The National Command Council on Covid-19 has announced that the government will start a gradual lifting of the lockdown. It includes allowing mines to start operating at 50% of capacity with strict safety measures imposed. Other sectors of the economy that will be opened, include companies that keep essential technology services going, some call-centres and informal traders will be allowed to sell raw food. The restrictions on buying alcohol and cigarettes will remain in place. At a media briefing, ministers Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Ebrahim Patel and Gwede Mantashe gave more details of how the gradual lifting of restrictions will take place. - Linda van Tilburg

As more South Africans are working from and spending all their leisure time at home, they are accessing social media websites like Facebook and YouTube, and watching Netflix more often. This has led to a surge in network data traffic for cellular phone companies. For Vodacom, there was also added traffic as it cut data prices by up to 40% on some of its data bundles. To cope with the increased demand for data, the company has announced that it is going to increase network capacity. Vodacom has also applied to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa for temporary additional spectrum. ICASA indicated earlier this month that a temporary release to the sector will last for the duration of the national state of emergency. Chief Technical Officer Andries Delport told Biznews publisher Alec Hogg that Vodacom was planning for an emergency scenario of six months. – Linda van Tilburg

In 2013, a study by the CSIR found that one third of food produced in South Africa ends up in waste. Perfectly edible food is dumped into landfills because of over-production, incorrect ordering, or it simply did not meet retail specifications. Besides being an unnecessary waste, it costs the economy around R70bn annually.  Food Forward, a non-profit organisation, has found a way to reduce this staggering amount and save the lives of the vulnerable. Their programme removes surplus food from the suppliers and distributes to the vulnerable and food insecure communities. The Covid-19 lockdown has put many people out of work and is creating an increasing need for food. Food Forward MD Andy du Plessis tells Biznews how they act as act as connector between a world of surplus and a world of need. - Vanessa Marks

In today's news headlines: * The new coronavirus marked another grim milestone with the number of people infected with Covid-19 reaching 2 million worldwide, and just over 2,500 in SA; * Another seven deaths have been reported, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal where a second Netcare facility has been shut following a Covid-19 outbreak; * SAA looks like it will be grounded forever, with politicians noting that the Covid-19 pandemic has added financial strain. But Forensics for Justice founder Paul O'Sullivan reminds us that the real reason for the crooked mess at SAA is ANC corruption. He goes as far as suggesting that Minister of Public Finances Pravin Gordhan should face the music for state capture along with former President Jacob Zuma and others; * Petrol prices are plunging, which is a small bonus if you have to use your car to get out and about for essential items; and * MTN bosses have clubbed together to help staff members in trouble, sharing about one-third of their salaries. This follows moves by FirstRand and Absa bosses to bolster President Cyril Ramaphosa's funds to fight Covid-19.

Episode eighteen of Inside Covid-19 is a very special edition with a couple of ICU inmates – one local, another from New York - and the icon's long time PA Zelda le Grange sharing What Would Madiba Advise. We'll also hear how Vodacom is investing hundreds of millions right now to ensure its network can handle a 50% surge in lockdown data traffic. Plus US President Donald Trump’s explanation for suspending financial support to the World Health Organisation.

An Intensive Care Unit doctor who has been dealing with Covid-19 patients in New York. Dr David Price has shared a Zoom call with his family and friends on social media and it went viral. In it he elaborates on the three most important things you could do to protect your family and his tips include becoming a hand nazi; that you should shrink your social circle, not be afraid of your neighbours, and the steps you should take if a member of your family becomes ill. This is an edit of the most important points he makes. - Linda van Tilburg

Many of the richest people around the world have built - and lost - fortunes in luxury property development. In South Africa, Martin Venter is the brains behind the hugely successful Val de Vie Estate, which features distinctive homes set against majestic mountains and offering a vast array of facilities and leisure activities - from golf to swimming. Venter is a lawyer who switched to property development to follow his dream career. He spoke to BizNews editor-in-chief Alec Hogg about some of the lessons he has learnt on how to make, and avoid, losing money in the real estate arena. In this podcast, the Val de Vie developer shares insights on how to cater for that elusive top end of the world's most affluent, offering ideas on branding as well as the finishing touches, such as facilitating organic produce for residents' dinner tables. As was the case for South African hotel legend Sol Kerzner, for Venter business success lies to a large degree in thinking through the finer details. - Jackie Cameron

I caught up earlier today with Capitec’s CEO Gerrie Fourie, ostensibly to discuss the bank's financial results for the year to end February. We eventually get around to the numbers (and the share price's wild ride) near the end of the podcast, the bulk of it is focused on how SA's highest rated bank is already transforming. Quite radically, in fact, with the 14,000 staff being put onto shifts at different "stores" and half the 800 branches having been changed into call centres. You get the feeling Fourie and his team are relishing the opportunity to accelerate plans to position the group for a digital future. As always when engaging with the CEO of the JSE's top performing stock, plenty of ideas for the rest of us. - Alec Hogg

