About 800 learners in Mangaung have been profiled as potential gang members as the Free State Department of Education intensifies efforts to curb gangsterism in schools, following the discovery of a bullet in a pupil’s school bag.

The department has warned that gangsterism in schools is becoming a serious threat to learning and teaching, with officials describing the issue as a potential constitutional and human rights concern.

Speaking to SABC, Free State Department of Education spokesperson Howard Ndaba said the department had developed a strategy aimed at preventing violence before incidents occur.

“One of the pillars of the strategy is to ensure that we are visible, there’s police visibility, is to link our school with the police station, is to work together with police to ensure that there’s prevention, meaning that before any incident, we prevent it by making sure that police are visible in and around our schools,” Ndaba said.

The department’s intervention comes amid reports of increasing gang activity among learners, with community activists warning that children as young as seven years old are being drawn into gangs.

Community activist Thabo Botsane said several gangs were active in Mangaung communities and that violence often spilled over into and around schools.

“We have Maroma, BTKs, also we have these ones who think they are mature men because they are coming from initiation school, all of those. That is giving us a challenge because we find out sometimes they go and hang outside the school while others are still in the school. So after writing there or after school, the fight starts. And it’s disturbing everything,” he said.

Neighbourhood watch groups have also raised concerns about the role of parents, accusing some of failing to support efforts to address gang-related violence involving their children.

Greater Mangaung Forum chairperson Erican Lubbe said community patrollers frequently deal with incidents involving learners, but cases are often withdrawn shortly afterwards.

“The parents doesn’t come and help us, assist us with this gang violence. We sit with problems when, after three days, the children withdraw their cases against each other. We lock them up. We lock a lot of them up. But the only challenge is that the parents go and fight at the police station. We do our best as patrollers to control the situation,” said Lubbe.

Patroller Lebogang Maketla identified several hotspots where rival groups of learners allegedly gather to fight.

“We’ve got a lot of hotspots where these fights are starting, especially where we are standing. It’s one of the main hotspots. And the other one at Ekailelo and Comtech. There is this main road of Singonzo. It’s where all of Freedom Square and Teflon, they meet to fight,” he said.

The department said it plans to involve the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and stakeholders from initiation schools as part of broader efforts to tackle the problem.

Ndaba said learners returning from initiation schools sometimes contributed to tensions that affected safety at schools.

“I’ve made mention of the initiation school. When they come back, we know that they will be troubled. So that is why we are working together with the stakeholders from that sector of initiation schools to make sure that we curb this. Because, as I indicated, this is also a human rights issue. If there is no safety in our school, learning and teaching will not happen,” he said.

Police have said that they are implementing intelligence-driven gang separation measures and anti-gang education programmes as part of efforts to reduce gang-related violence and improve safety in schools.

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Professor Thabo Msibi has been appointed chairperson of the seventh Umalusi Council.

Msibi, UKZN’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, was appointed by Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube for a four-year term from 8 June 2026 to 7 June 2030.

Umalusi oversees the development and management of qualifications within the General and Further Education and Training Qualifications Sub-Framework.

Msibi, a professor of Curriculum Studies in UKZN’s School of Education, previously served as a member of the Umalusi Council. He now assumes the council’s highest leadership position.

“I am deeply honoured by my appointment as Chairperson of the Umalusi Council and grateful for the confidence placed in me to serve in this important national role. Umalusi plays a vital role in safeguarding the quality, credibility, and integrity of South Africa’s education system,” Msibi said.

“I look forward to working with Council members, leadership, and stakeholders across the sector to advance its mandate and contribute to the strengthening of quality education. This is both a privilege and a responsibility, and I am committed to serving with dedication, integrity, and purpose.”

His appointment adds to a record of academic and institutional leadership. He previously served as Dean and Head of the School of Education at UKZN, becoming the youngest dean in South Africa at the time of his appointment. He was also the youngest executive member of the South African Comparative and History of Education Society.

A UKZN alumnus, Msibi obtained both his Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Education Honours degrees from the university. He completed a Master of Education degree at Teachers College, Columbia University, and later earned a PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge.

Msibi is an NRF P-rated researcher and the first Black South African education scholar to receive the National Research Foundation’s P-rating, often referred to as the President’s Award. The rating recognises exceptional researchers who demonstrate outstanding potential to become future leaders in their fields.

His research has been published in South African and international journals and books. He is the author of Hidden Sexualities of South African Teachers: Black Male Educators and Same-Sex Desire and co-editor of Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces.

He also serves as an associate editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality in Education and sits on the editorial boards of several academic journals, including Perspectives in Education, Alternation, Transformation in Higher Education and the International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies.

Msibi also founded a debating league aimed at bridging the divide between township and urban schools and strengthening English language proficiency among township learners. He later established the Community Development Association, a national organisation focused on youth-driven education and leadership development programmes.

UKZN congratulated Msibi on the appointment, with its Executive Director for Corporate Relations, Dr Normah Zondo, saying his appointment was a fitting recognition of his contribution to education and leadership in South Africa.

“Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to educational excellence and social justice. We are immensely proud that he is contributing to shaping the future of quality assurance and standards in South African education at a national level,” Zondo said.

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Outgoing Deputy Minister of Higher Education Mimmy Gondwe has bid farewell to the post-school education sector after the DA recalled her and asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint Yusuf Cassim in her place.

In a farewell statement issued after the DA’s announcement on Wednesday, Gondwe thanked colleagues, stakeholders and students across the country for the opportunity to serve, saying she would continue to keep students “in my heart and in my prayers”.

“After the recent announcement of upcoming changes within the Government of National Unity (GNU) and my subsequent recall, I want to sincerely thank everyone for the opportunity to serve in this important role,” she said.

Her departure came after DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis wrote to Ramaphosa proposing changes to the party’s representatives in the GNU.

Gondwe served as Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training for nearly two years after she was named to the position in 2024 following the formation of the GNU after the general elections.

Before joining the executive, she served as a DA Member of Parliament and held several shadow ministerial roles, including Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises.

Gondwe highlighted several achievements during her term, including infrastructure support for Community Education and Training colleges and partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, Google, Old Mutual and Takealot, to expand digital skills and employment opportunities for students.

She also pointed to the work of the Deputy Minister’s Help Desk, which she said handled more than 67,000 enquiries with a 91% resolution rate, and her leadership of the national Bogus Colleges Awareness Campaign.

“I wish my successor well and every success in building on the foundation I have laid,” Gondwe said.

She also thanked the DA, Ramaphosa, government officials and private-sector partners for their support and collaboration during her time in office.

“I will continue to keep all students in my heart and in my prayers. It was an absolute honour and a privilege to serve in the sector.”

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South African teenagers, often overlooked in development planning despite making up more than 17% of the country’s population, are the focus of a new free guide aimed at helping adults support them through adolescence.

