African athletes have added glamour and excitement to the 10th edition of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world championships in Helsinki, Finland. Crowds of more than 30Â 000 have been treated to spectacular performances by the 2Â 000 athletes drawn from more than 200 countries.
"You know what Hillbrow and Yeoville are like," says a resident of Katlehong, glibly summarising the moral character of places he must have visited about twice in the past decade: "Full of criminals." But naturally: mainstream Jozi circles — the Melville café, the Soweto shebeen — have turned both names into abuses, conjoining them to a list of African cities similarly revered.
The government’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) paid out more than R2,1-billion last year to 500Â 000 unemployed people, but has little grasp of the skills challenges the country faces. The now self-funding UIF uses a database to match the skills of unemployed people with those of vacancies but does little or no follow-up.
Volunteers in St Francis Bay, a fishing town about 100km south of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, are making a big difference to their natural environment by turning their concerns into action. A heritage centre was recently set up by residents to educate people, especially children, about protecting marine life.
It would be a mistake to view the recent launch of MTN Banking as simply another banking channel. It is the first step towards true cellphone banking where bricks, mortar and tellers could be relegated to the history books. It is not about a bank offering cellphone banking, but rather a cellphone company offering banking.
A bellwether report has found that the number of malnourished people in Africa has increased from 88-million in 1970 to 200-million today, 35% of the continent’s population, as a result of ill-conceived agricultural policies and trade barriers imposed by wealthy countries.
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Monday marked the first day of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, with teams of soldiers and police officers slated to fan out throughout the Gaza Strip’s 21 settlements to hand settlers notices telling them to quit their homes. Those who have not left after 48 hours face being removed by force.
A dramatic last-hole birdie saw Phil Mickelson capture his second major title when he won the storm-delayed 87th PGA Championship on Monday. The 35-year-old American carded a closing two-over 72 to finish on four-under 276 for the year’s final major tournament.