Ruling Party Must Achieve Victory in 2024, Says President
Ruling party African National Congress President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on party members and leaders to ensure that, through campaigning and visibility across the country, the party wins with an outright majority in next year's general elections, reports SABC News. Ramaphosa emphasized the need for visibility across the country, and effective campaigning with the help of volunteers, to secure victory. The debate on the possibility of a coalition government at a national and provincial level continues to gain momentum, with other parties vowing to ensure that the ANC dips below the 50% mark in the election. The ANC won the 2019 elections with a 57% majority. Ramaphosa says the ANC has an obligation to make sure that victory is certain in 2024.
Soweto Hospital Performs Its First Heart Surgery
Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto has conducted its first heart surgery, reports eNCA. The patient Tumisang Motsikwa had been stabbed while trying to help a mugging victim. Surgeon Ismail Ebrahim led the procedure, which would normally have been done in a regional or tertiary hospital, due to the urgency of the case. However, Motsikwa was too unstable to be transferred out, so the operation was conducted on the hospital's premises.
Transport Department to Scrap Over 3,000 Unroadworthy Minibus Taxis
The Department of Transport has said that it's aiming to scrap more than three 3,000 taxis that are not roadworthy in the next five months to improve the safety of the vehicles on the roads., reports EWN. Since the beginning of the programme in 2006, the government managed to scrap more than 81,000 unsafe vehicles, with R5 billion paid out to taxi owners in return. The department spokesperson Collen Msibi said that unroadworthy vehicles were the largest contributors to road accidents. The Taxi Recapitalisation Programme has introduced safety requirements, seat size and number, branding and colour coding to differentiate legal taxis from illegal ones.
