Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer has urged principals to release the report cards of all pupils, regardless of whether they had outstanding debt with the school or not. "My office received a number of complaints from parents last year that schools had refused to release their children’s reports cards because the parents had not paid outstanding school fees," she said. "This practice is completely unacceptable and will not be […]
The University of the Witwatersrand has confirmed its fee increase will be limited to an average of 8% for the 2017 academic year. Tuition and residence fees will increase by 8% which also applies to international students, the institution said in a statement. “The only exception is for postgraduate programmes run in the Wits School of Governance, where tuition fees will increase by 9.5%. These increases are in line with […]
Four men accused of murdering teenager Franziska Blöchliger are due to appear at the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. The four are facing charges of murder, rape and robbery with aggravating circumstances. A post-mortem found that Franziska, 16, was strangled and suffocated and had sustained blunt-force trauma when she was attacked in Tokai Forest on March 7. Sand was found in her throat and she had been raped vaginally and […]
The High Court in Pretoria is expected to hear arguments from government on Tuesday on reasons for wanting to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Representatives for President Jacob Zuma, Justice Minister Michael Masutha, the National Assembly speaker, the chair of the National Council of Provinces as well as the Department of International Relations and Co-operation are expected to address the court. This comes a day after the Democratic […]
With public frustration over the slow pace of service at various branches, the Department of Home Affairs has launched a daily Home Affairs Bulletin. The bulletin is intended to broadcast updates on the volumes being experienced at the various Home Affairs offices in the Cape Metro area twice a day on local and community radio stations. VOC listeners can hear the morning bulletin at 8.50 am in the Breakfast Beat […]
"She was my flower. You plucked her." These were the words Shawn Lewis uttered to his 10-year-old daughter’s killer on Monday before he collapsed in the witness stand. Lewis, wearing a faded shirt bearing Shamonique Claasen’s picture, cried and struggled to breathe. His thin arms slipped from the wooden stand and he had to be ushered out of courtroom two of the Western Cape High Court. He was testifying in […]
The ANC's National Disciplinary Committee has found ANC Western Cape provincial chairperson Marius Fransman guilty on two counts of misconduct and has suspended his ANC membership for five years. The two counts of misconduct related to "abusing his office for the purpose of attempting to obtain a sexual favour from Louisa Wynand, and for making public statements which brought the ANC into disrepute", the ANC said in a statement on […]
Marriage, a journey through life that many women aspire to embark upon, in the minds of the romantic is viewed as a testing but wonderful experience. However, for many South African women, who wed non-south Africans, nuptials are accompanied by great difficulties. For one South African wife and mother, known only as Zohyroh, marriage was anything but a bed of roses. After marrying her Egyptian husband, Muhammad* in 2008, six […]
The recent death of a Cape Town man in police custody has raised alarm within the Cape Town community about ‘stop-and-search’ police operations. Last week, Nadeem Khan died in police custody after police accused him of being in possession of a stolen cell-phone. Khan was arrested outside a local mall in Rondebosch East where he was meeting a friend who intended to purchase a cell-phone. During the incident, Khan called […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
