Cabinet has called on South Africans to unite behind the country’s athletes as they fly the flag high and make the nation proud.

During its meeting this week, Cabinet wished the country’s athletes success in the 15th World Championships in Athletics currently taking place in Beijing, China and those participating in the 11th All-Africa Games between 4 and 19 September 2015 in Brazzaville, Congo.

SABC journalists

Cabinet also congratulated the SABC journalists Dennis Tshetlhane and Sam Msibi for winning the Television Category of the SADC Media Awards, and high-school learner Imbelani Matibe for winning the SADC Essay School Category Competition.

Women’s Month celebrations

In a statement released on Friday, Cabinet also thanked all South Africans that joined in the celebrations of the Women’s Month.

“The events that were held by various organisations and government which celebrated the success we have made in addressing the gender disparities in our society. The month was used to reflect on the challenges we still face in respective the abuse of women and children,” Cabinet said in a statement on Friday. – SAnews.gov.za

Stockholm – Sarah True defended her title on Saturday as the American dominated the run leg to bring home a back-to-back title in the 2015 ITU World Triathlon Stockholm event. Reclaiming the crown after winning her first WTS title in Stockholm last year, True picked up her first WTS victory of the season with a [...]

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Cape Town – Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha said he is receiving legal advice to determine whether or not to intervene in the scheduled release of the jailed paralympian Oscar Pistorius.

The Minister said this during an impromptu briefing to journalists following his site visit to the Pollsmoor Correctional Centre in the Western Cape, on Tuesday.

He said this days after the department announced that Pistorius would be released on Friday after serving 10 months of his five year jail sentence for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead on Valentine’s Day two years ago.

Minister Masutha said after receiving a complaint from a gender activism organisation – which raised concerns about the sensitivity of releasing Pistorius during Women’s Month - he was set to meet with his legal advisors late on Tuesday afternoon.

“I did receive representations from one non-governmental organisation, a gender activism organisation, because of a feeling that releasing him in Women’s Month is a bit insensitive given the nature of the offence and the victim involved.

“I think the National Council of Correctional Services is sitting this week and you may be aware that one of its statutory responsibilities is to give me advice on matters of policy.

“So I have possibly another opportunity there to get further advice and we will make sure that we take a decision before Friday as to whether it would be necessary or even appropriate for us to make any intervention in the face of the announcement that the department made based on the prescripts of the law itself,” he said.

Pistorius’ release comes after a high court judge sentenced him to five years in jail for shooting Steenkamp dead through his bathroom door of his then Silver Woods home outside Pretoria.

After being jailed for culpable homicide, he is now eligible to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest conditions.

State prosecutors have launched a court bid to have Pistorius convicted of murder, which comes with a minimum sentence of 15 years.

The Minister said on Tuesday that the legal advice he will receive will help him decide whether or not to intervene in the release of the paralympic star.

“If the law requires of us to do anything in relation to this matter, we will do so.

“But at this stage, I do not want to pre-empt what will come out of the advice that I will receive and based on that advice, I should be in a better position to determine what would be the appropriate course of action,” he said.

Minister’s Pollsmoor site visit

Prior to the briefing, the Minister did a walkabout of the Pollsmoor prison to assess the level of service delivery at the centre.

Ahead of his walk-about, he met the regional executive management team, where they discussed issues ranging from overcrowding, gansterism, Tuberculosis to smuggling of contraband into correctional centres.

His tour included a visit to the admissions centre, the mother-to-baby unit as well as the juvenile section of the centre.

He interacted with the juvenile offenders, who told him that they were satisfied with the centre’s catering and that they did not have any serious complaints about the conditions at the prison or how they are treated by wardens.

Briefing the media afterwards, he said overcrowding remained a challenge, especially at the centre’s remand cells.

He said this was because courts were taking long to finalise cases and the backlog was to blame for the overcrowding.

The Minister said he would meet with relevant regional heads of the justice cluster to see how the case flow backlog can be resolved. – SAnews.gov.za

Children with disabilities will soon feel safer at special school hostels following the department’s intervention plan.

An inter-sectoral committee is in the process of being established to develop an intervention plan for special school hostels, the Department of Basic Education said on Tuesday.

The department said the committee, which will consist of representation from the Departments of Basic Education and Social Development, will be part of the overall Departmental Strategy for Safety in Schools, headed by the Directorate Safety in Education.

Although the primary focus will be on special school hostels, the department said issues such as bullying of children with disabilities in mainstream schools will also be addressed.

“In 2012 and 2013, joint interventions were conducted in two special schools, respectively in the Eastern Cape and in North West provinces and turn-around strategies developed and implemented.

“The department has also developed guidelines for the provisioning of boarding facilities, where minimum safety requirements have been highlighted,” the department said.

Schools are expected to draft their own school-specific Code of Conduct for learners based on the sample Code of Conduct for learners provided to all provinces.

“The Codes of Conduct should provide parameters for appropriate behaviour and consequences when behaviour is unacceptable.”

The department has further developed a National School Safety Framework which will apply to all schools.

The framework serves as a management tool for provincial and district officials responsible for school safety, including principals, Senior Management Team Members, SGB members, teachers and learners to identify and manage risk and threats of violence in and around schools.

The framework is critical in empowering all responsible officials in understanding their responsibilities regarding school safety. – SAnews.gov.za