The ripple effect of the world’s 13th largest carbon emitter making such an undertaking will likely drive countries like Indonesia,India, Russia Brazil and Malaysia  to make more substantive pledges at the 26th conference of the parties on climate change.

With this mind, the climate envoys of Britain, France, the United States, Germany and the European Union are currently in South Africa.

They are seeing government , trades union, financial bodies, non governmental organisations and the energy generator ESCOM pressing for such a commitment.

Realising that it entails a monumental cost in jobs and to the fiscus the envoys are offering financial assistance.

No less than 90% of electricity generated by ESCOM’s is coal fired.

South Africa’s dependence on carbon-generated power has not diminished since it hosted the 17th COP in Durban a decade ago.

Indeed new plants like Madupe will ensure South Africa’s reliance on coal for decades to come.

But as generating sustainable energy becomes cheaper, coal-fired power become more expensive and increasingly difficult to finance..

The language in mining and energy sectors grown increasingly pro-transformation.

This is reflected in South Africa in recent pronouncements by SASOL – the oil from coal giant – and Ashanti.

The European Union is demanding tariffs that punish coal use.

The climate envoys are concentrating more on carrot than stick in their talks to a fellow G20 member committed to transformation.

Diplomatic sources say an agreement on helping finance this radical change in energy thinking will be a game changer.

Most importantly, it would come at a time when climate experts are saying the crisis is not decades or even years away but is with us right now.

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Waiting for the sms from the vaccine authority seems rather like standing in an orderly queue for a lifeboat on the Titanic. Admirable, but unwise.

Completing the process at the DisChem headquarters in Midrand took five hours.

Sure it was a Ben Hur, but without exception every Dischem employee I encountered – from the guard who showed us our place in the queue to director Stan Gates who walked into the “recovery room” to ask recipients how things were progressing  – was obviously bent on being helpful.

It was one of the seminal new South African experiences: along with the first democratic election in 1994 and hosting the Football Word Cup in 2010.

We were in this fight against COVID together, and determined to beat the lurgy.

On social media I learn that many friends have received their vaccine must quicker and more efficiently. Good luck, I say to them. We are in this fight together.

It seems that all of us now have to wait 42 days to get the second jab.

There is a bid to tell us this is the most efficacious application of the vaccine. I don’t believe it.

We are being made to wait so that more people can get the first dose of the limited supplies of  vaccine available.

Remember the people now telling us about the need to wait are the same people whe were telling us 14 months ago that we did not need masks because they were afraid we would gobble up the available masks to the detriment of the health workers.

So wait I will.

Not at all sure where I will go to get the second jab. It would be great to avoid the five-hour process at GenChem, even if this means missing another chance to see  my new-found pandemic friends.

Discovery boss Adrian Gore has written a letter saying members should try the sites being set up by his medical aid society.

He seems confident there will be enough Pfizer to dispense the second injections.

From his mouth to God’s ear!

President Cyril Ramaphosa just tightened a band of cold steel around my testicles – metaphorically speaking, of course – telling us that South Africa would chuck out two million does of Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

He’s blaming a contamination scare at its source in the the United States.

To his credit, Ramaphosa acted swiftly, decisively and courageously locking down South Africa early on in the pandemic.

However his government’s record in dispensing the vaccine this year as been less than impressive. Plainly speaking it has been marked by dithering and, by all accounts, corruption.

That is the antithesis of the British experience where Boris Johnson fiddled at the start of the pandemic, costing thousands of lives, but has done a sterling job of getting vaccine into Britons’ arms.

Could the G7 come to our aid?

At their summit in Cornwall last weekend, the leaders of Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy committed themselves to providing a billion doses of vaccine to poorer countries within the year.

Critics say this is a drop in the ocean for the developing world that needs at least ten times that amount.

We can talk about lifting the intellectually property rights to allow vaccine to be manufactured in South Africa, Senegal and other countries ready and able to do it.

If successful, that would be months away.

We need a quicker solution if we are to achieve the much vaunted herd mentality and avoid the plethora of variants to which we no longer may attach a national appellation.

Away with the political correctness and down with the blame game, I say with unashamed selfishness as I prepare to line up for my second dose.

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The practical issues of fighting the pandemic is best summed up in the assertion that no-one if safe until everyone is safe.

The moral issues, equally plain, have been more problematic as rich nations grab more of the vaccine than they need to save their faltering economies.

The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan  and the United States had a packed agenda preparing for next month’s G7 summit to be hosted in Britain.

In pre-meeting briefings they listed Russia, Myanmar and Iran ahead of COVID a.

Then members of the Indian delegation – invited as observers along with Australia, the Association of South East Asian Nations, the European Union, South Africa and South Korea- reported cases of COVID and were forced into self-isolation.

India and Brazil are responsible for the overwhelming majority of COVID cases as the pandemic goes into its third wave.

