Johannesburg – The toll of 1 143 road deaths during the festive season so far is alarming and saddening, the Justice Project SA (JPSA) said on Tuesday.

“What is truly alarming is that this average is almost twice the average of 54 per day during the eight-day period last year [22 to 30 December 2013],” the organisation said in a statement.

“Justice Project South Africa is deeply saddened and somewhat alarmed by the announcement today that 1 143 people have been killed on our roads.”

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters announced that the 1 143 people died in 924 crashes during the festive season up to 28 December.

KwaZulu-Natal had the most fatal accidents, with 249 deaths from 211 crashes, Peters told reporters in Durban.

In Gauteng there were 174 deaths from 156 fatal crashes. The Eastern Cape had 161 deaths from 129 fatal crashes.

Limpopo had 138 deaths from 106 fatal crashes, Mpumalanga 110 deaths from 90, the Free State 95 deaths from 63, and the Western Cape 91 deaths from 78 fatal crashes.

Peters said that while there was a decrease of 50 fatal crashes and 25 deaths compared to the same period in 2013, the surge in accidents and deaths since 23 December was worrying.

The JPSA disagreed with Peters.

“Contrary to what has been said, this does not represent a decrease in road fatalities, nor does it indicate that the same old festive season interventions that have been tried over and over again are having the desired effect,” the organisation said. It said head-on collisions remain a leading cause of deaths on the road.

“The festive season is far from over and if things continue as they are, the 2014 festive season road death statistics looks set to surpass those of 2013.”

SAPA

Johannesburg – People violating by-laws regulating fireworks in Johannesburg will be slapped with a R1 500 fine, the city emergency service said on Tuesday.

“In terms of the city’s by-laws, no person should use fireworks within 500m of any explosives factory, explosives storage place, petrol depot or petrol station, inside any building, at any public place or at any school, old age home or hospital,” said spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.

He said no one under the age of 16 was allowed to handle or use fireworks, except if they were supervised by an adult. Retailers may not sell fireworks to a child under the age of 16.

“Fireworks should be handled by adults, and children should watch the display from a distance.”

To stage a fireworks display, permission must first be sought in writing from the fireworks working committee or from the chief fire officer in that particular region.

“The application must reach the committee or the chief fire officer 14 days in advance to allow members of the public to launch any objections.”

Permission must also be sought to set off crackers in private yards. In the application, the person must outline the plan of the house, including any overhead pylons. A site inspection by the emergency management services would also be conducted.

Those planning their own fireworks shows were urged to keep in mind the dangers inherent in their use, and to remember safety tips:

Pick a site that is appropriate for lighting the crackers.

Safety is a priority and clothes must be resistant to fire.

Set up the display during daylight hours.

Check the wind direction before starting the display.

Pick up all the remains of the fireworks and keep them out of children’s reach.

In addition, people should read the instructions provided with each firework. Mulaudzi said.

“Never throw lighted crackers, always stand well back. Never return to a cracker once it is lit because it may go off in one’s face.

“Always give fireworks plenty of room to explode. Light crackers in an open space, be considerate and not endanger other members of the public,” he said.

SAPA

Pretoria – The 2014 matric results for mathematics, mathematics literacy and physical science were worse than in 2013, monitoring body Umalusi said on Tuesday.

Mathematics had undergone major changes in content with the inclusion of Euclidean geometry and probability, Umalusi council chairperson Professor John Volmink told reporters in Pretoria.

He said the curriculum would prove a challenge to most pupils.

“This was shown in the learner performance in that there is a significant increase in the failure rate compared with 2013,” he said.

“However, learners at the top experienced the mathematics examination much easier.”

In mathematics literacy pupils did “significantly worse” in 2014 than in any previous year.

He said upward adjustments were made to the marks at all levels for mathematics literacy. Normal mathematics had no adjustment at the bottom end and a slight downward adjustment at the top end.

Volmink said the results of all but 58 examination centres, where irregularities were found, would be released next week.

