June 23, 2022
South Africa: Gardeners in South Africa May Hesitate to Use Greywater - but It Can Be a Crop Saver
After three consecutive dry winters from 2015 to 2017, "Day Zero" - when the taps would run dry - loomed large for the South African city of Cape Town and its surrounds in 2018. Read more »
June 21, 2022
South Africa: Vigilantism in South Africa Carries Historical Imprints of Past Violence Against Black People
South Africa's history of discrimination, racial segregation and extralegal violence has influenced patterns of violence today. Colonial and apartheid governments ruled through… Read more »
South Africa: What It'll Take for the Guptas to Face Corruption Charges in South Africa
Now that Rajesh and Atul Gupta have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is a great deal of speculation as to when the brothers may ultimately set foot on South… Read more »
June 20, 2022
South Africa: Supporting Women With Mental Ill-Health in Pregnancy and After Birth - Lessons From South Africa
Women in low- and middle-income countries experience high levels of common mental disorders - anxiety and depression - during pregnancy and the first year after birth. The… Read more »
June 19, 2022
South Africa: What's Driving the Surge in South Africa's Fuel Price
Increases in the domestic price of fuel are big news in South Africa, with the price of petrol, diesel and paraffin reaching new highs. The underlying reason for the price… Read more »
South Africa: The Air in South African Highveld Cities Smells Foul in the Winter - Here's Why
People living in South Africa's biggest city Johannesburg have been subject to pungent smells in the air similar to rotten eggs. It's not the first time citizens have complained… Read more »
June 14, 2022
South Africa: Electric Vehicles in South Africa - How to Avoid Making Them the Privilege of the Few
In the early 1900s, automobiles took the streets of industrialised cities by storm, rapidly displacing horse-drawn vehicles. Fiercely contested at first, the internal combustion… Read more »
June 16, 2022
Africa: China to Adopt Genetically Modified Maize and Soy - Why It Matters for South Africa
Something important for global agriculture happened this past week but received minimal media coverage. The Chinese National Crop Variety Approval Committee released two standards… Read more »
Africa: Children's Mental Health and the Digital World - How to Get the Balance Right
Technology has increasingly blurred the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. This has led to dramatic shifts in daily life and changed the way children and… Read more »
June 14, 2022
South Africa: South Africa's Estuaries Face a Growing Threat From Pollution - We Took a Close Look At Four
In the popular imagination, estuaries don't have the prestige or the romanticism of their two constituent parts: the rivers that feed them with freshwater from one side, the ocean… Read more »
June 15, 2022
South Africa: South Africa's Epochal 1976 Uprisings Shouldn't Be Reduced to a Symbolic Ritual
On the morning of Wednesday, 16 June 1976, young students from schools across Soweto set out on a march through the sprawling black township outside Johannesburg. The march was to… Read more »
South Africa: Whistleblowers in South Africa Have Some Protection but Gaps Need Fixing
Every person in South Africa has the right to a functioning local government that can provide basic services such as clean water, electricity and sanitation. But corruption has… Read more »
June 13, 2022
South Africa: Inflation in South Africa - Rising Food Prices Hit Poor People the Hardest
Concerns about rising food prices are making the headlines across the world as pressures mount in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The war has driven up prices of… Read more »
June 09, 2022
Southern Africa: What Lesotho Can Teach Eswatini and South Africa About Key Political Reforms
Two southern African countries, South Africa and Eswatini, are undergoing important reforms. South Africa is reviewing its electoral system while Eswatini is revisiting the powers… Read more »
June 08, 2022
South Africa: South Africa Is in Search of a Fairer Electoral System. but What's Been Tabled Is Flawed
South Africa is amending its electoral law to make it fairer by enabling citizens to contest provincial and national elections without being forced to join political parties. Read more »
South Africa: Robert Sobukwe - Equal Status in the Pantheon of South African Activists Is Long Overdue
The mortal fight against apartheid is usually cast in terms of good versus evil, a simple schism in which there are heroes and villains, or racially, in a white against black… Read more »
South Africa: Senzo Meyiwa Trial Casts Spotlight On Language Use in South African Courts
The murder of football player Senzo Meyiwa in 2014 and its protracted and controversial police investigation involving high profile figures in the South African music industry… Read more »
June 07, 2022
Southern Africa: Worms in the Seas of Southern Africa - We're On a Journey to Setting the Record Straight
Polychaetes are segmented worms that live in nearly all marine habitats, from the shallow seashore or estuaries to the deep sea. They are very abundant, often making up as much as… Read more »
Southern Africa: Seagrass Meadows - Getting to Know These Unsung Heroes of Southern Africa's Oceans
Living in cities, often far from the ocean, means that many of us are not always able to appreciate how important the oceans are for supporting humanity. The oceans and their… Read more »
South Africa: Legendary Mike Mzileni Captured South Africa's History and Also Its Musical Stars
Sophie Mgcina, composer, educationist and performer, gazes out from the page, uncompromising and direct. She's just swung around from the piano to face us; behind her, a score sits… Read more »
June 06, 2022
Southern Africa: HIV Control Approaches May Not Work for TB - Lessons From South Africa and Zambia
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most deadly infectious diseases. Around 9.9 million people around the world fell ill with the disease in 2020 and an estimated 1.5 million people… Read more »
Zimbabwe: Artist Richard Mudariki's Vision for a Zimbabwean Contemporary Art Fair
In the past 20 years, a new generation of Zimbabwean artists has attained international acclaim, or emerged as stars with work showing at top galleries and museums, collected by… Read more »
June 05, 2022
South Africa: Covid Left South African Pupils Far Behind in Maths and Language Skills
Learning to read, write, count and calculate forms the basis for all other learning in school and beyond. Pupils start to learn these basic skills in the first three years of… Read more »
June 02, 2022
South Africa: South Africa's Economy Has Taken Some Heavy Body Blows - Can It Recover?
Economists are growing increasingly concerned about South Africa's economy. This is because the country's three major macroeconomic problems - lacklustre economic growth, growing… Read more »
South Africa: Unvaccinated South Africans Told Us Why They Weren't Interested in Having Covid Jabs
South Africa is currently facing a new wave of infections related to the much higher transmissibility of the omicron COVID variant and its sub-variants. The most recent spike has… Read more »