The media covering the deliberations at Lancaster House in London’s West End have eyes for nothing else.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown set the moral tone calling on the G7 to fund the global push for COVID vaccine.

Speaking as the UN Envoy for Global Education he called on the richest nations raise $60 billion over two years, saying inaction now would lead to greater global division.

“By our failure to extend vaccination more rapidly to every country, we are choosing who lives and who dies”, he warned. 

“And I say the world is already too deeply divided between rich and poor to allow a new unbridgeable divide to become entrenched between the world’s vaccinated who live, and the under-vaccinated who are at risk of dying.” 

Brown asserted that mass global vaccination is not an act of charity, but “the best insurance policy for the world”.  Though costing billions now, the result will be “trillions of additional economic output, made possible when trade resumes in a COVID-free world.” 

Brown will be remembered as the British premier who hosted the G20 summit in 2009, where the world’s major economies committed an additional $1.1 trillion to address the fallout from the global financial crisis,  

World Health Organization  chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanked Brown for his call to the world’s economic and political leaders. 

“The G7 are also home to many of the world’s vaccine producers. We will only solve the vaccine crisis with the leaders of these countries”, he said.

For those of a more cynical or dubious bent, a poll by the People’s Vaccine Alliance shows that70 percent of G7 citizens believe their governments should ensured pharmaceutical companies share the formulas and technology of their vaccines.

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Africa’s fifth longest service President who won Sunday’s election with 79,3% of the vote, elected to be with his soldiers rather than attend a ceremony celebrating his sixth term in the office he seized in a 1990 rebellion.

His army spokesman General Azar Bermourdoa Agoma read a statement on national television saying Deby had breathed his last while defending the nation’s sovereignty on the battlefield.

Perhaps further details will come from his his 37-year-old son General Mahamat Idriss Deby who has been named interim president.

We should not expect much from the media after the military imposed a curfew and shut the country’s borders following the president’s death.

Chad’s constitution and its legislative assembly have been dissolved.

This means the legal course of events following the death of the president, that would put the speaker in charge for 40 days until a transition or fresh elections are held, is not being followed.

At the weekend the military said it had stopped an approach on the capital N’Djamena by rebels of the Front For Chance And Concord in Chad.

The organisation that goes by the Acronym FACT has bases in neighboring Libya.

The Chadian army denies that FACT has seized control of Kanem Province 300 km north of N’Djamena and claims it has stopped the rebels in their tracks, killing more than 300 of then.

The 68 year-old son of a herder was a valued ally of the Western powers and a leading member of the Sahel group fighting jihadis.

The rebel advance that started on April 9 had the United States withdrawing non-essential personnel from its embassy in N’Djamena and the British Foreign Office urging nationals to leave Chad.

France, by contrast advised its nationals that there is no threat in N’Djamena.

The rebel action was an embarrassment for Deby who fought the election with a promise of bringing peace and security to the nation.

This is by no means the first rebel attack he has resisted.

In 2008 rebels advanced to the gates of the presidential palace in the capital before they were repelled with French military support.

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The fear is looming that President Cyril Ramaphosa will be forced to implement a second economically crippling set of measures to contain a South African variety of COVID that some medical experts say is more infectious, particularly to younger victims.

Britain has closed its borders to travelers from South Africa to avoid further infections by this variety.

South Africa  has recorded more than one million ifections, making it by far Africa’s worst hit nation.

The death toll exceeds 26,000 confirming this unenviable continental status.

There have been more than 42,000 new cases of COVID 19 recoded in the past three days.

Healthcare facilities, particularly in the Western Cape, are stretched to breaking point with both public and private hospitals running short of oxygen and beds.

The National Coronavirus Command Council is in emergency meeting today.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has criticized Britain locking out travelers from South Africa and disputes the assertion that the South African variety of COVID is more deadly that the British variety.

He says his government will decide on whether to slap further containment measures and restrictions on South Africans after assessing the whole country.

“We must warn South Africans that we will need to review the current restrictions and consider further measures to ensure that we curb this alarming rate of spread.

“Therefore, it will be important for us to evaluate the situation in these provinces, identify hot spots in these areas and in other provinces where they may be identified and make recommendations based on these findings and the outcomes of what has been implemented in the hot spots that have been identified so far,”

Acting general secretary of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa Cassim Lekhoathi says the second wave is very disturbing because the country is not prepared for it. 

“The strain is causing trauma and stress with our health workers.

“It is crucial that we impose stringent measures to curb the outbreak. Our nurses are severely overworked and we cannot afford to have our health system in a critical state. We must not put profit above the lives of people,” he says.

Glenda Grey, the chief executive of the South African says: “We have a very fragile health system and in December hospitals have had to deal with drinking and trauma cases.

“The objective approach to the situation is to stick to the curfew and monitor alcohol consumption. The second approach would be to stop large gatherings such as parties, churches, pubs. The rest of the world is struggling to contain the spread and we cannot expect South Africa to get it right.”

