A bakkie that was used as a getaway vehicle following a cash-in-transit robbery in June last year has linked five accused to robberies committed in KwaZulu-Natal last year.

Bheki Godfrey Sifiso Ndlovu, 42, Zenzele Gumede, 37, Bongani Madlala, 47, Mpumelelo Ntshangashe, 46, and Zwanani Goodman Cele, 31, appeared in the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on Monday after they were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit, Tactical Response Team and Dog Unit on charges of armed robbery which took place in the Southport area last year.

According to Hawks spokesperson Andrea Naicker, towards the end of August last year, the dockets were transferred to the Hawks for further investigation and, during intensive investigation, the accused were linked to the crimes and arrested on charges of armed robbery. 

“The accused had been in custody following their arrest for a cash-in-transit case and the possession of unlicensed firearms. The [owner] of a [stolen] bakkie, which was taken in June 2019, identified them upon their recent court appearance,” Naicker said. 

The case has been remanded to March 26 in the Pietermaritzburg High Court for a pre-trial conference where the accused will face charges of cash-in-transit robbery, possession of unlicensed firearms and armed robbery. 

The high rate of youth unemployment in South Africa is unacceptable, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa was speaking at the Pre-SONA Youth Dialogue hosted by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town on Wednesday.

“Any country that is serious about its development, prosperity and its future cannot be complacent that such a large percentage of the population of working age is languishing in unemployment,” the president said.

READ | Alliance partners back Ramaphosa ‘disapproval’ of SAA route cuts

Statistics South Africa announced that the official unemployment numbers for the fourth quarter of 2019 remained unchanged at 29.1% – the highest rate since 2008 compared to the third quarter of 2019.

Fin24 reported that the number of employed persons increased by 45 000 to 16.4 million and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 8 000 to 6.7 million in the fourth quarter.

Speaking at the gathering, ahead of his State of the Nation Address on Thursday, Ramaphosa said addressing youth unemployment remained his priority.

He said that, after promising last year that he would develop a comprehensive plan that would be coordinated from the Presidency to create opportunities for youth, the implementation of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention had now got under way.

“What distinguishes this intervention is that it is being driven by a specialised Project Management Office in the Presidency. Its aim is to increase levels of alignment and focus across government and begin to tackle youth unemployment at scale,” he said.

Ramaphosa added that he would be announcing some of the immediate steps that the government would be taking to make the intervention a reality.

Accelerating the growth of competitive, export-oriented, labour-intensive industries and ensuring that the most marginalised youth had the support they need some of the things that needed to be tackled to create opportunities for youth, he said.

“Our first priority is to create a National Pathway Management Network for young work-seekers to view and access learning and work opportunities, to receive a basic package of support and work readiness training, and to be matched to employment and other economic opportunities.”

Another priority, according to Ramaphosa, is to ensure that young people have the skills that they need to access opportunities in key growth sectors, such as global business services, digital and technology, tourism, agriculture, and social services.

Touching on education, Ramaphosa announced funding for free higher education for poor and working class students had been expanded from R11.2bn in 2016 to R35bn in 2020.

Government had also instituted two years of compulsory early learning for all children before they enter Grade 1. The programme was to ensure that, within the next decade, every child would be able to read with meaning by the age of 10 he said.

Ramaphosa will deliver his much-anticipated SONA on Thursday at 19:00. 

The release of Nelson Mandela 30 years ago was a victory for the people, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday.

“It was not [done] out of the kindness of FW de Klerk’s heart. It was not because he felt sorry for Nelson Mandela; it was not because he was a kind-hearted man,” Ramaphosa said on the balcony of City Hall in Cape Town alongside a statue of the first democratic president.

“It was because of the pressure and the struggles that the people of our country waged to enable Nelson Mandela to be released. It was your victory.”

In 1990, Ramaphosa held the microphone when Madiba delivered his first public address in Cape Town’s city centre.

“It was here where we received Nelson Mandela and celebrated his release from prison. February 11 will forever be remembered as one of the most memorable days in the history of the world, not only in the history of South Africa.”

‘Simply magic in the air’

There was “simply magic in the air” that day, Ramaphosa recalled.

“This icon, who in every sense is a legend, had endured the unimaginable: 27 years of incarceration, torn away from his family, his community, shut away from the outside world and taken away from his organisation, first on a forsaken island in the middle of the sea and then behind the high walls of a prison compound.

“He had been taken to prison in chains while still a young man in his prime and was now returning as a 72-year-old whose health had been ravaged by the harshness of prison life,” he said.

“Given all he had gone through, it would have been understandable if he used his first speech – right here at this point where I am standing – to denounce his captors, to gloat and to call for revenge. If anyone had the right to do so, it was Nelson Mandela.”

Instead, he had paid tribute to the people of South Africa, to the international community that had campaigned for his release and to the leaders of the liberation movement, Ramaphosa pointed out.

“He repeated demands for the release of political prisoners, for the lifting of the state of emergency and for the immediate end to violence so that negotiations could commence.

