Cape Town – The ANC will use its upcoming 103rd anniversary to reclaim the Freedom Charter, which must serve as the basis for its future plans, secretary general Gwede Mantashe said in Cape Town on Wednesday.

“It is back to basics. This is the year of the Freedom Charter. It is the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Charter that is the emphasis because every Jack and Jill claims to be the custodian of the Freedom Charter these days.

“Now we will be giving the country context… progress made, challenges faced, what should be done practically because it is easy to shout slogans when you have no respect for them.

“The ANC leads, everywhere,” Mantashe told journalists on the sidelines of the last day of a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee, ahead of anniversary celebrations this weekend.

Mantashe said the party planned to fill the 52 000-capacity Cape Town stadium on Saturday, after days of wrangling with the Democratic Alliance-led local government over regulations governing the venue’s use.

Core principle of ANC

He again accused the DA of using the stadium fees and rules as “apartheid era influx control measures” to keep the ruling party’s supporters away from its birthday bash.

“We will fill the stadium. The ANC is known for filling stadiums, so you can’t expect anything less.”

Mantashe’s comments serve as a pointer to the message President Jacob Zuma is expected to deliver in the opposition-led province on Saturday, at the start of a year in which the ANC will try to rebuild support in the Western Cape ahead of the 2016 local government elections.

“The January 8 statement every year does look a little bit back but focuses on what we are going to do.

“Tomorrow is the actual birthday of the ANC. We will be all over, talking to our people, reminding them where we come from so that they can enter the way forward.”

In a barb aimed at the opposition, he added: “This is why everybody with no history can easily say this is what should happen because they don’t know the journey and the complexity of the journey.”

Party officials confirmed that the ANC had organised hundreds of buses and free train journeys for supporters into the city on Saturday.

Adopted in Kliptown, Soweto, on 26 June 1955, the Freedom Charter set out the core principles of the ANC and its then allies, and 40 years later helped to shape the Constitution.

Cape Town – A convicted robber serving a three-year jail term and a rapist serving an eight-year sentence were the top performers among inmates writing the 2014 matric exams.

The two 22-year olds from the Usethubeni Youth School in Durban-Westville were honoured by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha, who announced the prison matric results at Goodwood prison in Cape Town on Wednesday.

“In grade 12, the overall pass rate has increased from 58.8 in 2013 to 68.9% in 2014,” Masutha said.

The number of prisoners sitting for the exams – both full-time and part-time pupils – in 2014 was 185.

“The department of correctional services has placed education and training at the centre of its rehabilitation agenda,” said Masutha.

This was part of efforts to eliminate illiteracy, under-qualifications, and provide skills required for employment and self-employment.

The country currently had 14 full-time prison schools, compared to one in 2009.

The top performing school was the Emthonjeni Youth Centre in Baviaanspoort, Pretoria, with a 100% pass rate.

St Albans School in Port Elizabeth and the Umlalati Learning Centre in Barberton, Mpumalanga, shared second spot with an 83% pass rate.

The Usethubeni Youth School had the third-highest pass rate, and also boasted the two top achievers.

Bachelor’s pass

Njabulo Gumede was imprisoned in 2013 after being convicted of robbery in Pinetown. He completed his Grade 11 in 2013 – the year it became compulsory for every inmate without a qualification equivalent to Grade nine to complete adult education and training.

“I saw that I was sitting in jail without doing anything and I don’t want to waste that three-year sentence,” he said.

“I didn’t think I was going to get this second chance of going to school, but when I came to jail I done the programmes, the restorative anger management and those programmes, they renew me and I saw that I would get the opportunity to go to school.”

Gumede matriculated with a bachelor’s pass, meaning he would qualify to study at any tertiary institution in the country.

“My wish is to go and study further for accountants, but I don’t know if I’m going to have the financial programme because I don’t think my parents are going to have that money. But I am waiting for any sponsor that can sponsor me for a bursary so I can go further my studies,” he said.

Gumede passed with one A, four B’s, one C and one D, and hopes his story will encourage other inmates to complete their matric.

“Life does not end when you are sentenced,” Gumede said.

“When you get a chance to go outside and you are going to live a life with other people, if you are educated and you have a matric, it’s going to be simpler.”

Sbonelo Maphumulo, the inmate with the second-highest pass mark, is serving an eight-year jail term for rape.

“After I was arrested I was not much interested in school,” he said.

“I was just doing nothing at all, but after I was apprehended I realise that school is very important so I have to be committed and patient and do whatever it takes to rebuild my life.”

Maphumulo wants to further his studies, but says his parents cannot afford to pay for his studies.

“What I want to do is sports management in higher education so I think I get help and support from my family and maybe some people who can sponsor me financially,” he said.

During the ceremony, Masutha announced that progress was made in setting up online services for inmates wanting to register with distance learning institutions.

Close to 1500 inmates registered with the University of SA (Unisa) between 2012 and 2014.

“The latest development in this regard is that we are busy concluding a partnership with Unisa to enable correctional centre students to have internet access,” Masutha said.

“This will enable offenders to connect directly to Unisa online, and access all services available to their students anywhere.”

The project will ensure that inmates have their own laptop. It is expected to be up and running by the 2015 academic year.

Paris – Messages of condolence, outrage and defiance over the Paris terrorist attack on a newspaper office spread quickly around the world on Wednesday with thousands of people taking to the streets to protest the killings and through use of the slogan “Je Suis Charlie” on social media.

Many who poured into Place de la Republique in eastern Paris near the site of Wednesday’s noontime attack waved papers, pencils and pens. Journalists led the march but most in the crowd were not from the media world, expressing solidarity and support of freedom of speech.

Similar gatherings took place at London’s Trafalgar Square, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, in Madrid, Brussels, Nice and elsewhere.

Online, the declaration “Je Suis Charlie”, or “I Am Charlie”, replaced profile pictures on Facebook while Twitter users showed themselves with the slogan on signs with words of support for the 12 victims who were killed at Charlie Hebdo, a weekly newspaper that had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

The “Je Suis Charlie” slogan grew into a trending hashtag on Twitter and spread to Instagram, along with an image of a machine gun with the words “Ceci n’est pas une religion,” or “This is not a religion”.

One user on Instagram sent out a simple black-and-white drawing of the Eiffel Tower with the message: “Pray for Paris”.

Another wrote: “Islam is a beautiful religion. This is not what we see on TV. Terrorists are not real Muslims. #IamCharlie.”

Masked gunmen methodically killed 12 people, including the newspaper’s editor, as they shouted “Allahu akbar!” — or “Allah is the greatest” — while firing, then fleeing in a car.

The newspaper’s depictions of Islam have drawn condemnation and threats before. It was firebombed in 2011 and also satirized other religions and political figures.

Kimberley – A 47-year-old Kimberley man, Christopher Moromo, who is facing a charge of sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl just days before Christmas, was granted R500 bail by the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court.

The incident apparently took place on December 21 last year.

Moromo, known as Rasta, indicated during his bail application on Friday that he lived in the same street as the victim but said he never sexually assaulted her.

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