders of the Pyongyang General Hospital. In addition, Knitting products of Changgwangsan Mountain, which are sold in commercial service networks including Pyongyang 1st Department Store, satisfy the demands of consumers in their shape and quality.

The secret lies in empowering the factory to develop new products and improve the quality of products.

The factory workers are constantly updating the pattern of knitting clothes by establishing the principle of multi-product and miniaturization, which increases the number of products and limits the production amount of each product.

The factory holds a new product fair once a week and conducts generalization projects by job, work group, and individual, while introducing elected products into production on time.

In the preparation workplace, various knitting fabrics are produced in a timely manner by guaranteeing the full operation of the expectation, including the Yangmyeondae ventilation and the outer surface ventilation.

Producers of weaving workshops are increasing the utilization rate of automatic transverse looms in a timely manner.

The factory's enthusiasm for developing and producing more knitted garment products that contribute to the improvement of people's lives in factories filled with patriotic intelligence of overseas compatriots is not high.

2020-08-03

Strengthening Quarantine Measures in Many Countries

On the first day, the South Korean authorities in South Korea's bang decided to implement strict measures to prevent the spread of the convective epidemic.

In these areas, people's outings and contact were restricted, masks were mandated, and public transportation was suspended during the rim.

In addition, it was forbidden to gather more than two people in public places other than workplaces, schools, and hospitals.

From 1 day in Bucharest, the capital of Rome, on 19th, wearing masks in public places including markets was mandatory.

These measures were taken in response to the occurrence of more than 1 000 infected people every day for nearly two weeks.

The Kuwaiti Civil Aviation Authority has announced that commercial flights to 31 countries with high risk of communicable disease transmission will be suspended until further notice.

Some restrictions have been eased in the UK as the number of new coronavirus infections is growing again.

As a result, the operation of service facilities with many people's contacts was prohibited. In England, it was said that indoor performances were not allowed until August 15th.

Chosun Central Communication

People's Health System in North Korea

The health system of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a people's health system that embodies people's mass-firstism.

The state will consolidate and develop the overall free treatment system, strengthen the doctor's zoning system and preventive medicine system, improve the material security business for the health sector, protect people's lives and promote the health of workers.

The overall free treatment system has been in effect since January of Juche 42 (1953).

All workers, including workers, farmers, soldiers and intellectuals, are treated equally and free of charge, regardless of gender, age, occupation, residential area, quality and quantity of labor. The state is fully responsible for all medical expenses such as medical examinations, laboratory tests, hospitalization, and surgery, medical expenses for medical care and consultation, medical checkups, counseling, and immunization.

The Physician Area System is a resident health management system that establishes the area in charge of the principle of organically blending production units and residential units, and allows doctors to manage the residents on a regular basis.

The state puts emphasis on disease prevention, sanitation prevention, pollution prevention, and hygiene propaganda to protect and protect people's lives and health.

In the country, women's and children's health is specially protected through measures including postpartum leave.

The government of the Republic will further improve the medical service project, raise medical science and technology to the highest level, and strengthen the material and technological foundation of the health sector, so that the people can better benefit from the socialist health system.

US-based Group Mourns Shiri

 02 AUG, 2020 - 00:08  

Sunday Mail Reporter

A United States-based black human rights organisation, the December 12th Movement, has sent a condolence message to the people of Zimbabwe following the death of national hero and Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri (Rtd) on Wednesday.

The movement’s chairperson, Cde Viola Plummer, said the late hero’s devotion to the struggle and leadership, especially as a Cabinet minister, “were exemplary”.

“The leadership and cadre of the December 12th Movement extend our deepest condolences on the passing of national hero, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri (Rtd). Many of us were privileged to meet with him and his passing touches us deeply,” she said.

“Comrade Shiri’s devotion to the struggle for self-determination for Zimbabwe and Africans and his leadership in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement were exemplary.”

Cde Plummer described Cde Shiri’s passing as a “tremendous loss” to Zimbabwe, ZANU PF and the people of Zimbabwe, including the December 12th Movement.

The New York-based organisation, she added, will always be indebted to his legacy as a national hero.

BURKINA FASO BLAST KILLS SIX, MOSTLY CHILDREN

The IED, which exploded as the group's cart was passing late Saturday, also injured four others, they said.