Hold My Hand, a national child and teen advocacy campaign, has published Supporting Teen Identity Development: A Guide for Adults, a plain-language resource for parents, caregivers, teachers and mentors to better understand what teenagers are experiencing and how to support them.

The guide covers adolescent development, including brain development, peer pressure, mental health and social media. It also includes practical tools and conversation prompts adults can use immediately.

Hold My Hand said adolescence was “one of the most important windows of opportunity” in a young person’s life, when teenagers build identity, resilience, connectedness and purpose — or fall into risk.

The organisation said teenagers in South Africa were navigating the transition to adulthood while also facing poverty, violence, social media pressure, HIV, school dropout, gangsterism and limited future opportunities.

“In these conditions, a strong sense of identity is not a nice-to-have, it is what keeps teens grounded,” it said.

Teenagers who feel seen, supported and connected are more likely to develop positive identities, make safer choices, stay in school and build towards positive futures.

“Hold My Hand created the guide to give adults the tools to show up for the teenagers in their lives. Teens don’t need the adults in their lives to have all the answers – they just need adults to be present, willing to listen and learn,” said Shirely Eadie, Lead Teen Identity at Hold My Hand.

The guide supports one of the 10 priorities of the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children, a Presidency-led initiative calling on government, civil society, the private sector and families to mobilise around South Africa’s children and teenagers.

Hold My Hand said building teenagers’ sense of identity, agency and connectedness was central to the strategy.

The guide is available for free download at Hold My Hand’s website and can be read in sections as teenagers grow and change.

The organisation will also host a webinar, “The Power to Be(come): why adolescent identity matters in South Africa”, on Wednesday, June 24 at 3pm on Zoom. The discussion will draw on new Human Sciences Research Council insights and explore what builds purpose, belonging and agency in teenagers, and what undermines them.

Speakers include Dr Rose September of DGMT, Dr Alude Mahali of the HSRC, Dr Shahieda Jansen of Awehmagents and Thando Nkosi of Hold My Hand. The session will be facilitated by Dr Katlego Selikane of Keready.

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A landmark global report has warned that the world’s biodiversity crisis may be far more severe than previously understood, with nearly 30,000 plant species and more than 400 fungal species now threatened with extinction — while thousands more may disappear before they are even known to science.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2026 report, released on Tuesday, includes the expertise of University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Professor Benny Bytebier, curator of the Bews Herbarium in Pietermaritzburg, which holds more than 250,000 plant specimens.

The report, compiled with input from more than 400 scientists across 40 countries, found that 29,748 plant species and 411 fungal species are currently threatened with extinction, despite only 18% of known plant species and just 0.6% of fungi having been assessed.

It warns that the world still does not fully understand the scale of the crisis facing plants and fungi, which underpin life on Earth by regulating climate, storing carbon and providing food and medicines.

Without reliable data on what species exist, where they occur and how they are being affected by climate change, the report says conservation efforts may overlook the most vulnerable species, while opportunities for new medicines and sustainable future crops may be lost.

The report says rapid advances in artificial intelligence, digitisation and global data-sharing are transforming conservation by allowing researchers to analyse preserved plant and fungal specimens at unprecedented scale.

For centuries, pressed, dried and labelled plants and fungi collected by scientists around the world have been inaccessible to most researchers. Digitisation is now allowing scientists to compare material remotely, correct misidentified species and uncover previously hidden biodiversity.

But major gaps remain. Fewer than 16% of the world’s herbarium specimens have been imaged and made digitally available, leaving significant blind spots in global biodiversity knowledge.

The report says these gaps are especially pronounced in parts of the Global South, where little-known and under-digitised “silent herbaria” can skew global biodiversity models and climate predictions, leading to conservation decisions based on incomplete or biased information.

This makes the work being done at Bews Herbarium significant. According to the statement, all 250,000 specimens at the herbarium have been imaged, while 25% of their labels have been transcribed and added to a database to make them more accessible to researchers worldwide.

The Bews Herbarium, which is more than a century old, has grown from about 120,000 specimens 15 years ago to more than 250,000 today after incorporating several “orphaned” herbaria from KwaZulu-Natal.

Bytebier has also worked with colleagues from the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Mauritius, Madagascar and Belgium on research into the digitisation of herbarium specimens from an African perspective, with a focus on South Africa and Western Indian Ocean island states.

He said the report was important because it showed how the world was documenting and conserving plant and fungal life.

“This report is very important as it summarises how we are doing with describing, documenting and conserving our plants and fungi at a global scale. I’m happy that the Global North takes notice of our efforts in digitising the rich biodiversity in the Global South, despite the challenges and lack of resources,” Bytebier said.

The report says more than 100,000 plant species and more than two million fungal species remain unknown to science. It also found that more than 4,600 plant species and 7,800 fungal species were named as new to science in 2024 and 2025.

It concludes that improving, connecting and sharing biodiversity data globally is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to strengthen conservation and enable faster action to prevent extinctions.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that youth unemployment had become South Africa’s defining post-apartheid challenge, as the country marked 50 years since the 1976 Soweto uprising.

Speaking at the national Youth Day commemoration at the FNB Stadium precinct in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said South Africa had made significant gains since apartheid, including expanded access to education, higher education funding and public employment programmes.

But he said the central challenge was whether those gains were translating into jobs, skills and dignity for young people.

“The question before us today is not whether young people have the courage to change South Africa. The youth of 1976 answered that question,” Ramaphosa said. “The question before us is whether South Africa is doing enough to create opportunities worthy of their sacrifice.”

Youth Day marks the anniversary of June 16, 1976, when schoolchildren in Soweto marched against apartheid education and the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. Police opened fire on protesters, turning the uprising into one of the defining moments of resistance to white minority rule.

Ramaphosa said the youth of 1976 had fought exclusion from education, while today’s generation faced joblessness, poverty and inequality.

“Theirs was the struggle to enter the classroom. Ours is the struggle to ensure that what begins in the classroom does not end in the unemployment queue.”

Ramaphosa said more than 4.7 million young South Africans were unemployed and that the youth unemployment rate stood at 46 percent.

“Behind every statistic is a young person who wants to work, wants to contribute and wants to build a future,” he said. “We cannot accept this as normal.”

He said young people were also among those most affected by violent crime and theft, describing unemployment and insecurity as threats to South Africa’s prosperity and social stability.

In a speech delivered amid rising public anger over crime, unemployment, poor service delivery and illegal immigration, Ramaphosa warned against blaming foreign nationals for South Africa’s domestic problems.

“Even as we recognise the challenge of illegal immigration – which we are taking decisive action to address – our problems are our own. And which we have a responsibility to fix ourselves,” he said.

He said frustrations in communities were real, but that the roots of the crisis lay elsewhere.

“The roots of these challenges lie primarily in inequality, slow economic growth and weaknesses in service delivery,” Ramaphosa said. “Addressing these challenges requires practical solutions, not the scapegoating of vulnerable people.”

