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Making headlines: All systems go for 2024 matric exams; Joburg mayor to meet with Kabelo Gwamanda following his arrest; And, Parly Police committee calls for strengthening of Saps units amid mass shootings

All systems go for 2024 matric exams

President Cyril Ramaphosa extended well wishes to the Class of 2024, as they began writing the National Senior Certificate exams today and assured that all the necessary systems are in place to ensure the exam period runs smoothly.

Just over 880 000 candidates will sit this year’s matric exams.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that these exams are the culmination of many years of hard work, perseverance and resilience, which he said was often in the face of difficult odds.

He further applauded learners who will be rewriting the matric exams this year, having taken advantage of the Department of Basic Education’s Second Chance Programme.

Ramaphosa noted the department and qualification standards authority Umalusi’s work to audit the more than 9 200 exam centres, appoint and vet exam markers, and approve question papers.

Joburg mayor to meet with Kabelo Gwamanda following his arrest

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero expressed concerns with the recent arrest of former mayor and Community Development MMC Kabelo Gwamanda, saying the developments “deserve to be handled with a sense of urgency” to ensure that it does not impact on service delivery in the City.

Gwamanda was arrested in connection with a funeral policy scam that he allegedly ran in Soweto more than a decade ago, in which he supposedly scammed unsuspecting Soweto residents in a scheme in which they made monthly payments for funeral insurance.

Morero confirmed that he will be meeting Gwamanda tomorrow to “receive his counsel” and an official report.

The Democratic Alliance said it would write to Morero to request an investigation into all agreements entered into under Gwamanda’s tenure as mayor, and now as MMC, owing to the seriousness of the allegations he was arrested for.

The party demanded that the legal process be allowed to run its course without any interference, and that those affected by Gwamanda’s alleged fraud be given the justice they deserved.

And, Parly Police committee calls for strengthening of Saps units amid mass shootings

Parliamentary Police Portfolio Committee chairperson Ian Cameron said that the lack of effective investigations of criminal cases and prosecutions of alleged criminals contributes to rising criminality in South Africa, calling for capacitation and strengthening of detective and crime intelligence units in the South African Police Service.

This after five family members were killed in Bityi Village, near Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, where Cameron said mass murders had become a trend in recent months.

He said there must be a concerted effort between the police and the community in order to stop this worrying trend,”

He stressed that without proper investigation, as well as accelerated prosecutions, criminality would inadvertently rise uncontrollably.

The committee wants Saps to strengthen collaboration with traditional leaders and community policing forums in rural communities.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today

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