The View Point

The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) in partnership with the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) will be hosting the “Rebuild SA” webinar series. The first dialogue on Rebuilding Communities will focus on promoting cultural diversity, social cohesion, reconciliation, peace and economic development. Events in South Africa over the last year and a half have been...

The Siyasiza Business Fund is a privately held purchase order financing and crowdfunding entity that strives for the betterment of an economically inclusive South Africa through the advancement of entrepreneurship. Their core mandate is in facilitating access to purchase order financing for SMMEs.   The fund was founded by Gabriel Makwana after he realized that most SMMEs lack the immediate f...

“Democracy, therefore, is a farce, a gimmick or a scheme that rests on the magic of numbers rather than substance. On this pathetic basis, I daresay that democracy is essentially overrated” – these are views of Sankarist, activist and Law academic, David Letsoalo.   He questions the effectiveness of the outcome of an election and how the outcome we’ve seen in the past...

He’s been on the show a couple of times before; raising issues about the plight of people in the creative industry. He has also questioned why artists are supposed to help foster nation building, yet their grievances never make it to the agenda when issues of national importance are being discussed.   Ayanda Roda is the Secretary General of the the Cultural and Creative Industries Feder...

Africa’s Travel and Tourism Summit is seen as an innovative initiative for promoting intra-Africa tourism and for sharing insights into the ‘state of readiness’ for South Africa and the rest of Africa to welcome the world during and post-Covid-19 pandemic. Following a difficult period for the tourism industry, the Summit, was meant to be a catalyst for engagement on the current s...

Defending and promoting Human Rights must be foremost in our minds in preparing for the upcoming Municipal elections. It is for this, and many other reasons that the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC), supported by like-minded NGOs and faith-based organisations across the country, is putting issues of homelessness into the spotlight ahead of the South African municipal elections. The DHC is the lead in eTh...

Compromised record-keeping at provincial hospitals, a legal system ill-equipped to deal with medical negligence claims and the absence of legislation that regulates legal claims in the medical field are some of the existing problems in the medical sector. As a result, the country’s nine provincial health departments are facing medical malpractice suits that run well beyond their ability to s...

In September last year, we had a conversation Nombulelo Shange from the University of the Free State and she had written an opinion piece about how African Knowledge Systems should be built into the way knowledge is produced, the way healthcare systems are run, how new technologies are built. She’s back again and she says, although a lot more needs to be done, we are seeing a rise in African...

As Managing Director of MSC Cruises South Africa, Ross Volk is responsible for growing the cruising market in South Africa. He joined MSC Cruises South Africa in 2015 as the company’s Chief Financial Officer, following a varied and successful auditing career at KPMG. His 12 years at KPMG instilled in him a love for travel, visiting over 75 countries while working as a Senior Manager for the...

Business in Zimbabwe is worried after the power distribution company, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), announced that it will continue with the roll-out of daily 12-hour power cuts due to limited generation at its thermal plant. The Zimbabwean power utility says repairs on the dam at Kariba Hydro Power Station have compounded its challenges. The country's Chamber...

Most people who care about measuring poverty—policymakers, academics, non-profit organisations, and the like—agree that the way the government currently determines poverty levels and social security policy does not work. According to the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII), the national poverty line figures were of great concern, particularly because the Covid-19 Social...

The South African Future Trust released a report titled “From Survival to Opportunity through Covid-19 and Beyond…” . The report is an analysis by Oppenheimer Generations Philanthropies and The Brenthurst Foundation on survey data collected from the SA Future Trust’s SMME loan holders. It reveals who it reached, how they were impacted, and offers insights into the future o...

As the world continues to navigate these uncertain times, mental health matters have come into the spotlight. In the midst of social distancing, lockdown, and a global pandemic, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges are a very real concern. But why is it that children often don’t have a voice or a space to articulate their struggles in such times?  For many children, t...

The Imbumba Foundation, in partnership with the Old Mutual Foundation’s 21 Acts of Goodness campaign, will be rolling out a matric support and dignity pack programme. This project will aid students across South Africa. Given the recent unrest in parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng, and the ongoing challenges presented by the global pandemic, the Imbumba Foundation and Old Mutual Foundation f...

HRH Zolani Mkiva (MP) is a Member of Parliament and the incumbent Secretary General of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA). He is a permanent delegate in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). He is also a member of the ANC National Caucus. Title:                   [• HRH (Mr.)...

Last month on #TheAfrikanNarrative we had listeners call in and enjoy radio in the TshiVenda language. In an effort to keep celebrating our indigenous languages, today we focus on the language of isiZulu. Members of the Zulu culture are also known as “AmaZulu” which, directly translated, means people of heaven or people of the weather or the heavens. The Zulu are descendants of the Ngu...

Parliament, provincial legislatures, municipal councils, the Executive, boards, members of commissions, accounting officers, managers and employees – all these institutions and personnel, have a significant role to play in upholding the constitution. If one drops the ball, everything can easily spiral out of control.   Looking at current state of affairs in the country and how the const...

We’re profiling Beko, a home appliance brand that uses product innovation to support a healthier lifestyle. Beko is implementing energy efficiency projects and also investing in renewable energy systems to contribute to the fight against the climate crisis and in an effort to reduce their customers’ carbon footprints.  We’ll hear more about their involvement in the ‘Ea...

On Wednesday the 09th of September the world observes International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Day. What makes this a matter of utmost urgency is that South Africa has by far the highest FASD rate in the world.  The World Health Organization estimates the global FASD prevalence rate to be approximately 15 per 1000 live births (1,5%). Title:        &nbs...

We are living through difficult times globally and in South Africa. Due to the pandemic and recent unrest, many South Africans have been left unsettled. These times have also resulted in significant mental health issues. As schools return to some semblance of normal, the I am a School Fan initiative is being launched to instil a sense of care and community, and support within schools. The initiato...

Dr Ross Harvey is Director of Research at Good Governance Africa and joins us now, to talk about the pledge to good governance. Following the unrest that swept through South Africa in July, Good Governance Africa believes that many African citizens want to act and make a personal contribution to improving governance on the continent. Good Governance Africa has launched a new website designed to al...

Tasneem Fredericks is the Deputy President of the Black Management Forum and she is also a director of the law firm Fredericks Incorporated. She gained extensive experience in the drafting of Memorandum of Incorporations and advising on the direction on compliance issues relating to the Companies Act 2008.    Tasneem was the first black female attorney appointed as part of a professional...

Teacher supply and demand is a complex matter. The ultimate aim is to have a teacher in front of every class, today and for the foreseeable future. This also implies an ideal class size. In SA, the ideal class size is tacit, and not explicit, as there are no class size norms. If SA were to lower the pupil-teacher ratio from the current 30 to a typical middle income country level of around 25, it w...

As we mark the 'end' of Women's month, it is only fair for us to honesty address all the proverbial elephants in the room that undermine efforts to achieve gender equality.  In 2021, the labour of millions of invisible women who bear and raise children, work the land, and run households to enable men to be part of the formal economy remains unrecognized and unquantified.   We’re in...

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S. Government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Established in 2014, the Fellowship has brought nearly 4,400 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa to the United States for academic and leadership training. The Fellows, between the ages of 25 and 35, are accomplished innovato...