Ramaphosa said government was responding on three fronts: expanding public employment, youth service and workplace experience; reshaping the skills system so qualifications led more directly to work; and opening the productive economy to young people.

He said more than 5.7 million young people were registered on the SA Youth.mobi platform, with more than 2 million gaining access to earning opportunities. He said the Presidential Employment Stimulus had created work and livelihood opportunities for more than 2.5 million unemployed South Africans, of whom 82 percent were young people and 66 percent were women.

He also said the revitalised National Youth Service had placed more than 130,000 young people in paid service opportunities, with an additional 100,000 community service youth employment opportunities currently available.

Ramaphosa said the state would invest R1 trillion in infrastructure over the next three years, including roads, dams, schools, hospitals, clinics, electricity lines, railways and ports.

“This investment will create apprenticeships, artisan development, skills transfer and enterprise development for young people,” he said.

He called on employers to hire young people without demanding experience they had never had the chance to gain.

“The young person in front of you does not lack ability. They lack only the chance to prove it,” Ramaphosa said. “Hire for potential, not only for experience.”

Ramaphosa said government would strengthen support through the Employment Tax Incentive, saying the first job was “the hardest to get and the most important a person ever has.”

He also urged young people to register and vote in the 4 November local government elections, saying they should be central to fixing municipalities, not only as councillors but as “engineers, planners, artisans, water technicians, electricians, data specialists and entrepreneurs”.

He said the best way to honour the generation of 1976 was not through remembrance alone, but through building a country where young people could learn, work, serve, build, create and own.

“Let us honour them not in words alone, but in deeds,” he said. “Where opportunity is not the privilege of a few, but the birthright of all.”

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South Africans gathered at the FNB Premium Parking precinct adjacent to FNB Stadium in Nasrec, Johannesburg, on Tuesday as the country marked 50 years since the 1976 Youth Uprising.

President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the National Youth Day commemoration, held under the theme “RESET @50 – Our National Commitment to the Future for Freedom Lives in Every Generation”.

The event honoured the courage and sacrifice of the youth of 1976, while reflecting on the challenges still facing young people today, including unemployment, poverty, inequality, access to education, gender-based violence and social exclusion.

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Thirty-two years after South Africa became a democratic state, the futures of millions of young people in the country are shaped to a large degree by uncertainty, exclusion, poverty and discouragement. As one lens on this scene, unemployment in the age group 15-34 borders on 46%.

I am an educational psychologist who has done 35 years of research on the career-life stories of young people growing up in contexts marked by extreme poverty, exclusion, inequality and disadvantage. These hardships shape their career development and views of the ever-changing world of work.

I have encountered many young people who have bottled up and eventually internalised repeated experiences of disenchantment, rejection and “failure”. Some have dropped out of education, lacking support. Others have completed their schooling only to learn that marks and qualifications alone could not open doors to successful futures. In many instances, in their environments, unemployment and unemployability have become normalised.

Yet many show resilience, adaptability and determination to find work and to construct meaningful lives.

In a recent journal article, I described an intervention which involved career counselling for a group of 51 disadvantaged black South Africans, aged around 27. They had experienced poverty, unemployment, social exclusion, and limited access to educational and occupational opportunities. I wanted to assess whether counselling could help them use their resilience as a resource. Could it improve their adaptability? And if so, how?

The results showed positive change for most participants following the programme, though the outcomes were uneven.

Structural barriers to finding work remained formidable. Nevertheless many participants developed a stronger sense of agency, hope, adaptability and future orientation. The intervention appeared to help them tell their career-life stories in new ways, with purpose, self-understanding and a shift towards taking action.

These findings underscore the importance of a counselling approach that helps young people recognise and mobilise their strengths, and convert their most significant developmental challenges into assets that benefit both themselves and their communities.

The intervention

In September 2020, the group of young, unemployed, rural South Africans took part in structured career conversations and reflections guided by researchers and career development practitioners. In a workshop and group discussions, we recorded their career interests, strengths and areas for development. They also thought about how their future careers could transform their early life challenges into something positive and empowering.

They explored fields of study aligned with their individual profiles and aspirations that could help them experience meaning, fulfil a sense of purpose and contribute existential value to their career-lives. To this end, they conducted in-depth analyses of occupations associated with their selected fields.

Participants then received guidance on managing emotions, stress and study techniques.

The aim was to elicit themes about their conscious knowledge about themselves and their subconscious insights.

A recurring theme in their reflections was personal development and motivation. Inspiration to work hard, and overcoming adversity, were part of this theme.

They showed a growing awareness of the attitudes, beliefs and competencies necessary to achieve their career-life goals. Their awareness of the need to be adaptable increased. So did their understanding of employment and economic growth realities. They reported increased confidence in defining and achieving their career and life goals. They developed greater clarity about the meaning they wished to find in their work, the contribution they hoped to make to others through their work, and the deeper existential purpose that gives direction to both their work and their lives.

Career adaptability

The intervention used a method called Career Construction Counselling. This is essentially a way to help people come up with their own advice instead of being told what to do. Through reflecting on their own stories, they think of what steps they can take towards their future working life.

This approach is consistent with findings from our career construction and narrative career counselling research. This suggests that reflecting on and reconstructing personal life stories can enhance self-understanding, agency, career adaptability and future planning. Studies have shown that people who actively engage with their own narratives are often better able to identify meaningful career directions, clarify their self- and career identity, identify appropriate study fields, articulate their mission and vision, and develop strategies for navigating future transitions.

The approach emphasises adaptability, which has four elements:

• concern (do I have a future?)
• control (who is responsible for my future?)
• curiosity (what do I want to achieve in my future?)
• confidence (can I succeed?).

A year after the intervention, the participants reported back.

Their scores for career adaptability had improved somewhat. The area of strongest improvement was their career confidence.

I concluded that narrative-based career construction counselling can strengthen career clarity, adaptability, and self-directed action among severely disadvantaged unemployed youth.

However, lasting change also requires systemic intervention. Not only is career counselling scarce in South African schools; traditional approaches are often culturally mismatched and fail to empower disadvantaged youth.

Resilience

I’ve noticed that people often speak of resilience as if it’s an end point in itself.

I believe resilience may be understood not as the culmination of coping but as a preparatory phase in the movement from passive endurance towards what the psychologist Mark Savickas calls active authorship (“active mastery”). My belief draws on life design (people actively shaping their careers and lives by constructing meaning, adapting to change, and aligning work with personal values and identity) and career construction perspectives.

From this perspective, the crucial shift lies in supporting young people to move beyond “withstanding” adversity towards re-authoring their experiences.

Kobus Maree is Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria. This article was first published by The Conversation.

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South Africa’s commemoration of Youth Day should force the country’s universities to confront how little higher education has changed since the 1976 Soweto uprising, a University of Cape Town academic has said.

