Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Good News Edition

latest news & developments
Handyman: Maitland Pawn Shop owner Johan van Rensburg is doing brisk business in hardware during the lockdown. (David Harriso/M&G)
COVID 19

Pawn shop’s surprise lockdown hit: tradespeople’s tools

Money-lending and DIY products have allowed this pawn shop to thrive during the lockdown

  • Lester Kiewit
3 min read
Life-saving words: Caroline Peters helps victims of gender-based violence with coded messages on WhatsApp. (David Harrison)
BHEKI CELE

Using codewords to protect against domestic violence

A Cape Town women’s group is using coded text messages to help victims of gender-based violence and abuse get out of harm’s way

  • Lester Kiewit
4 min read
At the frontline: Tasneem Motara, the MEC in charge of infrastructure in Gauteng, is under immense pressure to deliver. (Delwyn Verasamy)
BENONI

‘Over-preparing’ to fight the virus

Gauteng infrastructure MEC Tasneem Motara’s life has changed. It is calmer, but preparing for a flood of Covid-19 patients raises the pressure

  • Sarah Smit
4 min read
Pots filled with soup outside Drifters Brewery on Woodstock main road. Cape Town brewing companies Woodstock Brewery and Drifters Brewery have begun to use their brewing equipment to start a soup making initiative to assist in feeding vulnerable communities around Cape Town during the Covid-19 lockdown. (David Harrison/M&G)
BEER COMPANIES

Making soup is easier than beer, my brew

The Woodstock Brewery, the Drifter Brewing Company and Stellenbosch Breweries are unable to make beer under lockdown regulations. So they’re making soup for food relief instead.

  • Lester Kiewit
2 min read
(John McCann/M&G)
CARBON BRIEF

Climate change — the only-catastrophically-bad good news

As dark as things are, with Eskom sputtering and another recession in full swing, this country is packed with ingenuity and hope.

  • Sipho Kings
2 min read