Day: August 16, 2021

Trial of seven Chinese nationals accused of human trafficking and child labour postponed again

The trial of the seven Chinese nationals arrested for alleged human trafficking and child labour was today (August 16) postponed in the Johannesburg High Court following the non-availability of the presiding Judge, Mhango due to other commitments.

In their last appearance on 7 June 2021 the trial was postponed in the Johannesburg High Court following a no show by the Chinese interpreter as he had gone on a quarantine due to COVID-19 contact.

The seven Chinese nationals in the trial are: Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian.

The first six accused are out on a bail, except for accused number seven Zhang Zhilian is in custody because on 24 February 2021 she violated her bail conditions by trying flee the country. She was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport.

The Chinese nationals are facing schedule six offences. They are charged with 160 counts of crime relating to contravention of SA’s labour laws; prevention and combating of trafficking in persons; contravention of Immigration Act; knowingly employing illegal foreigners; kidnapping; pointing a firearm; debt bondage; benefitting from the services of a victim of trafficking; conduct that facilitates trafficking; illegally assisting person(s) to remain in South Africa, and failure to comply with duties of an employer.

They were arrested for allegedly running an illegal enterprise called Beautiful City Pty Ltd located at Village Deep in Johannesburg in a joint operation by the Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch in Gauteng together with the South African Police Services (SAPS), Department of Home Affairs and the Hawks Unit.

The accused have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

To date, three Malawian witnesses have taken the stand. These are Maxwell Kamanga, Fraser Aufi and Ndika Matola. The three were former employees of Beautiful City. The matter has been remanded 27 September 2021 for further State evidence.

Source: Government of South Africa

Highlights

• As of late July, the early stages of the core period of the rainy season in West Africa continue to be characterised by variable conditions and the deficits persist in the western parts of the region (northern and western Senegal and most of Mauritania) as well as in western Guinea, Sierra Leone and north-western Liberia. Below average rains are also noticeable over southern and central Nigeria and southern Cameroon. The eastern Sahel benefited from more favourable condition with above average rainfall over Niger and Chad. July provides respite and rainfall improvement has offset deficits in many areas over the Sahel (particularly over eastern Sahel in Niger, Nigeria and Chad)

• Overall, the rainy season has so far (between 1 April and 31 July), been characterised by variable conditions across the region. Rainfall deficits mainly affected the westernmost areas of the region (Mauritania, northern and western Senegal, western Guinea, Guinea Bissau). Furthermore, in the coastal areas of the Gulf of Guinea, below average rainfall was recorded, namely in southern Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, western and southern Nigeria. In contrast, seasonal rainfall is average to above average over the eastern Sahel in Niger and Chad. Rainfall is also above average in the arid regions of northern Mali, Niger and Chad. As a result, drier than average conditions persist across the westernmost parts of the region, although better rains towards the end of the month brought improvements in the eastern Sahel ( Nigeria and Chad). Southern and central Nigeria and southern Cameroon, as well as western Guinea, Sierra Leone and north-western Liberia, experienced unfavourable conditions. Early rainfall deficits have had an significant impact on the vegetation conditions that are currently below average in most of the region. Below normal vegetation conditions are currently recorded in a wide area over the western parts of the region (eastern and western Senegal, south-western Mali and southern Mauritania), in southwestern Burkina Faso, southern Niger and particularly in central Nigeria as well as central Chad. Above average vegetation can be seen in the northern part of the Sahel (northern and central Mali, northern Burkina Faso, Niger, as well as north-eastern Nigeria and northern and southern Chad with favourable vegetation conditions in Mali, Niger and southern Chad.

• According to short-term forecasts covering the period until 20 August 2021, an improvement of seasonal rains will likely observed with wetter than normal conditions across most of West Africa. The Sahel will likely benefit from more favourable conditions and receive above normal rains except western Senegal . However, coastal areas in the southern parts of West Africa (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, southern Benin, southern Togo, southern Nigeria) as well as southern Cameroon will be drier than average.

