News Bulletin of 9 May 2025, 8am

The Department of Transport confirmed yesterday that the driving license card printing machine has been fixed and operations have resumed. South Africa’s only driver’s licence card printer has been plagued by breakdowns. The machine has been out of order since January, creating a massive backlog in driver’s licences. Few to no cards have been issued since the start of the year. The current licence card printing machine is 26 years old and has experienced almost 160 breakdowns. There is a backlog of 747 748 outstanding cards to be printed. The department says officials will be working overtime to clear the backlog.

The North West Provincial Government has embarked on a process to recruit unemployed graduates from the North-West University. This follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding that aims to curb the high unemployment rate in the province.
The unemployed graduates will assist with research, sports and mining, amongst other assignments. The university’s Vice Chancellor says a strict recruitment process will be followed. North West Premier Lazarus Mokgotsi SOUND

Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected as the first US-born pontiff and will be known as Pope Leo the 14th. Leo made his first remarks as pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in front of tens of thousands of onlookers, calling for peace and paying tribute to the late Pope Francis. Leo, a 69-year-old from Chicago, is a leader with global experience. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and holds dual citizenship in the US and Peru, where he served as a bishop.SOUND