Underperforming schools in Gauteng and the Free State will remain open, the provincial education departments said on Tuesday. ”The [provincial minister] is not closing any schools for non-performance,” said the Gauteng education department spokesperson Mbela Phetlhe.
In public, nobody wants to be South Africa’s next leader. In reality, the presidential race began in earnest this week. Political analysts say the country is quietly gearing up for a contentious campaign ahead of a key congress in December when the ruling African National Congress is expected to select a new leader for the party and, in turn, the nation.
Allegations of negligence on the part of guides conducting tours around the Cango Caves are to be investigated by management and the Oudtshoorn municipality, the Herald Online reported on Tuesday. This follows an incident at the tourist attraction last Sunday, in which three foreign tourists and one local tourist were left stranded underground in the dark.
Provincial education departments on Tuesday reported readiness for the arrival of millions of pupils at the start of the 2007 school year on Wednesday. Schools will reopen in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the North West and Free State. ”The Gauteng department of education is ready to roll out the 2007 academic calendar,” education provincial minister Angie Motshekga said.
Vehicle sales in 2007 are likely to move sideways or register modest growth, Johan van Zyl, president of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa, said on Tuesday. He said that while 2006 had been an outstanding record year in terms of new-vehicle sales, this year will be ”more challenging”.
Shebeens near schools are a source of school violence and an access to drugs and alcohol for minors, the Young Communist League of South Africa said on Tuesday. The league was announcing at a Johannesburg press conference the launch of its Joe Slovo ”Right to Learn” campaign, which will run from Thursday until the end of January.
Convenor of selectors Haroon Lorgat said South Africa were confident of reaching racial targets after naming 14 non-white players on Tuesday in their provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup. Cricket South Africa has imposed a target of seven non-white players in the final 15-man squad, which needs to be announced by February 13.
Only a few white farmers have been offered new farms in Zimbabwe, ZimOnline said on Tuesday. According to the website, the Zimbabwean government promised to return land to former white farmers, but farmers on Monday said that only a handful of them had been offered new farms out of hundreds that had applied.
South African motorcyclist Elmer Symons was killed in an accident during the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday, race organisers announced. He was the first competitor to die during this year’s race. Organisers were informed during the morning that there had been an accident and a helicopter was despatched to the scene.
Thirty-one people were killed on Tuesday when their chartered plane crashed while trying to land in foggy conditions in Iraq, Turkish officials said. The Moldovan Antonov-26, which took off from the Turkish city of Adana early on Tuesday, was carrying about 35 people, including 30 construction workers, the officials said.