For Creamer Media’s Polity I am Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making Headlines: Ramaphosa says education system must equip learners for tech-driven global economy; ActionSA to table Constitutional Amendment to get rid of deputy Cabinet Ministers; And, UN Food Agency shuts southern Africa office amid Trump aid cuts

Ramaphosa says education system must equip learners for tech-driven global economy

President Cyril Ramaphosa noted that better educational outcomes in basic education are linked to broader social and economic development, and pointed out that investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education is key to economic growth, job creation, productivity and economic competitiveness.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that education is a powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty, to uplift individuals and communities, and to bring about a more equitable society.

He said the country’s basic education system must produce learners that are able to find work in an ever-changing knowledge- and technology-based global economy.

He highlighted that the efforts of the Department of Basic Education to strengthen the provision of technical and vocational pathways to learners in high school are therefore to be welcomed.

ActionSA to table Constitutional Amendment to get rid of deputy Cabinet Ministers

ActionSA announced a Cabinet Reform Package that it hopes will save R1.5-billion in taxpayer money and rid government of a “bloated executive”.

The party will table a Constitutional Amendment to abolish Deputy Ministers entirely from the Cabinet structure by amending Section 91 and repealing Section 93 of the Constitution.

ActionSA Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip explained that this would be done in conjunction with a Constitutional Amendment requiring Parliament to ratify Cabinet appointments within a set timeframe by amending Section 92 of the Constitution.

“This will, for the first time, introduce Parliamentary vetting of ministerial appointments by the President, thereby enhancing oversight and accountability of the executive,” he said.

Through the party’s Cabinet Reform Package, it hopes to save the taxpayer from funding Ministers’ lifestyles.

And, UN Food Agency shuts southern Africa office amid Trump aid cuts

The United Nations’ World Food Programme, which gets much of its funding from the US, is closing its Southern African bureau at a time when the agency is leading a response to the worst drought in the region in four decades.

The decision, which was communicated to staff around the world in an email on Friday from Global Executive Director Cindy McCain, comes as 26-million people across seven countries in the region run short of food ahead of this year’s harvest in May. President Donald Trump has been dismantling US foreign aid affecting everything from health care to food supplies — Washington provides nearly half of WFP’s $9.7-billion budget.

The southern Africa bureau buys and transports hundreds of thousands of tons from South Africa and other countries. It procures more than 60% of its food, goods and services locally, WFP said on its website. The region is regularly hit by droughts because it’s periodically affected by the El Nino weather phenomenon, as it was last year.

The WFP’s regional director and media team didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.

That’s around up of news making headlines today

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