• According to the PRESASS 2021 seasonal forecast June Update, average to above average seasonal rainfall (in June-August 2021) is expected over most of the Sahelian and Sudanian belt, except for the coastal areas of southern Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone. These conditions are associated with an early to normal onset of seasonal rains in the western parts of the region (Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, western Mali and western Burkina Faso), and normal to late in the eastern sector (eastern Burkina Faso, Niger, northern Nigeria and Chad) and long to medium dry spells throughout most of the region. This could mean that the region might be affected by more irregular and extreme rainfall during the 2021 season, with an increased risk of prolonged dry spells affecting crop development, and intense rainfall leading to floods.

Source: World Food Programme

A case of Ebola virus has been confirmed in Côte d’Ivoire for the first time since 1994, the country’s Ministry of Health has confirmed. The World Health Organization (WHO) is coordinating the delivery of vaccines to the country.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Côte d’Ivoire country office of the WHO said that the virus was found in samples collected from a patient who was hospitalized in the commercial capital of Abidjan, after arriving from Guinea.

Initial investigations found that the patient had travelled to Côte d’Ivoire by road and arrived in Abidjan on 12 August. The patient was admitted to hospital after experiencing a fever and is currently receiving treatment.

‘Immense concern’

Earlier this year, Guinea experienced a four-month long Ebola outbreak, which was declared over on the 19 June 2021. The WHO said that there is currently no indication that the current case in Côte d’Ivoire is linked to the Guinea outbreak, but added that further investigation will identify the strain, and determine if there is a connection between the two outbreaks.

This year Ebola outbreaks have been declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea, but it is the first time an outbreak has occurred in a large capital city such as Abidjan since the 2014–2016 West Ebola outbreak.

“It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. “However, much of the world’s expertise in tackling Ebola is here on the continent and Côte d’Ivoire can tap into this experience and bring the response to full speed. The country is one of the six that WHO has supported recently to beef up their Ebola readiness and this quick diagnosis shows preparedness is paying off.”

5,000 Ebola vaccine doses on their way

WHO is helping to coordinate cross-border Ebola response activities, and 5000 Ebola vaccines doses which the organization helped secure to fight the outbreak in Guinea are now being transferred to Côte d’Ivoire, following an agreement between the ministries of health of Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea. People at high risk, including health workers, first responders and contacts of confirmed cases, will be prioritised for vaccination.

Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates. Fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks; there is now effective treatment available and if patients receive treatment early, as well as supportive care, their chances of survival improve significantly.

Côte d’Ivoire declared the outbreak in line with International Health Regulations and WHO does not advise any travel restrictions to and from the country.

Source: United Nations

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, is pleased to announce that the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has authorised local biotechnology company CapeBio to manufacture rapid COVID19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits.

The COVID-19 test kits, co-developed by CapeBio and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), will help to reduce South Africa’s reliance on imports, making it easier for the country and the rest of the continent to gain speedy access to test kits.

“Given Africa’s dependence on imports, the government, through the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), led an initiative to respond to the local and continental demand for testing by setting up a fund to develop diagnostic tools, among other resources,” said Minister Nzimande.

Minister Nzimande further said that as the highly infectious Delta variant continues to drive South Africa’s third wave of COVID-19 infections, testing has become increasingly important.

“The more testing is done, the easier it is for a country to track the virus, identify clusters, and act accordingly” emphasized the Minister.

“This latest development is part of a concerted effort by the DSI and its partners to build local capabilities to respond to viruses like COVID-19. Ensuring that diagnostics, vaccines, etc. are locally manufactured means that South Africa need not depend on foreign imports of life-saving products. This is crucial, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how difficult it is for the developing world to compete with richer nations for access to such products,” alluded the Minister.

Daniel Ndima, CEO of CapeBio, said the company and its partners at the CSIR were delighted that the COVID-19 test kits had been approved by the regulators.

CapeBio has already commenced industrial-scale manufacturing of the test kits at its Centurion facilities, and the first batches will be available for local market uptake before the end of August 2021. At full operational capacity, the company will be able to produce up to 5 000 kits a day, with each kit providing for 1 000 tests.

“This is a massive achievement in the national response to the pandemic and a significant milestone for our country,” said Mr Ndima.

“We will be able to assist the nation and Africa by alleviating our reliance on imports that are normally associated with high costs and long lead times. Additionally, this will enable us to supply the local market sufficiently and effectively, confirming CapeBio’s capability to develop health-related tools to assist the government in democratising COVID-19 testing,” added Mr Ndima.

