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National

Ingonyama Trust Board moves to retrench staff

More than 50 workers at the Ingonyama Trust Board have been issued section 189 notices

Paddy Harper - 2 Aug 2020

The Editors Picks

No proof of Covid-19 reinfection, yet

Some people report testing positive for Covid-19 after initially having the disease and then testing negative. Scientists are still trying to understand if this means that reinfection is possible

Athandiwe Saba - 31 Jul 2020

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Coronavirus

There are useful lessons to learn from the generation of the 1986 emergency

Bongekile Macupe - 2 Aug 2020

The parents of the 2020 crisis have little say about their children’s education

Coronavirus

Miss Rona’s teaching the 4IR lessons

colleen millar - 2 Aug 2020

Schooling is stuck in the 1950s, but technology must be blended with the basics of education

Coronavirus

Caring for students goes beyond the teaching project

Ylva Rodny gumede - 2 Aug 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic gives universities an opportunity to find new ways of ensuring the health and well-being of students

Coronavirus

Teachers trying to catch up, ‘ticking boxes’, overloading learners

Bongekile Macupe - 2 Aug 2020

Teachers who spoke to the Mail & Guardian this week are not confident that any effective teaching and learning will take place during this academic year, even if it is extended

National

Scores die in Western Cape’s deadly taxi tit-for-tat

Lester Kiewit - 2 Aug 2020

Forty-three people were shot dead in the first six months of this year in the Western Cape’s intractable taxi violence, while close to 100 have been arrested and 40 are on court rolls in connection with the conflict

Coronavirus

‘I will have to repeat grade 8’

Bongekile Macupe - 2 Aug 2020

Schools have been closed again. After months of doing schoolwork at home, not all parents think their children are ready to move to the next grade

Visit our coronavirus hub for the latest updates

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Special Reports

Position of the African Blood Regulators Forum on the use of Convalescent Plasma in Africa as a potential therapy for Covid-19

special reports - 31 Jul 2020

A potential treatment for Covid-19 is the transfusion of convalescent plasma collected from those who have recovered from into those who are still affected

Africa

A salute to an African statesman, Benjamin William Mkapa

Charles R Stith and Benjamin William Mkapa were friends. Stith did not get to say goodbye.

Charles R Stith - 29 Jul 2020

Challenges and opportunities for telemedicine in Africa

Africa fejiro chinye nwoko & utibe effiong & nchiewe ani - 28 Jul 2020

Telemedicine in Africa is currently limited by the availability of basic infrastructure, but, considering the lack of doctors in rural areas, it is a vital component in addressing the continent’s healthcare needs

Telling Africa’s story: The future is podcasts

Africa kim chakanetsa - 28 Jul 2020

Podcasting in Africa has experienced a slow uptake, but there are active pockets of users in some countries — and huge potential to grow the market of makers and listeners

Business

Tito needs the IMF, South Africa doesn’t

The IMF loan is given with false motivation — to provide political cover for entrenched neoliberalism and deep cuts in the public service

Dick Forslund - 1 Aug 2020

Eskom cancels dodgy R100m tender linked to Mabuza’s niece

Business Sabelo Skiti - 31 Jul 2020

An internal investigation revealed ‘irregularities’ in the process of awarding the contract

OECD urges SA to reform to recover from pandemic effects

Business thando maeko - 31 Jul 2020

The OECD predicts a 7.5% contraction in South Africa’s GDP, with an 8.2% contraction if a second wave of Covid-19 is not avoided

Opinion

The language of Afrikaans is not the problem

English is a valuable resource, but we cannot continue to promote it at the expense of the indigenous languages — including Afrikaans

Conrad Steenkamp - 2 Aug 2020

Bravo Bongani Baloyi!

Opinion simon ratlhagane - 2 Aug 2020

Midvaal’s young mayor dispels all the persistent myths of young leaders not being able to govern effectively

Covid-19 is taking its toll on people’s state of mind

Coronavirus Mpumelelo Ncube - 2 Aug 2020

The future is uncertain, and the number of people suffering from anxiety and depression is rising

Environment

Dumpsite fire that smoked out Pietermaritzburg is finally out

Firefighters have finally extinguished the fire at the New England Road landfill site in Pietermaritzburg, which had engulfed the KwaZulu-Natal capital in thick clouds of toxic smoke since it flared up more than a week ago

Paddy Harper - 1 Aug 2020

Residents raise a stink over landfill

Environment Paddy Harper - 1 Aug 2020

The years-long battle against the EnviroServ waste site at Shongweni has taken a new turn

