The World Council of Churches (WCC) is publishing the first of a series of Bible studies that lead up to the WCC 11th Assembly in 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany.
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Author: Staff Writer
South Africa has reported 2 858 new COVID-19 cases, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) figures.
This was 362 fewer infections logged than the previous day.
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Inter-Faith leaders sign a pledge to upscale interventions in order to end HIV and TB as public health threats by 2030.Â
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SA to remain on Level 1
While South Africa will remain on the Coronavirus Alert Level 1, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on citizens who have not vaccinated to do so immediately.
“In taking the decision not to impose further restrictions at this stage, we considered the fact that when we encountered previous waves of infection, vaccines were not widely available and far fewer people were vaccinated,” the President said on Sunday.
Addressing the nation on developments in the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the President encouraged every person who has not been vaccinated to go to their nearest vaccination station without delay.
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The past weekend our Minister in Synodical Service and Task Team Manager for Congregational Witness, Rev. Stephen Pedro, kicked off the accompaniment process of faith-discerning with the leadership of URCSA Victoria West.
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The British government is taking decisive precautionary action against a new COVID-19 variant by introducing travel restrictions on arrivals from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia from midday tomorrow (Friday 26 November).
It comes as Variant B.1.1.529 is declared a Variant under Investigation (VuI) by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
The variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome. These are potentially biologically significant mutations which may change the behaviour of the virus with regards to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility. More investigation is required.
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Ramaphosa on the power crisis in SA
Ramaphosa replied to questions in the National Assembly.
“The recent load shedding – which has disrupted daily life for millions of South Africans and caused great damage to our economy – is a stark reminder of the severe and intractable challenges in our electricity system,” Ramaphosa said.
“Load shedding is always the last resort where demand for electricity is greater than what can be produced. It is necessary to prevent the collapse of the power grid and a complete blackout.”
“At its core, load-shedding is the inevitable consequence of the age of many of Eskom’s power plants and its inability over many years – due to debt, lack of capacity and state capture – to service its power plants.”
“Eskom has to undertake the fundamental maintenance that is necessary to improve the reliability of our electricity supply.”
“As it continues with maintenance, load-shedding will remain a possibility for the immediate future.”
“But we are not simply waiting for the inevitable. We are working hard to fix this problem.”
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New COVID-19 variant detected in SA
Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has confirmed that a new COVID-19 variant has been detected in South Africa.
The Minister, who was speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, believes that the new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.529, may have been tied to the recent cluster outbreaks in Gauteng.
“You can be rest assured that as people move in the next coming weeks, this [variant] will be all over,” Phaahla warned.
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President Cyril Ramaphosa will later today, Thursday, 25 November 2021 at 14h00, outline to the National Assembly government’s roadmap towards the revitalisation of Eskom as part of the broader transformation of South Africa’s energy industry.
The President’s update to Parliament will form part of his responses to questions Members of Parliament have submitted for oral reply by the President.
On energy, the President will respond to questions relating to the economic impact of load shedding and South Africa’s approach to the R131 billion commitment by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the European Union to support South Africa’s just transition to a lower carbon economy.
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The World Student Christian Federation has been involved in climate justice advocacy as part of its Ecological Justice Global Program since 2015. Many activities have been done in COP-related frameworks, particularly related to ecumenical delegations and interfaith coordination.
This comes as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (The federation was part of the ecumenical coalition for climate justice that attended the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference.
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Photo: WCC