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Nmathemba Simelane (36) from Tsakane in Gauteng is an unemployed mother of five who cares for her children with the help of the Child Support Grant she receives from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).

Presenting the 2023 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana recently announced that social grants will increase by at least five percent.

The increase means that Simelane will, from 1 April 2023, receive R505 per child from R480 in 2022.

President Cyril Ramaphosa during his recent State of the Nation Address (SoNA) defined South Africa as a country that rises above adversity, capturing and igniting hope. The nine Premiers also shared plans in line with the SoNA through their 2023 State of the Province Addresses. These also focused on priority issues including the energy crisis, service delivery, climate change, job creation and healthcare.

The fight against  crime and corruption continues to intensify with Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana allocating R14 billion towards this cause during his Budget Speech recently.

Government is expected to spend at least R1.4 trillion over the next three years on higher and basic education and the sports, arts and culture function.

This is according to National Treasury documents presented alongside Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s 2023 Budget Speech recently.  

AVBOB and Oxford University Press is calling for South Africans to nominate schools which will be eligible to receive one of 260 trolley libraries equipped with books written in one South African language. Nominations close on the 14th of April.

AVBOB and the Oxford University Press will be launching Year two of the AVBOB Road to Literary Trolley Library campaign.

The campaign aims to instill a culture of reading and contribute to improving numeracy skills of primary schools in South Africa.

South Africans have heeded the call to visit the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) Voter Portal to register online to vote.

The IEC recently held an intensive two-week online voter registration campaign, themed Your Vote Is Your Voice. The campaign ended on the 3rd of March.

Molatelo Shirley Tala (23) is a third-year chemical engineering student at the University of Pretoria. She is appealing to first-year students at a higher education institution to seek help when they struggle to adjust to university life especially after attending a rural high school.

“I come from a rural area and a disadvantaged background. I had to walk for about five kilometers to and from school every morning,” said Tala who is from Lephalale in Limpopo.

She adds that the high school she went to had no computers or internet access.

As part of the measles immunisation drive, various provincial departments are working around the clock to ensure that children under the age of 15 are protected against this serious viral infection in youngsters.

The Department of Health, working closely with the sister departments of Basic Education and Social Development, provinces and various stakeholders have embarked on a nationwide child immunisation campaign to vaccinate children at schools, early childhood development centres and other public places.