For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: SA's first Covid-19 patient ready to go home; Eskom to implement stage 1 load-shedding from 9am today; And, Ramaphosa says progress in South Africa on gender equality has been uneven

SA's first Covid-19 patient ready to go home

South Africa's first Covid-19 patient was well enough to go home but needs the official all-clear, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize at a meeting to assuage the concerns of residents in KwaZulu-Natal where the virus was first detected.

Mkhize said he spoke to the man yesterday, adding that the nurse treating him said he had recovered and was only waiting for the official all-clear to go home. 

The couple was on holiday in Italy with a group of 10 and flew home via Dubai to King Shaka International Airport. 

The other nine people in the group were also tested after epidemiologists interviewed the Hilton man, and since Thursday's announcement of South Africa's first patient, one person in the group in Gauteng and the man's wife have also tested positive.

Eskom to implement stage 1 load-shedding from 9am today

Eskom will implement stage 1 load-shedding from 9am this morning to 11pm at night, the State-owned power utility said.

Eskom said it was envisaged that load shedding would continue to be implemented until Thursday.

This was due to a number of units still suffering "unplanned breakdowns", which would only return to service during the course of the week.

It would also help Eskom, the utility said, to rebuild the emergency reserves that were depleted "as the power utility strove to keep the lights on during the high equipment breakdowns we experienced towards the end of last week”.

Eskom explained that implementing load-shedding would put the utitity in a better position to meet the rising demand during the week, adding that work was also continuing to return to service some of the unplanned breakdowns it experienced.

And, Ramaphosa says progress in South Africa on gender equality has been uneven

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday explained that South Africa still had a long journey ahead to achieve gender equality, and that the gains made would be undone unless the government was vigilant and focused.

The President wrote in his weekly newsletter to the country that while the representation of women in the public service had increased dramatically over the last 25 years, South Africa had not seen similar progress in business or academia.

He emphasised that in South Africa, as in many other parts of the world, women continued to bear the brunt of poverty and unemployment.

He said the country would use its chairship of the African Union, assumed last month, to dedicate 2020 to the economic and financial inclusion of African women.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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