The province has 270 learners from 154 schools affected, where 271 staff have also tested positive for the coronavirus.

The urgency of reining in the government’s spiralling debt was the overriding message from Mboweni’s special adjustment budget this week, and it was one he continued to hammer home.

David Mabuza has also told Parliament that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) has not usurped any of the powers or functions of any of the three arms of the state, including Parliament.

A significant number of departments have been affected by the new budget, a response to the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina said she was not attacking the judiciary but felt that the time allowed to Parliament to deal with such a complex issue was unfair.

The government is either in talks with or plans to approach the International Monetary Fund, the New Development Bank (Brics bank)) as well as the World Bank for urgent funding.

South Africa is in the hole for debt of around R4 trillion.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has presented his supplementary Budget, comparing debt to a hippo's mouth.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will unveil his special adjustment budget during a joint sitting of Parliament at 3pm this afternoon.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will be providing details on the R500 billion relief package that the government intends to help businesses and individuals survive at a time when the country is experiencing record levels of unemployment.

At one point, House chairperson Madala Ntombela - who was attending virtually - lost his connection, which left nobody in charge of the proceedings of the house.

About 691 employees have not been paid in full since the end of March. Some of them last week demonstrated outside the Department of Public Enterprise’s offices in Pretoria.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the lockdown had served its purpose of curbing the spread of the virus, saving thousands of lives and that now it’s time to get the economy growing and to learn to live with COVID-19.

The president told Parliament that if the government had not acted decisively, the country could have seen a much higher COVID-19 infection rate and many thousands of deaths.

Speaker Thandi Modise told today’s National Assembly programming committee meeting that she’d received a request for an urgent debate on gender-based violence and it had been agreed that a date for this should be found.

SA Express is in provisional liquidation after an attempted business rescue failed.

The regional carrier was put into business rescue in February after a creditor launched an urgent court application for its liquidation. The liquidators came into office on 13 May.

The Appropriations Bill has to be passed by Parliament before Mboweni can table a Special Adjustments Budget to deal with the financial demands posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.