The country will on Tuesday mark 50 years since the June 16, 1976 student protests, when young people took to the streets against apartheid education policies, including the enforced use of Afrikaans in schools.

The protests were met with violence in Soweto, Johannesburg, and became a defining moment in South Africa’s struggle against apartheid.

Emeritus Professor Alan Cliff, from UCT’s Centre for Higher Education Development, said the anniversary should not only be a moment of remembrance, but also one of reflection on access, representation and transformation in higher education.

“16 June 1976 was a watershed moment in South African politics and life. I was a first-year student at Rhodes University, and we were crowded around the radio listening to news releases from the protests in Soweto. Television had only just launched in this country and coverage was minimal and highly selective,” he said.

“We had to imagine/create from audio coverage what is now taken as routine in video reporting. I remember a huge range of emotions and opinions among my fellow students at the time – from left and right of the political spectrum.

“But I also remember thinking that this was a moment of critique: finally, issues of white hegemony and the right to learn in Mother Tongue and the language of learning and teaching had been the fulcrum around which protests had erupted. School children had taken up the cause – and the iconic, deeply human image of Hector Pieterson being carried from the protests remains imprinted forever.”

Cliff, whose career has spanned decades of work on literacy testing and higher education readiness, said universities had to be honest about the slow pace of change in the sector.

“We have to challenge ourselves to be honest about how relatively unchanged higher education has remained. Global North knowledge systems remain hegemonic and valorised. We have to think about which students and staff are able to see themselves represented in higher education? What systems signals does the sector emit that make it easier or tougher for students to participate/feel represented – this was at least part of the reason for the more recent student protests represented by #RhodesMustFall, for example,” he said.

He said institutions needed to rethink who was taught, how students were taught, and what it meant for students and universities to be “literate”.

As someone focused on access, redress and success in higher education, Cliff said progress had been made in widening access, but deeper questions remained about whether institutions had adapted sufficiently to changing student cohorts.

“The most satisfying part of our journey has been seeing the extent to which higher education access for all students to all institutions has indeed widened. The work on literacies assessment has been deeply satisfying especially in terms of its relationship to academic development and programme provision,” he said.

“It has also been meaningful to work on troubling the notion that literacies development is only about the identification of student support needs, to a much more holistic understanding of literacies work being about curriculum, teaching and learning, and assessment and the responsiveness of higher education institutions to changing student cohorts.”

Cliff said the concept of literacy should extend beyond language, reading and writing, and should include the ways students learn, participate and succeed within institutions shaped by inequality.

“We need to think about what it takes for a student to be higher education ‘ready’ and what it takes for higher education to be ‘ready’ to teach that student,” he said.

“As emeritus, I am in a reflective mode these days: looking back on 30 years of conceptualising notions of literacies and on the work of developing assessments of these. I am working on using social and critical realist lenses to assess the impact of the work through its history; its purposes; how and why it has been perceived and received in particular ways as a function of educational histories and decades (at least) of segregation, inequality and how these legacies remain powerfully difficult to redress.”

He said higher education must rethink its own assumptions about literacy, student potential and institutional readiness.

“How we think about learning potential and ability to be successful has to take account of educational background, educational inequality, how students can learn to be literate in the broadest (socially situated) sense; how higher education itself needs to re-think and critique its own view of literacy and its responsiveness to student diversity and knowledge forms. We need to think about what it takes for a student to be higher education ‘ready’ and what it takes for higher education to be ‘ready’ to teach that student,” Cliff said.

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Kingswood College’s first-team rugby side produced an all-round performance to defeat St Andrew’s College 29-10 in the highly anticipated K-Day derby, securing local bragging rights in one of South Africa’s most celebrated school sporting rivalries.

Playing on St Andrew’s Lower Field in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, on Saturday, heavy rain and a waterlogged surface shaped much of the day’s rugby, forcing teams to abandon expansive play and adapt to difficult conditions.

Kingswood seized control early in the match, scoring three unanswered tries in the opening 20 minutes.

The hosts mounted a spirited second-half comeback with two tries, but Kingswood’s composure and effective game management ensured they held on for victory.

On social media, Kingswood praised the efforts of its players and coaching staff.

“Congratulations to the Kingswood 1st XV and coaches on their KDAY victory against St Andrew’s College on Saturday. The boys played with immense heart to bring home the win 29-10. Thank you to our hosts St Andrew’s College for a great game,” the school posted.

The annual K-Day festival, which this year featured cultural and sporting competitions involving Kingswood College, St Andrew’s College, St Andrew’s Prep and DSG, is one of the highlights of the Eastern Cape schools calendar.

This year’s rugby programme also included fixtures involving Mzansi Rugby Academy and Isibane Selane Rugby Academy, adding to a packed day of schoolboy rugby in Makhanda.

Thousands of pupils, parents, old boys and supporters traditionally converge on the host venue, with the first-team rugby encounter serving as the main attraction.

Saturday’s result represented a significant turnaround from the previous edition of the derby and underlined Kingswood’s growing momentum during the latter stages of the 2026 season.

Coming into the fixture, Kingswood had shown encouraging form with convincing victories over Port Rex Technical High School, Brandwag High School and Westering High School.

St Andrew’s entered K-Day after a narrow 24-21 defeat to Selborne College and faced an uphill battle against a Kingswood outfit that had demonstrated an ability to punish opponents when given space.

St Andrew’s looked to fullback Will Stevens, flyhalf David Chorley and scrumhalf Ethan Hayes to guide the side, while James Badenhorst returned to the No 8 jersey in an effort to strengthen the forward effort.

Kingswood, meanwhile, relied on the leadership of captain Ross Thompson and the contributions of several experienced campaigners, including twins James and Josh Mackenzie, as they sought to secure victory.

The visitors ultimately rose to the occasion, producing a disciplined and energetic display that prevented St Andrew’s from building sustained momentum.

While the home side managed to cross for two second-half tries, they struggled to consistently break down the Kingswood defence or gain control of territory for extended periods.

Kingswood’s 29-point return reflected their ability to convert opportunities into scoreboard pressure, a factor that proved decisive as the match progressed.

The result will be especially satisfying for Kingswood after the disappointment of last year’s encounter, when victory slipped away in the closing moments.

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To the Young People of South Africa,  
On the eve of Youth Day, we honour a generation of young South Africans who changed the course of our history.

Fifty years ago, the youth of 1976 stood up against injustice and demanded the right to learn, to dream and to determine their own future. Their courage helped open the doors of freedom. The responsibility of our generation is to ensure that those doors lead to opportunity.  
 
The youth of South Africa rose up to reject an education system that sought to keep them in servitude and deny them the opportunity to realise their potential. Exactly 50 years later, as young South Africans, you face a different challenge: finding your place in an economy that has for too long kept its doors closed to you.  
 
