From traditional teaching and learning methods to high-tech tablet e-learning, learners at Masibambane Junior Primary School, in Orange Farm, are to become technologically savvy. Through the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) programme, learning and teaching is set to become more exciting, thanks to a...

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The Department of Health has allayed fears of the Ebola outbreak moving to South Africa, assuring that the country is safe.

Department spokesperson Joe Maila confirmed that no case of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been reported in the country since the outbreak was first reported in West Africa, on 23 March 2014.

“We have very stringent rules and regulations at our ports of entry and therefore nobody will come into the country with Ebola because our screening process will be able to detect anybody and that person will be quarantined immediately. At this point of time there’s no need to panic. As South Africa, we are free from the virus,” said Maila.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the outbreak began in Guinea’s Guéckédou Prefecture during December 2013, with subsequent spread to other prefectures in Guinea, including the capital Conakry, as well as neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The outbreak has not been brought under control and new cases and deaths continue to be reported in all three affected countries.

“In total, 1 201 cases, including 672 deaths, have been reported during this outbreak. In Guinea, as of 23 July 2014, a cumulative total of 427 cases of EVD, including 319 deaths was reported from seven districts and the capital Conakry.

“As of 23 July 2014, Sierra Leone has reported 525 cases, including 224 deaths. The fatal cases were all from Kailahun District, located in the eastern region of Sierra Leone bordering on Guinea (Guéckédou) and Liberia,” NICD reported.

As of 23 July 2014, Liberia reported a total of 249 cases including 129 deaths. – SAnews.gov.za

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has congratulated employers and labour unions for finally reaching an agreement to end the metalworkers' strike.

"I am happy that the parties have finally found each other. The challenge right now is for parties to waste no time but to start rebuilding the relationship,” said Minister Oliphant.

She also thanked the parties for providing leadership under very difficult circumstances.

The four-week strike, led by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, came to an end on Tuesday following an agreement on a three-year wage deal signed by unions in the metal, engineering and automotive sector.

The final settlement includes a 10% wage increase for the lowest paid employees each year for the next three years. – SAnews.gov.za

More will be on offer in this year’s edition of the Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day, as netball and cricket will be included in the mix.

Delivering his Budget Vote Speech in Parliament on Tuesday, Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula said: “We will once again honour the iconic Nelson Mandela through the Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day, which will take place in August.

“For the first time this year, we will expand the scope of the event to include netball and cricket as part of the festivities, and also conduct coaching clinics run by the visiting international teams,” he said.

The day is held in partnership with the Department of Arts and Culture, South African Rugby Union (SARU), the South African Football Association (SAFA) and other social partners.

The spectacular inaugural Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day was launched last year at FNB Stadium on Saturday, 17 August. For the first time in the history of South African sport, South Africans watched both rugby and football teams playing against their opponents at the same venue. The day ended with a music concert.

Andrew Mlangeni Golf Development Day

Minister Mbalula also announced that the Andrew Mlangeni Golf Development Day will once again be held in October.

It is a chance for amateur golfers to gain exposure in a professional tournament, and to give them the opportunity to play alongside professional golfers.

Minister Mbalula said a portion of the funds raised from the day will be channelled into the Andrew Mlangeni Chapter of the South African Golf Development Board.

The Chapter is based in Soweto and will give approximately 50 young and aspiring golfers the opportunity to receive professional coaching and assistance with the equipment and attire required.

Minister Mbalula said their flagship programme aimed at recognising outstanding sport people will with from this year be held quarterly, as a build up to the South African Sport Awards. - SAnews.gov.za

Strong partnerships between different role players in and around the Kruger National Park (KNP) remains the key to defeating the scourge of rhino poaching.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has called on communities living close to the KNP to work in collaboration to help eradicate the scourge of rhino poaching ravaging the park.

Since the beginning of the year, KNP has lost over 380 rhinos as a result of poaching incidents and the numbers are likely to increase closer to the end of the year. Thus far, 64 arrests have been made.