AFP 

OUAGADOUGOU - At least six people, mostly children, died when an improvised explosive device went off in northern Burkina Faso, security sources and local officials said Sunday.

The IED, which exploded as the group's cart was passing late Saturday, also injured four others, they said.

Northern Burkina Faso is notorious for jihadist attacks which have killed more than 1,000 people there and displaced about a million more since 2015.

The victims were "nearly all children who were returning from grazing their livestock", a local in Ouahigouya said. "The cart which carried some of them rolled over a mine."

IED attacks have multiplied since 2018, killing nearly 200 military personnel and civilians, according to an AFP tally. Such attacks are often combined with an ambush.

Jihadist violence, which is often accompanied by inter-community strife, has killed more than 4,000 people in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, according to United Nations figures. 

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO LET DOWN OUR GUARD

Cyril Ramaphosa 

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

As of today, South Africa has recorded more than half a million confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Of the cumulative total of 503,290 cases, 342,461 people have already recovered and 152,676 cases are currently active.

The global coronavirus pandemic is the most serious public health crisis that the world has faced in over a century. On every continent, nations have struggled to contain the spread of the virus and to contend with its effects.

In our own country, 8,153 people are known to have lost their lives, and the actual number of deaths due to the virus is likely to exceed this figure. We deeply mourn this loss and offer our sympathies to the families and friends who are in grief.

Promising signs in rate of transmission

After a rapid rise in infections over the last two months, the daily increase in infections appears to be stabilising, particularly in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Eastern Cape. While it may be too soon to draw firm conclusions, this suggests that the prevention measures that South Africans have implemented are having an effect.

Our recovery rate is currently around 68%. Our case fatality rate – which is the number of deaths as a proportion of confirmed cases – remains at 1.6%, significantly lower than the global average.

While South Africa has the fifth highest number of total COVID-19 cases globally, we have only the 36th highest number of deaths as a proportion of the population. For this, we are grateful to the work of our health professionals and the innovative treatments they have pioneered.

Before the advent of the epidemic in South Africa, government set in motion a strategy to respond swiftly and comprehensively to protect as many lives as possible.

The national 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. Had South Africans not acted together to prevent this outcome, our health system would have been overwhelmed in every province. This would have resulted in a dramatic loss of life.

Preparing for peak in infections

Over the past few months, we have undertaken an unprecedented mobilisation of resources to prepare our country for the inevitable increase in cases.

In every province, hospitals were reorganised and readied to manage an influx of patients. Government provided training for health personnel, distributed large quantities of personal protective equipment and put in place systems to monitor outbreaks and respond quickly.

Field hospitals have been constructed across the country, including in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Pietermaritzburg. These facilities continue to be essential in providing adequate care to those who need it.

In certain cases, these efforts were not enough. Several public hospitals in the Eastern Cape were overwhelmed as infections rose in the province, and a specialist team has been deployed to address this challenge.

In other provinces hard-hit by the epidemic, including the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the health system has so far had sufficient capacity to cope with the number of admissions. This is a testament to the efforts of doctors, nurses, public health specialists and others who have worked hard to prepare for this moment. We need, however, to continue with these efforts to further increase the capacity of our health facilities.

Additional facilities, equipment and personnel are being deployed in provinces still experiencing an increase in infections.

Innovative use of South African skills and capabilities

During this month, the National Ventilator Project will deliver 20,000 locally-produced, non-invasive ventilators to where they are most needed. A dedicated team drawn from several institutions, led by the Biovac Institute, is preparing to manufacture doses of a successful vaccine locally.

We are working hard to fix the logistical and other problems that have led to a shortage of personal protective equipment for health workers and other frontline staff in several parts of the country. We understand the concerns and the frustrations of these essential workers and are committed to resolving this issue with the greatest urgency.

We have empowered our law enforcement to investigate all reports of alleged corruption and irregularities in the procurement of medical and other supplies. It is unconscionable that there are people who may be using this health crisis to unlawfully enrich themselves.

We should be proud of the many hospitals that are providing a high quality of care to patients; the determined adherence of most South Africans to basic precautions; and the extraordinary commitment of individuals and organisations throughout society to combat the virus together.

