Two business people were burnt to death in a house and their belongings stolen in Northam, Limpopo, on Friday, police have said.

A 24-year old man was arrested in Rustenburg in the North West province for the murder of the two deceased, aged 30 and 33, following a swift response by the police.

All are Ugandan nationals.

Speaking to News24, provincial police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed that both the deceased and the arrested suspect were all business people: “However, we are still investigating the motive. We have found that petrol [was] used in arson.”

Ngoepe could not immediately explain the nature of the business in which the deceased and the arrested suspect were involved.

He said that on Friday, January 4 2018, police were called to Wildebeeste Laagte Farm outside Northam where they found a house engulfed in flames.

“The police in conjunction with other role players tried to extinguish the blaze but with no success. Further attempts were made to rescue the people inside until they managed to gain entry by breaking the windows as all the doors were locked.

“Subsequently, two people were found lying dead on the floor with serious burn wounds on their bodies,” Ngoepe said.

He said preliminary investigations revealed the identity of the suspect and a manhunt was launched. The trail led the police to Rustenburg where the suspect was arrested.

“During the arrest, the deceased’s motor vehicle was recovered at a chop-shop in Rustenburg and other items which include cellphone, watch and house keys.

“The process of identifying the deceased is under way but they were confirmed to be Ugandan nationals,” Ngoepe said.

The arrested suspect is expected to appear in the Northam Magistrate’s court on Monday, January 7, 2018.

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Education analyst Nic Spaull has raised concerns about the 2018 National Senior Certificate results announced on Thursday, among them the high dropout rate of pupils before they reach Grade 12.

“Until Minister of Education Angie Motshekga starts reporting and emphasising the 400 000 kids that dropped out of school (no proof of their educ status whatsoever, almost certainly unemployed, and they don’t go to FET, btw),” Spaull tweeted.

Using a graph, Spaull illustrates that more than 1 002 500 pupils registered for Grade 1 in 2007 and only 512 700, 51%, wrote matric examinations in 2018.

Only 400 761, about 40%, passed matric, while 172 000, or 17%, obtained bachelor passes.

In response, Department of Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga tweeted a graph apparently demonstrating that the department does track pupil progression through its system. He said the minister did not shy away from addressing the dropout rate, so Spaull was “not the only person raising the issue”.

Spaull further stated that for every 100 female matriculants there are only 82 male matriculants. The main reason for this, he said, was that girls do better than boys in most subjects and drop out at lower rates on average.

“Every year when I read through the 2018 matric reports, I’m shocked by the statistics on learners with special needs. Only 12% of the South African population live in the Western Cape but 64% of special needs matric candidates come from the Western Cape,” he continued.

He wrote that a trick most provinces pull is to encourage academically weaker pupils to write matric exams as multiple exam opportunity candidates. This means they register as part-time students and can write their exams in two parts so their results don’t count towards the statistics being celebrated now.

A sleight of hand

Professor Jonathan Jansen tweeted that watching the minister announce the matric results every year was like going to a magic show as a teenager.

“You (and the magician) know that what you’re seeing is sleight of hand but you stay quiet because you are surrounded by many who actually believe in miracles,” he wrote.

On Thursday both the EFF and the DA said there was little to celebrate about this year’s matric results when there are hundreds of thousands of pupils who entered Grade 1 but didn’t make it to Grade 12.

READ: Little to celebrate about 2018 matric results – DA, EFF

“These learners are either stuck repeating grades or being lost to the ANC’s failing education system completely. The minister admits that retention should be part of the measure for matric, but conveniently forgets this each January when it’s time to release matric results,” DA education spokesperson Nomsa Marchesi, said. 

Marchesi raised concerns about the impact of the new multiple exam opportunity policy on the 2018 marks and argued that the real matric pass rate for 2018 is 37.6%, not 78.2%.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated the matric class of 2018 for keeping the pass rate above 70%. 

On Thursday evening Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the overall 2018 pass rate, with progressed pupils included, stands at 78.2%. This was a 3.1 percentage point improvement from the 75.1% achieved in 2017. 

When progressed pupils are excluded, the overall pass rate stands at 79.4%. This is a 2.9 percentage point increase from the 76.5% achieved in 2017. 

“As South Africans, we can all take pride in the dedication shown by learners and educators. Together, they have presented our nation with another cohort of young people whose life chances have been significantly enhanced, and whose success in basic education is indeed reversing the damage inflicted on generations of South Africans who were deprived of quality education under apartheid,” said Ramaphosa. 

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Gauteng leads the pack 

The total number of candidates who registered for the November 2018 NSC examinations was 790 843, comprising 624 733 full-time candidates and 176 110 part-time candidates. About 46.2% of these candidates were 16 to 20-year-old females; and 34% of 16 to 20-year-old males.   

“Also, important to note, is the fact that 8.8% of the girls and 10.6% of the boys who sat for the 2018 NSC examination were 21-26 years of age – a clear indication of multiple attempts at achieving a National Senior Certificate,” Motshekga said.

In terms of a breakdown of provinces, Gauteng led the pack with the highest pass rate for 2018 at 87.9%, followed by Free State with 87.5%, Western Cape 81.5%, North West 81.1%, Mpumalanga 79%, KwaZulu-Natal 76.2%, Northern Cape 73.3% Eastern Cape 70.6% and the lowest performing province was Limpopo with 69.4%.

Ramaphosa said the class of 2018 was the fourth largest group in the history of basic education to register for an NSC examination. He said this illustrated the impact of government’s support to poor pupils and their families. 

“This support spans pro-poor funding of schools; the provision of nutritious meals on a daily basis; and the provision of scholar transport to deserving learners on daily basis. 

“These interventions have led to increased levels of retention of learners and enabled their success in the National Senior Certificate examinations,” the president said.  

Ramaphosa also encouraged pupils who did not pass to make use of “second chance” programmes. 

Government support for pupils 

The class of 2018 had the highest number of progressed pupils. These are candidates who were selected based on strict preconditions for progression.

Motshekga said the pupil progression policy encouraged provinces to progress or condone over-aged pupils who have repeated Grade 11 more than once and give them extra support to write all seven subjects of the 2018 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

Progressed pupils were given the opportunity to write part of the 2018 NSC examinations in November 2018, and the rest will write in June 2019.

“The support provided to progressed learners by provinces is important, particularly for learners who come from poorer communities,” she said.

For the class of 2018, there were 128 634 registered progressed pupils, of which 33 412 wrote the requisite seven subjects, while the rest wrote some of their exams last year and will continue this year.  

Of the progressed pupils who had finished their exams, 20 122 passed. Of these, 2 676 obtained bachelor passes, 8 685 obtained diploma passes, 8 739 obtained higher certificate while 10 obtained NSC passes.

– See our Matric Results page

The body of a man, believed to be in his 30s, has been found on the banks of a river running through a golf course in Bloemfontein.

ER24 paramedics, along with the SAPS Search and Rescue, found the man’s body lying partially on the banks between numerous bushes on Wednesday morning.

“The man was assessed and found to have no signs of life. Unfortunately, nothing could be done for him and he was declared dead,” ER24’s Russel Meiring said in a statement. 

Details surrounding the incident were still not known, but local authorities were on the scene for further investigations.