First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
South Africa has surfaced as a key transit point for bullion smugglers wanting to channel the precious metal to and from one of the world’s most prolific players in the gold industry – Dubai.
Piecing together a number of arrests that have led to local police and South African Revenue Service (SARS) investigations, conducted over several years, a picture emerges of just how much of a cog this country has become in illicit gold networks.
Indeed, over five years, five sets of arrests have been carried out at airports in South Africa and have involved travellers, flying either to or from Dubai, intercepted with gold bars.
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has confirmed it will be opening a criminal case after it allegedly found evidence that anti-parasite drug Ivermectin had been prescribed and dispensed at a private Durban hospital.
SAHPRA officials raid Durban private hospital for anti-parasite drug, Ivermectin Updated
Nushera Soodyal
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The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority has confirmed it will be opening a criminal case, after it allegedly found evidence that anti-parasite drug Ivermectin had been prescribed and dispensed at a private Durban hospital.
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Police and SAHPRA officials raided Ahmed Al-Kadi yesterday after the authority received a tip-off. Ivermectin, which is given to animals for parasites, isn t approved by the regulatory body for treatment in humans, here.
The medication grabbed headlines recently as a so-called miracle cure for COVID-19. SAHPRA s Yugen Gounden says they didn t find any Ivermectin at the hospital but proof that it was there.
COVID-19 delays new AFB Durban build
Written by defenceWeb -
15 Squadron Oryx on mountain rescue mission.
Another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa is the new air force base at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport – with occupancy now expected “around the end of 2025”.
“Work commenced in 2019 with environmental impact assessment as well as the landscaping (levelling of the ground). The construction timeframe is five years, however it will be moved to the right with a year due to the lost year as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. According to time schedule, the new base is anticipated to be occupied around the end of 2025 to the beginning of 2026 provided that no other external factors impede the construction progress (sic),” was how SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Director: Corporate Communication, Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi, responded to a defenceWeb enquiry on progress for a new home for 15 Squadron and the SA Air Force’s (SAAF’s) onl