Prevention through individual and collective action

While there are promising signs, now is not the time to let down our guard. We have to continue to work together to reduce the number of new infections.

As with many other countries across the world, we need to continually adjust the measures we take to prevent new outbreaks or to safeguard our health system. We have already seen, for example, that the suspension of alcohol sales has significantly reduced the trauma cases in our health facilities. While these changes can be disruptive to people’s lives and to the economy, it is necessary that we adapt to the changing path of the disease.

We must maintain our vigilance until we have no more coronavirus cases in our country. If we do not do so, there is the risk of a resurgence in those areas where the virus has now begun to stabilise.

Above all, we need to continue to follow prevention measures to reduce the rate of infection and flatten the curve. By wearing a mask correctly, keeping a distance of two metres from other people, and washing our hands regularly, we can protect ourselves, our families, friends, co-workers, fellow commuters and neighbours.

If we all continue to act together, we can eradicate coronavirus in our country.

I call on every South African to remain strong and steadfast in these most difficult times.

Stay safe and protect South Africa.

Rwanda Allows Resumption of International Flights

CGTN

Photo courtesy: RwandAir

Rwanda has resumed international passenger flights, more than four months after the central African nation suspended commercial passenger flights to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak.

The suspension didn't affect cargo and emergency flights. Tourists travelling by charter flights had been allowed to enter the country that is famous for mountain gorilla tracking since June 17.

Rwandan national flag carrier RwandAir, which flew to 29 destinations across 24 countries throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia before it suspended passenger flights on March 20, on Saturday resumed with a flight from Kigali International Airport to Dubai, while Kenyan and Ethiopian Airways made flights to Kigali, Rwandan Minister of Infrastructure Claver Gatete told Xinhua.

Gatete reiterated that to ensure the safety of passengers, all travellers are required to adhere to the health guidelines issued by the health ministry.

The fast-growing airline has been "greatly impacted" by the pandemic, which in April said it had resolved to reduce employees' salaries as part of measures to reduce expenditure.

It will restart services with selected African routes where travel restrictions have been eased and borders have reopened, and with one long-haul route to Dubai, while other routes will gradually resume.

The company's CEO Yvonne Makolo told reporters earlier on Friday that airline will ensure social distancing measures during boarding, deeply clean the planes after each flight, and enforce the policy that every passenger is only allowed to take one piece of cabin luggage on board to avoid congestion and too many physical contacts between passengers and luggage.

Precautionary measures also have been implemented throughout the Kigali International Airport, Rwanda's main airport, to maintain the health and safety of customers and staff, according to Rwanda Airports Company, the airports' operator of Rwanda.

The measures include using protective plexiglass at check-in and immigration counters, thermal and temperature screening, social distancing markers and increased levels of sanitization in compliance with international standards set out by the relevant authorities, it said.

The government guidelines for arrivals require them to be tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before departure and receive a second test upon entry into the country.

Seventeen hotels have been designated by the government for travellers to stay while awaiting the result of the second test.

Tourism operators, which have been hit hard by the pandemic, are expecting to bounce back following the resumption of passenger flights in Rwanda and across the world.

"We expect tourists to come to Rwanda since airlines have resumed and countries have started opening up borders," Lise Tuyisenge, Managing Director of Phoenix Tour and Travel Agency, told Xinhua.

However, G-Step, a leading customized tours company in Rwanda, said its expectations are not high, although the resumption of flights is a very good sign for the improvement of business.

The situation of bookings remains dismal and tourists may still not come to the country immediately after airports open, G-Step owner Andrew Gatera told Xinhua in late July.

Tourism is one of Rwanda's economic pillars. Endangered mountain gorillas living in Volcanoes National Park contribute about 90 percent of tourism revenues from Rwanda national parks.

Currently, land borders of Rwanda remain closed, except for goods and cargo, as well as returning Rwandan citizens and legal residents.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

Hard-hit Massachusetts Worries COVID-19 Respite is Fleeting

By PHILIP MARCELO

July 31, 2020

A house party attended by restaurant workers in a picturesque beach town in Massachusetts has led to more than a dozen new coronavirus infections.

