Teacher and student unions have had mixed responses to a move from the Department of Basic Education to halt the publication of matric results in the media.

On Monday, media houses were issued with a notice, stating that "the usual practice" of publishing matric results would not take place for the 2021 marks.

The department cited the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) as the reason, saying the dissemination of pupils' personal information would be in contravention of it.

South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said the union supported the move because it would benefit pupils.

"The fact that the results are not being made public will lessen the pressure on learners. Teenagers are vulnerable and we often hear of cases of suicides linked to the matric results," she said.

"Complying with the POPIA will respect learners' privacy – why should the whole world know their marks? It's fine for the public to know the general averages; they don't need to know how individual learners have done."

Congress of South African Students (Cosas) president general Thabang Mokoena said the union had been lobbying to have the publication of matric results scrapped for years.

'Right to privacy'

He added that pupils who failed matric often faced ridicule from their peers and could develop depression.

"We're very grateful our calls have been heard. We're trying to save learners," he said.

The sentiment was echoed by South African Union of Students (SAUS) spokesperson Avise Dlanjwa.

"Learners have a right to privacy. This decision is long overdue. There's no reason why personal details should be published and we should be protecting the privacy of learners. This will also lead to better mental health among learners, and we welcome the department's decision."

In a letter to editors, dated 10 January, department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said pupils would be required to obtain their statement of results from the schools they attended.

"In this way every learner's personal information with regards to the outcome of their National Senior Certificate exam will be protected," he said.

The SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) said it would seek legal advice on the decision, given the late notice.

'Single access point'

"We will get legal advice to understand if we have a legitimate complaint as media," said Sanef chairperson Sbu Ngalwa.

Media houses customarily prepared special projects to help pupils get their results before waiting for schools to open to fetch their certificates.

The Federation of School Governing Bodies (Fedsas) CEO Jaco Deacon called the move "ludicrous".

He said the student numbers published by the media did not constitute as personal information and that the public would not have any access to private information in the publishing of the matric results.

"The media perform an important service in publishing the results. It's not possible for all learners to travel to their examination centres and there shouldn't be only a single access point for learners to receive their results."

Deacon said the department had already taken steps to protect the identity of matric pupils.

"The department moved away from publishing the names of learners to protect their identity and that's why they only publish the student numbers. If this is to prevent cases of matric suicides and similar incidents, then the department should address that. Using the POPIA is not the correct response for a social issue."

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced on Tuesday that rotational classes will continue until the Covid-19 regulations are amended.

She was briefing the media on the opening of schools for the 2022 school year, explaining that for now the same Covid-19 protocols that applied at the end of last year will continue.

“Until such time that we amend the regulations things stand as they are. We had encouraged schools that were able to accommodate learners with a reduced social distancing now of 1 m to do that and make sure that we can bring back as many learners as possible,” she said.

Schools are encouraged to find more spaces to create situations to get more learners in attendance but still based on the existing protocols.

Motshekga said last year the Basic Education Department wanted the social distancing space to be reduced to 0.5 m to allow for the accommodation of more learners in schools.

The department has requested provinces to work on providing infrastructure to schools that technically were even overcrowded before Covid-19.

Motshekga said in 2021, there was a significant decline in school closures, compared with 2020's "stop and go, stop and go".

Meanwhile, the Gauteng Department of Education announced that a total of 276 564 grade one and grade eight online admissions applicants had been successfully placed.

The department said officials were implementing the means of providing necessary support to schools to ensure that the 1 465 applicants who remained unplaced were accommodated.

Motshekga appealed to parents to allow provinces to place learners where there were places for them.

COVID-19 VACCINATIONS

Motshekga said that at the time the Department of Health (DoH) announced vaccines would be available to children aged 12 and above, the Department of Basic Education was "busy with exams" and could not put a vaccination programme in place.

She explained that working with school governing bodies, with parents and the DoH, the department will "intensify the programme to encourage young people to vaccinate and also encourage parents to get their kids vaccinated".

"We are not vaccinating in schools as yet," said Motshekga, explaining that the DoH does not have the capacity to be in schools.