We know that for many young South Africans, the promise of democracy can feel distant when jobs are scarce, when opportunities seem out of reach and when qualifications do not always lead to employment.

Many of you are working hard, applying for jobs, pursuing training and seeking opportunities, only to face disappointment. We hear these frustrations, and we understand that they are real. 
 
Inclusive economic growth is essential if we are to tackle youth unemployment in a meaningful and lasting way. That is why we are investing in a massive infrastructure programme and undertaking far-reaching reforms to make our economy more competitive.

We have embarked on a second ambitious investment drive, raising R890 billion in new investment pledges in the last year. 
 
However, these efforts will take time to translate into jobs. And even as the economy grows, young people may still find it difficult to participate in that growth. 
 
That is why we have been investing in programmes that give you access to learning and work opportunities, skills, experience and an income. 
 
One of our most successful programmes has been the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which was launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, that stimulus has created in excess of 2.5 million work and livelihood opportunities. More than eight in ten of these opportunities have gone to young people, and two-thirds to women. It has enabled the most rapid expansion of public employment in our history. 
 
While these numbers are impressive, what really makes this initiative stand out is the impact that it has on the prospects of those involved and the contribution it makes to the areas in which they work. 
 
Last year, through the Basic Education Employment Initiative, 200,000 unemployed young people provided valuable support to nearly 22,000 schools in remote villages, townships, dense inner cities, special needs classrooms and farm schools.

The programme is giving young people their first foothold in the world of work while strengthening the foundations of learning in the schools that need it most. 
 
The Social Employment Fund, another successful programme, offers part-time work for young people in social development programmes in areas like education, food and agriculture, health care, environmental improvement and safety.

Because it is part-time, participants get regular and predictable income while spending the rest of their time looking for work, exploring business opportunities or improving their skills. 
 
Alongside these public and social employment programmes, the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention is steadily dismantling the barriers that keep young people locked out of the labour market.

Through the SA Youth online platform, more than 5.7 million young people are now able to search for opportunities, overcoming some of the impediments that often hold them back, such as transport and data expenses. To date, the intervention has facilitated access to over 2.3 million earning opportunities. 
 
The revitalised National Youth Service has placed more than 132,000 young people in paid service to their communities. These are young people learning the dignity of work while giving back to the society that raised them. 
 
The Youth Employment Service, which is a business initiative, places young people in quality year-long work experience opportunities in companies across the country.  
 
We are also pioneering smarter ways of spending training funds. The Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund pays for training for young people only when they are placed in a real, quality job. It is a model that demands results.  
 
Behind every one of these numbers is a young person whose dignity has been restored, whose confidence has been renewed and whose horizon has broadened.

Although these opportunities are mostly short-term, there are thousands of stories of young people who have used them as a stepping stone towards finding a permanent job, starting a small business or studying towards a new career. 
 
The value of these opportunities can be measured not merely by what young people earn while they’re in the programme, but by what they leave with: skills, experience, self-esteem and a sense of purpose. 
 
Much work remains. The scale of the challenge demands that we sustain and deepen these efforts. Every company, every department, every organisation and every South African who is able to open a door for a young person must do so.  
 
Your country sees your potential and will work with you to ensure that you realise it.  
 
Let us together build a South Africa in which every young person finds their place in an inclusive economy and in a thriving society. 

INSIDE EDUCATION
 

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Students arrive in higher education with mindsets and habits shaped by the digital platforms they use every day.

Netflix, Spotify and Uber have normalised daily life experiences that feel simple, personalised, immediate and intuitive, and this has raised students’ expectations for seamless, user-centric experiences in other areas.

Higher education should not try to become on-demand entertainment. But it can certainly learn from the discipline behind these platforms. Students may not expect learning to be easy. Still, they increasingly expect the academic journey to be clear, connected and well supported.

A great student experience does not make higher education less rigorous. But it does make the path through that rigour clearer, more visible and better supported — an ideal all higher education institutions should be aiming for.

The simplicity of our ubiquitous modern-day platforms is often misunderstood.

Their ease of use is not accidental. It is the result of thoughtful design, continuous testing, data-informed improvement and rigorous quality assurance. Every recommendation, notification, search function and progress indicator is designed to reduce uncertainty and help users take the next step with confidence.

The role of data and AI in higher education

Netflix and Spotify show how personalisation and curation can make complex content feel manageable. Behind the scenes, data, machine learning and artificial intelligence help these platforms understand patterns, recommend content and create a sense of relevance.

In higher education, the purpose is different. The goal is not to keep students scrolling. The goal is to help them stay engaged, supported and on track. Used responsibly, data and AI can help institutions identify when students may need support, improve communication and guide learners to the right resources at the right time.

This is where the learning Management System (LMS) becomes critical.

Too often, the LMS becomes a digital filing cabinet filled with documents, announcements and links. A thoughtfully designed LMS should do more than store content. It should guide students through the module, showing them what they are learning, why it matters, what they need to do, when assessments are due and where feedback fits into their progress.

It should therefore be a carefully designed learning environment that helps students understand what to do, why it matters and how each step connects to their progress.

Visibility builds trust

Uber shows how visibility reduces uncertainty: users can track their driver, journey time, and expectations. Higher education should do likewise.

Students shouldn’t hunt for registration, fees, rules, assessment dates, feedback timelines, support services or escalation routes. The clearer the journey, the less confusion and anxiety. In higher education, visible registration status, accreditation, academic rules and support pathways signal trust and boost confidence in the institution and the learning journey.

Why this matters in Higher Education

Trust must be earned continuously. Students and parents need assurance that an institution is legitimate, that qualifications are recognised, and that the learning experience is well governed.

Visible, accurate and easy-to-understand signals — including accreditation, registration status, qualification details, academic rules and student support — do more than meet compliance. They form part of the student experience and demonstrate active quality management.

Student experience is quality assurance in action

Student experience is integral to academic quality and outcomes, and it shows in programme design, LMS structure, assessment communication, feedback and support.

The lesson from our most-used apps is that simple-feeling experiences rely on careful design, robust systems and continuous improvement. This matters for today’s students and especially for Generation Alpha, who expect intuitive, responsive, and personalised digital journeys.

The best institutions will not design only for the students they serve today. They will also pay close attention to the behaviours, expectations and support needs of the students who are coming next. Institutions that make quality visible and trust easy to earn will better navigate academic journeys and demonstrate mature governance.

Nadia Landman is Head: Academic Quality Management Systems at The IIE Academic Centre of Excellence.

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The Santa Shoebox Project has urged South Africans to use Youth Day to support teenagers, saying older children are often overlooked despite needing practical help and encouragement ahead of adulthood.

The appeal comes as the organisation marks its 20th anniversary in 2026. It says it has reached more than 1.5 million children over two decades, including tens of thousands of Grade 11 learners who received items to support them ahead of their matric year.

