Tourism has long been viewed as one of the holy grails of job creation in South Africa, which is burdened by an unemployment rate of more than 30%. Certain parts of the country have become firm favourites with local and international visitors. Now the lesser-known province of Limpopo is also hoping to take its place at the table.
While much of this year’s World Environment Day on June 5 will be spent discussing the fate of the oceans (the theme of the day is <i>Wanted! Seas and Oceans: Dead or Alive?</i>), something altogether smaller is also receiving attention in South Africa: the bee.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Of all the achievements chalked up by the African National Congress over the past 10 years, none seems to match its gains in providing housing for the poor. When Nelson Mandela took office in 1994, official estimates of the housing backlog ranged from 1,4-million to three million units — while the number of people living in shacks was put between five million and 7,7-million.
As a group of academics discovered, it takes just a quick trip to Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg to be confronted with the problems that still plague South Africa. The group of about 200 had been invited to review the first decade of democracy under the auspices of a conference entitled <i>South Africa: Ten Years after Apartheid</i>.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Academics and political analysts from around the world have gathered in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, for a conference on the achievements of the first decade of democracy in the country. "Post-apartheid South Africa has taught all of us that even those who are made into the worst enemies can overcome the trauma of such a tragedy," said Salim Ahmed Salim.
The plight of birdlife in Africa and other parts of the world is being highlighted at a meeting that is currently under way in the South African port city of Durban. A global report on bird populations has warned that a third of the world’s bird species is at risk of extinction. This amounts to about 400 types of birds.
Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who fled a rebel onslaught on Sunday, is searching for a new home — and it appears that he may take up exile in South Africa. Aristide arrived in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), on Monday along with a small entourage that included his wife.
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/ 11 February 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>The announcement on Monday that South Africa will go to the polls on April 14 for its third democratic election has opened the way for political parties to start campaigning in earnest. But, analysts are already predicting that the ruling African National Congress will be returned to power with a sweeping majority.
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/ 7 February 2004
Sudan’s peace process will collapse if Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army refuse to involve others in the talks that are under way in Kenya, political commentators have warned. A number of south Sudanese who are living in South Africa expressed impatience with the Darfur regional conflict.
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/ 2 February 2004
The so-called "brain drain" of professional expertise from South Africa has been a source of concern for several years now. Discussions of the trend have tended to focus on white professionals –- but, it appears that black South Africans are also joining the exodus.
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/ 26 January 2004
"We live in one world. Not in the first, second, third, fifth or sixth world," Michael Sommer, head of the Confederation of German Trade Unions, said in South Africa last week. Sommer is a member of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s official delegation, currently touring Africa with the leader.
The new year has begun with a small but significant contribution to the fight against Aids, which is devastating Sub-Saharan Africa. A $2,15-million grant has been made by Japan to help Zimbabwe and Swaziland prevent the disease from spreading amongst their youth.
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/ 22 November 2003
Angola is literally a country on the move. To date 67 000 refugees have returned home from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Namibia. Angola’s repatriation and reintegration programme is, however, beset with challenges and constraints — for example, the 11-million landmines in that country.