Good News
BULLETIN 15 August 2 pm
Good afternoon, here is your Good News:
# Olympic silver medal winner Bayanda Walaza has thanked his schoolmates at Curro Hazeldean High School in Pretoria for supporting him as he chased his dream in Paris. The 18-year-old was part of the four-by-100-metre relay team. Walaza is the youngest athlete from South Africa to win an Olympic medal since the country’s re-admission into international sport in 1992. At a welcoming ceremony at his school, he acknowledged that the encouragement he got from teachers and learners was amazing:
# South African Grammy Award-winning pop star Tyla’s song Jump has been included in former US president Barack Obama’s annual summer playlist. The song has more than 140-million streams on Spotify, and Tyla performed it at the BET Awards, where she received two honours. Other singers who landed on Obama’s playlist include Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ‘Em, Billie Eilish’s Chihiro, I Can’t Get No Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones, and Tommy Richman’s Million Dollar Baby. Obama has curated and shared his summer playlist almost every year since 2015.
# The African Critical Inquiry Programme has awarded the 2024 Ivan Karp Doctoral Research Awards to two University of the Witwatersrand PhD students. A student in the Division of History, Sasha Rai’s research topic is, What we do in the shadows: A history and culture of kink in South Africa. Phindile Tabata, a student of African Literature, is investigating black women’s self-published literature and the publishing ecosystem in South Africa from 2010 to 2020. Grant amounts vary depending on research plans, with a maximum award of 50-thousand-rand.
# The Bluff community in Durban has rallied to support Isaiah 54 Children’s Sanctuary through a generous food drive. The sanctuary is a non-profit organisation that relies on donations from the community to assist them in taking care of vulnerable children in their care. The community drive saw the collection of essentials including bread, rice, sugar and butter. The sanctuary, which was founded in March 2005, says the donation will go a long way in providing meals for the children.
# And finally, therapy dogs at Johannesburg’s Netcare Olivedale Hospital are transforming cancer patients’ treatment experiences with their comforting presence. As part of the TOP Dogs programme, these specially trained canines visit the hospital monthly to bring joy, reduce stress, and boost the morale of patients. Netcare’s Cancer Care quality manager doctor Julie Herold says the interaction with the dogs gives patients some sense of normality, and loads of selfless love and affection when coming for their radiotherapy treatment.
Stay tuned for more news………….