Good News 14:00

BULLETIN 8 February 2 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# A new compact Volkswagen bakkie may be on the cards for South Africa, filling the void that will be left when Nissan discontinues its popular NP200 later this year. Volkswagen earlier announced plans to build in new small sports utility vehicle in the country, and now revealed this may lead to the production of a half-ton bakkie. The new SUV, to be produced at the Kariega plant in the Eastern Cape, will be a cross-over built on the same platform that underpins the Polo.

# More than five-thousand new Stellenbosch University students will be taking part in the institution’s annual Social Impact Community Morning today. This is part of the official welcoming programme for newcomers. The university’s, Chevaan Peters, says the students will be involved in several activities including donating stationery packs to learners, handing out food parcels and embarking on a beach clean-up:

# Non-profit organisation, Hennops River Revival, says it will continue with periodic corporate and community volunteer clean-ups with a strict no-river water contact policy. This comes after halting in-river clean-up operations in Hennops River. This is due to the river experiencing an overwhelming concentration of sewage, surpassing the natural water content to a highly concerning degree. The Hennops River is one of Gauteng’s most polluted rivers. The organisation’s founder, Tarryn Johnston, says she is concerned about the increased risks of waterborne diseases, especially during the rainy season.

# Disney has announced a sequel to its hit animated musical film Moana, set to be released on the 27th of November. The first film was a huge success, generating more than 12.8-billion-rand at the box office. Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the 2016 film, is expected to reprise her role in the animated sequel. Disney CEO, Bob Iger, says Moana 2 will take audiences on an expansive new voyage with Moana, Maui and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers.

# And finally: British amateur photographer, Nima Sarikhani, has won this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award. The winning photograph is titled, Ice Bed, and is an image of a napping polar bear curled up on an iceberg. It was captured off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. It was chosen from a shortlist of 25 images, which was previously narrowed down from around 50-thousand entries. Sarikhani says he hopes that the photograph inspires hope that there is still time to fix the climate mess humans have caused.

Stay tuned for more news………….