“It’s always heartwarming and inspiring to see firsthand how teenagers’ lives can be changed by a single act of kindness. Our donors have done wonderful things for our Grade 11 learners over the years,” said Santa Shoebox Project CEO Deb Zelezniak.

The organisation said its work with teenagers has shown how small, targeted gifts can have a direct impact on confidence, dignity and school readiness.

“There are many beautiful stories I can tell about how South Africa has shown up for our Santa Shoebox teenage beneficiaries,” said Zelezniak.

“Once, a Grade 11 boy cried tears of joy when he received a shirt and tie so that he could go into his first job interview with dignity and pride. On other occasions, teenagers have received quality hygiene items, books and stationery that really boosted their confidence ahead of their matric year. A group of boys danced around their class when they received rugby balls.”

“Hair and nail accessories, cute toys and PEP Stores vouchers have also brought great joy to our teens — a class even broke out in song to say thank you.”

“Another class told us they loved their gifts so much, they were “speechless”. And one gift that has made a lasting impression on all of us was when shoebox donors from Secunda gave a Grade 11 teen a life-changing voucher for driving lessons!”

The Santa Shoebox Project was founded in 2006. More than 1.35 million Santa Shoeboxes have been distributed to underprivileged and socially vulnerable children since then.

Each traditional or virtual shoebox contains eight specified items, including soap, a washcloth, a toothbrush, toothpaste, educational supplies, clothing, treats and age-appropriate discretionary items selected for each recipient.

Through its SSP Legacy arm, the organisation said it has reached more than 180,000 children by establishing and upgrading early childhood development centres, investing in teacher training and installing reading corners to support cognitive, language and social-emotional development.

Zelezniak said the anniversary year was an opportunity for South Africans to help create more stories of support for teenagers.

“Let’s show up for South Africa’s teens in 2026 and create more beautiful stories to tell. For a teen, a simple gift can open new worlds of possibility. Knowing that people care about you and your future, is a powerful vote of confidence. Together, we can show our teens that we believe in them.”

The organisation said donors can begin preparing boxes now to spread the cost. Corporate pledges open on 1 August and individual pledges open on 1 September.

The Santa Shoebox Project invited South Africans to sign up as volunteers, make a pledge or become brand partners through its website.

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The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has raised concern over persistent safety challenges in schools, reporting more than 4,600 incidents of violence and over 4,100 cases of vandalism across the province over the past five years.

Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile released the figures during a school safety media briefing held at the Gauteng Gambling Board in Bramley, Johannesburg, on Sunday.

The department said Gauteng remains one of the country’s major crime hotspots, with 118,311 crimes recorded in 2026 — accounting for 26% of all crimes nationally.

Research by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention shows a direct link between community crime levels and incidents in schools.

During the same period, nearly 400 cases of sexual misconduct and about 1,400 search-and-seizure incidents involving prohibited items were recorded at schools.

“These numbers are a concern because they indicate that our schools are under threat,” Maile said.

The department said incidents have fluctuated year-on-year, but violence, vandalism, substance-related offences and learner misconduct remain major disruptions to teaching and learning.

Maile said the provincial department is working with the South African Police Service (SAPS) under a 10-point protocol signed in 2025 to strengthen safety measures in schools.

“The protocol allows us to improve reporting, monitoring, searches and seizures, and to ensure we are able to collect and analyse information consistently so that targeted interventions can be implemented where they are needed most,” he said.

He added that school safety challenges reflect broader social conditions affecting communities.

“Crime, violence, substance abuse and social instability continue to affect our communities and increasingly find expression within our school environments. This is why our Thuto Pele campaign, under the theme ‘It Takes a Village to Raise a Child’, seeks to mobilise communities to become active partners in protecting our schools and learners,” Maile said.

He stressed that safe schools are essential for effective teaching and learning.

“Learners cannot learn effectively in environments characterised by fear, intimidation and violence. Equally, educators cannot teach optimally in unsafe conditions. Safe schools are therefore not only a security imperative, but an educational imperative,” he said.

Community consultations under the Thuto Pele campaign have highlighted ongoing concerns, including bullying, learner-on-learner violence, substance abuse, theft, vandalism and crime around school premises.

Parents also raised concerns about learner safety on their way to and from school.

The department said school safety efforts also include mental health and psychosocial support.

Through a partnership with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), more than 11,000 learners and over 150 educators took part in mental health awareness and suicide prevention programmes in April 2026.

The Teddy Bear Foundation supported more than 100 schools with trauma and abuse interventions, while the Isibindi Ezikoleni Programme reached over 35,000 learners through awareness campaigns and support services.

A comprehensive environmental analysis by the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance assessed more than 1,300 schools in Gauteng and identified 245 high-risk institutions requiring targeted intervention.

It found that gang violence, bullying, substance abuse, theft, vandalism, sexual harassment and surrounding criminal activity remain key safety threats in schools.

To address these challenges, the department has installed CCTV systems at 606 schools and strengthened partnerships with SAPS, alongside expanded mental health programmes.

Maile said interventions must be guided by evidence and community input.

“We remain committed to ensuring that school safety interventions are informed by evidence, community engagement and the lived experiences of learners, educators and parents,” he said.

He added that school safety goes beyond security.

“It is also a learner development issue, a community development issue and ultimately an educational quality issue.”

The department said it is reviewing its School Safety Strategy, with a revised framework expected later this year.

The updated strategy will focus on prevention, early intervention, improved coordination and technology-driven solutions.

Maile said the safety of learners and educators remains non-negotiable, calling on parents, school governing bodies, faith-based organisations and civil society to play an active role in protecting schools and strengthening safe learning environments.

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The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) have welcomed a Western Cape High Court ruling declaring the student allowance payment tender involving four service providers unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional.

In a joint statement, the entities said the judgment marked a significant step towards strengthening governance, transparency and accountability in the administration of student financial aid funds.

The court on June 12 ruled that the procurement process which led to service-level agreements between NSFAS and eZaga Holdings, Coinvest Africa, Noracco Corporation and Tenet Technology was unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid.

The ruling follows years of controversy over the appointment of fintech companies to distribute NSFAS allowances to students.

In 2023, the NSFAS board moved to terminate its relationship with the service providers after a report by Werkmans Attorneys uncovered irregularities in the awarding of the contracts.

The investigation also highlighted an alleged relationship between former NSFAS chief executive officer Andile Nongogo and two service providers, Coinvest Africa and eZaga Holdings, raising concerns about whether adequate due diligence had been conducted before the contracts were awarded.

According to the judgment, the procurement process was tainted by several irregularities, including improper tender cancellations, irregular drafting and approval of bid documents, non-compliance with mandatory requirements and the absence of key internal controls.

NSFAS and the SIU said the ruling vindicated their efforts to identify and address governance failures within the student funding scheme.

