South Africa’s agriculture has had great consecutive seasons since 2019/20. The sector’s gross value added grew by 14.9% in 2020, 8.8% in 2021 and modestly by 0.3% in 2022 . This was primarily supported by favourable weather conditions. The current season is also likely to deliver solid growth for the sector, with variation across sub-sectors. […]
Tag: South Africa
Land belongs to Public Works department Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has warned that if the Department of Public Works does not act to resolve the issue of homeless people living outside the Castle of Good Hope, the City will go to court to seek an eviction order. Hill-Lewis said the City had offered its […]
Solar powered public lights are better than high-mast lights, collaborative Cape Town project suggests Solar-powered lights fixed onto the outside of shacks in informal settlements may be a better option than high-mast lights, a project in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, has shown. As part of their PhD project, Yael Borofsky and Stephanie Briers from ETH Zurich […]
Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has called upon students and staff members in higher learning institutions, to consider the value proposition that HIGHER HEALTH’s co-curriculum is bringing to the development of the country. Nzimande made the call when he was unveiling the National Civic Education and Health Skills Programme at the […]
Directors of Chueu Incorporated Attorneys may not practice for six months while the Legal Practice Council investigates The Supreme Court of Appeal has suspended six directors of law firm Chueu Incorporated Attorneys. The firm is under investigation for misappropriation of over R25-million of trusts funds. The directors’ defence that they were not in control of […]
At least one may face conflicts of interest, a Corruption Watch study shows The shortlist of Public Protector candidates has been announced by Parliament. One of the candidates for the position of Public Protector does not appear to meet the minimum requirements for the position, and another is the director of several companies and might […]
Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has cast the spotlight on investing in young scholars, as a number of academics in public universities are nearing retirement. Citing the 2023 Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Indicators Report, Nzimande noted that the proportion of staff over the age of 60 increased from 7.3% in […]
Power outages affect livelihoods, the economy and have even claimed lives. Is South Africa approaching a grid failure? We unpack what that would look like and what the government is doing to tackle the energy crisis. An interesting – or, more likely, disturbing – fact: this November will mark the 16th anniversary of load shedding […]
It is an oft-repeated fact that the deadliest creature on earth is the mosquito, a terrifying transmitter of the malaria parasite. According to the most recent World Malaria Report 2022, there were 619 000 deaths in 2021, with 90% of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Those most likely to die are children under five years […]
It was just a bicycle, something many children grow up with. But for Ugandan Shirley Kandabu, those wheels represented empowerment in a country where in some cultures it was frowned upon for girls to own or ride a bicycle. And it was her father who bought it for her; tacit paternal motivation to ignore gender […]
As informal settlements continue to proliferate and grow despite government’s housing programmes, this article suggests several practical things the state could do to alleviate the housing crisis. The government is clearly unable to meet the country’s housing demand, and although it has provided millions of homes since 1994, these have mostly been built in places […]
South-South collaborative opportunities took centre stage during a recent visit by 25 vice-chancellors from the Brazilian Association of Rectors of State and Municipal Universities (ABRUEM) to the University of Cape Town (UCT). A recent visit by several Brazilian universities, under the auspices of ABRUEM, highlighted the history of collaborative efforts that UCT has maintained with […]
Ntokozo Patrick Xulu spent 813 days behind bars The victim of an attempted hijacking who shot and killed one of his attackers spent 813 days behind bars as a result of a wrongful arrest. Judge Irene de Vos found that the police had suppressed evidence from the prosecution and had “failed in their public duty”. […]
World-leading tuberculosis researcher Professor Valerie Mizrahi was 35 when her mother Etty started losing weight and coughing furiously. After healthcare professionals in Johannesburg failed to accurately diagnose her, it was a doctor in Plettenberg Bay who told Etty: “The good news is you don’t have lung cancer, the bad news is that you have tuberculosis […]