Johannesburg Mayor Geoff Makhubo has died of complications after contracting COVID-19.
The provincial government announced this on Friday as South Africa’s economic hub is undergoing a severe third wave of the pandemic.
Makhubo had recently been transferred to hospital after falling ill.
South Africa, a country of almost 60 million, is increasingly in the grip of the highly contagious Delta variant of the Coronavirus.
The urban agglomeration around the capital Pretoria and Johannesburg is particularly hard hit, with almost two-thirds of the country’s new infections being registered there.
The regional health infrastructure is at capacity.
South Africa is the continent’s worst-hit country in terms of absolute numbers, with 2.1 million Coronavirus cases documented there.
Close to 63,500 people have died as a consequence of the disease.
Africa’s second-largest economy was already in difficulty before the pandemic hit.
(dpa/NAN)
==========================About Us=========================
METROWATCH is an online daily newspaper founded in October 2013 by a seasoned reporter, Collins Edomaruse. He had risen to the position of General Editor in his 18 years stint at THISDAY newspaper, an appointment he resigned on October 30, 2013 to pursue his online newspaper publishing dream. Prior to his appointment as the newspaper’s General Editor, he had served, at various times, as Editor, Nation’s Capital; Group News Editor, Associate Editor, and Deputy Editor at different times for the newspaper’s three titles – Daily, Sunday and Saturday.
Edomaruse had covered education, sports, energy, national security, defence and transport beats among others. As a defence correspondent, Edomaruse traversed the war zones of both Liberia and Sierra-Leone in the dark days of Charles Taylor and Foday Sanko as warlords, which earned him the sobriquet “General” by his colleagues in the newsroom.
OUR MISSION
METROWATCH will act as a catalyst in our debate and desire for a crime-free Nigeria and provide the much-needed platform for all, irrespective of social, religious or political divide, to express their views.
OUR VISION
METROWATCH will strive to bring to the public domain issues of bad governance, dirty business, hostile neighborliness, security challenges and other crime issues that are always begging for attention in Nigeria.
We will pursue this course with every vigor in our drive for the TRUTH and FAIRNESS.