In physical science, pupils performed worse than in 2013 and an upward adjustment was made at all levels. Life sciences was the “easiest in the group of subjects” taken and the marks were decreased.

In business studies the performance was the worst compared to any other year and the marks were increased.

In mathematics there were more failures, but also more distinctions. Volmink said the crux of the matter was how children were being taught. He said there had been no real improvement over the last five years.

“To be quite frank, we thought the results would be much worse because large sections of the mathematics curriculum was not there last year.”

He speculated there might have been more emphasis on teaching the subject, otherwise the results would have been worse.

He said for the basic education department, 58 subjects were presented for standardisation. After moderation the raw marks for 35 subjects were accepted, 13 subjects had marks increased, and 10 decreased.

Volmink said evidence of “group copying” was found in the 58 centres in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

“This is a new phenomenon… Umalusi is very concerned about this trend and takes the view that strong action be taken against those learners and supervisors who have made themselves guilty of these acts of dishonesty.”

Probe into cheating

Following a probe, in KwaZulu-Natal 39 centres were implicated in cheating and 19 in the Eastern Cape.

Volmink said the irregularities did not affect the integrity and credibility of the exams as a whole. KwaZulu-Natal had 1 741 examination centres and the Eastern Cape had 924, so the irregularities occurred at two percent of the centres.

When asked how the irregularities were discovered, Umalusi CEO Mafu Rakometsi said pupils provided the same answers.

“These problems were detected at the marking centres… the students are providing the same answers, the same right answers, the same wrong answers.

“It is clear that there is sharing of notes, it is clear that there is dictation.”

Giving an example, he said whoever gave the dictation to pupils said “go ahead” and the pupils wrote “go ahead” on their answer sheets.

He said if pupils wanted to cheat it was the duty of teachers, principals, and supervisors to stop them.

The department had told Umalusi the investigation into these centres would be completed by the end of March and “drastic measures” would be taken to deal with the problem, Rakometsi said.

Volmink said apart from these incidents the 2014 matric exams, although not perfect, were “fair and credible”.

Umalusi approved the release of the exam results from the basic education department, the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), the SA Comprehensive Assessment Institute, and the higher education department.

Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini said on Tuesday her department had opened its gender-based violence “command centre” for counselling to IEB matriculants who would get their results on Wednesday.

Dlamini appealed to parents to beware of signs of depression in their children so they could seek help for them.

Public schools’ matric exam results will be released next Tuesday.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The presidency on Tuesday called an opinion piece by columnist Max du Preez about President Jacob Zuma racist and mind-boggling.

“The piece smacks of prejudice and racism given the manner in which Mr du Preez describes the president,” the presidency said in a statement.

“The presidency is alarmed by the personal attack on President Jacob Zuma.”

In an article published by Independent Newspapers, titled “Zuma – SA’s one-man wrecking ball”, Du Preez says the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and the Hawks were the “latest victims” of Zuma’s “demolition of democracy”.

“The devastation caused by… Zuma will take years to rebuild, even if he were to leave office tomorrow.”

Du Preez offers his analysis of the political machinations he believes are behind the appointment of Tom Moyane as Sars commissioner in September, and the suspension earlier this month of Hawks head Anwa Dramat.

In its statement, the presidency called the article a “mind-boggling opinion piece” and said it had not been given an opportunity to respond to the “serious allegations”.

It said when processes such as taking disciplinary action against public servants took place, these would have nothing to do with Zuma.

“The knee jerk reaction of blaming the president for everything that happens in institutions without any attempt to verify the information indicates lazy and mischievous journalism,” it said.

The presidency took exception to a reference Du Preez makes to Zuma’s “corrupt relationship [in the words of a judge] with his financial adviser”.

The presidency said the remark in question – when Judge Hilary Squires was reported by the media to have said Zuma had a “generally corrupt relationship” with fraud-convicted Schabir Shaik – had already been refuted.