Parliament arson accused Zandile Mafe has been charged with terrorism.

Mafe is accused of breaking into Parliament and stealing laptops, crockery and documents before setting fire to the parliamentary building.

The State told the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Tuesday that an additional charge had been added.

According to the charge sheet, Mafe intentionally delivered, placed, discharged or detonated an explosive at Parliament.

"In that upon or about 2 January 2022 and at or near Parliament, Cape Town, in the district of Cape Town, the said accused did unlawfully and intentionally deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal devices in, into or against a place of public use, a state or government facility, or an infrastructure facility, with the purpose, amongst others, of causing extensive damage to, or destruction of such a place, facility or system, where such destruction results in or is likely to result in major economic loss," the charge sheet stated.

The State abandoned the count related to damage to essential infrastructure. Mafe now faced a Schedule 6 offence as a new charge, Contravention of the Terrorist Act, was added to the charge sheet.

On Tuesday, a neatly dressed, clean-shaven Mafe, made his second appearance in court, flanked by a top legal team, with Dali Mpofu as senior counsel.

The court heard Mafe was diagnosed a few days before his first court appearance last week with paranoid schizophrenia.

The State wanted Mafe to be evaluated at Valkenberg psychiatric hospital to establish whether he was fit to stand trial.

Mpofu told the court they were "ambushed" when hearing that Mafe had been diagnosed.

"This is completely unacceptable," he told the court.

He added that Mafe intended to go on a hunger strike should he be held in custody any longer.

The Department of Health announced on Monday that the Lebombo and Ficksburg borders will continue to provide vaccination services until 15 January.

The campaign began on December 23, 2021 to provide vaccination services through pop-up sites during the festive season, targeting people travelling along major routes and cross border.

“The border post based vaccination sites will enable people to conveniently vaccinate while waiting in the queue to cross the border. There is no need to register beforehand and anyone living in the area where these border posts are situated will be able to receive vaccination services including the booster shots, as long as they produce any form of verifiable identity document, passport or birth certificate, especially children between 12 and 17 years old,” said National Health spokesperson Foster Mohale.

He stated that vaccines remain the most effective weapon against severe illness, hospitalisation and death from Covid-19 infection.

He urged people to continue practicing non-pharmaceutical interventions.

The interim board of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) says it intends to institute internal investigations and disciplinary processes with the aim of "cleaning the company of all vestiges of its shameful past" as exposed in the Zondo Commission's report.

Furthermore, in line with its fiduciary responsibility and legal obligations under the Public Finance Management Act, the board said on Monday that it will attempt to recover any assets lost or monies misappropriated from SAA.

The first part of the report was released last week and includes several findings on SAA. It recommends that a number of former high-ranking SAA officials be investigated for fraud and corruption during the tenure of the airline's ex-chairperson Dudu Myeni between December 2012 and October 2017. The report found that Myeni, a close ally of former president Jacob Zuma, sabotaged the airline from within via a mixture of "negligence, incompetence and deliberate corrupt intent". Myeni denies any wrongdoing.

The report also found that former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana appeared to have "no clue" about being a chartered accountant. SA's accountancy regulator is investigating her actions. Kwinana served on the SAA board between 2009 and 2016, including as head of its audit and risk committee. She too denies wrongdoing.

SAA exited business rescue in April 2021 and started commercial flights again in September of the same year after it stopped 15 months before in May 2020.

Due diligence of SAA's chosen strategic equity partner, the Takatso consortium, is still under way. It is anticipated that the consortium, consisting of Global Aviation, which operates low-cost airline LIFT, and African infrastructure investment company Harith, will have to invest about R3-billion in SAA over a three-year period.

SAA's current interim board consists of Professor Malesela John Lamola (chair), an Associate Professor at the University of Johannesburg's Institute for Intelligent Systems. Nick Fadugba, CEO of African Aviation Services and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in the UK; Bembe Zwane, described as an aviation entrepreneur on SAA's website; Fikile Mhlontlo (interim CFO); and the interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo.