Last week, a poacher was sentenced to 77 years of imprisonment, one of the heaviest sentences handed out for poaching. This month, two Mozambican nationals were each jailed 16 years for killing and dehorning rhino.

Acting Head of SANParks Communications, Reynold Thakuli, says the involvement of communities in managing South African parks remains a key element of conserving and preserving the country’s biodiversity.

“We have a number of programmes that we have in partnership with different communities, particularly now with the scourge of rhino poaching.

“We have engaged faith-based organisations, traditional healer associations and tribal authorities to co-opt them into the management of these parks. Some of the guys who are poaching live within these communities,” said Thakuli.

“We are not managing these parks as islands. We are working together with them and so far, we have received cooperation from them, especially on the South African side of the border.”

KNP shares a border with Zimbabwe and Mozambique and covers over two million hectares of land with a variety of animals roaming free.

Earlier this year, South Africa and Mozambique signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of biodiversity and conservation.

Since the signing of the memorandum, cooperation between the two countries has increased. In the past year, a fence along the eastern boundary of the KNP has been erected and the buffer zone in Mozambique has been strengthened.

Echoing Thakuli’s sentiment is retired Major General Johan Jooste, who says good intelligence from the community will go a long way in helping the two countries in dealing with the problem.

“You cannot win the war against poaching from inside the park - you must start outside and deal with the bosses and for that you need good intelligence from the communities to help you achieve that.”

He said that partnerships between communities in Botswana, Swaziland and Namibia have yielded positive results in dealing with rhino poaching and that South African communities can learn from their neighbours. – SAnews.gov.za

Gauteng municipalities need a paradigm shift that places humanity at the centre of development, says Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo.

Delivering his Budget Vote speech at the Legislature, on Tuesday, MEC Mamabolo said the province needed to part ways, and completely abandon the notion that simply sees mortar and brick in infrastructure development, but move to a level where humanity is embraced in all the planning by all different spheres of government, particularly local government.

The MEC also emphasised that local government should transform and fundamentally improve the living conditions of the people, adding that transformation depends on government’s ability to work in partnership with the very same people within communities.

“This partnership is critical to the provision of the basket of services which include water, electricity, and waste and refuse collection, street lighting, recreational facilities, stands on which to build houses, rezoning of land for business purposes, and town planning for integrated developments and so on,” he said.

The MEC was adamant that it is the responsibility of all spheres of government to be at the coal-face of service delivery and not just the responsibility of councillors in the municipalities.

“A key step in this regard is for government to interact with the people promptly, consistently and swiftly, especially during community protests.

“This task of prompt, consistent and regular engagement should not be left to Councillors alone, but should belong to all of us as leaders of our people,” he said.

The MEC strongly emphasised that his department will continue to support municipalities, particularly around issues of capacity development, financial management, infrastructure development, revenue collection and debt management, billing, clean audits and scarce skills.

Traditional leadership

On traditional leadership in the province, MEC Mamabolo assured members of the legislature that his department has managed to harmonise relationships between local government and traditional leadership institutions within the province.

“The department is working very closely with the traditional leadership and councillors as well as linking with strategic formations such as Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA) to ensure the integration of the traditional leadership institutions into the local governance system.

“Both Traditional Leaderships are playing a key role in influencing the key decision making processes on issues of development in the Tshwane metro, where both our chieftaincies are based,” MEC Mamabolo said.

Best Provincial Government award

MEC Mamabolo also lauded his department for recently winning the award for “Best Provincial Government for Supporting Governance Processes in the Municipalities”, bestowed by the Institute of Municipal Finance Officers (IMFO).

The award is aimed at recognising good work done by provincial departments in supporting the municipalities in terms of running their budgets and improving governance towards achieving unqualified reports. - SAnews.gov.za

Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele has released a gazette requesting information on Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. “This is part of government’s priority to nurture and support SMMEs as the bedrock of economic development. As the department, this information will assist us to have [...]Telecomms requests info on SMMEs is a post from: South Africa Business


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Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko says government is working towards fighting crime from a different angle, one that takes into account societal issues, which have a ripple effect that influence the spread and intensity of crime.

