NewsWrap: 500.000 learners miss schools because of taxi strike

500.000 learners miss schools because of taxi strike

The taxi strike has prevented close to 500,000 learners from attending school while nearly 18,000 staff members were not able to get to work during the days of unrest. The Western Cape Education Department says that it will keep schools open as long as its safe to do so as schools are often safe havens for learners as well as spaces where they are able to get nutritional support.

Brics leaders to discuss expansion of organisation during summit in SA 

The Brics leaders will discuss the expansion of the organisation during the summit in South Africa.
The summit will take place later this month.
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor Pandor says there are 23 countries that have expressed interest to join Brics.

Government having issues in closing mining holes, leaving access to illegal miners 

There are more than 6,000 holes that illegal miners use to access abandoned mines across the country. The issue of Illegal mining has been in the spotlight for weeks now. But Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe says closing the holes requires a lot of resources.

Japan on its way to release treated nuclear waste water into the ocean later this month 

Japan plans to start releasing treated radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean later this month. The Japanese government says No specific date to discharge the water has been decided. Japan’s nuclear regulator last month granted approval for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power to start releasing the water, which Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency say is safe but nearby countries fear it may contaminate food.