In episode 17 of Inside Covid-19, some practical advice on why it is a really good idea to eat properly during lockdown (and how smokers and drinkers can overcome cold turkey); Capitec’s CEO on how his bank is transforming for the new world of work; and highlights from Monday night’s lengthy Health Ministry update where evidence was provided to explain why South Africa is doing so well in its war against Covid-19. - Alec Hogg

South Africa has managed to buy time with the early intervention in the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. But the chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group, prof Abdool Salim Karim says it would not be able to escape the worst of the pandemic. One of the advantages that the country does have, is an army of community workers. - Linda van Tilburg

Unlike many European countries and the United States that is following more or less the same trajectory in the outbreak of the coronavirus; South Africa is bucking this trend. The chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Covid-19, prof Salim Abdool Karim said the 18th of April will be a crucial date for South Africa to see whether this will continue. - Linda van Tilburg

Many countries do not have accurate data on the Covid-19 outbreak because scores of people with symptoms of the virus do no get tested. But in the case of South Africa, the low numbers is according to prof Salim Abdool Karim from the Ministerial Advisory Group on Covid-19 not due to inadequate testing. Prof Karim says the plateau is a genuine effect of the lockdown. - Linda van Tilburg

In today's headlines: * South Africa’s central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low. That follows projections that the country will plunge even deeper into recession than expected after the government extended a nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus; * The SA economy is shrinking dramatically, with the Reserve Bank forecasting a decline of more than 6%; * Hundreds of thousands of jobs are disappearing, with SA in lockdown; * Professor Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group, has warned that the Covid-19 pain is still to come for South Africa, because none of us have immunity from this deadly new virus; and * Gold mining company stocks soared on Tuesday on the Johannesburg stock exchange.

In episode sixteen, a bumper post-long-weekend edition of Inside Covid-19, features how to maintain mental health during lockdown; insights from two editors who are also specialists in the spread of infectious disease; our regular update from global health and HIV expert Prof Alan Whiteside; the Pietermaritzburg company that’s ready to restart making respirators after corruption forced them to abandon the line 17 years ago; a Zoomlash after the hugely popular video conferencing tool becomes a hack-fest; and the race to discover effective treatment against Covid-19 after a promising 53 person trial for remdesivir.

In today's headlines: * There were 2,173 Covid-19 cases and 25 deaths from the disease in SA as of late Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins university’s coronavirus resource centre; * At the start of the Easter weekend, President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the lockdown period by two weeks and announced that he and his fellow ministers would be giving up one-third of their salaries for the next three months; * Absa, FNB bosses are supporting Ramaphosa by giving one-third of their salaries to help fund plans to fight Covid-19; * Johann Rupert’s R1bn SME fund will start to give money to businesses from today, Business Partners MD Ben Bierman is quoted as saying; * Wesgro, in partnership with the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town, has launched a tool to help businesses around South Africa to find funding; and * Emerging-market stocks and local-currency bonds had their best weekly performance in four years in the five days through Friday, while developing-nation currencies had their biggest weekly gain since June, reports Bloomberg.

One of the positive stories amid the Covid-19 doom-and-gloom is that South Africa appears to be bearing up pretty well, with just over two-dozen deaths by the end of the long weekend compared to the staggering 11,000 in the UK and some 114,000 worldwide since the start of the year. Of the 2m cases worldwide that had been logged on the Johns Hopkins University website by Monday 13 April, just over 2,000 were reported in South Africa. But there's good reason for the government to maintain the strict lockdown measures, with data specialists urging citizens to treat the numbers with caution. In this podcast with BizNews editor-in-chief Alec Hogg, GroundUp editor Nathan Geffen and Spotlight editor Marcus Low - who have both pursued PhD studies on infectious disease modelling - explore some of the key areas where the data might not be reflecting an accurate picture. Geffen and Low have produced an in-depth piece dissecting the numbers and making sense of statistical headlines for those of us who are less numerate and are trying to understand the reach of the deadly Covid-19 virus in South Africa. - Jackie Cameron

As the Covid-19 death toll heads towards 120,000 worldwide from an overall number of reported cases of almost 2m, South Africa becomes centre stage for analysts looking for a solution to the pandemic because the country has an extraordinarily low case rate. “One theory is that South Africans might have extra protection against the virus because of a variety of possible medical factors - ranging from the compulsory anti-tuberculosis BCG vaccine that almost all citizens here are given at birth, to the potential impact of anti-retroviral HIV medication, to the possible role of different enzymes in different population groups,” the BBC told its global audience. The most obvious difference between South Africa and other countries is the BCG jab, say scientists at the New York Institute for Technology. There is no confirmed evidence that BCG reduces the chances of contracting Covid-19, though there is a trial underway in Australia to assess that. Some scientists, notably from the McGill International TB Centre in Canada, caution against hoping BCG is the miracle treatment. Nevertheless, BCG may provide protection against certain illnesses, leading global health policy expert Professor Alan Whiteside says in this interview with BizNews editor-in-chief Alec Hogg on the tell-tale scars on our arms. - Jackie Cameron

