South Africa: Zandile Mafe

Zandile Christmas Mafe, a suspect in connection to a fire at the South African Parliament, appears at the Magistrate Court in Cape Town on January 11, 2022. – He is suspected of starting a devastating fire that gutted South Africa’s parliament.
A blaze broke out in the Cape Town complex before dawn on January 2, 2022 spreading to the National Assembly, the roof of which collapsed. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)

South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Wednesday 19 January 2022 [Video]

In the latest news in South Africa on Wednesday 19 January 2022, the court said Mafe’s Constitutional right to apply for bail could not be denied.

South Africa: Zandile Mafe

Zandile Christmas Mafe, a suspect in connection to a fire at the South African Parliament, appears at the Magistrate Court in Cape Town on January 11, 2022. – He is suspected of starting a devastating fire that gutted South Africa’s parliament.
A blaze broke out in the Cape Town complex before dawn on January 2, 2022 spreading to the National Assembly, the roof of which collapsed. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)

We’ve got all the latest news stories and headlines in South Africa you really need to know on Wednesday, 19 January 2022.

In some big news on Tuesday, the Judge President stressed that Zandile Mafe’s, the man accused of starting a devastating fire at Parliament, Constitutional right to apply for bail could not be denied, but the State, which intends to oppose the application, can bring further information to the next court showdown on Saturday.

The court heard that Mafe was infected with COVID-19, which means that he would still be in isolation on Saturday, 22 January.

Mafe is expected to be released from the hospital on Wednesday morning, and he will return to Pollsmoor. The bail application is set for Saturday – but this is subject to change – and will be heard in the Cape Town Regional Court.

And also, on Tuesday, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ordered that matric results must be published on all platforms on Tuesday, 18 January. This comes after the Department of Basic Education (DBE) announced that results would not be publicly available this year.

Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Pretoria have completed a landmark study – and the only one of its kind in South Africa – which looks into the human-to-animal transmission of COVID-19.

Remarkably, they found that asymptomatic human carriers could pass the disease on to the lions in captivity – three of whom came down with a positive PCR test last year. The lions made a full recovery, but some took up to four weeks to get back to normal.

TODAY’S LATEST NEWS IN SOUTH AFRICA, Wednesday 19 January

Mafe released from Valkenberg, bail set for Saturday

Senior Counsel Dali Mpofu’s application to have the Magistrate’s Court order that sent the alleged Parliament arsonist to Valkenberg Hospital on 11 February succeeded with costs.

Judge President John Hlophe said the order was unlawful but reserved judgement, promising that the written judgement would be released within three months.

Mafe was sent for psychiatric evaluation after a preliminary diagnosis by Dr Zelda van Tonder, which alleged that the accused suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

The medical report was dated 3 January – the day after Mafe was arrested. It became apparent that Mafe was not observed for the prescribed period of 72 hours. John Hlophe took issue with this.

“If you look at the mental health act – there’s a reference to 72 hours. The diagnosis is not a one-off thing. I can’t just look at you and say you are insane,” said Hlophe to the State, which was opposing the application. Magistrate Mbalo who made the Valkenberg order previously indicated that he would abide by Tuesday’s outcome.”

Click here to read more about what is expected on Saturday.

Matric results must be published on media platforms, says High Court

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ordered that matric results must be published on all platforms, on Tuesday, 18 January. This comes after the Department of Basic Education (DBE) announced that results would not be publicly available this year.

Last week, the education department said the publication of matric results would be a violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and therefore the tradition would come to an end in 2022.

This prompted an urgent interdict by Afriforum and two other parties, while the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) complained that the non-publication of the 2021 matric results would threaten print publications, which are already in a precarious financial situation.

The urgent interdict was granted, unchanged, by the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.

Click here to read more about what happened in court on Tuesday.

Zoo lions in Pretoria may hold key to SA’s next COVID-19 variant…

New variant panics don’t do us any good. At a time where vaccines, boosters, and even naturally-acquired immunity against COVID-19 are booming, the fearmongering about virus mutations is, quite often, overwhelmingly misleading. However, a group of zoo lions in Pretoria may have just shown us a glimpse of the future.

Researchers from the University of Pretoria have completed a landmark study – and the only one of its kind in South Africa – which looks into the human-to-animal transmission of COVID-19.

Remarkably, they found that asymptomatic human carriers could pass the disease on to the lions in captivity – three of whom came down with a positive PCR test last year. The lions made a full recovery, but some took up to four weeks to get back to normal. However, these results come with a warning…

Click here to read more.

WATCH: Woman killed by lightning in Kempton Park

This is just terrible! A woman was killed by lightning in Kempton Park on Monday evening, while another was rushed to hospital in a critical condition. 

THE TRAGIC INCIDENT HAPPENED AT 18:00

Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen said a forty-year-old female had been killed while a second woman was left fighting for her life after being struck by lightning.

He said paramedics responded to the scene on Jones Road at approximately 18:00. 

TWO WOMEN WERE FOUND ON THE GROUND 

“When paramedics arrived on the scene, they found two women on the ground.

“Closer inspection found the first woman to display no signs of life, and she was declared dead on arrival of paramedics,” Van Reenen said. 

He furthermore said the second woman was found in a critical condition.

“Several advanced life support interventions were needed to stabilize her before she was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for further definitive care.” 

Click here to read more about this freak accident.

Big Mess: Durban N2 highway closed, truck spills 40 000 litres of paraffin

The Durban N2 highway near Queen Nandi Drive is not in a good way this morning. A truck lost control on the road during the early hours of Tuesday.

CHAOS: DURBAN N2 HIGHWAY CLOSED AT QUEEN NANDI DRIVE

According to the ALS paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson, the disaster struck in the wee hours of Tuesday not far from Queen Nandi Drive.

Jamieson initially suspected the truck was carrying petrol before it was later discovered paraffin was in its large tank.

It has been stated that the truck collided with a motorbike and another vehicle that was on the Durban N2 highway.

Click here to read more about this accident.

LATEST NEWS: WEATHER FORECAST, Wednesday 19 January

Take a look at weather forecasts for all nine provinces here.

LIVE TRAFFIC UPDATES FOR CAPE TOWN, JOHANNESBURG AND DURBAN

Stay one step ahead of the traffic by viewing our live traffic updates here.

HOROSCOPE TODAY

Free daily horoscope, celeb gossip, and lucky numbers for Wednesday 19 January.