Yolandi Groenewald
Yolandi Groenewald is a South African environmental reporter, particularly experienced in the investigative field. After 10 years at the Mail & Guardian, she signed on with City Press in 2011. Her investigative environmental features have been recognised with numerous national journalism awards. Her coverage revolves around climate change politics, land reform, polluting mines, and environmental health. The world’s journey to find a deal to address climate change has shaped her career to a great degree. Yolandi attended her first climate change conference in Montreal in 2005. In the last decade, she has been present at seven of the COP’s, including the all-important COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. South Africa’s own addiction to coal in the midst of these talks has featured prominently in her reports.
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/ 25 October 2007

Commemorating history

On June 16 1976 high school students in Soweto protested against their poor education. The date became engraved in South Africa’s struggle history and will be remembered as one of the turning points in the country’s history. When the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) decided to commemorate the day through a new "June 16 Trail", it also created a new legacy for communities inside Soweto that led to job creation and enterprise development

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/ 25 October 2007

Kids on the up and up

The informal settlements of Gauteng are full of children living in desperate socio-economic conditions. It is here that a church partnership is working to uplift the lives of not only the children, but also their communities. "It is widely understood that children and childhood are the building blocks for social, economic and human development and yet millions of kids remain isolated in hopeless environments," says Joanne Schermeier of the Coalition of Anglican Children’s Homes.

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/ 25 October 2007

Klein Karoo’s groot success

Every year thousands of art lovers descend on the town of Oudtshoorn for the annual Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK). With more than 200 productions, 1 000 shows and 135 000 tickets sold, there is no doubt that the mainly Afrikaans arts festival is one of South Africa’s most beloved cultural events.

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/ 25 October 2007

A champion of children – come what might

Abused girls in Zimbabwe have a new heroine. She might not wear a cape or have a signature martial arts move, but this woman has saved numerous girls from terrible circumstances and created a better life for them. Children’s rights activist Betty Makoni, the founding director of the Girl Child Network Trust, is Zimbabwe’s own Superwoman.

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/ 25 October 2007

Rebuilding a schooling system

With most schools in rural areas facing abject poverty, overcrowding, lack of resources and facilities, the cry for help is loud and desperate. Rural children want to compete on an equal footing with their urban brothers and sisters. Anglo American South Africa has answered this call with its Rural Schools Programme aimed at ameliorating the situation in Limpopo.

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/ 19 October 2007

Kruger threatened by land claim

Communities claiming a large slice of the northern Kruger National Park (KNP) want full title to their land without any developmental restrictions. The land would remain part of the world-renowned wildlife reserve, says the Limpopo Land Claims Commission. Negotiations over this proposed settlement of the second-largest land claim in the Kruger could set a precedent for claims by communities dispossessed during apartheid.

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/ 12 October 2007

Beware more weird weather

Storms in South Africa are going to become more severe, an analyst at the South African Weather Service has warned. And while residents in Mamelodi, Soweto, were mopping up water and clearing up the damage to their houses this week, weather man Mnikeli Ndabambi warned that people­ in low-lying areas could expect more flooding.

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/ 10 October 2007

Changing people’s perceptions

The authors of the comprehensive <i>South Africa Environment ­Outlook</i> report say it has already made an impact on how people view the country’s resources. The report, based on 16 ­specialist studies over a two-year period, aimed to provide scientifically ­credible information to help drive the future environmental agenda. It cited four major priorities: water availability and quality, climate change.

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/ 5 October 2007

State will not make land target

South Africa will not be able to distribute 30% of its land to black people by 2014, the director general in the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs has warned. Glen Thomas says the high land prices will make it impossible to reach the 2014 target — set by President Thabo Mbeki — if ”drastic interventions” are not made.