Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

28 September 2020

As of 1pm on 28 September, the Western Cape has 2450 active COVID-19 infections with a total of 109 783 confirmed cases and 103 165 recoveries.

 Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-districts:

 Unallocated: 2128 (2085 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. 

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 5 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4168. We send our condolences to their families and friends at this time.

Promoting dignity and well-being through our One Home One Garden project:

Today, I had the opportunity to visit the Garden of Hope in Mitchells Plain, where Minister Ivan Meyer and the Department of Agriculture handed over food garden starter kits which will help to support ten families in the area with fresh vegetables and eggs.

The Garden of Hope was started about five years ago by Natasha and Jerome Johannes. Natasha had just discovered she had cancer and had been given two months to live. Looking for a way to produce nutritious food, she and her husband identified a dump site in their area and set about transforming it into the Garden on Hope. Natasha has undergone treatment but continues to use the knowledge of gardening and nutrition passed down to her by her grandmother to change her life, and the lives of others. The couple, with some support from the Department of Agriculture and Casidra, has built a thriving garden and greenhouse and they now donate produce to people who need, sell to the community and are able to employ young people from the area to tend to the garden.  

This garden is the perfect example of how sustainable food gardens can be established in our communities and the Johannes family are role models for all of those who received starter packs to set up their own gardens today. Each of the packs contains a water tank, gardening implements like spades and forks, seeds, hosepipes, watering cans, worm farms and fertilizers needed to establish a garden. They are also provided with hens to produce eggs to further supplement the food being produced in their gardens.

The One Home One Garden project was started by the Department of Agriculture as a response to the growing need for food in households across the province because of the lockdown. Over 2000 homes have now received starter kits across the province, aimed at helping households to meet basic food security needs throughout the year. Those who can produce more than they need in their homes, can also earn an income from selling the surplus.

Throughout this lockdown we saw the need for food increase as many people lost their jobs or were unable to work. The One Home One Garden project aims to provide families with the basics they need to start growing their own food, and thereby contribute to ongoing food security.

There are three levels of starter packs, depending on the size and potential of the project and those families who receive packs also receive support from the Department of Agriculture's extension officers who check in regularly, providing information and advice.

One of the three pillars of our post-Covid recovery plan is dignity and well-being, and this project is a big part of that, giving people the ability to become involved in producing their own food which allows them to feed their families healthy and nutritious meals.

Western Cape data dashboard wins silver award for innovation:

Over the weekend, the Western Cape Department of Health's COVID-19 dashboard took the silver award in the technical innovation category of the New Generation awards.

The dashboard was an innovative way to use and present data to keep the residents of this province informed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It provides detailed information on the number of infections and recoveries, as well as the number of active cases per sub-district. Since its launch, it has proved to be a very popular tool and resource and has received over 1.4 million unique page views.

I am especially proud that the entire dashboard was created in-house by dedicated and passionate public servants and was nominated for this award among some of South Africa's biggest brands and their agencies. 

This is just one of the many innovations we have introduced across the Western Cape Government over this COVID-19 period, which have allowed us to save lives, deliver services and keep the people of this province up to date and informed. As we move forward into our recovery phase, we will continue to change the way we do things, and to innovate to ensure that we keep people safe, create the enabling environment for jobs and economic growth and provide people with dignity and promote their well-being.

Issued by the Office of the Western Cape Premier, 28 September 2020