For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: SA will not build new hospitals China-style, Eskom gearing up to run philosophy maintenance ‘as a project’ following Covid-19 hiatus and, Ethiopia postpones August election due to coronavirus

SA will not build new hospitals China-style

South Africa will not be building new hospitals to cope with possible increases in the number of Covid-19 cases of hospitalisation, as was the case in China and other parts of the world, but will be utilising existing facilities instead.

Government has approved several possible new sites to be turned into quarantine facilities, among a total of about 50 that were initially selected by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

Last week, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille said that over 50 sites had been identified across the public and private sectors for potential use as additional quarantine sites.

Eskom gearing up to run philosophy maintenance ‘as a project’ following Covid-19 hiatus

State-owned electricity producer Eskom is gearing up to implement philosophy maintenance as a centralised project across its unreliable coal fleet, where ongoing breakdowns have increased the risk of load-shedding.

The utility’s board has given its approval for the project-based approach and has also sanctioned a material increase in the maintenance budget, the size of which has not yet been disclosed.

A project steering committee, chaired by COO Jan Oberholzer, has also been established to oversee the implementation of the project.

Oberholzer said the board has already sanctioned the centralised methodology for arresting the maintenance backlog across the coal fleet.

Ethiopia postpones August election due to coronavirus

Ethiopia has postponed parliamentary elections scheduled for August due to the coronavirus outbreak, a move that has been endorsed by some key opposition parties.

The vote had been regarded as an important test of the reformist agenda of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in what was once one of the continent's most repressive nations.

Previous elections in Ethiopia, a parliamentary democracy, have been marred by allegations of rigging and intimidation.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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