On the western side of the state, a Springfield hospital is dealing with an outbreak of at least 40 cases traced to a hospital staffer who recently returned from an out-of-state vacation.

Less than a month after Massachusetts allowed gyms, movie theaters, museums and other public venues to reopen on July 6, there’s an increasing sense of dread that the hard-hit state’s summertime respite from the pandemic is waning just as families are looking ahead to the start of school.

“Pay attention #Massachusetts — #COVID19 is on the rise. The numbers show it. The anecdotes show it,” Dr. David Rosman, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said in a series of widely shared tweets Sunday.

Rosman, who is also the associate chair of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said in a followup interview Wednesday that the recent uptick should be a clarion call to redouble virus prevention efforts in Massachusetts. The state has more than 8,300 deaths from COVID-19, among the highest in the nation.

He and others have also urged Republican Gov. Charlie Baker to consider rolling back his decision to move the state into the third phase of his reopening plan if case numbers don’t improve.

In the Boston suburb of Somerville, home to Tufts University, Mayor Joseph Curtatone has voiced similar concerns for weeks.

The Democratic mayor, who this month opted to hold fast to the state’s previous, stricter coronavirus guidelines, said Friday his city will hold off on enacting Phase 3 of the governor’s reopening plan for another two weeks.

“Pressing pause on this next phase is painful, but necessary,” Curtatone said in a written statement. “We are watching as the virus rages and businesses are shut back down in states that ignored clear warnings that they were opening too quickly. We are also watching state and local data head in the wrong direction.”

Worries about a summertime resurgence extend into neighboring Rhode Island, which mobilized National Guard troops in the earlier days of the pandemic to go door to door tracking down visitors from New York — then the pandemic’s epicenter — to ensure quarantines.

The tiny state has been relatively spared from the pandemic, but saw a spike of more than 100 newly confirmed cases Tuesday — Rhode Island’s highest single-day total in months.

In response, Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo on Wednesday delayed the next phase in the state’s reopening plan by another month. She also cut back the maximum size of house parties and other social gatherings from 25 to 15 people, citing infections linked to parties, particularly among young adults.

“We’re partying too much,” Raimondo said. “It’s clear we’re not ready to move forward.”

She also imposed stricter limits at the Ocean State’s increasingly crowded beaches in recent weeks, and has threatened to impose tougher measures on bars and restaurants after some owners continue to flout the state’s virus regulations.

Baker on Friday similarly threatened to cut the number of people allowed at private gatherings, but hasn’t publicly entertained the idea of rolling back other parts of the economic reopening in Massachusetts, which had the highest unemployment rate in the nation in June, at more than 17%.

He maintains that much of the state’s recent uptick can be attributed to individuals “letting down their guard” and not practicing proper virus safety etiquette — rather than to reopening the state economy too soon or too widely.

At the same time, Baker has announced stricter travel restrictions on people coming into the state starting Aug. 1, in recognition of soaring caseloads elsewhere.

Baker and other state officials stress Massachusetts’ key virus measures remain far below those in other states, and below where Massachusetts stood when he began the phased reopening in mid-May. The state’s seven-day positive test rate was nearly 10% back then; it’s now around 2%.

Rosman and other leading physicians counter that Massachusetts has averaged roughly 300 daily cases in recent days, a roughly 30% increase from prior weeks. They also point to anecdotal evidence that the public has grown too lax in the virus fight.

Besides the outbreaks tied to the Chatham house party and the Baystate Medical Center, state officials are investigating COVID-19 clusters from a lifeguard party in Falmouth, a high school graduation party in Chelmsford and an unauthorized football camp in Weymouth, among other large gatherings, Baker said Friday.

“We think we’re winding down on COVID-19, but we’re not,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said earlier this week after an image of a seemingly packed harbor cruise ship went viral last weekend. “If we’re in a sporting event, we’re probably at halftime right now.”

Rosman, the medical society president, said a return to virus safety fundamentals is even more crucial as local communities prepare to reopen schools and tens of thousands of college students arrive on campuses in the coming weeks.

“If the goal is to get back to school, we have to do the actions needed to get there,” he said. “It’s like trying to lose 20 pounds. You don’t get there by eating McDonald’s. You do it by exercising and eating right.”