For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: Public schools to close for four weeks, Eastern Cape govt intends placing Nelson Mandela Bay under administration and, Tanzania's former president Mkapa dies

 

Public schools to close for four weeks

Cabinet has decided to close public schools from July 27, for four weeks to prevent them from becoming sites of rampant coronavirus transmissions as infections peak.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the meetings Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga held with more than 60 stakeholders in recent days failed to yield consensus on whether to keep schools open as the number of infections in the country head to the 400 000 mark.

Learners will return to school on August 24, and the school year will be extended beyond the end of 2020 to make up for time lost to the pandemic.

However, this would not apply to Grade 12 and Grade 7 learners, who would return to school within one and two weeks respectively.

 

Eastern Cape govt intends placing Nelson Mandela Bay under administration

Eastern Cape Cogta MEC Xolile Nqatha has alerted the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality of his intentions to place it under administration. 

In doing so, he will invoke Section 139(1) of the Constitution. 

Nqatha said the decision was based on the persistent failure of the metro to fill the mayoral position that was vacant for more than six months. 

Other reasons included the appointment of an unqualified official to act as a municipal manager and National Treasury's impending invocation of Section 216 (2) of the Constitution.

 

Tanzania's former president Mkapa dies

Tanzania's former President Benjamin Mkapa, who ushered in multiparty democracy at home and worked to end conflict in East Africa, died in the early hours of Friday, President John Magufuli said.

Mkapa led several regional peace mediation initiatives as his country's third president between 1995 and 2005, and afterwards continued to seek reconciliation in Burundi, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Mkapa will be remembered for his mediation efforts.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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