Good News

BULLETIN 17 July

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, will lead a Mandela Day commemoration in Alexandra, Gauteng, tomorrow. This year’s Mandela Day theme is, It’s still in our hands to combat poverty and inequity. Motshekga will attend an event organised in partnership with the South African National Service Institute and the Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust. The event will include a parade and capability showcase by the National Defence Force, tree planting, and the launch of the Keep Your Kasi Clean campaign.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng Department of Health will mark Mandela Day by launching its third surgical marathon, focusing on life-changing operations like prostate, cataract, cleft palate, and stoma surgeries. Over one-thousand procedures are planned across public hospitals in partnership with private health providers. The department’s Motalatale Modiba says Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko will reopen key facilities such as the upgraded urology unit at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital and the breast centre of excellence at Helen Joseph:

# The Vrystaat Arts Festival celebrates 25 years of cultural richness at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. Festival director Michael Garbett says the event continues to showcase diverse voices, genres, and art forms. This year’s lineup included 72 productions, 21 book talks, and international acts through partnerships. It also highlights a tribute to Nico Luwes, an experienced professor of drama and theatre arts and professional dramatist and theatre director who was a significant figure in Free State theatre.

# A team of three students from the University of Fort Hare’s Department of Animal and Pasture Science won the national debate competition at the 55th South African Society for Animal Sciences Congress. Each debate featured two teams, one arguing for and one against the motion. The debate topics explored key issues in modern agriculture, including the role of nutritional strategies, genetic modification, and artificial intelligence in climate-smart farming. The UFH team, known as the Ruminant Rebels, beat the North-West University’s Purple Army Team in the final.

# And finally: American Olympic champion gymnast, Simone Biles, and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada, were crowned best female and male athlete of the year at the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards in Los Angeles. Biles also won best championship performance for her efforts at the Paris Olympics, where she won three gold medals. American rugby star Ilona Maher won best breakthrough athlete, while best team went to the Philadelphia Eagles, which won its second Super Bowl in February.

Stay tuned for more news………….