The office of the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe reveals the drop was attributed mainly to the decrease in the brent crude oil price by over eight dollars per barrel during the period under review following the infection of 90 000 people worldwide, including in Nigeria and Egypt, with the Coronavirus. The disease – COVID-19 - has claimed the lives of more than 3100 people so far.  The price of paraffin has dropped by 68 cents per litre.

Meanwhile, there are no signs of preparations for the repatriation of 151 South Africans from China being underway at the Black Mountain Hotel outside Thaba’ Nchu. This as OFM News was reliably informed last week that the hotel, which has a landing strip 6,7km away, is one of the venues being scouted as a possibility where those repatriated could be placed for the planned 21-day quarantine period. 

The OFM News team also paid a visit to the now-defunct Thaba Nchu Airport, which displayed no signs of the landing strip being readied for the arrival of any aircraft, let alone a military one. The hotel on the other end appears to be functioning as normal, with services being rendered to customers as normal.

Black Mountain General Manager, Peter Leonard, declined to comment on the matter previously. Free State Health spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, says his department is ready for when any of the repatriated citizens are heading towards the province. The presidency is referring to any media questions on the execution of the repatriation process to the National Department of Health. 

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africans who are stranded in Wuhan in Hubei province, China, will be brought back home. There are 62 Free State students under lockdown in the same province and they might be making up the bulk of those who return to South Africa.

OFM News