South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande has announced it is up to the country’s universities to “individually…determine the level of (fee) increase that their institutions require…”. But he cautioned that no university’s fees should be raised by more than 8% for 2017. This follows a blanket freeze on fees in […]

An inspiring Grade 10 learner from Cape Town, South Africa, who gave up his July vacation to mentor learners at an underprivileged school in the former Transkei, has been recognised for his selfless act and awarded the Lead SA Youth Hero for August 2016. Anees Hassan and six fellow SACS High scholars gave up their vacation to mentor […]

From slavery to colonialism and school rules: a history of myths about black hair… “Your hair feels like pubic hair.” That was one of the first insults that someone hurled at my hair. She was a junior at my school. She would touch my hair and repeat this sentence to all present. I had to […]

A 16-year-old South African teenager could hold the solution to the country’s water woes… using just orange and avocado peels! Kiara Nirghin, who is from Johannesburg, has won the Google Science Fair Community Impact Award in the Africa/Middle East region with her entry, “No More Thirsty Crops”. She is also one of the 16 global […]

Dear university students, It seems like the world is in a frenzy of voting right now, from the recent vote in Britain) to exit the European Union to the US choosing its next president – who may be a former reality TV star. Closer to home, there’s a vote coming up to select the new […]

JOHANNESBURG – Facebook Connectivity Lab has announced its first full-scale test flight of Aquila – a high-altitude unmanned aircraft – that should bring affordable internet to remote locations in Facebook’s efforts  to bring internet connectivity to the four billion people around the world who are not yet online. Their goal? To contribute to prosperity, progress and development around the globe. The test […]

The founder of Steve Jobs Schools (SJS) – Dutch market researcher and entrepreneur Maurice de Hond – wants to use the creative philosophies that have made Apple one of the most innovative and successful companies in the world, to revolutionise the traditional method of classroom teaching… through embracing technology to give students the freedom to […]

Almost 360 pupils from a high school in Joburg’s Alexandra township that has achieved a high matric pass rate for two years running have received bicycles as part of a project to expand the mobility – and thus the productivity – of ordinary South Africans. The township was identified for the Urban Scholar Bicycle project because of the transport […]

JOHANNESBURG – The world’s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev gained conditional approval on Tuesday for its $100 billion-plus acquisition of SABMiller from South African anti-trust regulators, bringing the deal closer to fruition. Conditions attached to the deal include a binding one that no South African employee be laid off because of the merger, the Competition Commission […]

First called the South African Native College, it opened its doors in Alice, Eastern Cape, in 1916. Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo met at Fort Hare in 1939. In 1960 the government took control of Fort Hare. At its May 2016 graduation ceremony there were 2,845 new graduates, 39 of them PhDs. There were celebrations at the […]

A post written by South African graduate Zukisani Ndwendwe in tribute to his parents – who did all that they could to encourage their children’s academic studies – has gone viral highlighting the importance of education… and gratitude. Zukisani’s parents couldn’t read or write themselves, but they made sure that their children could. Today Zukisani […]

Germany has awarded South African Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, with the Grand Cross of Merit and described her as symbolising the new South Africa: “modern, innovative, progressive, outstanding female leadership”. The German Ambassador to South Africa, Walter Lindner, said at the ceremony: “With the Grand Cross of Merit we recognise Naledi Pandor’s continuous […]

President Jacob Zuma has condemned the burning of 23 schools in Vuwani in Limpopo in protests that have turned violent and which he describes as suspicious. Today it has been reported that 50 schools in the area have been closed indefinitely, affecting almost 30,000 pupils (26,987 to be exact). The South African president said: “I wish […]

Dario Trinchero, a matriculant at Somerset College in the Western Cape, has become the first South African to earn the title of top mathematics student in the world after achieving the highest marks possible – 100 percent! – in the International Cambridge University advanced subsidiary examinations. Trinchero placed first in two mathematics exams, and achieved […]

A group of Economic Freedom Fighters MPs turned up at the Unisa graduation ceremony on Wednesday to support their newly graduated party leader, Julius Malema. Malema graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Human and Social Studies. A trim-looking Malema was dressed in the official graduation garb and cap, forsaking EFF red for the evening.

If the Los Angeles Times has its way, South African-born Margaret Sixel will win the Academy Award tonight for her brilliant editing of the Charlize Theron movie “Mad Max: Fury Road”, Sixel’s first action pic. “Margaret Sixel’s Herculean effort cutting together the massive amount of footage shot by her husband, George Miller, is the favorite,” […]

The thing with solar-powered cars is that you can only drive them during the day. It’s a problem solved by Nigerian student Segun Oyeyiola, who added a wind turbine to his Beetle. Now he can drive all night, too. It cost the Nigerian man more than R70 000 to fight his personal battle against global warming […]