First Take SA

There was chaos at the entrance of the Mbilwi Secondary School in Sibasa outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo, following a bullying incident which allegedly led to the death of a female grade 10 learner. A video showing the deceased being assaulted by another learner went virial on social media on Monday. Other learners can be heard cheering during the assault. The victim later reportedly committed suicide.

Surge testing is underway in parts of London after a sudden increase in the number of people testing positive for the Covid-19 variant first detected in South Africa. The UK government says it's the largest surge testing operation to date in the capital - getting underway just a day after lockdown restrictions were eased further.

The ANC National Youth Task Team (NYTT) has called for NEC members Tony Yengeni and Enoch Godongwana to be disciplined. The NYTT was outlining the resolutions taken at its first official meeting held this weekend. The newly-established body has been given six months to prepare and hold the ANC Youth League's National Congress. However, it faces financial challenges and questions about the ages of its members.

Organisations representing farm dwellers and workers around Mkhondo are calling on the Piet Retief Magistrate's court in Mpumalanga not to grant bail to the four men accused of killing two farm dweller. This is after the four suspects aged between 31 and 58 appeared in court facing two counts of murder. Daniel Malan, Cornelius Greyling, Othard Klingberg and Michael Sternberg are accused of shooting at a group of job seekers at a farm last week.

The Basic Education Department has gazatted a new set of rules that may see teachers found guilty of sexual misconduct banned indefinitely from teaching in any South African school. The new batch of terms and conditions of employment was gazatted last week Friday by Education Minister Angie Motshekga. Some of the conduct which will qualify teachers for indefinite bans include having a sexual relationship with a pupil and being found guilty in a court of law for crimes such as murder, rape and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm. Offences such as faking qualification documents, being intoxicated on duty and being absent without leave may lead to bans which vary between a year, three years and five years.

KwaZulu-Natal premier, Sihle Zikalala says there's a lack of trust between farm dwellers and government in Newcastle, north of the province. Zikalala was speaking during a visit to the Normandien farming community in Newcastle. The area has been in the spotlight, following an escalation of tension between farmers and farm dwellers.

Covid-19 has ravaged the Eastern Cape, claiming more than 11-thousand lives in the province. At the same time, tuberculosis remains a huge problem. The TB survey conducted in 2018 found the disease present in 737 out of every 100-thousand people. Statistics from 2015 showed the Eastern Cape to be the province with the highest prevalence of TB. Currently, there's concern about the sharp increase in infections in the Ntabankulu area of the province.

Nature conservationist in the Eastern Cape have raised an alarm on the amount of birds which continue to drop dead from the sky. More than a 150 birds have been reported to have died without any explanation in parts of the Nelson Mandela Bay and King William's Town, also known as Qonce. A well-known snake handler and owner of Sandula Conservation, Mark Marshall, together with the provincial state veterinary services have initiated a process of collecting samples for testing in order to trace the cause of death. The public has also been urged to refrain from picking up the birds or rather use protective gear if they come across any carcasses.

A Judicial Conduct Tribunal has unanimously found that Western Cape judge president John Hlophe improperly attempted to influence two judges of the Constitutional Court. The report has now been submitted to the chairperson of the Judicial Services Commission which will determine his fate. The complaint against Hlophe was lodged by eleven Constitutional Court judges thirteen years ago, after judges Bess Nkabinda and Chris Jafta complained that he had improperly attempted to influence the outcome of a matter in favour of former president Jacob Zuma

South Africa has secured more than fifty-million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and delivery is expected to start later this month. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize made the announcement at the Soweto Home for the Aged in Gauteng. Mkhize conducted a visit of the facility as well as the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Parktown, Johannesburg, to access the readiness for the roll out of phase two of the vaccination programme. The vaccines have been secured from pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson, as well as the COVAX facility.