Liquor traders are worried about the possibility of stringent lockdown restrictions.

They are pleading with the government to be allowed to continue the off-premises sale of alcohol as the country navigates the second wave.

Liquor Traders Formations convener Lucky Ntimane said: “We do not think that a total ban on alcohol sales will be a solution either in the short or long term in arresting the resurgence and up-tick in the number of positive cases for Covid-19.”

He says  total shut-down of liquor sales would mean an end to the informal market and the 250, 000 direct jobs linked to the sector.

South African Breweries says it “does not believe that an outright ban / total shut down of alcohol sales is a sustainable approach, as seen with the last two bans. The unintended consequences of such actions are dire, from job losses, tax losses, illicit trading and looting of alcohol stores.”

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Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says the mutation, called SARS-COVID-501v2 is similar to the variation discovered in Britain that has been officially described as out of control.

It has been found in 200 samples in 50 different hospitals.

The mutation was first identified in the Eastern Cape province but has since moved along the coast to the Western Cape and upward to KwaZulu Natal.

COVID is growing exponentially in these three provinces, says Mkhize and added restrictions will probably be necessary.

The minister has been visiting the more seriously infected regions since President Cyril Ramaphosa last week announced that the second wave of COVID has officially hit South Africa.

He restricted the hours that restaurants would-be allowed to open and cut from six to four the number of days that retail liquor outlets could open.

The nighttime curfew has been extended by two hours.

Beaches in the Eastern Cape have been closed and those in the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal are officially shut on the peak holidays.

This has not stopped holiday makers traveling to these leisure spots during their peak summer vacation.

The death toll on SouthAfrican roads this month approaches 700.

Mkhize deplored secondary school leavers celebrating the end of their examination in massive, drink-fueled parties along the coast that have become super-spreader events.

“These young peopled not wear masks and are clearly intoxicated,” he said.

“They throw caution to the wind and don’t care about the rules of the disaster.”

South Africa’s latest COVID 19 figures show 216 deaths in the past 24 hours and 8769 new cases.

This brings the total death toll to 24 907 with 913 000.infections. Officials record that 796 000 of these have recovered

The Health Ministry says having missed the December 15 deadline,  South Africa has now paid the deposit for COVID vaccinations expected to arrive early next year.

Dr Anban Pillay of the National Health Department says as a member of COVAX South Africa expects to be part of the first allocation of vaccines.

It is clear whether existing vaccines are effective against  501v2.

The bulk of the vaccinations in South Africa will be in the third and fourth quarters of 2021.

In the COVID hotspots, hospitals are reporting that beds are full in the intensive care units where seriously ill patients receive oxygen and sometime ventillation.

In the Western Cape, doctors say they are having to make life and death decisions as COVID cases soar.

The post South Africa discovers a variation COVID virus appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

It expects COVID 19-related unemployment to slash a fifth of this financial economic lifeline crucial to vulnerable communities.

The remittances sent home by Third World citizens working in wealthy countries is three times larger than the  global development aid given by those countries.

The World Bank says COVID 19 economic difficulties has caused a drop of $110 billion in remittances this year.

This  will bring it  down 20 percent to below $450-billion.

For example, remittances from Britain to Africa are down 80%, while remittances from Italy to Africa are down 90%.

This as the United Nations University predicts an increase in global poverty for the first time since 1990.

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The U.S. has recorded 2 489 COVID19 death and passed both China and Italy with the number of infections.

US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci says the US could have between 100 and 200 000 coronavirus deaths.

This as the world wide death toll exceeds 30 000.

Spain had a record 838 deaths in the past 24 house and Italy  registered 756 new deaths in a day.

Britain, where infected Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that things would get worse before they got better, recorded 209 deaths.

Australia has added restrictions to movement to stop the spread of the pandemic.

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Briefing the media in Pretoria the envoy says human rights organisations taking a similar line are simply doing Washington’s dirty work.

Ambassador Lin Songtian spoke for more than three hours lashing the double standards applied to violent demonstrations in Hong Kong and terror groups in China’s Muslim Xin Jiang region.

He says China’s religious freedom is beyond reproach. It has more mosques than the United States, Britain, France and Germany combined.

Its fight against terrorism is in line with United Nations principles.

Lin says Hong Kong, under Chinese ownership, has more freedom than it had under British control.

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She says flatulence could become an aviation security problem.

I have  got wind of Kenyan MP Lilian Gogo calling for a law forcing airlines to carry medication to control flatulence.

She says apart from the sheer unpleasantness of have a passenger break win one’s vicinity, it could pose a security threat if fellow travelers responded violently.

No doubt Gogo will be flushed with success if her efforts succeed.

However, there has been no official reaction from IATA or officials  in Kenya and other destinations.

In Britain, at least, we know the authorities are at full stretch investigating the theft of a one-million- pound golden toilet from Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of the country’s wartime premier Winston Churchill

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