Author: Gemma Ritchie
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Simple strategies to find the right data for your stories
At The Outlier, we turn data into compelling charts and stories covering everything from health and climate change to food prices and loadshedding. One of the most common questions we get is: Where do we find our data?
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Illegal mining on the rise as SA’s gold industry collapses
South Africa’s mining fatalities hit a record low in 2024, but illegal mining is fast becoming a crisis for the industry. As gold mines shut down, informal miners – known as zama zamas – risk their lives extracting residual gold under dangerous conditions.
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Joburg’s mayoral carousel: ANC’s Dada Morero is back in the hot seat
Johannesburg’s 11th mayor in 10 years has been sworn in. On 16 August, the ANC’s Dada Morero replaced Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda, who was installed as mayor last year after his party colleague Thapelo Amad resigned after just four months as leader of South Africa’s biggest metro. The Al Jama-ah mayors were put in place…
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Keeping the lights on: Eskom’s capacity to generate power breaches 70%
Eskom is finally making headway in keeping the country’s lights on. A key improvement has been an uptick in the energy availability factor (EAF), the average percentage of Eskom’s installed capacity that is in working order and ready to run if needed. In the last week of July, Eskom power stations had an EAF of…