Riesling Country

Travelling long distances between township areas and schools is never easy -- learners are exposed to crime and other dangers while commuting. But despite these challenges, matriculants from Sea Point High in Cape Town have managed an 82% pass rate in the National Senior Certificate examinations.

Will 2020 be the year in which Cyril Ramaphosa musters enough support within the ANC to turn South Africa around, or will the 'fightback' pseudo-revolutionaries win the next battle? As the debates rage on as to whether the ANC's 8 January speech will give us as a country a real sense of purpose and direction, I am wearier of the dark clouds gathering with regard to the showdown with the public sector unions and the inevitable arrests of high-profile political types this year.

Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi boasted about achieving the highest number of bachelor passes in the country while claiming the position of top province for district performance. This was after ceding the position of number one province to Free State. Gauteng's 87.2% pass rate for the class of 2019 might be a stone's throw away from the 90% target that the department had set, but the province can celebrate that out of the top 10 districts in the country, six were from this region.