August 01, 2022
South Africa: Basic Water Services Are in Decay After Years of Progress
Water is at the heart of health and well-being for people and nature. Access to it is a human rights issue recognised by international treaties and declarations, and national… Read more »
July 29, 2022
South Africa: Ramaphosa Acts to Ease South Africa's Energy Crisis - Impact Will Be Felt in Renewables
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced an action plan to address the country's growing energy crisis. It included relaxing the legislative and environmental… Read more »
July 28, 2022
South Africa: Oil Refinery Closures, Cleaner Fuels and Security of Supply in South Africa
While South Africa has been preoccupied with rolling electricity blackouts, security of liquid fuels supply has been overlooked even though - by my calculations - by value of sales… Read more »
Zambia: Zambia Can Meet Growing Food Demand - How to Fix What's Standing in Its Way
African countries face great challenges in adapting to climate change to meet growing demand for food. The current drought in East Africa is the latest manifestation of changing… Read more »
July 31, 2022
Southern Africa: Footprints Take Science a Step Closer to Understanding Southern Africa's Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs have captured people's imaginations more than any other ancient creatures. These reptiles - some large, some small; some carnivores and others herbivores - rose and… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa Is Trapped Again - What Kind of Leaders Can Set the Country Free?
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki recently painted a gloomy picture of the country and its prospects. He said the governing African National Congress (ANC), led by… Read more »
July 28, 2022
South Africa: What the U.S. Can Learn From Apartheid-Era Book Bans in South Africa
"Beloved." "The Hate U Give." "Maus." "Burger's Daughter." Read more »
South Africa: Shining Fluorescent Light On Bee Sperm Could Help Explain Colony Survival
Form follows function. This is the principle that the design or shape of something - whether made by humans or in nature - should serve a purpose. Read more »
July 27, 2022
Zimbabwe: Noviolet Bulawayo's New Novel Is an Instant Zimbabwean Classic
In Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo's new novel Glory - longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 - animals take on human characteristics. Through this she explores what happens when… Read more »
July 26, 2022
South Africa: South Africa Has Been Warned That It Faces an 'Arab Spring' - So What Are the Chances?
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki recently launched a sharp critique of the governing African National Congress (ANC) for failure to address what it has labelled the… Read more »
July 27, 2022
Zimbabwe: Inflation Is Spiking (Again). Why High Interest Rates Aren't the Answer
The central bank of Zimbabwe has raised its benchmark rate from 80% to a fresh record of 200%. This increase comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine is driving global commodity… Read more »
July 26, 2022
South Africa: Epitaph for a Baobab - Remembering South African Poet and Activist Don Mattera
The towering South African poet, activist and humanitarian Donato Francesco Mattera passed away on 18 July at the age of 86. What he represented to South Africa is far larger than… Read more »
July 25, 2022
Southern Africa: Industrial Policy Options for Southern Africa - Scenarios Set Out Possibilities and Risks
There is a need to transform the underlying economic principles of the economies in southern African countries to address the persistent challenges of severe poverty and… Read more »
July 24, 2022
South Africa: Fish in a Major River Are Full of Microplastics
We are living in the plastic age. Plastics are literally everywhere: clothes, furniture, computers, phones and more contain plastic materials. It's no wonder, then, that the food… Read more »
July 22, 2022
Angola: Angola's Eduardo Dos Santos - a Divisive Figure in Life - and in Death
There is unlikely to be consensus on what José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola's former longtime president who died earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain, will represent in the… Read more »
July 21, 2022
South Africa: Thabo Mbeki At 80 - Admired On the Continent More Than At Home
Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as South Africa's second post-apartheid president, celebrated his 80th birthday on 18 June 2022. Following Mandela's era of multiracial… Read more »
South Africa: Schools Can Be a Great Resource for Mental Health in South Africa
In the face of deep inequality, unemployment, high rates of crime and violence, and the social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health trajectory for… Read more »
Angola: Dos Santos Failed to Provide a Moral Example and Stop the Plunder of the State
Silence is what comes to define the life and the death of the former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos (1942-2022), who died recently at a hospital in Barcelona,… Read more »
July 20, 2022
South Africa: Religion and State Need to Be in Balance to Protect Democracy in South Africa
The relationship between religion and the law is often complicated. It is sometimes even conflicted. At the heart of the matter lies the tension between freedom of belief and… Read more »
South Africa: Mystery Solved - When Mammals' Ancestors Became Warm-Blooded
Mammals and birds produce their own body heat and control their body temperatures. This process is known as endothermy, or warm-bloodedness, and it may be one of the reasons why… Read more »
July 19, 2022
Africa: Women's Football Enters a New Era at #WAFCON2022
This weekend's Women's African Football Championship (Wafcon) final between Morocco and South Africa in Morocco marks a new era. With it women's football in Africa has reached a… Read more »
July 18, 2022
South Africa: Mass Shootings Are Often Over Group Turf - How to Stop the Cycle of Reprisals
In just two days in early July, 25 people were shot dead in four separate incidents at taverns across South Africa. In one of these shootings, in Soweto, 16 people lost their… Read more »
July 17, 2022
South Africa: Technology and Home Visits Can Help South Africans With Diabetes Cope With Insulin
Approximately 4.5 million South Africans have type 2 diabetes - a condition characterised by high levels of sugar in the blood. It can be treated with drugs and managed through… Read more »
July 14, 2022
South Africa: Carbon Monoxide - What Is It and Why Is It Deadly?
Many of us are familiar with the typical results of burning fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil. The reaction produces heat which we harness to warm our homes, heat water and… Read more »
South Africa: 'Walk Straight' - How Small-Town Residents Navigate Without Street Signs and Names
Linguistic landscape is the study of languages used in signs. As most of the field's pioneering studies were based on cities, research comes to be associated with cityscapes. Read more »