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In The News

Load shedding prevents ‘catastrophic blackout’ – de Ruyter

Eskom Chief Executive Officer, Andre de Ruyter, says the power utility is obligated to implement load shedding in order to avoid a total system failure.

He was speaking after the power utility announced that it would be implementing Stage 2 load shedding from Wednesday morning following breakdowns at power stations.

“[We] would have the system equivalent of cardiac arrest. We have 50Hz going to zero and then to restart that system will take a period of between two to three weeks which clearly is a catastrophic event that we want to avoid at all costs. Therefore the implementation of load shedding is an effort to prevent this catastrophic blackout.

“So it is extremely unfortunate but it is the prudent step that our system operator takes and in this instance we have had to take this decision to implement Stage 2 load shedding,” de Ruyter said.

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Inside Church Testimonies

South African Council of Churches reflects on Archbishop Desmond Tutu

General Secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, published a statement on his memories of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

“Not long ago, the world joined the Tutu family and South Africa to honour and celebrate Archbishop Desmond Tutu on his 90th birthday. It was a glorious celebration at St George’s cathedral where together with his dear wife of over 60 years, Aunt Leah, the Archbishop was a joyous and venerable presence,” Mpumlwana said.

“In that celebration we could not imagine that under 12 weeks later the same cathedral would be hosting his funeral, with his ashes interred at the foot of the sanctuary. His departure closes the curtain on the live performance of an incredible actor of the human life obligation according to Micah, “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).”

“After the very busy few weeks of the Tutu national frenzy that marked the departure of this diminutive prelate who loomed so very large in the minds of church and society, it’s a good time to reflect on the Archbishop and what he has been to us in his life.”

“Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the premier of my predecessors as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. I look back with amazement in considering his role together with Father Aelred Stubbs (editor and publisher of Steve Biko’s collection of papers, I Write What I Like), in enabling my theological and ministerial training at the ecumenical
Federal Theological Seminary (FEDSEM). This was to help answer the burning question for me at the time – “What does it mean to be created in the image of God if you are black in apartheid South Africa?”

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Inside Church Testimonies

EXCLUSIVE: Bible Media News interviews top student Albert Venter and how God helped him through the tough year

Bible Media did an interview with top matric student from 2021 from a small town in Upington. He told us more about his journey to become the person he is today and also the struggles he went through. 

“I am Albert Venter and I’m from the desert town in the Northern Cape, Upington. I attended Duineveld High because of their great academic history and because I live across the school. My passions include watching series, spending time with animals and reading the Guinness World Record books.

“I achieved 6 distinction in the NSC exam and slightly missed the seventh one for Mathematics.

” I definitely believe that God played a very important role in my matric year. At the beginning of the year my mental health declined rabidly due to stress and the impact of the pandemic. I really struggled for the first half of the year. In my record exams my father was also rushed to Bloemfontein with an ambulance due to Covid 19 complications. A few days before my NSC physics exam, our family dog also became paralyzed and had to be put down. I prayed every night to God to help me get through this horrible time. I asked him to help me stay focused and motivated and also to take the pain away and to stop worrying. He truelly came through for me and I successfully completed my exams with several distinctions.

“I am going to study BChD (dentistry) at the University of Pretoria this year. My home for the year will be the male health sciences residence, House Ukuthula.” 

“I am so incredibly proud of you that despite the difficult year you have had, you were able to push through to achieve your dreams,” his mom commented. 

Photo: Instagram

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Inside Church Media Room

SALCI set to host a contextual Bible Study course starting on 1 March

In a statement on Twitter, The South African Christian Leadership Initiative (SALCI), said that it would host a contextual Bible Study course starting on 1 March 2022.

When: Six week block: weeks of 8, 15, 22, 29 March; and 5, 12 April.
Then take a break for two weeks over Easter and Freedom Day, to reconvene for the last two sessions on 3 and 10 May.

For whom: Those between 18–35 years old

Where? Online

Presenter: The Warehouse (Rev Rene August, Thandi Gamedze and Craig Stewart)

Description: The story of Christianity in South Africa is a complex one, intertwined with a painful history of colonialism whose legacy continues to have significant impact today. However, examples abound both locally and globally, showing how the Bible has been used not only for oppression but also for liberation. In order for us to follow in the liberative footsteps of Jesus, we need to do the work of disentangling the Bible from colonial narratives, which is the work of decolonization.

