February 08
Mozambique: Mozambique Floods - Why the Most Vulnerable Keep Paying the Highest Price
When floods submerged parts of Mozambique after heavy rains in 2000, a baby girl was born in a tree, where her mother clung as the Limpopo river waters rose. The baby was nicknamed… Read more »
Africa: Connecting Home Solar and Electric Vehicle Batteries to the Grid Could Boost South Africa's Clean Energy and Strengthen the Electricity System
South Africa has committed to reaching phasing out human-caused carbon pollution by 2050. To get there, it needs to push as much renewable energy as possible into the national… Read more »
February 05
South Africa: South African Novelist Lauretta Ngcobo Is the Subject of a Tender and Urgent New Film
Lauretta Ngcobo, who passed away in 2015, left a singular and impactful literary legacy in South Africa. Even in a life of exile and resistance to apartheid and white minority rule… Read more »
Southern Africa: A Giant Star Is Changing Before Our Eyes and Astronomers Are Watching in Real Time
For decades, astronomers have been watching WOH G64, an enormous heavyweight star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy visible with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.… Read more »
South Africa: New Rugby Rules for South African Kids Aim to Keep Them Safe - What Does the Research Say?
Children in South Africa are back at school after their summer holidays. My son, aged five, has just started school at Wynberg Boys Junior, a school based in Cape Town's southern… Read more »
February 04
Zambia: Zambia's Farmers Are Working in Dangerous Heat - How They Can Protect Themselves
Farming is central to life in Zambia, with about 60% of the country's labour force relying on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihood or income. Seasonal rains shape planting and… Read more »
February 03
South Africa: Cape Town Project Tests What Hydroponic Farming Can Do in Urban Spaces
Imagine a world where fresh vegetables and herbs sprout in the heart of our cities without the need for sprawling farms. Read more »
South Africa: We Run Writing Workshops At a South African University - What We've Learnt About How Students Are Using AI and How to Help Them
Much is being said about the wonders of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it is the new frontier. And while it provides amazing possibilities in fields like medicine, academics… Read more »
February 02
Angola: Angola's Lobito Corridor Is Being Revived - but Who Stands to Gain?
The Lobito Corridor is a massive infrastructure axis linking Angola's shore on the west of Africa to the mineral-rich interior. Built in the first three decades of the 1900s to… Read more »
South Africa: Medicinal Plants Support Men's Health in South Africa - Why This Knowledge Needs Safekeeping
Men's sexual and reproductive health may be awkward to talk about, but there's a need to do so. For example, about one-sixth of all couples worldwide have difficulty conceiving… Read more »
February 01
South Africa: What's Stopping Sunny South Africa's Solar Industry? Court Case Sheds Light On the Wider Problem
A South African solar manufacturer, ARTsolar, is taking the government and several renewable energy developers to court. The case focuses on local content rules for renewable… Read more »
January 30
South Africa: Fossil Hunters Find a New Dinosaur Track Site On South Africa's Coast - the Youngest So Far
Southern Africa is world renowned for its fossil record of creatures that lived in the very distant past, including dinosaurs. But, about 182 million years ago, a huge eruption of… Read more »
January 29
South Africa: Student Well-Being Comes From Care, but Is Caring Enough? Academics Reflect On 3 Stumbling Blocks
Students' well-being in higher education has been a growing concern globally since the coronavirus pandemic, which disrupted learning and lives generally. Read more »
January 28
South Africa: South Africa's Floods Turned Deadly Because Limpopo Wasn't Prepared
Limpopo, in northern South Africa, home to 6.6 million people, several large mines and the Kruger National Park (one of Africa's largest game reserves), experienced unusually… Read more »
January 27
Namibia: Donkeys Are a Common Sight in Northern Namibia
Donkeys are an unassuming yet ubiquitous presence in northern Namibia. They traverse sandy village roads, pull carts stacked with firewood, and graze freely along the northern edge… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's New Immigration Policy Takes a Digital Direction - Will It Succeed?
South Africa has a new draft white paper on immigration, citizenship and refugees. This, the fourth in three decades, represents a step change from the previous efforts. It is a… Read more »
January 22
South Africa: Colonial Tax Records Hold 3 Lessons for South Africa Today - Economic Historian
In 1825, a tax collector compiling a census in South Africa's Cape Colony paused to write a poem in the margin of his work. In it, he complained about the idle chatter of townsmen… Read more »
January 21
South Africa: What Should Education Look Like Today? 6 Essential Reads On Learning Together
The United Nations made 24 January the International Day of Education to highlight the role of education in peace and development. In 2026 the theme is "the power of youth in… Read more »
Southern Africa: Bats, Bushbabies and Aardvark Edge Closer to Extinction in Southern Africa
A new list of threatened mammals in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini shows that 11 more species have edged closer to extinction since 2016. Read more »
January 19
South Africa: Getting Into University Is Only the First Hurdle for Students From Rural South Africa. Here's What Comes Next
As universities in South Africa prepare to admit a new group of students, thousands of young people from rural parts of the country hope for a life-changing opportunity. Read more »
January 15
South Africa: Student Teachers in South Africa Choose Comfort Over Challenge in Practical Placements - but There's a Hidden Cost
South Africa's schools still carry the imprint of apartheid, where resources, language and geography were deliberately divided according to "race". Many communities today remain… Read more »
January 14
Zimbabwe: Human-Wildlife Conflict in Zimbabwe Is a Crisis - Who Is in Danger, Where and Why?
In the fishing villages along Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe, near the border with Zambia, everyday routines that should be ordinary - like collecting water, walking to the… Read more »
January 12
South Africa: High Cholesterol and Insulin Resistance Are Rising Among Young South Africans
In a small mining town in South Africa's Limpopo province, young people are showing worrying signs of diseases that were once thought to affect only older adults. Read more »
January 11
Africa: Nigeria and South Africa Risk Breaking Climate Change Pledges
Just 20 countries produce 80% of the world's oil, gas and coal. Since 2019, researchers have released regular reports analysing how these governments plan to continue drilling and… Read more »
January 08
South Africa: South Africa's Addressing System Is Still Not in Place
"Turn right after the first big tree; my house is the one with the yellow door." In parts of South Africa, where settlements have grown without formal urban planning due to rapid… Read more »