Covid-19 puts green energy in a coma

Coronavirus Sarah Smit - 31 Jul 2020

The pandemic has disrupted governments’ plans to flatline the upward trajectory of global warming

Arts & Culture

Friday

The list: Athi-Patra Ruga’s constant reinvention

Characters have been a central part to Athi-Patra Ruga’s practice since the early days of his artistic career. Here he lets us in on their backstories

athi patra ruga - 1 Aug 2020

Review: ‘Ikhaya Likamoya’ by Sethembiso Zulu — Ties that bind us all

Friday Robyn Sassen - 1 Aug 2020

Multimedia journalist and healer Sethembiso Zulu’s debut solo show embraces a fierce, raw and broken timelessness that encapsulates what it means to be human

Athi-Patra Ruga’s new exhibition: The stain at the end of rainbow

Friday Kwanele Sosibo - 31 Jul 2020

Athi-Patra Ruga’s latest exhibition, ‘Interior/Exterior/ Dramatis Personae’, takes his characters on transformative journeys

Education

Coronavirus

Walter Sisulu University is playing catch-up with online learning

Some affluent institutions have already finished the first semester online, but historically disadvantaged universities like Walter Sisulu University are having to start from scratch

Bongekile Macupe - 28 Jul 2020

KZN education officials suspended for mismanagement of sanitary-pads project

Education Bongekile Macupe - 26 Jul 2020

Unions have welcomed the suspension of three senior officials in KZN’s department of education for mismanagement of a sanitary-pads distribution project

Children will learn under lockdown

Coronavirus Elizabeth Henning - 26 Jul 2020

Just what they’ll learn or be taught will be outside the curriculum, which may have to happen later

Accounting special

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Special Reports

Yvonne Chetty: a passion for an efficient public sector and mentoring

'Being affiliated to a professional body such as SAICA makes providing expert guidance and support to my colleagues that much easier'

special reports - 13 Jul 2020

Special Reports

Young professional gets a career boost from PSETA

SAICA makes ongoing efforts to encourage the professionalisation of financial offices in private and public sector organisations

Staff Reporter - 8 Jul 2020

Special Reports

Municipal audit outcomes reveal public sector financial management must be professionalised

SAICA calls for a review of the mandatory minimum skills and qualifications required for all key financial management positions within the public sector

special reports - 3 Jul 2020

Politics

Comrade Andrew Mlangeni was the embodiment of service

Kgalema Motlanthe paid tribute to ANC struggle stalwart Andrew Mlangeni, who died on Tuesday, at his 95th birthday celebrations last month

kgalema motlanthe - 25 Jul 2020

1962, China: The day Mao met Mlangeni

Politics mandla mathebula - 25 Jul 2020

In this edited extract from The Backroom Boy, an autobiography of the late Andrew Mokete Mlangeni by Mandla Mathebula, the ANC struggle stalwart meets Mao Tse-Tung while in military training in China

Political interference mounts over SABC retrenchments

Politics Thanduxolo Jika - 25 Jul 2020

The SABC says it needs to cut R700-million to survive. But senior politicians have allegedly interfered to stop retrenchments from proceeding

Sport

Lampard vs Arteta: Managers of a forgotten generation

Two of football’s youngest coaches are competing for one of its highest honours. This tells us something about how the Premier League appoints manager

Luke Feltham - 29 Jul 2020

Africa, tune in: The NBA is back on your screens

Sport Refiloe Seiboko - 28 Jul 2020

The NBA’s been on pause since March but will be back in full effect on Thursday. What’s happened since the stoppage and what’s about to happen?

Lala kahle Kaunda Ntunja

Sport Lungani Zama - 21 Jul 2020

South African rugby has lost a gentle giant in Kaunda Ntunja. His commentary in isiXhosa poetically ushered in the Springboks’ first black captain and ‘popped champagne’ after Mapimpi’s magic

World

How McKinsey is making $100m and counting) advising the US government’s coronavirus response

For the world’s best-known corporate-management consultants, helping tackle the pandemic has been a bonanza. It’s not clear what the US government has gotten in return

ian macdougall & propublica - 20 Jul 2020

The orchestrators of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen

World cameron joseph - 12 Jul 2020

As the crisis continues to unfold, the biggest threat may be the vested interest in maintaining the civil war Therefore, with no end in sight to the conflict plaguing the nation, the question worth asking is: who benefits from a Yemen at war?

India and China border conflict intensifies

World Haris Zargar - 10 Jul 2020

A frontier dispute between the two Asian giants turned deadly for the first time in 45 years. Observers argue the skirmish was exacerbated by Delhi’s annexation of Kashmir and Ladakh