The CSIR’s principal investigator for the project, Dr Lusisizwe Kwezi, said SAHPRA’s approval showed confidence in the high standard of local biotechnology development.

“This is a significant breakthrough that confirms the importance of collaborative work between the public and private sector to fast-track the roll-out and uptake of South African technologies,” said Dr Kwezi. “The combination of the CSIR’s research and development infrastructure and expertise, coupled with CapeBio’s capability, contributed to the successful production of a one-step diagnostic assay which will assist in managing and monitoring the spread of COVID-19.”

In developing the test kits, the research team had access to the CSIR’s existing know-how in areas such as enzyme biomanufacturing technologies. As a result, in under a year, the team was able to deliver a COVID-19 test kit that could pass CapeBio’s internal tests and external evaluation by the National Health Laboratory Service. The end result is a 100% locally developed, soon to be manufactured PCR test kit, including reagents to test for COVID-19 – a first for South Africa.

Last month, another local biotech company, Cape Town-based Biovac, was appointed to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for distribution within the African Union, making it the first company in Africa to produce an mRNA-based vaccine.

Biovac immediately commenced technical transfer activities, including on-site development and equipment installation. At full operational capacity, Biovac’s COVID-19 vaccine production will exceed 100 million finished doses annually. All doses will be distributed exclusively among the 55 member states of the African Union.

In June, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners also announced that they were working with a South African consortium comprising Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish its first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub.

Source: Government of South Africa

The commander of U.N. peacekeeping forces in the Central African Republic says rebels there continue to challenge authorities and threaten neighboring countries like Cameroon. General Daniel Sidiki Troare made the comments during a weekend visit to Cameroon for talks with defense officials.

The U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, MINUSCA, says the situation in the Central African Republic remains fragile.

General Daniel Sidiki Troare is the Burkina Faso-born force commander of MINUSCA. He said rebel attacks and human rights violations on C.A.R. civilians and institutions are frequent.

He said the fundamental objective of the U.N. peacekeeping mission is to protect civilians, U.N. Mission staff and offices, the country’s state institutions and restore definitive peace is facing lots of challenges. He says he is visiting Cameroon because more cooperation is needed between U.N. troops and Cameroon’s military to stop rebel advances and bring back order to the C.A.R.

Troare spoke in Cameroon where he was visiting as the head of a MINUSCA delegation. MINUSCA reports that since August 1, it documented 18 incidents of abuse and cases of human rights violations perpetrated by rebels. Thirty victims of the abuses are receiving psychosocial care in Bangui.

In July, another 20 people reported abuses in the C.A.R. capital Bangui. More than 25 C.A.R. communities suffered bloody attacks from rebels.

MINUSCA reports that in July, 5,500 wounded civilians received health assistance in its hospitals.

Troare said C.A.R. rebels facing reprisals from U.N. peacekeepers hide on both sides of the Cameroon border.

Joseph Beti Assomo is Cameroon’s defense minister.

Assomo said Cameroon will be sending 800 troops to the C.A.R. in September because Cameroon faces insecurity when attacks occur in C.A.R. He said when rebels block the road linking Cameroon’s coastal commercial city Douala and Bangui, economic activity declines and thousands of transporters are deprived of their source of livelihoods.

Assomo said since December when post-election violence erupted in the Central African Republic, rebels have blocked the road linking Douala to Bangui at least six times. He said the number of people displaced within the C.A.R. rose from 300,000 in December to 500,000 in July. Assomo however said that many of the displaced have returned to safe localities.

Assomo and Troare did not say where in the C.A.R. that Cameroon’s troops will be deployed. But Assomo said they will be expected to secure the border. He said Cameroon has deployed several hundred additional troops to its eastern border to stop rebels from entering Cameroon.

Violence in the C.A.R. degenerated into an armed conflict in 2014 when a coalition of armed groups known as the Seleka overthrew then-President Francoise Bozize.

Cameroon shares a 900-kilometer boundary with the Central African Republic and hosts 300,000 refugees from the neighboring country.

Source: Voice of America