SA woman has key role in Ebola battle

Pietermaritzburg - A KwaZulu-Natal woman is the key officer marshalling the two “armies” in Sierra Leone’s war on Ebola.

Sharon Ekambaram is head of a human rights unit at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - Doctors Without Borders in English - and is acting as the liaison officer co-ordinating the responses between the disease-hit country’s health department and the medical NGO, which is leading treatment in west Africa.

Cape Town blast: ‘Woolworths not the target’

Cape Town - It appears that Woolworths was not the target of a bombing near one of its branches in Cape Town, the retail group said on Friday.

It said that CCTV footage showed a man walking past the Woolworths food store in Kromboom Road, Athlone, and placing a device outside a neighbouring store.

Several stores were damaged. There were no injuries. Western Cape police are investigating but would not elaborate on Woolworths latest statement, said spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk.

Nurse Brutally Attacked at Helen Joseph Hospital

                                                                           Helen Joseph Hospital

A phlebotomist nurse who works for National Health Laboratory Services was reportedly raped, stabbed and beaten up on Friday night in the Wits University controlled area within Helen Joseph Hospital.

Apparently the Gauteng Department of Health’s (DoH) spokesperson, Prince Hamnca, could not be immediately reached to confirm that the nurse had been raped, but The Star newspaper today quoted an unnamed doctor as saying the “staff member had been raped, gagged, stabbed and beaten on the fourth floor of the hospital. Management has been all quiet about this and did not say much to people working night shifts.”

Committee condemns hospital rape

Johannesburg - The rape of a nurse at Helen Joseph Hospital was on Friday condemned by Gauteng's portfolio committee on health.

"The Gauteng provincial legislature's portfolio committee on health chairperson, Nompi Nhlapo, condemns an act of crime and abuse that took place within the premises of Helen Joseph hospital last week," a statement said.

The nurse was reportedly raped, stabbed and beaten up in a Wits University-controlled area of the hospital on Friday last week.

Cape Town prepaid power to shut down

Cape Town - Cape Town's prepaid electricity system will be temporarily off-line next week for maintenance, the city said on Friday.

"The City of Cape Town's electricity prepayment vending system will be switched off for planned maintenance from 22:00 on Wednesday, 17 September 2014 until 05:00 on Thursday, 18 September 2014," a statement said.