For more information of what this course will teach you, click link here: https://volmoedyouth.org.za/volmoed-programmes/a-contextual-reading-of-the-bible-vyltp-online-course/

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Testimonies

Lofdal Christian School congratulates students and God for their excellent matric results

In a Facebook post, Lofdal Christian School congratulated their top top students on their results:

The post reads: “We would like to congratulate our two Cambrigde Students who received their Matric Results today and with all the hard work they put in, it surely paid off in the end with an excellent pass rate!! 

Jacey will be studying Agricultural Science at a College in Potch next year.

Reuben will be studying Mechanical Engineering at PUKKE next year.
Thank you Jesus!”

Photo: Facebook

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Testimonies

Testimonial: Christ Church Preparatory School and College congratulates 2021 matrics on their hard work

Christ Church Preparatory School and College congratulates their 2021 matrics on their excellent results via a Facebook message.

“Christ Church Preparatory School and College is, once again, very proud of our Matric class and the outstanding results that they have achieved, in what has been a very difficult two years due to Covid-19 and having to study online periodically.

“Our top student was Chantè Bresler who obtained 7 distinctions.  Chantè is in the top 1% of IEB candidates for 3 subjects and in the top 5% for 5 of her subjects and received a commendation from the IEB.  Congratulations Chantè!

Liam Hildebrand, Kristen Peters and Cassandra Yule each obtained 5 distinctions, whilst Calem Chetty, Ofentse Molokoane and Amber Smith obtained 4 each.  These pupils are commended for their hard work.

The Life Orientation Department obtained 15 distinctions and the Mathematics departments 13, whilst 67% of students taking Dramatic Arts received distinctions.

“92% of our class obtained university entrance passes.
We congratulate our Matric class of 2021, their parents and their teachers and wish every one of these students God’s richest blessings as they move into the next chapter of their lives,” reads the schools facebook post.

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Photo: Facebook

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In The News

SA records 3 085 cases, 23 deaths in 24 hours

South Africa has conducted 35 067 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours, with 3 085 new cases, representing an 8.8% positivity rate.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the majority of new cases continue to be recorded in Gauteng after 1 001 people tested positive, followed by 419 infections in KwaZulu-Natal and 427 in the Western Cape.

This means the country now has 3 608 307 laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak.

In addition, the death toll stands at 95 288 after 195 fatalities were logged, of which 23 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the number of hospital admissions jumped by 103 on Tuesday to 5 194.

According to the Department of Health, government has administered 29 957 898 vaccine doses, of which 69 268 were given on Monday.

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In The News

JUST IN: Loadshedding to be implemented once again

State power utility Eskom will implement Stage 2 load shedding from 11am today until 5am on Monday morning.

Eskom said this was due to a shortage of generation capacity following breakdowns at two generating units.

The breakdowns amount to at least 14 994 MW of energy.

“Since the weekend Eskom has utilised significant amounts of emergency generating reserves, which have now been depleted and need to be replenished. Eskom will need this period of load shedding to replenish the emergency generation reserves.

“A unit each and Kusile and Kendal power stations tripped. Delays in returning units at Kusile, Tutuka, Duvha, Lethabo and Grootvlei have also contributed to the current supply constraints,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The power utility said it expects at least three generating units back in service by Wednesday afternoon.

“Eskom appeals to all South Africans to help limit the impact of load shedding by reducing the usage of electricity and to switch off all non-essential items.

“We will communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the power system.”

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Inside Church Worldwide

WCC honoured with Geneva Engage Award

The award, presented by the Geneva Internet Platform, DiploFoundation, and Cantone de Geneve, encourages convergence around development, human rights, digital and other policy issues between communities worldwide and International Geneva, host of many international negotiations with an impact across countries and continents.

“During 2021, most of all, the WCC continued to use its social media channels to spread a message of hope—whether that hope was related to digital justice, a violence-free world, or hearing the voices of vulnerable communities,” said WCC Communication director Marianne Ejdersten. “Social media channels were crucial in helping people access over 100 online productions—including webinars, webcasts, podcasts, and video messages—that shared the prophetic work of WCC member churches.”

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In The News

BREAKING NEWS: Schools to return to full time attendance next Monday

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga joined by Deputy Minister of Basic Education Enver Surty and Higher Education Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana during the post sona media briefing on Basic Education held in Cape Town. 26/02/2013

All schools across the country will return to full time attendance from Monday next week following a decision taken at a meeting of the Council of Education Ministers this morning.

This comes after Cabinet said primary, secondary and special schools should return to daily attendance and the regulatory provision for social distancing of one metre for learners in schools would no longer be mandatory.

In a statement, the Department of Basic Education said it welcomed the decision by Cabinet to allow schools to return to full-time learning in all schools.

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Photo: GCIS