January 02
Africa: Coca-Cola in Africa - A Story of High Politics and Marketing Gumption
A new book called Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African tells the story of how the world's most famous carbonated drink conquered the continent. It's a tale of marketing gumption… Read more »
December 26, 2023
Africa: Unusual Ancient Elephant Tracks Had Our Team of Fossil Experts Stumped - How We Solved the Mystery
Over the past 15 years, through our scientific study of tracks and traces, we have identified more than 350 fossil vertebrate tracksites from South Africa's Cape south coast. Most… Read more »
December 14, 2023
South Africa: Creative Writing Can Help Improve One's Health - a South African Study Shows How
From the beginning of recorded history, people in diverse cultures have embraced the idea that creative expression, including visual art, stories, dance and music, contributes to… Read more »
December 12, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's Foreign Policy Under Ramaphosa Has Seen Diplomatic Tools Being Used to Provide Leadership As Global Power Relations Shift
Leadership plays a critical role in diplomacy. What quality of leadership does South Africa need if it's to secure its international interests? Read more »
December 11, 2023
South Africa: South Africa Leads the Continent in Offering More Paternal Leave to Fathers. How to Make Sure Both Parents Benefit
A South African high court has ushered in a new era of parental leave with a landmark ruling that new parents can share four months of parental leave, previously available only to… Read more »
December 07, 2023
South Africa: 46% of South Africa Water Contaminated, Treatment Works on Brink of Collapse
A new report by South Africa's Department of Water and Sanitation paints a grim picture of the quality of the country's drinking water, and its water infrastructure. The Blue Drop… Read more »
December 06, 2023
South Africa: COP28 - South Africa Pioneered Plans to Transition to Renewable Energy - What Went Wrong
South Africa's experience in piloting a new type of climate finance vehicle can inform debates about how to fund a just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Read more »
December 05, 2023
South Africa: Golden Mole That Swims Through Sand Is Rediscovered in South Africa After 86 Years
The De Winton's golden mole was last seen in 1937 on the north-western coast of South Africa, and later declared officially lost. This iridescent blind mole with hearing… Read more »
November 30, 2023
Africa: Drone Fishing in South Africa Is a Danger to Sharks and May Be Unfair to Other Fishers - Study
"Drone fishing" is a relatively recent innovation in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. Some recreational anglers are using personal drones to fly baited lines into hard-to-reach… Read more »
December 03, 2023
South Africa: Nine Out of 10 South African Criminals Reoffend. This Is Why
A very large percentage of South Africans who are released from prison end up being rearrested and being convicted for crimes again. The country has one of the highest recidivism… Read more »
November 29, 2023
South Africa: Opera in Cape Town - Critics Trace How a Colonial Art Form Was Reinvented As African
Many people thought that classical opera in South Africa - regarded as a western, colonial art form that was the preserve of white people during apartheid - would die with… Read more »
November 28, 2023
South Africa: Sharpeville - New Research On 1960 South African Massacre Shows the Number of Dead and Injured Was Massively Undercounted
On 21 March 1960 at 1.40 in the afternoon, apartheid South Africa's police opened fire on a peaceful crowd of about 4,000 residents of Sharpeville, who were protesting against… Read more »
November 23, 2023
South Africa: Immigration Proposals Are Based On False Claims and Poor Logic - Experts
The South African government recently issued a long-awaited policy statement - called a White Paper - outlining proposed changes to the country's asylum and immigration system.… Read more »
South Africa: 12-Year-Old Programme Offers Insights for Countries Moving to Cleaner Power Sources
There are many unknowns about how societies will manage the climate transition. And the associated energy transition from fossil fuel-based energy to renewable energy. Read more »
November 22, 2023
South Africa: South African Politicians Vs Judges - New Book Defends the Constitution
In 1994, South Africa became a democracy founded on a supreme constitution. The constitution's preamble affirms the nation's quest to Read more »
November 21, 2023
South Africa: A Free Messaging App Seemed Useful for Disadvantaged South African Students
South African higher education is plagued by inequalities due to the social and economic legacies of apartheid. Read more »
November 19, 2023
South Africa: South African University Students Use AI to Help Them Understand - Not to Avoid Work
When ChatGPT was released in November 2022, it sparked many conversations and moral panics. These centre on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the information… Read more »
November 17, 2023
South Africa: How South Africa's Police Can Turn Around Their War On Crime
South Africa's crime statistics for the third quarter of 2023 show that people continue to face a serious problem of violent crime, especially murder and attempted murder. The… Read more »
November 16, 2023
South Africa: Nkoli - the Vogue Opera - the Making of a Musical About a Queer Liberation Activist in South Africa
The history of South Africa's struggle against apartheid (separatist white minority rule) is taught only through the broadest of brushstrokes in the country's schools. So might… Read more »
November 15, 2023
South Africa: Henry Bredekamp and the Khoisan - the Living Legacy of a Renowned South African Historian
When Professor Henry Charles "Jatti" Bredekamp began his career as a historian of early Cape Town in South Africa, there was still a commonly held myth that the region's native… Read more »
November 13, 2023
South Africa: Diseases On Farms in South Africa - Recent Outbreaks Point to Weaknesses in the System
South Africa has had a number of outbreaks of animal diseases in recent months that suggest there are weaknesses in the country's biosecurity system - the measures in place to… Read more »
South Africa: Bad Food Choices - Clearer Labels Aim to Help South Africans Pick Healthier Options
South Africans have a hard time figuring out which foods are unhealthy when they go shopping. But this is about to change. Read more »
November 09, 2023
South Africa: Ubuntu Offers Lessons in How to Treat People With Disabilities - a Study of Bomvana Rituals
Research shows that people with disabilities have always been largely excluded and marginalised in societies across the world. Read more »
South Africa: Tourists Are Returning to South Africa - but the Sector Will Need to Go Green to Deal With the Country's Electricity Crisis
For the past 16 years South Africans have dreaded rolling power cuts euphemistically dubbed "loadshedding". These are caused by the ailing state power entity Eskom's crumbling… Read more »
November 08, 2023
South Africa: Do You Like Snakes, Lizards and Frogs? Why Herpetology Might Be the Career for You
We are so fortunate to share the world with a huge diversity of creatures. For me, some of the most fascinating are reptiles and amphibians. Collectively called herpetofauna,… Read more »