Daily news update: What Ramaphosa said, stop voting for ‘ANC thieves’, cops get own number wrong and much more

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Ramaphosa announces harsher regulations on booze sales, super-spreader events

President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered a grim message, warning South Africans that unless they change their behaviour going into the festive season, this could be the last Christmas many will ever celebrate.

In his latest “family meeting” on Monday evening, the president said the country is slowly inching up to the 900 000 infection mark, with current confirmed cases standing at 866 127.

“Unless we do things differently, this will be the last Christmas for many South Africans,” Ramaphosa warned, before announcing the latest set of measures meant to curb the spread of the virus.

Curfews, closed beaches and limited alcohol sales – should you cancel your holiday?

As South Africa enters what can only be described as a second wave of coronavirus infections, the nation has been left wondering if another hard lockdown is on the cards.

While President Cyril Ramaphosa assured that this would not be the case in his Monday evening address, he did come bearing some very stern warnings and changes set to take place as of midnight at the end of Monday.

This as businesses and schools wind down for the year and many plan to take a vacation.

Most concerning for holidaymakers is the fact that beaches and public parks in hotspots are to be closed from 16 December to 3 January in the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route.

KwaZulu-Natal beaches will be closed on days where they are the busiest (16, 21, 25, 26, 31 December and 1 to 3 January 2021).

However, considering the current status quo, should you really be going on holiday?

Stop voting in the ANC ‘vanguard of thieves’

Former United Democratic Front and ex-Port Elizabeth Youth Congress leader Mkhuseli Jack.

Former United Democratic Front and ex-Port Elizabeth Youth Congress leader Mkhuseli Jack says the ANC is “destroying the country piece by piece” but people keep on voting for it like citizens did under Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and in South Africa under apartheid.

In a hard-hitting Facebook post at the weekend, Jack, who is a businessman, used revolutionary language that could have been regarded as “treasonous” under apartheid, saying the ANC and its corruption must be stopped in its tracks.

Cops get it wrong with toll-free crime number

Unanswered phone calls. Picture: Pinterest

A misprint of the new toll-free number to report criminality by police may have left countless people feeling frustrated as they are being sent from pillar to post.

An elderly resident from Roodepoort was one of presumably many others trying to lodge a complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) hotline without any success.

The resident, who wished to remain anonymous because he fears if he speaks out he may put his life at risk, said it’s impossible to lodge a complaint with Ipid.

How to support a child that fails matric

iStock

As the academic year draws closer to the end, the fate of millions of matric students is yet to be determined. February 2021 will be filled with a lot of excitement and anxiety for learners and family alike.

Millions will celebrate as they receive positive results that allow them to advance as planned.

For some, this day will not bring good news. Some have either only received an entry for higher certificates or diplomas. This is not a failure, but for someone with plans of going to university to study a degree, it feels like it. Some may completely fail their matric.

When every drop counts, innovations give hope

Young girl drinks water from a tank. Picture: Supplied

Many South Africans will take to the roads this holiday season in search of some sense of normal at the end of a hard, disrupted year brought about by one of the biggest crises of their lifetimes.

And as they drive and walk along the byways and the towns of this land, they would do well to reflect on the devastation wrought by another crisis that SA has been battling for generations.

See that dry river? See those dead, empty fields? See the abandoned farms? See the dirty, polluted streams? See the taps run dry?

Mcebo Dlamini apologises for anti-Semitic comments

Mcebo Dlamini | image: Facebook

Former Wits SRC President Mcebo Dlamini has apologised for anti-Semitic comments he made in 2015, saying he “should have known better”.

“It is only in retrospective (sic) that I began to appreciate how my statements were both ill-advised and, to a certain extent, dangerous because they ignored the kind of trauma that they caused,” he said on Monday.

AmaZulu bring Benni back into the PSL area

Benni McCarthy (Photo by Carl Fourie/Gallo Images)

AmaZulu have unveiled Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy as their new coach.

READ MORE: Sundowns coach Mokwena shattered by Madisha’s passing

McCarthy joins Usuthu, replacing Ayanda Dlamini, who resigned last week.

Phakaaathi reported on the former Cape Town City coach joining AmaZulu weeks before the club officially unveiled the coach.

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