Tabling his Budget Vote at the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday, the minister said crime cannot be divorced from the extreme poverty that many communities face.

The minister said for this approach to work and for the root causes of crime to be dealt with, buy-in would be needed from communities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), organs of state, business, research and tertiary institutions.

Minister Nhleko said police would in this Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) continue their focus on reducing the number of serious crimes, cross-border and cyber crime, stabilising public protests and enhancing local police capability.

“We commit the SAPS [South Africa Police Service] to community engagement, listening and being one with the people that we serve. We are also obliged to fight crime and restore the citizens’ faith and trust in our law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system,” he said.

The minister also used the platform to speak out on police killings. In recent weeks, five police officers were killed - one in Gauteng, another in Limpopo and three in the Western Cape.

He called on communities to help bring an end to this.

Professionalising the service

Minister Nhleko said as part of professionalising the police service, they will be making changes to the recruitment strategy of entry level constables to ensure that only the best-suited candidates are hired.

The new recruits are being taken through rigorous testing for suitability before they start formal training.

Minister Nhleko said this community-based recruitment strategy is aimed at addressing challenges such as pending and or previous convictions, fraudulent qualifications and to avoid nepotism.

SAPS will also ensure that its current members are taken through rigorous sessions to understand the code of conduct.

“Our approach on professionalising the police service will contribute to the zero-tolerance towards corruption and nepotism, and deliver the calibre of a police official, who will serve the people of this country with dignity and pride,” said Minister Nhleko.

Arresting crime

In the past year, police made 1 392 856 crime prevention arrests, which include 818 322 arrests for serious crime and 574 534 for other crimes.

A further 1 218 arrests for serious organised crime, with a resultant 828 convictions, were reported by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, popularly known as the Hawks.

Police managed to secure convictions resulting in 1 110 life sentences imposed on 803 suspects for serious crimes such as murder, rape, business robbery, house robbery and armed robbery.

Government also established 947 Victim Friendly Rooms across all provinces, which were set up to encourage the reporting of cases of a personal nature, including trauma and sexual violence.

Minister Nhleko said the country continues to be faced with challenges and called on various sectors to be part of the fight against crime and corruption.

“We would like to engage business around the issues of scrap metal and second hand goods industry, its threat to the economic development of the country and their contribution in the fight against crime and corruption,” said the minister. – SAnews.gov.za

The Department of Basic Education has created a National Recruitment Database aimed at ensuring that qualified teachers are employed and deployed on time to schools.

The database, which will keep details of professionally qualified educators seeking employment in public schools, will also minimise the turnaround times experienced in the filling of vacant teaching posts in schools.

All professionally qualified South African Educators are invited to register to be added to the National Recruitment Database.

Interested parties are encouraged to download the form, which is available on the department’s website education.gov.za, complete it, attach certified copies of their qualification(s) and academic record(s), and post or hand deliver it to the department.

The Database is easily accessible from anywhere in the country. Principals and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) are able to quickly identify appropriately qualified educators who meet the criteria for the post they are trying to fill.

“The Database is one of the measures employed by the department in response to delays experienced in deploying temporary teachers to vacant posts,” the department said in a statement.

The Database consists of a concise version of an educator’s Curriculum Vitae (CV). All the information is electronically captured on a single spreadsheet and sorted by province, thus enabling easy search and filter options.

The details captured would include verified qualifications, subjects which the educator is qualified to teach and teaching experience.

Updated versions of the database are uploaded to the website on a monthly basis in order to guarantee that candidates who have found employment are removed and new candidates are added.

For more information on the National Recruitment Database visit: education.gov.za - SAnews.gov.za

Celebrating women in August, the 25th running of South Africa’s most beautiful race returns to Durban with thousands of women gearing up to participate in the SPAR Women’s 10/5km race on Sunday 24 August. The race takes place around the Kingsmead precinct with two distances on offer, the shorter 5km course or the longer 10km [...]Durban Women’s Race in August is a post from: Time-to-Run South Africa


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