For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: Macpherson to meet families affected by George building collapse after receiving CBE report; Ramaphosa urges employers to provide opportunities for youth as fifth phase of BEEI is launched; And, Death toll in Nigeria floods rises to 151

Macpherson to meet families affected by George building collapse after receiving CBE report

After studying the final report from the Council for the Built Environment Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson will return to George, in the Western Cape, to present the findings to the families affected by the building collapse last year, which claimed the lives of 34 individuals and injured 28 others.

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure will carefully study the report to develop a path forward.

Further, Macpherson said the receipt of the report is a critical step in the department’s commitment to uncover the truth behind this preventable disaster and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.

The collapse was the result of systemic failures across various regulatory bodies and a lack of cooperation among key stakeholders. Accountability cannot be optional when human lives were lost owing to human error, he said.

Ramaphosa urges employers to provide opportunities for youth as fifth phase of BEEI is launched

As the fifth phase of the Basic Education Employment Initiative gets underway, President Cyril Ramaphosa urged employers to give young people their next opportunity, mentor their enthusiasm and foster their potential.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that after a year’s pause, the BEEI has returned to over 20 000 townships, villages, inner cities, farms and special needs schools, “bringing hope, energy and incomes to places where opportunities are too often out of reach.

The initiative is a flagship programme of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which he said has, since its inception in 2020, supported the delivery of jobs and livelihood opportunities in the country.

This phase of the BEEI aims to provide 200 000 job opportunities for young people and will provide them with soft and hard skills required in the world of work.

The BEEI is implemented by the Department of Basic Education and by provincial education departments and funded by the Unemployment Insurance Fund Labour Activation Programme and national government.

And, Death toll in Nigeria floods rises to 151

Flooding in Nigeria's Niger State this week has killed 151 people and forced several thousand from their homes.

Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, director of information at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, provided the new death toll, which was previously reported at 117 on Friday.

He added that over 500 households had been impacted and more than 3 000 people displaced.

The flooding incident in the central town of Mokwa in Niger State occurred on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday morning. Days later, rescuers were still picking through mud and debris in search of bodies.

Nigeria is prone to flooding during the rainy season, which began in April.

In 2022, the country's worst wave of floods in more than a decade killed more than 600 people, displaced around 1.4-million and destroyed 440 000 hectares of farmland.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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