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Greater Johannesburg region has confirmed that it will be fielding its own candidates, and those from its alliance partners, on Thursday when council is expected to elect the chairpersons of committees overseeing service delivery in the city.

Speaking to News24, ANC Greater Johannesburg regional secretary Dada Morero said given that the party had lost its control of the city's administration to a DA-led coalition, his party now desperately wanted to win the legislative positions of chairpersons of committees across all 14 available positions.

Morero said, "We as the ANC take legislative oversight seriously, and I can confirm that we will be fielding our own candidates and those of our partners in council."

He added that if the ANC is able to fill these legislative roles, they will be able to put checks and balances in place to ensure that the DA-led coalition provides the necessary service delivery to citizens.

Morero said the ANC will be meeting with its partners in the Johannesburg council and will be picking members who could be elected in the elections to fill the 14 chairperson positions on Thursday.

These are the positions to be filled:

Public Safety

Corporate and Shared Services

Community Development

Development Planning

Economic Development

Environment, Infrastructure and Services

Finance

Health and Social Development

Housing

Transport

Oversight committee on Gender, Youth and People with Disabilities

Oversight committee on Governance

Oversight committee on the Legislature

Oversight committee on Public Accounts

While the DA and its alliance partners, which include ActionSA, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), United Democratic Movement (UDM), and other smaller parties, ought to be confident of having the numbers as they head into the election of chairpersons, concerns remain among some of its coalition partners.

Speaking to News24 on Monday morning, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba confirmed that the election of chairpersons of committees was one of the items on the agenda.

He went on to say that while ActionSA and the other alliance partners had handed over a list of preferred candidates to fill these crucial roles, there were no guarantees as to whether these nominees will be elected.

"As you know, we run a very complex coalition, but even though that's the case, we have handed over our proposals and will have to wait and see. What we need to do is use our brains and ensure that this partnership functions as we have envisioned. What we need to remember is that we did not choose to be in a coalition agreement, it was voters who made the choice and we have to honour it," said Mashaba.

He added that given the fragile coalition, there was no certainty that all partners were going to vote as a united front which posed a threat given that the ANC is set to field its own candidates.

In order to strengthen governance at the local government level, the City of Johannesburg Council engaged in a process of separating powers between the executive and the legislature.

This was done as a tool to improve, among other things, oversight and accountability.

The previous Section 80 approach, where MMCs were the chairpersons, resulted in a situation where it could be argued that the executive was both referee and player at the same time.

The City of Cape Town fire department's post-incident report into the blaze that ravaged Parliament has confirmed that the National Assembly sprinkler valve was not serviced since 2017 and was closed at the time of the fire.

The report also confirmed that the fire doors were latched open, which assisted in the spread of the fire.

"During my walk around of the affected areas I found that the National Assembly sprinkler valve was not serviced. [The] service date was in 2017 and this needs to be done every three years and the valve appeared to be closed. If properly serviced, this valve should have been locked with a chain in an open position and a block plan would have been available showing [the] system layout. The lifts continued to operate, despite a "break glass" unit at one lift being activated," Station Commander JJ Williams said.

Public Works Minister Patricia De Lille told Parliament on Tuesday that the sprinkler system was "fully functional" by October 2021.

Williams added that the roof smoke activated at the National Assembly.

Divisional Commander Wayne Visser also stated in the report that the emergency staircases were poorly ventilated with minimal natural vents to the outside. No mechanical venting of the staircases was observed.

"It is unclear which apportion of the building was actually fitted out with sprinklers. The required layout block plan at the valve set was illegible," Visser added.

The report also raised concerns about wall panelling and décor materials that contributed to the fire.

The fire was contained after a two-day battle. It was initially declared under control on Monday but flared up again after it was fanned by strong winds.

Flames broke out in the Cape Town precinct shortly before dawn on Sunday and spread to the National Assembly, causing the roof to collapse and threatening artworks and artefacts in the building.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said he received the post-incident report and added that it was handed over to Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

"The report is a useful insight into what firefighters saw on the ground. But this report does not substitute a full professional forensic investigation into the cause of the fire and whether any system failures exacerbated the spread," he said.

