THE WEEK IN WORDS
Thank you for everything. My last ask is the same as my first. I’m asking you to believe – not in my ability to create change, but in yours. – US President Barack Obama’s tweet after his farewell speech this week has been retweeted more than 730000 times. This crash comes in spite of our tireless efforts to curb road crashes in the province, and it is extremely painful. We further appeal to drivers to exercise extreme caution on the road at all times to ensure that people’s lives are saved. – MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda, after the crash between a minibus taxi and a bus which claimed the lives of four pupils on their way to the first day of school on Wednesday. Some people might think that we should be celebrating that pass rate (95.21%), but here the aim is 100%. For us, a 95% – or even a 99% – pass rate is an underperformance. We want a 100% pass rate and we want a 100% bachelor pass rate. – Phumlani Ntshingila, deputy principal of JG Zuma High School in KwaMashu.This year’s 218 matric pupils were in class on January 4, more than a week before the official start of the school year. The house had stood for 400 years but, only a few days after we move in, it burns down, so we feel pretty unlucky. – Sophie Purdy, whose family is homeless after their Hertfordshire, UK, dream cottage was razed to the ground three days after moving in. It will definitely affect service delivery when paramedics refuse to go into certain areas without being escorted by police or security firms. With the high volume of calls the police already have to deal with, this could result in delays in getting to the patient. It is really not pleasant being scared to go and do what we love doing owing to these ongoing attacks. However, our safety needs to be a priority. – Ceron Lennox, a Durbanbased advanced life support paramedic, on the effect criminal attacks on emergency service staff is having.