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.
Matrics took on the minister ... and won Judge said decision was irregular, unlawful ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za MATRICS can relax: the plan by the Education Department for them to rewrite leaked maths and chemistry papers next week has been set aside. They have to thank a number of applications to the High Court, but one name will go down in history: that of first applicant Lienke Spies whose name is on the judgment. Four groups had lodged applications against the decision – three of which included a number of matrics – and a fourth by the South African Democratic Teachers Union, and argued the case through Thursday. While some arguments and relief sought differed slightly, all the applications boiled down to the same thing: that the decision announced by Basic…
Matrics explain why they couldn’t rewrite ZELDA VENTER zelda.venter@inl.co.za ZELDA VENTER EESA Omar, 18, could not wait to finish matric and get married today. Others had holiday and other plans. Omar said he and his fiancee had been planning the wedding since June, and family and friends had made all the arrangements to be in Joburg for her big day. But then came the unexpected news of a matric rewrite, and threw her plans out the window. He is one of the matrics to file an affidavit in support of the case against the Department of Basic Education over the proposed rewrite of Maths and Physical Sciences paper 2 next week. Omar said he had expected to do well in the two papers because of the preparation work, and did…
Google searches show lockdown impact STAFF REPORTER ITUMELENG ENGLISH African News Agency (ANA) CORONAVIRUS, lockdown and the US elections: these are among the top Google searches for 2020. Google this week announced the results of its 2020 “Year in Search”, sharing what the world and South Africans, searched for, asked about, looked for, ate and dreamt of doing in 2020. “From overall global stories to hundreds of top 10 lists of trending topics across pop culture and lifestyle, sports, music, news, and more from across almost 70 countries,” these were some of the things on people’s minds this year, said Google in a statement. In South Africa, coronavirus was top of everyone’s minds this year and the pandemic’s impact is reflected in the Year in Search lists. There were also…
Glad tidings: beaches to stay open, for now STAFF REPORTER HOLIDAYMAKERS from Gauteng will be relieved to hear that KwaZulu-Natal beaches are, at least for now, open. KZN premier Sihle Zikalala said people should not cancel their plans to visit the province but be aware that strict measures would be implemented. This includes wearing masks on the beach and social distancing. He said while no formal decision had been taken to close beaches, swimming may be prohibited if the beaches become too busy. “If it comes to push, we might be forced to close (the beaches) for swimming, but allow people to be in and around the beach for leisure.” He was concerned in particular about traditionally busy days, such as December 16, December 25 and 26 and New Year’s…
Millions benefit from grants, despite fraud MORE than 11.4 million beneficiaries have received social relief grants to the tune of R15.5 billion during lockdown, with 6 million receiving the special R350 social relief of distress grant. Government has decided to extend the provision of this grant for a further three months until January 31. Of the 9.5 million applications processed in November, 6.9 million were approved and paid, and the applications for December are being processed with payments hopefully before Christmas. Of these payments, the SA Post Office (Sapo) accounts for 4 million – hence the long queues – 1.6 million are paid through personal accounts and 100 000 through mobile money/ cash send platforms. Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu gave the figures during a briefing yesterday and said she…
AMBASSADORS OUTLINE IMPORTANCE OF TODAY’S CLIMATE AMBITION SUMMIT The spirit of Paris agreement lives on VAL BOJE val.boje@inl.co.za Reuters FIVE years ago today, 195 countries reached consensus on the terms of the Paris Agreement on climate change. But, while it marked a major achievement, drastic new action is required as we move from a primary focus on Covid-19, to prevent the catastrophic impact of global warming. To reflect on the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and mobilise support for this action ahead of COP26 in Glasgow next year, today sees the virtual 2020 Climate Ambition Summit, an event co-hosted by the United Nations (UN), the United Kingdom (UK) and France in partnership with Chile and Italy. The Climate Ambition Summit will bring together world leaders from governments, business…
