Surika Van Schalkwyk

Welfare workers are picking up an alarming increase in the number of abandoned babies, seeing in it the effects of growing economic distress — and particularly rocketing food prices. Johannesburg Child Welfare Services, an NGO, says at least 19 babies were abandoned in Johannesburg in May alone.

South Africa faces a growing food crisis with declining domestic wheat production threatening to escalate food prices. Critics say the drop is because of a combination of factors, primary among them is government’s decision to open up the domestic market to global forces. But transport and infrastructure problems also make it costly for farmers to use the railways to export their product.

Surika van Schalkwyk looks into a training programme that aims to protect
mentally disabled children from sexual abuse, and says with derogatory language still so recently used in the legal system, South Africa still has a long way to go to ensure equal rights for its intellectually disabled citizens.

Critics estimate that businesses, and thus the country’s economy, are losing millions of rands each year to HIV/Aids. Research shows that between 10% and 40% of the country’s workforce is infected with the virus, although no exact figures are available. All businesses must consider HIV/Aids awareness programmes, writes Surika van Schalkwyk.

Poverty is one of the biggest challenges Southern Africa faces. Here many people still live on less than $1 a day. Last August, the Southern African Development Community summit decided to hold an International Conference on Poverty and Development to develop new policies and mobilise stakeholders in the fight against poverty.

If the economy is giving you a headache, relief, at least in the form of Disprin, is not at hand. The country has been gripped by a Disprin shortage over the past five months. There has been speculation on the possible cause, including suggestions that the product had been contaminated.

On a wall outside a crumbling school in rural Gokwe, central Zimbabwe, a battle is being fought. A youth is pasting a Morgan Tsvangirai poster over graffiti, written in bright orange paint, proclaiming: "Good morning Makoni." A few years ago, this would have been a job done under cover of darkness, and hurriedly.

South Africa’s tap water is of the highest quality, yet we consumed 260-million litres of bottled water in 2006. It takes three litres of water to bottle one litre of water in South Africa, and a litre of mineral water generates 600 times more carbon dioxide than a litre of tap water, not to mention the fossil fuels used in production and shipping.

About 20 000 stolen — but recovered — cars worth an estimated R2-billion are needlessly crushed in South Africa every year. Many are in poor condition, but some are top of their range and in excellent nick. The cars destroyed are those recovered by authorities, but not reclaimed by their owners, usually because they have been paid out the full insurance value.

Solar-powered billboards in Jo’burg and Cape Town have brought heat and electricity to two townships and helped to shine the spotlight on some of the issues facing the communities in which they are located. A year after it was constructed the first solar-powered billboard in South Africa has brought a primary school in Alexandra, Johannesburg, out of obscurity and into the global limelight.

Hazardous chemicals are detrimental to the environment. In China last week sulphuric acid leaked into the water supply from a chemical factory, poisoning at least 26 villagers, illustrating just how dangerous chemicals can be. China has a bad track record. It has some of the most chemically polluted cities in the world, following decades of massive industrial and economic growth.

Sarah Jessica Parker nailed the point with a stiletto: good shoes are better than a bad love affair and great shoes can outlast love itself. But while many women fantasise about owning a trophy set of sparkly Jimmy Choos, the reality for most South Africans, particularly children, is that a plain pair of shoes remains a luxury.

It’s super sexy, green and to be made in South Africa. A press release jointly issued by Italy’s Velozzi, a sports car manufacturer, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa announced a partnership two weeks ago to develop a range of sleek new plug-in hybrid sports cars.

Scores of Kenyans living in South Africa handed a petition to the Kenyan High Commission in Pretoria this week demanding that President Mwai Kibaki stand down. <i>M&G</i> reporters Warren Foster, Nosimilo Ndlovu, Zodidi Mhlana and Surika van Schalkwyk spoke to some of the petitioners to get views.

Therapy is a necessary part of recovery for survivors of abuse, but many are too traumatised to talk about their experiences.

Captain Zakhele Zwane likes to think of himself as an officer who does more than just his job. "It’s the only thing I’ve known for the past 20 years. I didn’t know anything about police work before I joined the force. As far as fighting crime was concerned, I knew I could make a difference," he says.

The trouble with helping street children is that the problem sometimes looks like a bottomless pit that eats resources, but never seems to deliver any results. Yet, as the problem escalates on the streets of Johannesburg, the option of simply not helping does not exist.

Three groundbreaking studies by organisations such as the United Nations Global Compact and Goldman Sachs presented this year at the Global Compact Leaders Summit show that an increasing number of business leaders see corporate responsibility as a way to compete successfully and to build trust with stakeholders — and that sustainability front-runners in a range of industries can generate higher stock prices.

The audience is riveted as the story on the stage takes shape. Some members silently curse the evil spirit that is slowly draining the lives of the main characters. But, all is not lost, you can fight back against the evil demon, better known as HIV/Aids. This is Themba Interactive Theatre, run by a Johannesburg-based company that uses theatre to inform people about HIV/Aids.

While the annual ranking of perceptions of corruption attracts a lot of attention, the way in which corruption creates poverty is often overlooked. Transparency International’s (TI) 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked South Africa at 5,1, compared with log leader Denmark at 9,4. While South Africa has improved on its ranking of 4,6 last year, any corruption is still a driver of poverty in the country.