For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sabrina Jardim.

Making headlines: Hammanskraal cholera death toll climbs to 17, Steenhuisen says race quotas are a regression and, De Ruyter to face another grilling by MPs over his Eskom corruption claims

Hammanskraal cholera death toll climbs to 17

Seventeen people have now died after being diagnosed with diarrhoeal disease in Hammanskraal.

This is according to an update from the Gauteng health department on Wednesday morning.

The department added that there were currently 165 patients at Jubilee District Hospital, and that 18 had been transferred to other facilities in Tshwane.

Department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the number of laboratory-confirmed cholera cases was now 29.

The department is urging  residents to ensure proper hand hygiene, which includes thorough washing of hands with water and soap or alcohol-based sanitiser before handling food and after using the toilet.

Yesterday, health experts raised concerns about the ongoing cholera outbreak in southern Africa.

Steenhuisen says race quotas are a regression

DA leader John Steenhuisen said today that government’s proposed, what it the party labels a “Race Quota Act”, is a regressive step and needs to be stopped as it violates the DA's principles of non-racialism.

On May 12, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi published a gazette, calling for comments on the Employment Equity Amendment sectoral targets.

Companies have been given 30 days to offer input.

Steenhuisen said his party fundamentally supports advancement opportunities for people in South Africa, particularly those who have been previously disadvantaged by the devastation of race based policies.

He said race quotas do not address inequality because they mask the symptoms.

Steenhuisen  accused the ANC of trying to divide South Africans.

De Ruyter to face another grilling by MPs over his Eskom corruption claims

Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts says it plans to call former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter to appear before the committee again, along with several other people, as it continues its probe into corruption allegations at the company. 

Following allegations by De Ruyter in a television interview in February that corruption was rife at Eskom and that the African National Congress was looting the company, the committee has been looking into the matter. 

De Ruyter, who at his last appearance at Scopa refused to answer all the questions and would not name the two "senior politicians" he claimed were implicated in corruption.

The MPs are outraged that De Ruyter refused to be fully vetted by the State Security Agency despite being the CEO of an entity that is a national key point.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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