By Charmaine Ndlela

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has called for stronger education systems across Africa, saying technology and artificial intelligence cannot replace basic literacy and numeracy skills.

Speaking at the Education World Forum 2026 in London, Gwarube highlighted South Africa’s efforts to strengthen foundational learning and expand Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes.

“South Africa is investing R10 billion over three years to expand Early Childhood Development, and a further R496 million to create 115 000 ECD spaces in three of our most rural provinces of Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. These investments signify our commitment to children whose futures should not be determined by the circumstances of their birth,” she said.

“As a country we can be proud of the strategic shift we have made towards strengthening the foundations of learning.”

The R496 million allocation is linked to an outcomes-based early childhood development fund aimed at expanding access to early learning in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

The Education World Forum is being held in London from 17 to 20 May under the theme “Educating for a Shared Future: Peace, Planet, Purpose and Pathways”. The forum brings together education ministers, policymakers and education sector leaders to discuss the future of global education systems.

Gwarube said South Africa had made a strategic shift towards prioritising foundational learning for the country’s 13.7 million learners.

“Strong futures require strong foundations,” she said.

She said the issue was particularly important for Africa, which has the youngest population in the world, making education critical to turning demographic growth into economic opportunity.

“If Africa is to rise, Africa’s children must rise first,” she said.

Referring to South Africa’s literacy crisis, Gwarube said about eight in 10 children could not read for meaning by the age of 10.

She described this as more than a literacy challenge, calling it a “future-readiness crisis” that affected learners’ ability to succeed in gateway subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Technology.

“When a child cannot read for meaning, every subject becomes difficult and opportunities become limited,” she said.

While many countries were discussing artificial intelligence, automation and the future digital economy, Gwarube said governments had to recognise that meaningful innovation could not happen without strong educational foundations.

“No country can build a high-tech economy on weak educational foundations,” she said.

“No country can leapfrog literacy, and no country can automate its way around numeracy.”

Gwarube said the future economy would require children who could think critically, solve problems, adapt and create, rather than learners who only knew how to operate technology.

She posed what she described as an urgent question for learners facing the future: “Will I be able to read well enough to participate in that future at all?”

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By Levy Masiteng 

Gauteng recorded 69 125 new hypertension cases in the 2025/26 financial year, including 26 088 among adults aged 18 to 44, as health authorities warned that high blood pressure was increasingly affecting younger residents.

The figures were released by the Gauteng Department of Health in a statement issued on Sunday to mark World Hypertension Day, observed annually on 17 May.

“The Gauteng Department of Health has noted with concern the increasing number of adults under the age of 45 diagnosed with hypertension across the province,” the department said.

“During the 2025/26 financial year, from April 2025 to March 2026, Gauteng recorded 69 125 new hypertension cases across the province. Of these, 26 088 cases were recorded among adults aged between 18 and 44. Contributing factors include unhealthy eating habits, obesity, lack of physical exercise, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.”

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is often described as a “silent killer” because many people do not experience symptoms until serious complications develop.

“Hypertension, commonly known as the ‘silent killer’, often develops without noticeable symptoms and remains one of the leading contributors to stroke, heart disease, kidney failure and premature death,” the department said.

The department said routine screening remained critical, especially because many residents may not know their blood pressure status.

“As hypertension frequently presents without symptoms, routine screening remains essential. In a bid to strengthen early detection and prevention efforts, the Department screened approximately 8.7 million adults for hypertension across Gauteng during the 2025/26 financial year.”

Public healthcare facilities in the province provide free blood pressure checks and chronic disease management services for people diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes and related conditions.

“In addition, public healthcare facilities provide free blood pressure screening and integrated chronic disease management services for individuals diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes and related conditions,” the department said.

The department said its ward-based outreach teams and community health workers would continue providing health education, promoting healthier lifestyles and encouraging residents to undergo free blood pressure screening at public healthcare facilities and during community outreach activities.

“To reduce the risk of hypertension, residents are encouraged to exercise regularly, reduce salt intake, stop smoking and limit alcohol consumption. Individuals diagnosed with hypertension are advised to take their medication as prescribed by healthcare professionals and adhere to treatment plans to effectively manage the condition.”