In November 2006, Squires wrote to Business Day indicating he never uttered those words.

Responding to the presidency’s statement on his writing, Du Preez told Sapa: “My only comment is that my column was an opinion piece, not reportage.”

In a tweet he said: “I’m a liar and a racist. Shame on me”, along with a link to the presidency’s statement online.

SAPA

Ten people were injured this afternoon when a van and truck collided on the N1 near the Klapmuts turn off in Klapmuts, Western Cape.‬

‪ER24 paramedics, as well as other services, arrived on scene and found both vehicles in the middle of the road. Both vehicles had sustained a considerable amount of damage in the collision.‬

‪”On closer inspecton, it was found that ten people from the van and truck had sustained injuries ranging from minor to moderate” ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said.‬

‪Paramedics began their treatment of the patients while  Metro services closed of one of the lanes which caused heavy traffic delays.‬

‪Meiring said once treated, paramedics transported the patients to various hospitals including Mediclinic Paarl.‬

‪The czuse of the collision is not yet known.
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_
‬

‪

Johannesburg – The body of a 40-year-old woman, who was left naked and had sustained multiple stab wounds, was found on the side of the road in the Ritavi area, Limpopo police said on Saturday.

“The body was lying next to a car,” said Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Moepe.

Police came across the scene on a road just outside Mokgolobotho village in the early hours of Saturday.

By late morning, they were still busy sorting through items, including the woman’s clothing, left scattered around the body.

The murdered woman had been identified and her family were also helping identify the items found.

Moepe said that the motive was unknown and police were trying to find out if anything had been stolen.

He said a post-mortem would also be conducted to see if the woman had been sexually assaulted or raped.

“We cannot rule out that possibility.”

SAPA

Johannesburg – The body of an 18-year-old boy was found during a search and rescue mission on Saturday at the Strand main beach, City of Cape Town said.

Vernon Naude was swept away by a rough rip current on Friday, while attempting to rescue his 13-year-old cousin, the city’s disaster management spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said.

“[While] a civilian was surfing at Strand Main Beach he discovered the person floating and fully clothed 300m from the area where the man was reported missing,” Solomons-Johannes said.

The search had resumed on Saturday, after an extensive air, sea and shore search on Friday, yielded no sign of the teen from Eerste River. A missing-persons case had been opened.

The city urged beach goers to be cautious over the weekend, as rough sea conditions associated with rip currents were expected to prevail around the coast.

SAPA

Fochville- A man and woman are in a critical condition this afternoon after their bakkie rolled on the R500 between Fochville and Parys in the North West Province.

When ER24 paramedics arrived on scene, they found a bakkie lying on its roof on the side of the road. A man and woman lay next to the vehicle while a second man and woman stood nearby.

“It is believed that the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll, ejecting the two occupants from the back of the vehicle” Er24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said.

On assessment, paramedics discovered that the male patient that had been ejected lay next to the vehicle and was in a critical condition.  His female companion had fortunately sustained only minor injuries. Both occupants that had been inside the vehicle escaped without any injuries.

Paramedics treated both patients as well as providing the critically injured patient with advanced life support.

Once treated, the critically injured patient was airlifted by the AER24 Helicopter to Tsepong Hospital. The female patient was transported to a nearby hospital for further observations.

The cause of the collision is not yet known but local authorities were on scene for further investigations.
-TDN
Follow us on Twitter@Taung_DailyNews or @IceT_

Johannesburg – Two people died and 18 others were injured when a minibus taxi overturned on the N1 in Hammanskraal on Thursday, paramedics said.

“The collision allegedly occured when the two front tyres of the taxi burst. The driver allegedly lost control of the taxi and it flipped into the oncoming traffic lane,” said ER24 spokesperson Pieter Rossouw.

A man was ejected from the taxi and died as a result of serious injuries. A female was declared dead on arrival at hospital. The injured were transported to various hospitals for treatment.

Rossouw said the taxi was travelling towards Polokwane.

SAPA