November 02, 2023
South Africa: Bird Flu Could Be Eradicated By Editing the Genes of Chickens - Our Study Shows How
Recent advances in gene editing technology could potentially be used to create disease-resistant animals. This could curtail the spread of avian influenza, commonly known as bird… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Literacy Crisis - Our App Could Help Young Readers By Using Home Language and English
Literacy changes lives: in Unesco's words, it "empowers and liberates people, ... reduces poverty, increases participation in the labour market and has positive effects on health… Read more »
November 01, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's Medium-Term Budget Reflects Difficult and Contested Decisions
The medium-term budget policy statement presented by South Africa's finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, to parliament on 1 November 2023 is intended to provide a preview of… Read more »
South Africa: Multimedia Is Key to Distance Education - I Built a Model South African Universities Can Use
Distance education first appeared in the United States in the 1800s. At the time, students received the relevant material through the post and then returned it to the institution. Read more »
October 31, 2023
South Africa: South Africa Power Outages - Some Improvement but a Long Way to Go Before the Grid Is Stable
Over the past few months, South Africa's power generation sector has performed better than expected. Four factors explain this: an acceleration of solar power installations, less… Read more »
October 29, 2023
Africa: AGOA Trade Deal Talks - South Africa Will Need to Carefully Manage Relations With U.S., China
South Africa must tread carefully in its economic relationships to avoid being caught in the escalating tension between east and west, and more specifically China and the US. The… Read more »
October 26, 2023
South Africa: DNA Tech Solves 40-Year-Old Mystery of Pine Tree Disease in South Africa
In the 1970s and 1980s, pine trees growing in various forestry plantations in South Africa's Western Cape province began to die in patches. These trees succumbed to a mysterious… Read more »
October 25, 2023
South Africa: Izikhothane - A South African Youth Subculture That Trashes Luxury Items
In South Africa, a skhothane is a young, fashionably dressed black urban resident who engages in destructive conspicuous consumption. This involves regular get-togethers on… Read more »
October 24, 2023
South Africa: The Thorny Issue of 'Race' in South African Politics
"Race" continues to have much political salience in South Africa, a country where, in the past, perceived differences of skin colour were used to construct a hierarchy of "races",… Read more »
October 23, 2023
South Africa: How President Ramaphosa's Covid Speeches Drew On Mandela's Ideas of Unity
In times of crisis, leaders wield more than just political power. They harness the art of rhetoric in a bid to unite their nations towards a common goal. South Africa, with a… Read more »
October 22, 2023
South Africa: Community Radio - Young South Africans Are Helping Shape the News Through Social Media
The number of South African internet users has nearly doubled in the past decade. One 2023 study of 45 developed countries suggests that South Africans even lead the world when it… Read more »
October 19, 2023
South Africa: Expert Explains What's Behind the Chicken Crisis and What Must Be Done About It
An outbreak of avian flu - a highly contagious viral infection that affects wild birds as well as poultry - has hit poultry farms in South Africa. Two different strains are causing… Read more »
October 18, 2023
South Africa: Evolution Revolution - How a Cape Town Museum Exhibit Is Rewriting the Story of Humankind
Picture your typical human evolution museum display. You walk into a dimly lit space with glass boxes on white plinths or roped off areas. There are lots and lots of bones. Maybe a… Read more »
October 17, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's 2022 Census - Has Johannesburg Stopped Growing, or Are the Numbers Wrong?
South Africa's census is a vital source of information for policy making, planning and research, and so the Census 2022 findings released last week were eagerly awaited. It offers… Read more »
October 13, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's 2022 Census Missed 31% of People - Big Data Could Help in Future
No census is ever exact: as academics Tom Moultrie and Rob Dorrington at the University of Cape Town have noted previously: Read more »
October 12, 2023
South Africa: Jerry Coovadia Remembered - a Champion of Science, Children and Compassionate Public Health
Deeply saddened as we in the South African health community were by the loss of Professor Jerry Hoosen Coovadia on 4 October 2023, I reflected on what he had come to mean in my… Read more »
October 11, 2023
South Africa: Male Domestic Workers in South Africa - Study Sheds Light On the Experiences of Malawian and Zimbabwean Migrants
An estimated 800,000 people work as domestic workers in South Africa. Most are black women from marginalised backgrounds. It's therefore not surprising that the bulk of the… Read more »
October 10, 2023
South Africa: Israel-Palestine Conflict Divides South African Politicians - What Their Responses Reveal About Historical Alliances
Hamas' brazen and deadly attack on Israel on October 7 elicited varied responses within the South African political scene. These diverse reactions reflect the long history, since… Read more »
South Africa: Economic Freedom Fighters Became South Africa's Third Largest Party in 10 Years
South Africa is drawing nearer to a landmark national general election in 2024. Based on recent electoral trends and opinion polls, the governing African National Congress (ANC) is… Read more »
October 09, 2023
South Africa: Sho Madjozi - the Pop Star Using Traditional Culture to Shape a Fresh Identify for Young South Africans
South African rapper Sho Madjozi is a bold and colourful presence in pop culture, as famous for her catchy lyrics as for using traditional clothing and dance in a fresh way. Read more »
October 08, 2023
South Africa: Surveillance Law Changes but South Africans' Privacy Is Still At Risk
In a ringing judgment for the right to privacy, the South African Constitutional Court declared sections of the country's main communication surveillance law unconstitutional in… Read more »
Africa: The Atlantic Ocean's Major Current System Is Slowing Down - but a 21st Century Collapse Is Unlikely
Whether the water at your local beach is being roiled by nasty weather or is a perfectly calm expanse of blue, there's always a great deal going on under the surface. The ocean is… Read more »
October 05, 2023
South Africa: Jerry Coovadia - the South African Doctor Who Led the Fight Against HIV in Children
South African-born Professor Hoosen "Jerry" Coovadia, renowned academic and prominent anti-apartheid activist, passed away on 4 October. As a paediatrician I was privileged to know… Read more »
South Africa: Fossil Snake Traces - Another World-First Find On South Africa's Cape South Coast
Snakes are familiar, distinctive - and often feared - reptiles. And they've been around for a long time: body fossils found in the UK, Portugal and the US stretch all the way back… Read more »
South Africa: Johannesburg's Water Crisis - New Plan Not Enough
Johannesburg and its surrounds, at the centre of the industrial heartland of South Africa, have been hit by severe water cuts. Water interruptions have been happening for years,… Read more »