Pretoria – International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane says South Africa is certain that the Indian government and business sector will partner with it to implement the National Development Plan (NDP). She said the two countries can jointly explore opportunities for mutual benefit. Minister Nkoana-Mashabane was speaking at the 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Day [...] India called to support SA’s development plan is a post from: South Africa Business
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Scorching running expected at Spur Cape Summer Trail Series™ 2015 With entries almost filled up to capacity and the Cape summer showing its best side it’s a definite that the Spur Cape Summer Trail Series™ will get off to a cracking start this Wednesday. The Spur Trail Series™ is one of the most popular trail [...] Cape Summer Trail Series 2015 dates is a post from: Trail Running South Africa
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Pretoria – Police say media reports suggesting that Captain Paul Ramaloko of the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been suspended from duty are completely incorrect and misleading.

“Captain Ramaloko has been a communication official within the SAPS for years. He was, at a stage, based at the SAPS Pretoria Area communication offices and at the National Media Centre.

“When the former Colonel McIntosh Polela departed from his post as spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as the Hawks), Captain Ramaloko – who was then based at the National Media Centre with Polela - was tasked to perform those duties in an acting capacity,” said spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale on Friday.

A decision has been taken that Ramaloko should resume his duties at the National Media Centre and Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi will take over as the acting spokesperson of the Hawks.

“Mulaudzi is an experienced and committed communicator in the SAPS and has served as a senior communicator with distinction. He was recently presented with an award for being the best government communication official in Limpopo.

“We believe that he will lift the standard of media liaison and communication within the Hawks,” said Makgale.

Ramaloko is still on active duty and he will continue to contribute meaningfully to the SAPS Corporate Communication Division. – SAnews.gov.za

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) says the business confidence index (BCI) shed 2.5 index points in December 2014, coming in at 88.3.

The BCI declined from 90.8 in November 2014 and is 3.6 points below the December reading of 2013.

“The 88.3 is the lowest level since July 2014 when the BCI measured 87.9,” Sacci said on Thursday.

The chamber said the financial situation was weaker than in December 2013.

“Four of the seven physical activity sub-indices of the BCI recorded changes that were positive (month-on-month) in December compared to three in November 2014 - confirming subdued economic activity,” Sacci said.

Sacci said it was concerned that the electricity shortages in the country will cause the economy to stagnate at low levels of activity.

“An apathetic approach to economic challenges has led to the constrained environment South Africa finds itself in.”

It said the immediate economic outlook for South Africa was largely influenced by the much lower international crude oil price and electricity power shortages.

“These two developments are contrary to each other in influencing the economy. The dismal performance by the rand exchange rate and a strong US dollar are the main causes for not taking full advantage of the lower US dollar crude oil price,” SACCI said.

Given the highest level of 122.1 for the BCI in December 2006, SACCI said the present level remains a matter of grave concern.

The average for the BCI in 2014 was 90.0 compared to 91.4 in 2013. The previous lowest annual average was 87.6 in 1999. The highest BCI annual average was 118.8 in 2006, with the BCI at 100 in 2010, which serves as the base year.

“Although the subdued business confidence was broad based (five of the 13 sub-indices were positive year-on-year), the rand exchange rate made a marked negative impact,” Sacci said. – SAnews.gov.za

Renowned photographer Timothy Allen has joined tribal people around the world in condemning Jimmy Nelson’s work “Before They Pass Away”, which is due to open at the Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in New York in February 2015. Allen, a leading photographer for National Geographic and BBC’s Human Planet said, “The patronizing and self-aggrandizing narrative behind ‘Before [...]Before They Pass Away Condemned is a post from: EconSpire
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The best performing inmates in the 2014 National Senior Certificate examinations say they plan to use their grade 12 qualifications to turn over a new leaf.

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Advocate Michael Masutha introduced the top two achievers from the class of 2014 inmates, who wrote their grade 12 examinations late last year.

Speaking to SAnews after the announcement of the results, Sibonelo Maphumulo, 22, who studied at the Usethubeni Youth Centre in Durban, said the matric qualification had contributed to his rehabilitation process.

“Enrolling for grade 12 has really helped me a lot because before I was arrested, I was not interested in school.

“But after I was apprehended, I realised that school is very important so I have to be committed and patient and do whatever it takes to build my life,” he said.

Maphumulo was sentenced to eight years in 2012 after he was convicted of rape.

As a juvenile, Maphumulo enrolled to do grade 11 at the Usethubeni Youth Centre two years ago.

In last year’s exam, he obtained an A symbol in Life Orientation, B in IsiZulu, C symbols in English, Economics, Accounting and Biological Studies and a D in Mathematics.

He now has his sights on furthering his studies and hopes his family will support him financially to register to study towards his tertiary qualification.

Another inmate, Njabulo Gumede, 22, also from the same centre, was incarcerated last year and sentenced to three years in jail for robbery.

Upon his arrival in prison in February last year, he was approached by the Principal of the Usethubeni Youth Centre, Dominic Zulu, to enrol to complete his matric, and he did.

Gumede passed his exams with a distinction in Life Orientation, four Bs in IsiZulu, English, Biological Studies and Economics, a C in Accounting and 45% in Mathematics.

“I saw that sitting in jail without doing anything is not productive. I don’t want to wait for three years without doing anything. I would rather go to school.

“I didn’t think that I would get a second chance to go to school and when I came to prison, I did programmes like restorative anger management and those programmes renewed me,” he said.

