“The gold is right here in the soil”. Located between Marievale military base and Nigel is an old gold mine, Vlakfontein, where informal miners extract gold from the mine dump. “The gold found at this old mine is very easy to extract and in a good month one can make R10,000 or more,” explains Mozambican-born […]

If people are not willing to invest in a country, it is almost impossible to generate new jobs, writes Professor Vimal Ranchod.   South Africa’s unemployment rate is one of the highest in the world. It is consistently measured above 20%. This is a national crisis that feeds two of the country’s other big socio-economic […]

South Africa’s Treasury head Tito Mboweni is likely to appease rating agencies and squeeze a tenth of a percentage point off his previous budget deficit forecast for next financial year, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. The poll taken in the past week suggests Mboweni will announce a deficit target of 4.1 percent of gross […]

Yesterday President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Competition Amendment Bill, which will strengthen regulations against anti-competitive behaviour in industrial markets. The bill, which was approved by the National Assembly in October 2018 and endorsed by the National Council of Provinces in December 2018, is a step in the right direction for SMEs, economic inclusion […]

The Department of Public Enterprises said Wednesday that South Africa’s power utility Eskom is struggling to keep its mainly coal-fired plants running due to coal shortages and poor maintenance, with 40 percent of breakdowns a result of human error. The department, which oversees Eskom, also said in a presentation to parliament that Eskom was technically […]

South Africa is not planning to privatise embattled power utility Eskom after the firm is split into three separate entities of generation, transmission and distribution, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday. “At no stage has the president said, or the government indicated, that there would be privatisation of any of these entities or […]

As South Africa joins the globe in celebrating World Radio Day, Communications Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana says the country must harness the power of radio to promote social cohesion. “There is a growing need for us as a country to harness the power of radio to promote nation-building projects. The protection of our indigenous languages […]

Stevens Mokgalapa has been elected as Tshwane mayor during a special council sitting on Tuesday morning. Mokgalapa succeeds Solly Msimanga, who is the Democratic Alliance’s candidate for Gauteng Premier. Msimanga resigned in January. In his acceptance speech, Mokgalapa said he is grateful to be given the opportunity to lead the capital city. “Thank you for […]

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan says the Eskom Board will appoint a panel of experts to do an assessment of all the power supply challenges that the utility has encountered over the past few days. Gordhan said this during a debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA), as Eskom implemented stage three load […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa used his State of the Nation Address on February 7 to outline his relatively new government’s actions and plans. Ramaphosa focused particularly on economic growth, investment and job creation. He also announced substantial investments in education, health and housing. But there was very limited focus on crime. Prevention strategies he […]

“There are so many people in our community who are unemployed yet we still see rubbish lying around”. On a scorching Friday afternoon, Ayanda Kunene sits under a makeshift shelter that covers his car wash. He is waiting for customers. Despite matriculating and actively searching for work, Kunene, 30, has never had a permanent job. […]

Manufacturing — a vital industrial sector — has shed 300,000 jobs. Unemployment in South Africa increased from 23.2% to 26.7% between the first quarters of 2008 and 2018. The actual number of jobs increased from 14.4 million to 16.4 million, but the number of people wanting to work (the labour force) increased much faster, from […]

South Africa is historically a water scarce country, and prolonged droughts coupled with infrastructural decay have led us to start considering water conservation as a priority. As recent events in the Western Cape suggest, climate change is a reality and will affect us all. The question is, what can we do about it, writes Craig […]

South African media have been invited to submit entries for the 2019 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Media Awards competition. The awards are aimed at recognising excellence in journalism in print, photo, television and radio, as well as to encourage media practitioners in member States to cover issues pertaining to the region. They were established […]

If you live in South Africa, you’re very familiar with the term “load shedding.” If you’re not from South Africa, you probably have no idea what load shedding is writes Canadian expat Phil Maloney. In a nutshell, load shedding occurs when Eskom, the government monopoly that provides the country with consistently intermittent power, decides to cut off […]

South African state power firm Eskom aims to end power cuts by the end of this week and for now does not suspect sabotage is the cause of unplanned outages at some of its power stations, a senior Eskom generation official said on Tuesday. “Our aspiration is to end load-shedding by end of the week,” […]

In the near future, classrooms will be vibrant spaces where fun and acquiring knowledge blend seamlessly as the Basic Education Department wants to make play a fundamental block of learning. Following the President’s announcement at the State of the Nation Address that Early Childhood Education (ECD) centres will migrate from the Department of Social Development […]

The Western Cape’s top Engen Maths and Science Schools (EMSS) matriculant, Maajidah Arendse hopes to become a successful civil engineer and a proud representative of women in Engineering. “I want to be a part of projects that improve both the built and natural environment by making new discoveries and making the lives of my fellow South […]

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday the prospect of more power cuts by utility Eskom was “most worrying”. The cash-strapped company warned of wider controlled power cuts on Monday after six additional generating units unexpectedly went offline. “That comes as quite a shock. It is reported that there are six units that are […]

Humane Society International/Africa has joined forces with local South African organization Hoedspruit Animal Outreach (HALO) to improve the lives and welfare of community cats and dogs in the villages around Hoedspruit… which in turn will protect wild species in the area like the African Wild Dog. This year HSI/Africa is providing HALO (which is run […]

On this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela left Victor Verster Prison in Cape Town a free man, after spending 27 years in prison. Accompanied by his then-wife Winnie, Mandela was enthusiastically received by the throngs of people who gathered to see him outside Cape Town’s City Hall. Mandela spent 18 years on Robben Island and […]

The South African Hip Hop Rapper Kiernan Forbes, affectionately known as AKA has announced on his Twitter page that he has donated R100 000 to Student Representative Council (SRC), Humanitarian Fund. The rapper has shown support of the students who have been protesting at various institutions of higher learning education due to the different grievances […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, delivered in Cape Town on February 7, has attracted a fair amount of praise. But while the speech scored an A for its vision and plan for economic renewal, it scored an F for education. If the amount of time spent on a topic during […]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled a new plan for the country’s beleaguered state-owned power utility, Eskom. During his State of the Nation Address on 7 February, Ramaphosa announced that Eskom would be unbundled into “three separate entities – generation, transmission and distribution”. These would all be established “under Eskom Holdings”. This announcement has […]

Organisations are concerned the number of adoptions will decline. A debate is raging over a proposed amendment to the Child Care Act that would outlaw charging fees for adoption services. The amendment is expected to be passed by the end of the year, as part of a number of changes to the Act. Adoption is […]