Residents on chronic medication were also encouraged to register for the Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution Programme, which allows patients to collect medication closer to their homes and reduce waiting times at healthcare facilities.

“Residents can also make use of the Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution Programme to collect chronic medication closer to their homes and reduce waiting times at healthcare facilities. Visit your nearest clinic to register on the CCMDD system.”

The World Health Organisation said the 2026 World Hypertension Day theme was “Controlling Hypertension Together: check your blood pressure regularly, defeat the silent killer”. It said the day was aimed at raising global awareness about high blood pressure and promoting prevention, detection and control.

The WHO’s Regional Office for Africa said hypertension was rising rapidly across the region, driven by urbanisation, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol and tobacco. It said the trend posed a growing threat to health, well-being and sustainable development.

Globally, WHO estimates that 1.4 billion adults aged 30 to 79 had hypertension in 2024, while about 600 million adults with hypertension were unaware they had the condition. It also estimated that only about 320 million adults with hypertension had it under control.

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By Levy Masiteng 

Nearly 9 000 learners across South Africa will receive essential stationery packs after R1 million was raised through the Checkers Act For Change Back-to-School project in partnership with non-profit organisation Meals on Wheels.

The organisation announced on Monday that the fundraising initiative will help provide learners with school supplies, especially in low-income schools.

This includes pens, exercise books, calculators and other classroom essentials.

Meals on Wheels said it is working closely with schools and communities nationwide to ensure the stationery reaches learners and schools most in need.

“We see first-hand the challenges families face every day. Through our network, we’re able to help ensure these supplies reach learners in communities that are often overlooked,” said Gershon Naidoo, the national programmes and marketing director of Meals on Wheels.

The campaign was launched at the start of this year’s academic calendar.

According to the organisation, funds were raised through the sale of a limited-edition Act For Change exam pad, sold in Checkers stores and on the Checkers Sixty60 app, with R2 from every purchase going directly towards the stationery fund. 

Customers also contributed by donating R5 at till points in stores nationwide.

Several leading stationery brands supported the initiative by contributing a portion of proceeds from selected products. 

These included Pritt, Bostik, Henkel, Staedtler, Penflex, Bic, Butterfly, Casio, KV Art, Freedom Stationery, Bidvest, Palm Stationery, CTP Stationery, Sappi and Plastafrica.

Naidoo said access to basic school supplies can significantly improve a learner’s ability to participate confidently in class and focus on their education.

He said the overwhelming support for the campaign demonstrated how small contributions can collectively create meaningful change.

“Ensuring learners have the basic tools they need allows them to focus on learning and engage more fully in the classroom,” chief sustainability officer at the Shoprite Group, Sanjeev Raghubir said. 

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A wave of militant attacks on schools in Nigeria over the past week has left more than 80 children missing, local officials and a rights group said Sunday, the latest in school abductions in the West African country where the government is battling an array of jihadi and other armed groups.

The attackers targeted a primary school in the conflict-battered state of Borno, in Nigeria’s northeastern corner, sometime between Wednesday and Thursday. The militants abducted 42 children there, in the Askira Uba and Chibok areas.

Amnesty International said that attack took place in the village of Mussa near Sambisa Forest, a stronghold of militants from Boko Haram and its splinter group, an Islamic State affiliate known as the Islamic State West Africa Province.

Across the country, two secondary schools in the southwestern Oyo state were attacked hours apart on Friday, and at least 40 children were abducted there, according to Amnesty’s Nigeria branch. Such abductions are rare in this particular area.

The rights group warned on Sunday that the threat of abduction is forcing many children out of school, while underage girls are being pulled out of classrooms and forced into marriage by families seeking to protect them from school attacks.

Peter Wabba, a government official from Mussa, said on Sunday that he was told the “exact number” of children abducted in Oyo was 48.

“The government is assuring us that they are doing their possible best to see that these children are rescued but up till now, we are still waiting,” he told The Associated Press.

Amnesty also said that the authorities “never fulfill promises to investigate the incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

“Victims and their families continue to be denied access to justice,” it said.