He hopes to get a sponsor to fund his studies to fulfil his dream of becoming an accountant one day.

Gumede said he was happy to have been given a second chance to finish his matric, and encouraged other inmates to strive for education.

“When you are sentenced, you have to go to school because you can’t spend all your time doing nothing. You have to go to school and you won’t regret that decision. You are going to be happy and even your parents outside will be happy.

“When you eventually get a chance to go outside, you are going to live a life with other people.

“If you are educated and have matric, it is going to be simpler,” he said.

The pass rate among inmates increased from 58.8% in 2013 to 68.9% in 2014. – SAnews.gov.za

Pretoria - The United States Embassy in South Africa says it will continue to support South Africa’s efforts to raise the standard of education in the country.The embassy said it will achieve this through the School Capacity and Innovation Programme (SCIP), which is in partnership with the...

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Cape Town – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on young people to be educated and to be innovative in order to achieve economic freedom in their lifetime. Speaking at a youth dialogue hosted by the South African Youth Council – an umbrella body for all youth organisations in South Africa – in Mfuleni near [...]Education key to economic freedom is a post from: South Africa Business
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Pretoria - Gauteng Premier David Makhura has added his voice to the chorus of praise for the class of 2014, who recorded a 75.8% matric pass rate.

In his congratulatory message on Tuesday, the Premier had a special word of commendation for the matrics of Gauteng, who achieved an 84.7% pass rate – the highest provincial performance in the country.

The Premier said he was pleased with the good leadership demonstrated by the Department of Basic Education.

The province now has its sights set on achieving a 100% matric pass rate in the future, Premier Makhura said.

“I am happy but I don’t want to say that 84.7% represents our standard. We want to get to 100%, which means that every year we must step up our efforts,” the Premier said.

He said the achievement affirmed the United Nations’ decision to bestow the provincial Department of Education with the UN Public Service Award last year.

The 84.7% pass rate was achieved after 99 478 learners sat for the 2014 final matric exams.

Premier Makhura said while this achievement is a drop from the 87% achieved by the class of 2013, it is a good baseline for the province to start from, as this was the first time the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was tested at matric level.

Understanding CAPS

The CAPS curriculum was phased in during 2012 in grade 10, 2013 in grade 11 and 2014 in grade 12.

The intention of CAPS is to improve the standard and quality of curriculum implementation. CAPS encapsulates the new promotion requirements, which are considerably higher than the previous promotion requirements.

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS), Grades R - 12, underpinned by CAPS, was also implemented in 2014 in the Senior Phase (grade 7, 8 and 9) for the first time.

In November 2014, the Department of Basic Education announced that it had raised the pass mark for the Senior Phase.

In 2013, the pass requirement was that one should pass seven of the nine subjects. With the new changes in 2014, a learner has to pass eight of the nine subjects.

In 2013, a learner had to pass one official Language at 40% and a second official Language at 30%. With the new changes in 2014, a 50% pass requirement in Home Languages and 40% pass requirement in First Additional language was set as the new standard.

Also in 2013, condonation was allowed in one of the subjects. In 2014, no condonation was allowed. The change relates not only to the raising of pass requirements in Language but it also only allows learners to fail one subject without a condonation allowance.

Raising the bar

Premier Makhura attributed the improved quality of matric passes this year to the Secondary School Intervention Programme (SSIP), which is an intervention programme aimed at improving the quality of education in underperforming schools in Gauteng.

He urged parents to do their part in supporting their children.

“We can assure you that as government we will do our part. Parents do your part, educators do your part and learners must also do their part,” he said.

He also appealed to learners who did not succeed to go back and rewrite their exams.

“This is not the end of the world. You must handle defeat with dignity. Take this time to pause and reflect on where you need to improve and go back to the drawing board,” he said.

The Premier made a commitment that the provincial government will continue to work with underperforming districts and schools in ensuring that Gauteng remains the leading province in education.

Meanwhile, Ekurhuleni Mayor Mondli Gungubele also congratulated the class of 2014.

He said learners were able to pick up the baton and make the province proud, despite the high number of service delivery protests in some areas, which ultimately affected the culture of teaching and learning.

“The fact that our country continues to produce more and more university entrants from previously disadvantaged areas is a clear indication that we are on the right track.”

Mayor Gungubele encouraged them to triple their efforts going forward, as the standard of education at institutions of higher learning was higher and tougher.

More well wishes for matrics

The African National Congress (ANC) in the North West has also welcomed the matric results announced by the MEC responsible for Education and Sports Development, Wendy Matsemela.

The province recorded a pass rate of 84.6%, down from 87.2% in 2013.

The provincial ANC branch said it was happy that the province has maintained position two in matric results.

“We take this opportunity to congratulate the North West Provincial Executive, led by Premier Supra Mahumapelo, the MEC, Department of Education, parents, teachers and learners for the sterling work.

“We are particularly encouraged by the marked improvements of performance by girls in the key subjects of Maths and Science. This vindicates our efforts to ensure that Maths and Science are mainstreamed and receive the necessary attention.”

Brand South Africa has also congratulated the class of 2014 for successfully concluding their high school careers.

“We wish the maticulants well as they pursue opportunities beyond the walls of their schools and urge them to play their part to positively contribute towards building our country.” – SAnews.gov.za

The Ultra Trail Mount Moodie (UTMM) on 31 January is the official national championships in the Ultra Trail category for 2015 and the overall...

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