The new Sol Plaatjie University in the Northern Cape opened its doors for the first time for learning on Monday.The university has 105 students on its books, instead of the anticipated 120.The institution was launched in Kimberley last year by Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade...

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Sao Paulo - Scientists from the University of Sao Paulo (USP) say that preliminary tests for an experimental anti-HIV vaccine have produced...

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The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) will tomorrow explain its operations on the Gauteng e-tolled highways, to the Portfolio Committee on Transport.

Sanral communications manager Vusi Mona said: “We look forward to the opportunity to explain what went wrong with e-tolling, but also what went right.”

Mona said while there were “too many customer complaints”, of the 2.6 million individual vehicles on these highways monthly, only 0.3% have raised complaints.

“[It] translates into a very small percentage, but still a sizeable number, which can create the impression of a failed system.

“That is clearly incorrect. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our valued customers. We close out the bulk of complaints within five days; over 85% are resolved by giving clarifications. It is clear from this that more customer education is needed,” he said.

Mona said problems do not only arise because of inabilities at the toll collection service.

Sanral uses the eNatis data base, which is in many instances inaccurate as people don’t forward their changed addresses, or the change of ownership of a vehicle.

“As a result, some people may be getting wrong invoices which we regret but we can only work off an official data base. We will be initiating a campaign to remind vehicle owners of their legal responsibilities regarding eNatis,” he said.

Some of the other problems, Mona said, included the strike at the Post Office and a website which is occasionally slow because it is sometimes overwhelmed when too many users go to it.

“With such a high number of users, problems should have been expected. Fact is that the numbers indicate that e-tolling is working.

“We don’t deny that there are problems but are working to overcome them. It is a good opportunity to communicate where e-tolling is at right now and how Sanral plans to improve the system,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

The Department of Correctional Services has launched an investigation into the conduct of two of the Waterkloof Four.

This after a video was posted on YouTube showing Frikkie du Preez and Christoff Becker allegedly drinking and using a mobile phone in a prison cell, in Kgosi Mampuru Prison, in Pretoria.

They were released on parole on 11 February, with Reinach Tiedt and Gert van Schalkwyk.

Du Preez and Becker have since been rearrested.

According to the department, the two will be detained for 72 hours while the investigation is underway.

“The department takes very seriously the allegations carried in the media about the smuggling of alcohol, having a party and covering the party with illegally possessed cameras / cell phones,” said Correctional Services spokesperson Manelisi Wolela.

The Regional Commissioner of Gauteng instituted the investigation yesterday.

The two parolees, officials and managers on duty on the day will be questioned as well.

The four youths were sentenced to 12 years in custody for murdering a homeless person in Waterkloof and they benefited from the President's Special Remission of Sentence of six months.

They were considered by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Boards of Zonderwater and Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centres, and granted parole as they have completed half of the sentences as a requirement by the Correctional Services Act.

They have been given strict parole conditions that include regular reporting to the Kgosi Mampuru Community Corrections Office in Pretoria and their sentences will expire in 2019. – SAnews.gov.za

Mbombela - The University of Mpumalanga (UMP) will officially be opened for learning on Wednesday.

According to the university’s chairman and head of academic affairs, Professor Ramaranka Mogotlane, the institution has already admitted 160 students.

“Registration took place on February 14 and this week we have started with orientation until the official academic opening of the university on Wednesday,” said Mogotlane on Monday.

At the end of October last year, Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Minister Blade Nzimande said the lectures would take place at the Siyabuswa College of Education in Siyabuswa and Lowveld Agricultural College in Mbombela.

At the time Nzimande cautioned that universities should not be confused with tall buildings, but the cultural and economic life they bring to the community.

“We therefore expect no Ivory Towers here but rather an institution accessible to all, particularly the rural communities of Mpumalanga, where some of this university’s research will be done. It is from these communities as well as from across the country that it will draw its students. Therefore, there should be engagement at all levels of the institution," the Minister said.

Minister Nzimande explained that UMP will only offer more courses incrementally.

"The initial focus of the new university will be on university of technology type career-focused programmes already offered in the province with a further broadening of niche areas, and on teacher education with emphasis on Foundation Phase (teachers).

"There will be an incremental introduction of other more general formative type programmes with specialisation areas in health, engineering and agriculture. A fully fledged higher education institution will be established over time and this will be done in phases," said Nzimande.

Mogotlane said the 160 students have enrolled for three programmes, namely B Agric, Bachelor of Education: Foundation Phase and a National Diploma in Hospitality.

He said the programmes are under the patronage of the University of Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria.

“We are working with the universities of Pretoria and Johannesburg for quality oversight, assessment and continuous improvement,” said Mogotlane.

The chairman added that the university would not benefit the students only, but also staff members who don’t have adequate qualifications.

“A staff improvement and development programme will be introduced,” Mogotlane said. – SAnews.gov.za

Centralising government’s tender system will go a long way in rooting out corruption in the public service, President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday.

In an interview with the national broadcaster on Sunday, Zuma told SABC the fight against corruption would be better won when there was a central tender board in place to deal with all tenders. It would also make it easy to police corrupt officials.

Zuma was responding to a question regarding his announcement that government had decided to establish a central tender board to adjudicate tenders in all spheres of government.

He made the announcement during his sixth State of the Nation Address on Thursday.

The board, he said, will work with the chief procurement officer whose main function will be to check on pricing and adherence to procedures as well as fairness.

“The problem is that if you spread the tender system across all spheres of government, you have got too many fingers everywhere. It is difficult to control that,” he said.

Zuma said the problem with having too many panels deciding on their own tenders was that it exposed the system to infiltration by corrupt officials, which often led to people in the entire tender system being perceived to be corrupt.

With the new system, corruption – if it happened – would be limited to one board and easy to investigate. – SAnews.gov.za

Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile has encouraged South Africans, especially those that were close to or were part of the liberation struggle, to write more books about the political history of the country.

Mashatile said this would help preserve the country’s heritage by imparting the story of the political struggle to generations to come.

Speaking at the launch of a book entitled: “The Future We Chose: Emerging Perspectives on The Centenary of the ANC” in Cape Town on Friday, Mashatile said his department would support book projects that would contribute to preserving the country’s arts and heritage.

“The Department of Arts and Culture, amongst many of its responsibilities, encourages the writing of books – especially in indigenous languages – and the reading of books, particularly to tell the true story of who we are as South African people.

“I encourage us all to write books,” said the minister.

He added that there were books by people who were very critical about the country and that “we should write more about ourselves so that there is proper discourse out there”.

“All those who have got the energy to write, please let us get together. Let’s write more and more books so that we can impart good heritage to the young generation. We must be able to tell a good story of this great nation,” he said.

The book was launched on Friday. It was edited by commentator and writer Busani Ngcaweni, who approached ANC leaders and stalwarts to contribute chapters on their perspectives of the liberation movement’s centenary celebrations and history.

With a lot of external and internal contradictions on the story of the liberation movement, the story explores the events and the narrative that defines South Africa’s oldest political organisation.

Among the list of senior politicians who contributed a chapter in the 19-chapter book is Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. He also attended the launch along with Minister in the Presidency: National Planning Commission, Trevor Manuel. – SAnews.gov.za

The Gauteng Department of Health says its intensive educational campaign to raise awareness around sexual transmitted illnesses (STIs) is beginning to bear fruit.

Through the awareness campaign, the province has seen a notable decrease in the incidences of STIs from 4% in the year 2008/09 to 3.1% in the last financial year of 2012/13.

The department’s campaign to encourage men to undergo medical male circumcision (MMC) at health facilities has also seen an increase in demand for the surgical procedure. In the last financial year, 94 151 MMC operations were conducted in 64 sites - 41 clinics and 23 hospitals - across the province.

“While circumcision has been shown to reduce the transmission of HIV to men, the department is still encouraging men to take precautions. Condoms should continue to be used even after circumcision and they are freely available at all public health facilities and other public centres in the province,” said Health MEC Hope Papo.

The MEC further announced that the partner treatment rate had increased from 21.7% in 2008/09 to 25.6% in the year 2012/13.

“Although this remains a bit of a challenge, our statistics show that more people are coming in for treatment following a diagnosis of their partners,” said Papo.

In the last financial year, the provincial department distributed 131 million male condoms and 1.3 million female condoms across the province.

The MEC commended the residents of Gauteng, especially the youth, for heeding the department’s call to abstain from sex for as long as possible and to use condoms when they engage in sexual activities. – SAnews.gov.za

Mcebisi Nxedlana’s parents never had the opportunity to go to school and many times the 20-year-old himself wanted to drop out so he could get a job and help his struggling family.

Mcebisi is now a 3rd-year biotechnology student at the University of Witwatersrand and he cannot wait to complete his qualification so he can find employment and start changing the situation at home.

The youngster is a beneficiary of the Jacob Zuma RDP Education Trust. The Trust has since 1995 helped thousands of young people from rural areas stay in school. At least 60% of those disadvantaged learners were female.

Every year the Trust awards several young people scholarships to enable them to study at renowned tertiary institutions in a variety of courses.

“I used to be shy and ashamed, but today I am able to stand up and be proud of who I am because of education,” said Nxedalana.

The Jacob Zuma Trust, which started its work in KwaZulu-Natal, has helped Mcebisi and another 20 000 children just like him from mostly from rural areas with bursaries over the years.

The initiative has now extended its footprint into the Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces.

On Friday night, Mcebisi and other beneficiaries of the Trust got an opportunity to meet President Jacob Zuma, who has this year raised over R10 million through the Presidential Golf Challenge.

The Presidential Golf Challenge is held a day after the State of the Nation Address and is aimed at raising much-needed funds for charities chosen by the sitting President.

Zuma told a dinner at the Cape Town International Convention Centre which was a culmination of the golf challenge that one of the things he had learned during the struggle for a free South Africa was that education was the only weapon to defeat the apartheid government.

“We always had this belief that if we armed ourselves with education and knowledge, we would be able to defeat the apartheid rulers.

“I wanted to go to school but I couldn’t because my parents could not afford to send me … I had an ambition to become a teacher or a lawyer but I couldn’t afford to became any of those.

“When I established the Trust I knew that at least we would make an impact in society and I think that has happened,” said Zuma.

Zuma thanked those sponsors who had supported the initiative over the years, adding that he was encouraged by the huge support this year's event had received.

“We continue to grow every year and I would like to thank every one of you for your support, no matter how small. It makes a difference to someone’s child,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

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