Hilton Hamman When Treverton School recently released four new zebras into its wildlife area, it was the culmination of more than 20 years of environmental work at the school and a day the pupils say they will never forget. “That afternoon our lone zebra, which until then seemed to believe it was a horse, joined […]

Mail & Guardian reporter From the early Eighties Fra Fra’s sound has wowed audiences across the world and they arrive in South Africa in September for a tour. This leading Afro-Caribbean band have their roots in the Netherlands, Surinam, the Antilles and Africa and have established themselves as a leading jazz band. The Surinamese phrase […]

Water Awareness Award Finalist: Umgeni Water’s Water Education Programme Michelle Nel Umgeni Water has produced a range of water-education resources that have proved so successful with users the United Nations has adopted aspects of its education programme. The UN is using the model in the Six Cities Water for Africa Project, an 18-month pilot project […]

Investing in the Environment: Individual Award Finalist: Kim Kieser Joy Webber When clothing manufacturer Kim Kieser saw a newspaper report about a murdered woman’s body dumped on a garbage heap a couple of years ago, she was galvanised into action. “The article seemed to be the answer I sought to an unexplained dream I had […]

Schools Project Award Finalist: Legaganeng Primary School Hilary Fine In the schoolyard of Legaganeng Primary School in arid Northern Province is a thin, green strip that stands out as a shining example of how knowledge gained from a small, agricultural project blossomed to benefit both learners and the community at large. Legaganeng began its permaculture […]

Schools Project Award Finalist: Weston Agricultural College Hilary Fine What started out as a simple geography class exercise for learners at Weston Agricultural College, ended up with the local town council being forced to acknowledge the huge problems caused by a municipal dumping site. The saga started in March this year, when the grade 11 […]

Natural Resources Award Finalist: Ground Hornbill Reintroduction Project Hilton Hamann It took a former TV presenter from Winchester, England, to recognise that if nothing was done about South Africa’s ground hornbill population, these large birds wouldn’t be around much longer. Anne Turner came to this country on holiday in 1997 and decided to stay. She […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota this week backtracked on his decision to appoint Seth Phalatse as the new chairperson of the Armscor, the state arms procurement company, and withdrew the appointment. His turnabout followed the Mail & Guardian report last week revealing how Phalatse had admitted to taking a $20?000 (about […]

Glenda Daniels The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is not only planning a national strike next week against the government’s privatisation policies it is proposing alternatives. Privatisation, Cosatu argues, is responsible for escalating job losses, a lack of service delivery, the rising cost of basic services and the further impoverishment of the poor. […]

David Macfarlane Size does count and that’s official. District councillors around the country have been seduced by the argument that because South Africans “are generally big people”, they are more susceptible to “deep vein thrombosis” if they fly economy class. Shortly before setting off on an investment mission to China in April, about 40 councillors […]