A fourth member of the North West provincial executive committee has tested positive for the coronavirus. Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation MEC, Virginia Tlhapi, like Premier Job Mokgoro and Public Works MEC Gaoage Molapisi is in self-isolation.
Co-operative governance MEC Gordon Kegakilwe died on Monday last week, due to the COVID-19 related complications. Five other MECs in the province are in quarantine, after conducting public tests in Rustenburg on Saturday. They include Health MEC Madoda Sambatha.
“The only reason why we are doing tests is for public trust because three of our members that we were very close within a meeting tested positive. Unfortunately, comrade Gordon passed on, may his soul rest in peace. We are just doing this for confidence in the system. That’s why we even do it in a lab of the national health laboratory service – the government one. Because we can’t put rules and not follow them.”
Sambatha says contact tracing is underway for people who may have come into contact with North West government officials.
“On contact tracing, the Department of Health has at least covered 90% of all the contacts affected and confirmed cases of the MECs. What we have currently is that the contacts are broad, not only those that are MECs, because contacts are contacts irrespective of where they are.”
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Senior Limpopo official tests positive for COVID-19
A senior official in the Limpopo Office of the Premier has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Premier’s Spokesperson Kenny Mathivha says the official is in self-isolation and all people who had contact with him have been traced and are in quarantine.
This is the second person to test positive in the Office of the Premier after a police officer manning a guard room tested positive three months ago.
In the past week, Premiers Alan Winde from the Western Cape, and David Makhura from Gauteng – tested positive for the virus.
The 72-year-old Mokgoro is making good progress after deciding to admit himself to hospital while the other two premiers are in self-isolation at home.
In the video below, Co-operative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma responds to Kegakilwe’s death:
