Pretoria News is a local newspaper circulating in the Tshwane Metropolitan area. Pretoria News covers a range of local news, as well as national and international news, comment and analysis by experts, sport, entertainment and lifestyle.
STATISTICS Increase in murder, sex crimes Concern over safety at places of learning JAMES MAHLOKWANE james.mahlokwane@inl.co.za POLICE Minister Bheki Cele is concerned about educational centres becoming a breeding ground for sexual offences, with 380 cases reported from schools, colleges, universities and daycare facilities in the past year. During the release of the 2019/2020 annual crime statistics yesterday, Cele said he was worried about the country because sexual offences and murders had recorded increases of 1.7% and 1.4% respectively. Nationally, rape increased by 706 cases from 41 583 to 42 289 between April 2019 and March this year, said Cele, while sexual assault instances also went up from 7 437 to 7 749. A slight decrease of 70 cases was recorded in attempted sexual assault, he added. Speaking of sexual…
WILDLIFE Two young cheetahs set for brief Rietvlei reserve stay SAKHILE NDLAZI sakhile.ndlazi@inl.co.za FANS of the Rietvlei nature reserve in Pretoria can look forward to the addition of two male sub-adult cheetahs this spring. The brothers come from a family at the Welgevonden Reserve in Limpopo and will take a six-month break at Rietvlei from around mid-August before leaving the country for reserves in Mozambique and Zambia in February next year. According to Vincent van der Merwe, co-ordinator of the Endangered Species Trust’s (EWT) cheetah unit, work to get the necessary permits is ongoing. They will have to be ratified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) which will then issue permits in terms of export quotas and must wait for level 1 of lockdown before they…
SPAR CHALLENGE Ladies’ race goes virtual BRING on the sunshine. After months in lockdown and the worst of winter behind us, it is time to get out and exercise within the confines of our current reality. The popular SPAR Women’s Challenge is the latest mass event to go virtual in line with restrictions to control the spread of Covid-19. There will be one event on September 26 and women who would usually take part in the various city events have been asked to #BeSunshine by taking part in the SPAR Women’s Virtual Challenge. To participate, women can run or walk any distance between 5km and 10km between 6am and 6pm on the day and share online their experiences using the hashtags #SPARVirtualChallenge and #BeSunshine. SPAR Group marketing executive Mike Prentice…
RECOVERY Blood bank’s plan for Covid CEO driving trials to test convalescent plasma for infected patients KARISHMA DIPA Dr Jonathan Louw’s daughters will always remember the first time they could give him a hug after he had spent two months in isolation battling Covid-19. The chief executive of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) was one of the first South Africans to test positive for Covid-19, and he is now working to help others who contract the disease. As there was limited information available about the coronavirus at the time he returned from overseas in March, and because Louw is asthmatic and experienced severe symptoms, he spent about eight weeks separated from his wife and children, aged 4 and 6. “I was in and out of hospital…
LOCKDOWN DIARY 18 WEEKS ON… AND NO SIGN OF REPRIEVE FRIDAY, MARCH 27 Day 1 of lockdown level 5. FRIDAY, MAY 1 Day 1 of lockdown level 4. WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 E-commerce restrictions lifted but alcohol and tobacco sales banned. SUNDAY, MAY 24 President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation. THURSDAY, MAY 28 Co-operative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma announces changes to level 3 restrictions. Alcohol sales to resume but tobacco banned. MONDAY, JUNE 1 Day 1 of lockdown level 3. Opening of schools postponed. Long queues to buy alcohol. TUESDAY, JUNE 2 Gauteng High Court rules in favour of Liberty Fighters Network’s challenge to lockdown regulations. THURSDAY, JUNE 4 Cabinet agrees to extend the State of Disaster to July 15. MONDAY, JUNE 8 Schools reopen for grades 7 and 12.…
JUNIORTUKKIE Free maths, physical science online classes CHELSEA NTULI chelsea.ntuli@inl.co.za LEARNERS in grades 12 and 11 are able to catch up on mathematics and physical sciences studies with the University of Pretoria’ JuniorTukkie programme that is freely available on their online Winter School classes. The two subjects are regarded as critical requirements for admission to a variety of fields of tertiary study. According to JuniorTukkie project manager Dr Petrus Lombard, with the initiative they want to contribute towards bridging this gap, realising that the education sector not only lacks well qualified teachers in these two areas but has been affected by lockdown. The programme has seen more than 17300 visits to the website by learners and teachers from across the country. “This is a flagship project to recruit top-quality students…