“He called on white compatriots to be a part of shaping a new SA, saying uniting the people of the country was the foremost priority. President Nelson Mandela’s words that day set the tone for a country that was in the throes of upheaval and uncertainty. It was a combination of strength and modesty. It was firm but it was also reassuring,” he said.

READ | Freed Nelson Mandela | 30 years on: The legend and his legacy

“His words were delivered with the gravity and humility of a man whose life forever stands as a testimony to the victory of reconciliation over retribution, of the olive branch over the gun, of coexistence over conflict.”

Ramaphosa said it was easy for those who decried what Madiba did to “sit back and be critical of the leadership that he provided as he sought to mash us into a nation”.

‘Winds of change’

“The winds of change were sweeping across the land. The ANC and other liberation movements had been unbanned and the leadership were making their way home from exile. The government was bankrupt, and the economy was in freefall, rendering the state the liberation movement stood to inherit hollow and weakened.

“The right wing was mobilising and marshalling their forces of intolerance to railroad the negotiation process. Many of the doomsday prophets said it would be impossible under these conditions to bring SA back from the brink.

“And yet coming together as a nation we did, under the leadership of Nelson Mandela who had vision and foresight, who had the strength of the organisation that he led.”

Hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Ramaphosa addressed a crowd of Mandela family members, MPs, pupils, dignitaries and passers-by during the 30th anniversary commemoration proceedings. 

The winner of the R114m PowerBall jackpot is a 35-year-old woman from Soweto.

According to Ithuba, which operates South Africa’s lotteries, the occasional Lottery player said she decided to try her luck when she saw other people queuing to buy tickets.

“On my way from work, I saw a long queue of people with bet slips and I knew they must be pursuing something big, even though I had no idea of what the jackpot prize was. I became curious and searched for some coins in my bag to see if I could also play,” said the winner.

The winner, who manually selected her numbers, spent only R5 on her winning ticket that she bought at Victor and Son’s Café in Roodepoort in western Johannesburg.

Speaking to Ithuba, the winner said she was renting a backroom in Soweto. “Sometimes, I could not always afford rent so my brother would always assist me.”

The blue-collar worker said she had yearned to be fully involved in her children’s everyday life for years.

“My four children have been staying with my mother… and I have never been able to spend as much time with them as I wished since I had to work in Johannesburg,” she said.

“I am mostly grateful that this money will give me an opportunity to raise my children, to be able to take them to school and have the pleasure of preparing a scrumptious meal that they can enjoy when they get back from school, something that I’ve been wishing for, for a long time.”

The winner received trauma counselling and financial advice, which Ithuba offers to winners of R50 000 and more for free.

“Judging by the amount of time the winner spent with both the psychologist and the financial adviser, we are confident that she will make sound financial decisions that will secure her family’s future for generations to come,” said Busisiwe Msizi, head of corporate relations at Ithuba.

‘This bed is really mine?’

Ithuba treated the winner to a five-star hotel stay in Gauteng.

“The winner was in complete disbelief when she saw her room. She said in IsiZulu: ‘Umbhede wami ngempela lona, omkhulu kangaka!’ (which means: ‘This bed is really mine? As big as it is.’),” said Msizi.

The winner said in addition to buying her own house, she wanted to build her mother a big house to live comfortably. She would also like to buy herself a stylish car but first needed to learn how to drive and obtain her driver’s licence as soon as possible.

“I can’t wait to drive past my ex-boyfriend in my new car. He will probably faint when he sees me waving at him. He broke up with me because I was broke and didn’t have a fancy job,” she said jokingly.

She will not return to her job and said her new life had begun.

This PowerBall jackpot had rolled over 19 times before being won. It is the sixth highest jackpot ever won in the history of the South African National Lottery, the highest being R232m in February 2019.

Just as 2019 was a difficult one for the Gauteng Department of Education, 2020 is proving to be just as hard. 

In 2019, the education sector in the province saw several cases of stabbings, robberies, and other forms of violence, while 2020 kicked off with drownings, the torching of school infrastructure and incidents of bullying.

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi often does not have time to spend in his office, heading from one location to another to either give answers to families following a tragedy or attend to communities vandalising school property.

READ | Four pupils dead, two raped in Gauteng in one week: Lead us in prayer, pleads Lesufi

With Friday marking exactly a month since schools opened, News24 gave the MEC 10 questions to answer to give a preview of the plans and hopes for the department this year.

1. It is a new year, 2020, what are some of the successes and failures you can point out from 2019?

Some of our most significant service delivery achievements include the following:

· The Class of 2019 achieved a pass rate 87.23%. This is a 0.65% decline over the 2018 achievement of 87.88%.

· In respect of bachelor’s, we have achieved another first, at 44.46% not only have we exceeded the 2019 target of 40%, but we all also surpassed the 43.65% mark of 2018. We have also achieved the highest percentage of bachelor’s passes (matric exemptions) since 1994.

· Gauteng contributed the highest number of candidates qualifying for bachelor’s studies in 2019 at 43 494 who wrote qualified for admission. This is up from 41 410 bachelor’s passes in 2018. Gauteng achieved the highest bachelor’s rate of all provinces. Nationally, we contributed 23.4% of all bachelor’s achieved. 

