Parliament is shutting its doors and will operate with a few staff members as the country heeds President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call. In a statement on Tuesday Parliament said the last sitting will take place on Thursday in the National Council of Provinces. Parliament was due to go on recess on Friday, but it shut down its doors earlier in line with the directive of the president.
On Wednesday MPs are expected to vote on the Budget tabled by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in February. The presiding officers met earlier on Tuesday to discuss the way forward for Parliament in the wake of the coronavirus.
“The Presiding Officers wish to encourage all members, staff and visitors to take the necessary personal precautions,” it said in a statement. Parliament has also put in place various preventative measures against the coronavirus, including sanitisers, screening checks for members, staff and visitors as well as a medical support team,” it said.
In other news – Coronavirus outbreak in South Africa hits Prophet Bushiri’s church bigtime
Some of the major religious bodies have called off church services and suspended planned gatherings for Easter as part of government’s plan to curb the spread of coronavirus. But the biggest church on the continent, Zion Christian Church, remained mum yesterday on whether it would also cancel its annual pilgrimage to Moria in Limpopo that attracts millions of followers. Several attempts by Sowetan to solicit comment from ZCC were unsuccessful yesterday.
The South African Council of Churches on the other hand said it would heed the call to minimise and contain the outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Reverend Mzwandile Molo said churches were deemed high-risk areas and that they would need to play their role in preventing the spread of coronavirus. Read more
Source: IOL
