Media Release: Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

16 October 2020

As of 1pm on 16 October, the Western Cape has recorded a total of 112 964 confirmed Coid-19 cases and 105 869 recoveries.

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-districts:

Unallocated: 2140 (2079 recovered)

Data note: It is not always possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new recorded case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts. We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas. 

Data on the number of deaths has been delayed. This will be updated on the Western Cape Government's data dashboard once this information is available.

World Food Day:

Today, we observe World Food Day, at a time when millions of people have been drastically impacted by lockdowns around the world.

In the Western Cape, we saw the urgent need for food arise during the hard lockdown when people were unable to work. Since then, many people have lost their jobs, and food insecurity remains a major issue facing many South Africans.

The humanitarian workstream, established early on as part of our Covid19 response and led by Minister of Social Development Sharna Fernandez, worked to both provide food and meals, and to coordinate and track relief efforts by government, businesses, NGOs, faith based organisations and civil society. Our data shows that as a result of these combined efforts, by the end of August:

-Over 15 million meals were provided

-Over 420 000 food parcels were delivered

-Over 8 million learner meals were provided

This does not include the many meals that we were unable to track- that were the result of kind community members, neighbours and friends, pitching in to help where there was a need.

In addition to this, the Department of Agriculture under the leadership of Minister of Agriculture, Ivan Meyer, started the One Home One Garden compaign, which has so far given over 2000 households the tools to grow their own food. Food gardens give families sustained access to healthy, fresh produce, and for those who grow enough, potential to earn an income by selling the excess.

Food security continues to be a focus for us as the Western Cape Government as we move into our recovery phase. Food security is an important aspect of our focus on dignity and wellbeing, while our focus on jobs also seeks to save jobs and create new ones so that residents are able to earn a living that will assist them in putting food on the table for themselves and their families.

I would like to extend a special thank you to all of those individuals, farmers, businesses, NGOs, community and faith based organizations who stepped up in this time of need to feed those in need. In working together, and building partnerships like the ones we have seen throughout the lockdown, we can help to make a difference in the lives of residents of the Western Cape.

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier, 16 October 2020