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from hospital on Easter Sunday. In a message on Twitter Johnson, who was admitted into a London hospital's Intensive Care Unit after he contracted Covid-19 said he owes his life to the health care workers of the country's National Health Service. Johnson looked gaunt and pale as he thanked the medical team that cared for him. He will not be returning to work immediately. It comes as the UK's number of deaths due to Covid-19 rose above 10,000. - Linda van Tilburg

We are all spending a lot more time on video calls these days, whether its WhatsApp calls with friends or Zoom meetings with our co-workers. Some people are having a tought time getting the hang of proper video conferencing etiquette – especially when it comes to work-related virtual meetings. Luckily, there are some simple ways to make sure that you video conference like a boss. In this episode, featuring content from The Wall Street Journal’s Tech News Briefing, we talk about how to avoid some common video calling bloopers and how to make the most of what the software offers.

Almost 20 years ago, Clifford Machines of Pietermaritzburg stopped producing a ventilator specially designed for local conditions because public sector gatekeepers demanded bribes. Despite their advanced age, some of those ventilators are still in use in SA and Zimbabwean hospitals. Unwilling to participate in corruption, the company switched to selling other machines into the rest of the world. Today 95% of the R100m a year business's products are now exported, mostly to the USA. But with the Covid-19 crisis making ventilators a strategic resource for SA, co-owner Iain Ambler says he's dusting off the blueprints and updating the software, with an updated version of the ventilator due for completion next week. Ambler says as it will be impossible for his company to satisfy expected demand, he is willing to "open source" the ventilator's blueprints, enabling other engineering companies to also start making these desperately needed lifesavers. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced tonight that 21-days of lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 is going to be extended for another two weeks. He said the lockdown has definitely slowed down the spread of the virus and ending it too soon would risk an uncontrollable resurgence of the disease. Ramaphosa also announced that he, the deputy-president, cabinet and premiers would be taking a salary cut of a third of their pay which will be paid into the Solidarity Fund. He challenged other senior office bearers and the private sector to do the same. - Linda van Tilburg

In today's news headlines: * President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, on special leave for violating lockdown regulations and ordered her to apologise to SA. Listen; * A Netcare hospital in KwaZulu-Natal has been identified as a Covid-19 hotspot, with Netcare Group CEO, Dr Richard Friedland, confirming on Wednesday that 47 staff at St Augustine’s Hospital had tested positive for Covid-19; * UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has thanked well-wishers for their support as Downing Street said he was "stable and responding to treatment" as he headed towards a fourth night in hospital while being treated for coronavirus; * South Africa’s property owners will provide relief to retail tenants hardest hit by a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. The initiative, which focuses on small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises, will be rolled out by landlords nationally, reports Reuters; and * Nedbank reaffirmed its 2019 dividend, but said it was weighing future dividend payments after South Africa’s central bank urged lenders to preserve cash during the coronavirus crisis.

In episode fifteen of Inside Covid-19, on a day when growth in SA's confirmed infections starting rising again (up 96 to 1845) and five more deaths to 18, we have a sobering interview with the head of a 50 year old global crisis support organisation. Also in this episode, an innovative partnership struck to prepare for the infection wave expected to hit South Africa soon; a frank account from a doctor treating Covid-19 patients in New York; an update on UK prime minister Boris Johnson; and how the pandemic is not only changing the world of work, but medicine too. - Alec Hogg

Extending the Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa is a real possibility, but also a major concern for how it will affect  life in the densely populated townships. GG Alcock, who's been closely involved in the township economy, sounds a grave warning in this interview with Alec Hogg that the lawlessness akin to township living can lead to serious social unrest, including looting. As a lot of small businesses weren't able to generate any income over April, they won't be able to pay their staff, what do you do when you're hungry - when you need to live? And how do you deal with mass social resistance? Alcock suggests the government looks seriously at the Australian model where they follow very strict social distancing rules and other measures without total lockdown. - Editor

Siphamandla Mkhwanazi, FNB Property Economist, says the South African economy is expected to be in a short, but deep recession this year. The economy is expected to shrink by 4.5% y/y for the year - and that is the base case and considerably worse than the (-1.5%) contraction experienced in 2009. In this podcast, he speaks to Jackie Cameron, of BizNews, about the likely impacts of containing Covid-19 on the country's property market, which he outlines in an in-depth report. "For the housing market, we expect a more dramatic impact on transaction volumes, rather than home values. House price growth will likely slow in the low to middle-priced segments, and nominal decline will deepen in the upper end to reflect weakening fundamentals," he says. It's a buyers' market, though buyers are thin on the ground and deals are hard to get through, with logjams in the system. Also expect more repossessions as some property owners fail to secure extra financial help to survive what is likely to be a very challenging time, he says. - Jackie Cameron