Suspended African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule was forced to withdraw from an event in Musina, Limpopo after the party's regional leadership warned him that his participation violated the terms of his suspension.

Magashule was meant to be part of a soccer tournament, hosted by an ANC branch ahead of the party's 110th anniversary celebrations in the province on Saturday.

A poster circulated by, among others, Magashule's staunch ally Carl Niehaus, indicated that the suspended secretary-general would visit an orphanage in Madimbo Village. Magashule was also scheduled to attend a soccer match where he was meant to donate soccer kits.

However, on Thursday, ANC regional secretary Rudzani Ludere wrote to the branch to express disapproval.

"Based on the decision of the national executive committee, your branch is directed to suspend the visit of Comrade Ace Magashule scheduled for the 7th of January 2022," he wrote.

News24 understands that some of Magashule's allies warned him that provoking the party to such an extent was tantamount to political suicide.

"While this was a noble thing to do, the timing was off, and doing this in a year where the ANC is set to hold its elective conference would be a big mistake as party members would deem the secretary-general as going against ANC party policies and regulations," said Magashule's close ally.

Ward 8 in Musina is an ANC stronghold in the Vhembe region. Due to his suspension, he is not going to take part in the festivities and main birthday rally of the governing party.

When asked about Magashule's planned event during a media briefing on Thursday, ANC head of organising Nomvula Mokonyane said there were many parallel events that were planned under the ANC's name. She urged people to desist from using party regalia for unauthorised events.

Magashule was suspended from the ANC in May last year due to criminal charges.

He has failed to successfully challenge his suspension and has a case pending in the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Parliament’s Presiding Officers announced on Friday that the 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA) will now be held at Cape Town City Hall.

This after fires, which the firefighters battled for over 70 hours, severely damaged the National Assembly (NA) building, including the NA chamber where the official sittings of the NA and Joint Sittings of both Houses of Parliament are usually held.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to deliver the SONA on February 10.

“The Presiding Officers are grateful to the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town for coming forward with offers for the use of their venues for the business of Parliament. They have offered the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the City Council Chambers and the City Hall. In this regard, after a great deal of consideration and following thorough onsite inspections of alternative places, we have decided on the most suitable facility that meets our requirements,” the officers said in a statement.

City Hall was considered a suitable venue technically in terms of infrastructure and its capacity.

The officers also took into account its historical significance as it is the place where former President Nelson Mandela addressed the nation after his release from prison on February 11, 1990, with Ramaphosa by his side.

“As South Africans we are resilient people, we have overcome many difficulties in the past. Therefore, we will rise from these ashes and rebuild, restore, renew and march forward in our continuous endeavour to build a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist, united and prosperous society we all aspire,” the officers said.

The Presiding Officers of Parliament, led by the Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Amos Masondo will on Thursday afternoon join City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis to inspect possible alternative venues for the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

This after the recent fire in the parliamentary precinct in the early hours of Sunday morning, which caused extensive damage to parts of the property, including the National Assembly.

Preparations for SONA to be delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 10 February 2022 are at an advanced stage.

Venues such as the Municipal Chambers, Cape Town International Convention Centre, and the Town Hall will be inspected.

Meanwhile, the Presiding Officers confirmed that the Fire Department has handed over the affected Parliament buildings to the Hawks to investigate the circumstances around the fire incident.

“The Presiding Officers can today confirm that the various teams of the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service Department, who worked tirelessly to contain the blaze, have now completely withdrawn from the parliamentary precinct. Since the firefighters contained the flare-up during the morning of Tuesday, the firefighters had remained on site until yesterday evening, monitoring the situation and combing the inside of the buildings for any potential flare-up,” a statement read.

Engineers from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure are also on-site to determine if the affected buildings are safe for access by the Hawks.

The investigators will gain access to the buildings once they receive confirmation from the multidisciplinary team of engineers, including structural, electrical, and forensic experts.

The Presiding Officers expressed satisfaction with the overall progress made on the containment of the fire and the investigations currently underway at the precinct of Parliament.