Simbongile Makanda

South Africa has reached a new daily peak in Covid-19 cases, as the country faces a second wave of infections. This new peak is the highest daily peak the country has recorded since the first wave of infections.  

The Johannesburg district will be giving out fines to people found guilty of not following the updated level 3 regulations. These updated regulations will be in place until 15 January 2021. 

The UCT Student Representative Council (SRC)  has decided to take action against a student, following a series of tweets. The tweets shared by the student sparked a trending debate on social media.
 

A new board and CEO have been appointed to handle the administration of NSFAS in the new year. The financial aid scheme has been under the administration of Dr Randall Carolissen and his team for two years. 

Matric exams have officially come to an end, but the drama still continues. The Department of Basic Education has released more details about those behind the leak of one of the matric exam question papers. 

More than 1 million candidates were registered to write the final matric exams this year. Now that the exams have come to an end, the department is certain that its efforts had a positive impact on learners.

In a briefing held today, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga discussed the state of readiness for schools ahead of the start of the 2021 school year. 

The Eastern Cape Education Department has faced some challenges this year but it is still gunning for an 80% pass rate for matric learners in the province. Recently, KwaZulu-Natal also set a pass rate of 80%.

This time last year, the Western Cape had 64 465 candidates registered to write the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam. This year, close to 100 000 candidates have registered to write. 

Time is ticking for the class of 2020, as the final exams draw close. With more than 1 million candidates registered to write, the department has said this is the highest number of candidates it will have to accommodate.