“The judgment not only vindicates our efforts in identifying and addressing significant governance failures but also reinforces our resolve to root out maladministration and safeguard the integrity of public procurement processes,” the statement said.

The court, however, found no evidence that the service providers were complicit in corruption, maladministration or other wrongdoing.

As a result, the companies may submit claims for reasonable expenses and profits incurred while fulfilling their obligations under the now-invalid contracts. Any claims will be independently verified before compensation is paid.

NSFAS said it would engage constructively with the affected companies to implement the compensation process in line with the court order.

The scheme also reassured students, parents and the public that it remains committed to restoring confidence in the administration of student financial aid and ensuring public funds are managed with integrity and accountability.

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A proposal for a private-sector-funded bursary scheme has emerged from Deputy Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Mimmy Gondwe’s engagement with private higher education institutions, just days after she called on the sector to help expand access to tertiary education.

Gondwe met with private higher education providers and industry associations on Monday as part of a sector-wide dialogue aimed at identifying practical solutions to South Africa’s growing demand for post-school education and training.

During the discussions, she urged the sector to play a greater role in widening access and assisting government to address capacity constraints in the public higher education system.

The first phase of the engagements has now concluded with a proposal to establish a bursary fund financed, administered and managed by private higher education institutions.

According to the Department of Higher Education and Training, private institutions currently enrol about 313,000 students—roughly 30% of all higher education enrolments in South Africa—while public universities accommodate about 1.1 million students.

The department said the proposed bursary scheme could provide financial support to students at private institutions and help broaden access to tertiary education at a time of increasing pressure on public resources.

The proposal gives practical effect to issues raised during Monday’s discussions, where Gondwe emphasised the need to move beyond annual conversations on access and identify tangible interventions to create more study opportunities for school-leavers.

“Given the tightening fiscal environment in the public sector, we now have to think outside the box and consider collaborating more closely with the private sector to support students and build meaningful public-private partnerships,” Gondwe said.

She said such partnerships could strengthen skills development and improve employability, while easing pressure on the public higher education system.

Beyond the bursary proposal, the engagements identified several areas for deeper collaboration between government and private providers.

These include investment in infrastructure, the establishment of specialised universities, curriculum innovation aligned to labour market demands, and creating a more enabling environment for responsible private investment in higher education.

The discussions also focused on strengthening public-private partnerships to improve skills development, infrastructure expansion and graduate employability.

Participants included ADvTECH Group, Regent Business School, STADIO, Eduvos, the Da Vinci Institute, Boston City Campus, and private higher education associations.

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The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has warned that the inability of most South African learners to read for meaning by the prescribed age constitutes a violation of their constitutional right to basic education.

The committee was briefed on Friday by the Right to Read Campaign, a coalition of civil society and education organisations advocating for improved literacy outcomes and the right of every child to read with understanding.

“The Right to Read Campaign aims to make early-grade literacy a national priority through legislative reform and the development of binding regulations for the first three grades,” the campaign told the committee.

It said its work focuses on advocacy and communications, legal and education interventions, and community mobilisation, with the goal of developing regulations in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE).

The campaign’s Right to Read and Write background paper, developed by 19 members of the Section 11 Committee, argues that a core outcome of the right to basic education is that children should be able to read and write with understanding in their home language by the age of 10.

The committee highlighted findings from the Funda Uphumelele National Survey (FUNS), released by the DBE in November 2025, which assessed foundational reading skills among Grade 1 to 4 learners and reading comprehension in Grades 3 and 4.

According to the survey, only about 30% of learners in Grades 1 to 3 are reading at grade level. The committee noted that if 81% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning, as reflected in the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), it follows that most learners have not developed the foundational skills required for reading proficiency.

The survey also revealed stark disparities linked to socio-economic status and language. Grade 3 learners in quintile 5 schools were almost three times more likely to meet grade-level home-language benchmarks than those in quintile 1 schools.

Grade 3 English home-language learners were four times more likely to reach the required benchmark than Sepedi home-language learners, while the Western Cape recorded the highest proportion of learners meeting grade-level standards, followed by KwaZulu-Natal.

The committee further expressed concern about the number of learners who appear to gain little benefit from their first three years of schooling. Overall, 15% of Grade 3 learners were unable to read a single word, rising to 25% among Sepedi- and Xitsonga-speaking learners.

“Learners in quintile 1 schools are four times more likely to be unable to read a single word than learners in quintile 5 schools,” the committee said.

The committee also cited findings from two South African Standardised Assessment System (SASE) reports released in 2024, which found that only 20% of Grade 3 learners perform at or above the expected grade level.

The reports showed that learners taught in English and Afrikaans generally outperform those taught in African languages. More than 40% of Grade 3 learners in Setswana, Sepedi, Xitsonga, isiNdebele, Sesotho and Tshivenda were classified at the “emerging” performance level.

The committee stressed that learners require a minimum package of reading resources, including lesson plans, graded readers, vocabulary posters and other support materials. It described the new Foundation Phase catalogue as a potentially important intervention but noted that implementation remains uneven because provinces are not compelled to procure specific materials and some face budget constraints.

It said evidence from rigorously evaluated literacy interventions in South Africa points to three key success factors: quality teacher training combined with learning and teaching support materials (LTSM), the use of unemployed youth as teaching assistants, and teacher coaching supported by appropriate learning materials.

The committee noted that some interventions could be implemented through existing programmes and funding streams, including teacher development initiatives, LTSM provision and the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI).

It said research papers on the “4Ts” of literacy — time, text, testing and training — are being prepared and will be submitted to the Department of Basic Education through the National Education and Training Council.

The campaign is also convening roundtable discussions with education experts and stakeholders and consulting communities, including parents, religious leaders and young people, to test proposed regulations and build consensus on solutions to the literacy crisis.

The committee said it would continue discussions on how binding regulations could strengthen the implementation of literacy policies and programmes aimed at addressing South Africa’s reading crisis.

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The University of Fort Hare (UFH) has emerged as the top-performing university in the Eastern Cape for research output, outperforming several institutions and ranking among South Africa’s leading research universities.

According to the 2024 Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Research Outputs Sector-Wide Report, released this month, UFH achieved a weighted per capita research output score of 2.39, surpassing the national average of 2.23.

The score places Fort Hare among only 11 universities nationally that performed above the sector benchmark and makes it the highest-ranked university in the Eastern Cape on the key measure of research productivity and postgraduate success.

UFH also outperformed several institutions, including the University of South Africa (Unisa), which recorded a score of 2.34, and Rhodes University, which achieved 2.36.

UFH Director of Research and Innovation Dr Aceme Nyika said the achievement reflects the university’s commitment to conducting research that responds to societal challenges.

“As an institution that is rooted in communities and conducts research which addresses issues that affect communities, excelling in research means that UFH is making a significant contribution to the socioeconomic development of communities in the Eastern Cape,” he said.

Nyika said the ranking demonstrates the progress made by the university despite historical challenges.