On Saturday, police spokesperson Ayanlade Olayinka told the AP that three gunmen were detained in connection with the Oyo attack, which took place in the Oriire area, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) from the city of Lagos.

The suspects were identified by the community and arrested, Olayinka said. Police did not say if they were searching for more suspects.

Abductions of schoolchildren are common in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, especially in the country’s north. Last year, two mass abductions from schools rocked the nation, with over 300 children taken in the northern region.

School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Nigeria, and analysts say it’s often because armed gangs see schools as strategic targets they can exploit to draw more attention.

AP

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By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Three universities of technology have launched a high court application in Pretoria over an unresolved dispute with the South African Dental Technicians Council (SADTC).  

In a joint statement, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Durban University of Technology (DUT), and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) said discussions with the SADTC on accreditation, assessment and registration processes had continued since 2019 without resolution.

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The three universities are the only South African institutions training dental technicians and technologists.

They said the unresolved discussions had resulted in no new student intakes over a number of years, placing the programmes at risk.

“The five students who graduated from TUT since 2023 constitute the country’s graduate output,” the universities said.

“Dental technicians and technologists are essential members of the oral healthcare team. A prolonged shortage will harm public access to dental services.”

The universities said that technician work undergoes multiple layers of professional review before reaching the dentist, who retains final responsibility for patient care.

The institutions are asking the high court for various orders, including setting aside what they said was SADTC’s unfair and unilaterally imposed current final practical examination framework.

According to the statement, the framework requires a diploma student to fail if any one of 112 binary pass/fail criteria is failed. The universities said the framework was not aligned with national or international norms and standards.

They are also asking the court to require the SADTC to register 159 “pipeline students” who lawfully completed their qualifications before 2022.

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The universities said the application was launched to enable the sustainable continuation of dental technology training and to ensure continued student intake in the programmes.

“We call on the Department of Higher Education and Training and the National Department of Health to support a swift, constructive outcome that safeguards high-quality dental technology education and meets South Africa’s oral health needs,” the universities said.

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By Levy Masiteng 

Commuters in several provinces will pay more for minibus taxi trips after taxi associations this week announced fare increases on local and long-distance routes.

In the Western Cape, the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) confirmed during a media briefing in Bellville on Thursday that fares on several routes would increase from Monday.

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Speaking at the briefing, Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (CODETA) chairperson Nceba Enge apologised to commuters for the short notice.

“We want to apologise to the commuters for maybe not giving them enough notice. But prior to this increase, we issued a statement where we notified our commuters that prices will increase because operators cannot pay for their vehicles. Their vehicles are being repossessed by financial institutions. So that forced us with no choice but to increase,” he said.

Enge said CODETA and the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) had met in Nyanga to discuss the effect of rising fuel costs before consulting regions across the Western Cape.

Commuters on some local routes can expect increases of between R2 and R3, while long-distance routes will also be affected.

The single-trip fare to the Eastern Cape will increase from R1,000 to R1,150, while the special Thursday trip will rise from R1,250 to R1,400. The special Wednesday trip will increase from R1,200 to R1,350.

Passengers travelling to Saldanha will also pay more, with the single-trip fare increasing from R1,000 to R1,200 and the special trip fare rising from R1,300 to R1,450.

The long-distance fare increases are expected to take effect from Thursday, 21 May.

Gauteng

In Gauteng, the Hebron Taxi Association said its fare increases would take effect from next month. The association said local-distance fares would increase by R3, while short-distance commuters would pay R5 more.

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The Hammanskraal Taxi Organisation also confirmed fare increases from next month, with local routes increasing by R3 and short-distance fares by R5.

Similarly, the Northern Tshwane Taxi Industry announced fare hikes effective from next month, with commuters expected to pay an additional R3 on local trips and R5 on short-distance routes.

Limpopo

In Limpopo, the Seshego Polokwane Taxi Association (SPTA) confirmed that fare increases would come into effect from Monday.

Affected routes include Seshego to Polokwane town, Extension 70s, Emdo, Ladanna, Mall of the North and surrounding areas. The fare is expected to increase by R5.

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“After careful consideration, the industry has been left with no choice but to adjust fares in order to keep services running and protect the long-term sustainability of public transport for commuters,” SANTACO said.

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