Breakfast Edition: 19 April 2016
WATCH & LISTEN: Here is a recap of this morning's top news stories.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IN GAUTENG SAYS ALL SYSTEMS GO: The Department of Education in Gauteng said it was all systems go for the resumption of online applications. Compulsory online registration got off to a rocky start earlier this month when it crashed the day it was introduced for the first time. The department's Oupa Bodibe says they are ready to accommodate the highest level of on-line traffic. The GDE compulsory online registration started for the first time in the province on Monday, but the system crashed the same day and could not be re-booted. Announcing that the system had crashed, Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi said: "We received 600 hits per second and it was beyond our capacity. Parents must not panic". He said the system would be operational on Wednesday morning.
THREE HUNDRED MINERS RESCUED AT BAMBANANI GOLD MINE: Mining activities have been suspended at Harmony's Bambanani Gold Mine near Welkom in the Free State. On Monday night 300 workers were evacuated after an electricity fault which prevented miners from coming to the surface through the East Shaft. The Mine's Hendrika Ninham said they are only aware of one worker who was taken to hospital for treatment.
SA YOUTH FACING A CRISIS: The youth in South Africa is facing a socio-economic crisis and if not addressed, could lead to a very difficult future for the country. Statistics South Africa on Monday released the first Vulnerable Groups Report on youth, which suggests amid a lowering fertility rate and higher unemployment, the inequality gap among South Africans is far from closing. Statistician General Pali Lehohla painted a bleak picture for tomorrow's leaders, especially in the black and coloured communities. "They are unemployed. They are involved in crime. They are hungry. They are not educated," he said. Pieter van der Merwe reports.
WINNIE MADIKIZELA-MANDELA RECOVERING WELL IN HOSPITAL: The Director of Communication of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Neeran Naidoo released a statement saying that the struggle stalwart is recovering well after surgery. The statement was released at the request of the Mandela family and reads that Madikizela-Mandela is recovering in a Johannesburg hospital after undergoing a back operations. "Mrs. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is recovering in hospital in Johannesburg after back surgery for spinal stenosis," the statement read. This is the second time in recent months that Madikizela-Mandela underwent surgery for compression of the spinal nerve and pain relief.
ABALONE WORTH MILLIONS CONFISCATED: Western Cape police arrested two suspects and seized abalone valued at R9 million during a raid on a smallholding in Langebaan on the Cape West Coast on Monday. Police spokesperson Constable Noloyiso Rwexana said: "This morning, Monday 18 April, members from the Western Cape Provincial Organised Crime Unit, Cape Town K9 Unit and officials from the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, responded to information of alleged illegal activity on a small holding on the outskirts of Langebaan and proceeded to investigate.
HUNDREDS DEAD IN ECUADOR EARTH QUAKE: Rescuers and desperate families clawed through rubble Monday, pulling out survivors two days after an earthquake that killed at least 413 people and devastated a tourist region of Ecuador. Tearful relatives grabbed chunks of debris with their bare hands as they joined in the search for their loved ones along with stretched firefighting teams and mechanical diggers. Among the stories of survival, authorities reported that one person was found alive Monday afternoon under the rubble of the El Gato hotel in Portoviejo. Firefighters said on Twitter they pulled out three other survivors from rubble in the town of Manta.
TENNIS STARS WIN LAUREUS AWARDS: Tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won the Laureus World Sports Awards at a gala in Berlin on Monday. The 28-year-old Serb Djokovic won sportsman of the year for the second successive year coming ahead of football's Lionel Messi and the sprinter Usain Bolt after winning three Grand Slams in 2015 at Australia, Wimbledon and the US Open and also picking up six Masters Titles. Williams won her third Laureus award for a similar feat having won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon before falling short in the semi-finals at the US Open.