“Being the only historically disadvantaged university among the top 11 universities in the country demonstrates that UFH is making strides in transforming itself into a research-focused university against all odds,” he said.

The university attributed its improved performance to a series of interventions introduced after research output declined between 2017 and 2021.

A major turning point came in 2021 when the institution separated its Academic Affairs Division into dedicated Teaching and Learning and Research, Partnerships and Innovation portfolios, allowing for greater focus on research development.

UFH also introduced mentorship programmes for emerging academics, research seed grants and specialised training programmes to strengthen research capacity.

As part of its research strategy, the university identified five key focus areas: renewable energy; agriculture and climate change; infectious diseases and medicinal plants; township economies; and African liberation heritage.

The institution has also intensified efforts to secure research funding from the private sector, national partners and international collaborators.

The impact of these initiatives is evident in the growth of National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researchers at the university. The number increased from 29 in 2021 to 53 in 2025, representing growth of nearly 83%.

The university also achieved its first-ever B1 NRF rating in 2025 after producing two B2-rated researchers the previous year.

Postgraduate research capacity has expanded significantly. The proportion of permanently employed academics holding doctoral qualifications increased from 47% in 2022 to more than 65% in 2025, strengthening supervision capacity and contributing to higher master’s and doctoral graduation rates.

“The university’s improved postgraduate throughput contributed to its weighted per capita research output, which has now surpassed the national average,” Nyika said.

UFH plans to further strengthen its research and innovation profile through the establishment of a new Research and Innovation Hub, for which funding has already been secured.

The facility is expected to support collaboration between researchers, industry and investors while helping to commercialise innovations developed at the university.

The university said it is also advancing plans to establish a Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, building on its strengths in agricultural and animal science research.

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Sergeant Marline Niemand is part of a new generation of police officers using mounted policing to reach areas where vehicles cannot easily tread.

A SAPS horse rider with the Ekurhuleni Mounted Unit in Gauteng, Niemand carries out crime-prevention duties on horseback, patrolling areas such as mountainous terrain, riverbanks, farms and informal settlements.

Her four-legged colleague, “Bujo”, has become what she considers a loyal best friend, helping her serve communities and fight crime in a unique way.

Niemand joined the police in 2012 at the age of 21 after applying while serving as a volunteer at Springs Police Station.

Now 35, she remains driven by what “an unwavering passion for policing and a determination to expand her knowledge on every aspect of law enforcement”.

Becoming a police officer had always been her dream, although her mother initially had reservations about her chosen career path.

With her father being a police officer and her role model, SAPS said it was “only meant to be” for Niemand to fall in love with the profession.

She was ready to submit her application to join the organisation when she turned 18, but did not have her mother’s blessing at the time. However, Niemand refused to give up on her dream and three years later she was enlisted.

Her love and passion for animals first attracted her to the K9 Unit.

Niemand said she admires horses for their intelligence and enjoys the specialised nature of mounted policing.

Performing crime-prevention duties on horseback is pure joy for her, despite having no horse-riding experience before joining the unit.

She trained for the Basic Mounted Riding and Stable Official courses at the Potchefstroom Mounted Academy, where SAPS also breeds its horses.

“It is said that one policeman on a horse back is equal to 20 policemen on foot,” said Niemand.

In celebration of Youth Month, SAPS said it was highlighting the energy, dedication and leadership of young officers through its national campaign, “SAPS Youth – Leading the Reset Agenda.”

This year’s campaign recognises young men and women in blue who are playing an active role in advancing the SAPS’ vision of professional, ethical and community-focused policing.

In a message to South African youth, Niemand said: “I joined the SAPS because it is my calling, my passion, my childhood dream. I will continue to serve my community with dignity, honour, and pride.”

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The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) said on Tuesday that the suspension of Insurance Sector Training Authority (Inseta) CEO Gugu Mkhize should trigger a forensic investigation into governance, procurement and financial management concerns at the public entity.

OUTA has for several years raised concerns about governance, procurement, transparency and accountability at Inseta.

The organisation said the suspension should mark the beginning, rather than the end, of efforts to establish the full extent of any maladministration or wrongdoing at the SETA.

The Sunday Times reported that Mkhize had been placed on precautionary suspension over failures regarding a multimillion-rand tertiary education bursary funding scheme, which had left hundreds of students unpaid for the first five months of the year.

According to the report, 879 vulnerable beneficiaries faced threats of eviction, food insecurity and possible academic exclusion after Inseta paid Mabophe Business Solutions almost R70 million in March, but the funds did not reach students, universities or accommodation providers.

The Sunday Times said that Inseta later made a direct emergency payment of R4.6 million during the week of 21 May, while Inseta said the suspension was a procedural step and “not a finding of wrongdoing”.

Inseta manages billions of rands collected through skills development levies and is responsible for advancing skills development within South Africa’s insurance sector. OUTA said those public funds must be managed with the highest levels of integrity, transparency and accountability.

“For years, serious questions have been raised about governance, procurement, and transparency at Inseta,” said Wayne Duvenage, OUTA CEO.

“A suspension is not accountability. It is the start of a process. South Africans now need assurance that these concerns will be investigated thoroughly, independently, and without fear or favour.”

OUTA is currently challenging Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela’s decision to reappoint Mkhize for a further five-year term from 2025 to 2030.

It has instituted legal proceedings to review and set aside the decision to reappoint Mkhize to the Inseta Board, contending that the appointment process was procedurally flawed and failed to consider concerns relating to governance and accountability adequately.

During Mkhize’s tenure as the accounting authority, Inseta received qualified audit outcomes for five consecutive years.

OUTA said it had submitted numerous requests for information to Inseta over several years in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, seeking records related to governance and procurement matters. Despite following the prescribed processes, it said the requested information was not provided.

After escalating the matter to the Information Regulator, OUTA said it continued to pursue all available avenues to obtain access to the information and remained committed to ensuring transparency and accountability at Inseta.

“Transparency is not optional in publicly funded institutions,” said Duvenage.

“When access to information is repeatedly denied, and concerns remain unanswered, public confidence is undermined. Accountability requires openness, particularly where public funds are involved.”

OUTA said any investigation should go beyond the immediate circumstances of Mkhize’s suspension and examine governance, procurement, and financial management concerns within Inseta.

“A credible investigation must follow the evidence wherever it leads,” said Duvenage.

“It should establish whether there was irregular or wasteful expenditure, whether procurement processes complied with the law, whether conflicts of interest existed, and whether any provisions of the Public Finance Management Act were breached.”

OUTA said the suspension represented an important development, but that accountability would ultimately be measured by the quality of the investigation and the consequences that followed if wrongdoing was uncovered.

“If misconduct is identified, appropriate disciplinary, civil, and criminal action must follow. South Africans deserve confidence that public institutions are governed in the public interest and not for the benefit of a few.”

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