Daily news update: Christmas babies, Limpopo family massacre and James Webb Space Telescope
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214 babies born on Christmas Day in Gauteng, so far
The Gauteng Department of Health has revealed that 214 babies were born on Christmas Day, so far.
The statistics released by the department on Saturday afternoon fell between midnight and 12pm on 25 December.
According to the stats, a total of 19 boys and 26 girls were born at academic hospitals in the province, bringing the total number of babies born on Christmas Day to 45.
In terms of tertiary hospitals, Tembisa Hospital welcomed 11 boys and 6 baby girls. Kalafong Hospital delivered two boys and eight girls.
Health MEC concerned over teen pregnancies as KZN welcomes 59 Christmas babies
Public healthcare facilities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) saw the delivery of 59 babies on Christmas Day.
KZN saw 35 boys and 24 girls born on Saturday as of 12pm.
The province’s health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane said the first Christmas baby was a boy, born at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban.
The baby boy was born to a 39 year-old mother.
“He arrived on the stroke of midnight, weighing in at 2.82kg,” the MEC said.
Suspect shot dead after ‘wrestling with cop over a firearm’
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating a case of death as a result of police action after a suspect was allegedly shot by cops in the early hours of Friday morning.
It is alleged that on Friday the 24th of December at about 01:54 am, members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) members from vanderbijlpark received information about a wanted suspect who was accused of murdering a woman, raping his girlfriend and then brutally assaulting her on Thursday.
The suspect was allegedly recently released from prison.
Seven killed in Christmas morning family massacre in Limpopo
A man has been arrested for the murder of seven family members at around 00:30 on Christmas morning.
In a statement, police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the victims were allegedly killed by another family member at Jimmy Jones village in the Vhembe district of Limpopo.
The suspect allegedly shot his victims following a family squabble.
“The deceased are four children and three adults, including a heavily pregnant woman. The names of the deceased will be released later as investigations are still unfolding. The suspect was later arrested after he handed himself over to the police in Thohoyandou,” Mojapelo explained.
The firearm that was reportedly used in the shooting was also seized.
Queen Elizabeth pays moving tribute to Prince Philip in Christmas message
Queen Elizabeth II paid a touching tribute to her late husband Prince Philip in her Christmas Day message as she marked the holiday with a family gathering.
In the unusually personal message broadcast at 1500 GMT, the 95-year-old monarch said that she and her family were missing the Duke of Edinburgh, who died at 99 in April.
Wearing a red dress and pearls, the Queen spoke while sitting at a table with a single photograph of her with Philip, taken in 2007 for their 60th (diamond) wedding anniversary.
World’s most powerful space telescope blasts off into orbit
The world’s most powerful space James Webb Space telescope on Saturday blasted off into orbit, headed to an outpost 1.5 million kilometres (930,000 miles) from Earth, after several delays caused by technical hitches.
The James Webb Space Telescope, some three decades and billions of dollars in the making, left Earth enclosed in its Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana.
It is expected to take a month to reach its remote destination.
It is expected to beam back new clues that will help scientists understand more about the origins of the Universe and Earth-like planets beyond our solar system.