· Gauteng is still the leading performing province by virtue of the size of the provincial system. This despite the increased enrolment compared to 2018.

· Eleven special schools across the province have successfully opened autism units. Progressively, Gauteng is improving access to education for pupils with special needs.

· The new admission policy and introduction of the constitutionally mandated feeder zones have widened access to pupils across the province. This followed wider and deeper consultation with all stakeholders.

· The twinning of former Model C and township schools has proceeded as hoped. This brings us closer to our goal of building a non-racial education system and efficiently distributing resources.

We provide hope to thousands of young people who receive bursaries, work exposure and skills development through the programmes offered by the Gauteng City Region Academy.

An improved administration with positive audit outcomes, demonstrating improved financial management and governance.

Gauteng is considered a moderate to good performing education system in the South African context. The province is a system where interventions are focused on supporting pupils in achieving the basics of literacy and numeracy. This includes providing scaffolding for low-skill teachers, fulfilling all basic pupil needs and bringing all schools up to a minimum threshold.

2. What are you excited about this year and what are some of your goals for education in the province?

The following excites me dearly:

· Expand and enhance schools of specialisation to strengthen our skills base. This seeks to nurture the development of top talented pupils across a subset of disciplines and to nurture South Africa’s future generation of leaders. This will ensure access to top academic performers that show aptitude in a chosen field.  

· Skills for a changing world including technical high schools.

· The department will introduce several new technology subjects and specialisations in identified technical secondary schools. The new subjects include technical mathematics, technical sciences, maritime sciences, aviation studies and mining sciences.

· Multi-certification.

The strategy is for the implementation of certificated skills-based programmes, focusing on pupils in the identified grades though not limited to those grades. Pupils opting to participate in these prioritised programmes will do so as part of their extracurricular activities. These programmes will contribute to the social and personal wellbeing of these pupils and should positively impact on their academic performance.

· Fourth industrial revolution, ICT and e-Learning

Societal shifts involving technology are beginning to have a profound impact on teaching, infrastructure, resources, stakeholder relations, and our pupils. The opportunities include greater access to rich, multimedia content; and the increasing use of online courses that offer classes not otherwise available.

3. 2019 was a difficult and heart-breaking year with incidents of violence and even deaths at schools. What are your plans to curb incidents of stabbing, fighting, bullying, etc, for this year? Are you confident about a stress-free year?

Unfortunately, we started 2020 on a bad note, so many incidents which include death, bullying, violence, torching of schools and some disruptions recorded within the three weeks of schools opening on 15 January 2020. It looks like this is an indication of a hectic year ahead. However, we are hopeful that working with parents, we will overcome these challenges.

4. There has been a lot of criticism regarding the online registration for grades 1 and 8. Is the department looking into any changes in this year’s system? If yes or no, what are the reasons? Is there a process on how parents can appeal placements and what will be different about the placement this year?

The introduction of online admissions is a revolution, parents may apply to five schools simultaneously. Over the years, we have improved the system, 2020 was the first year that we introduced new admission regulations.

Indeed, for this period, our challenge is capacity and preferences, people insisting on schools that they want which are full. Among others, the system assists the department to address gatekeeping at certain schools, encourages fair processes and accessibility to all qualifying parents accordingly.

5. Failing infrastructure at schools has also been a topic for many, especially with the collapse of a walkway at one of the schools last year. How many schools will be opened this year and what are further plans regarding the improvement of infrastructure at all schools?

Our infrastructure programme, which has come under close scrutiny by the public, remains one of the toughest areas to deal with. We have made substantial progress in this regard and we have reversed the historical infrastructure backlogs.

We have identified and replaced unsafe structures such as pit latrines. In our endeavour to eradicate all asbestos schools, we have this year on 15 January launched our first newly built school that replaced an old asbestos school, Noordgesig Primary.

6. You have also been widely criticised by groups such as AfriForum for integrating Afrikaans schools. Is this something you still feel strongly about going into the year and future?

I strongly believe in non-racialism and the need for our children to study together under one roof. We need to learn each other’s languages and culture to promote social cohesion. Remember, we are preparing our children to attend universities which are all inclusive as well as our workplaces. So, the classroom should be inclusive and accommodative of all children and there is no single language that I hate or despise.

7. Do you anticipate another difficult year?

Those who oppose non-racialism will try all the tricks to protect their selfish interests, so the struggle continues.

8. How do you cope with the stress, the barrage of criticism, personal attacks, all while trying to revive your beloved Moroka Swallows?

I attend a lot of football matches, music concerts and do gardening to ease stress.

9. The department has pointed out that it would now be focusing on primary schools too, with the announcement of the release of the results from primary schools. How does the department plan to run this?

This priority will focus on improving pupil test scores in literacy/language and numeracy/mathematics in grades 3, 6 and 9. The department has prioritised the development of the general education and training strategy (grades 1 to 9) to ensure the seamless implementation and synergy of programmes and interventions across the system.

Indeed, in partnership with the premier, we will release those results.

10. Tell us one thing people may not know about you

I wear a tie daily, but I don’t know how to tie it, I rely on friends to do it for me.