Category: The Outlier
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As Venetia mine transitions underground, SA’s diamond production drops to 6m carats
Diamond mining production in South Africa has hit a 10-year low. The country was producing an average of 8.5-million carats a year, but by 2023 this had dropped to 6.1-million carats. The reason for this is that De Beers’ Venetia diamond mine reached the end of its open-pit operations in December 2022. The mine, which…
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Municipalities owe Eskom R78bn – and energy minister is pessimistic about recovery
South African electricity and energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says South Africa’s municipalities owe power utility Eskom R78-billion. At a recent media conference, the minister expressed doubt that Eskom would be able to recover these funds. Municipal debt has increased almost six times since 2018. Just 28 municipalities collectively accounted for R26.7-billion in March last year.…
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Mapping chess mastery: South Africa’s Jesse February shines as new African champion
South Africa’s Jesse February is the African women’s chess champion, winning gold at the 2024 African Individual Chess Championship. This is her second title, having first won in 2021. The 27-year-old from Gqeberha is South Africa’s top-ranking female player and has held the title Woman International Master (WIM) since 2016. Egyptian Shahenda Wafa, who came third…
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990 caps: South Africa’s most-experienced XV to take on the Irish
The most-experienced team in Springbok history will take on the Irish in Durban on Saturday, 13 July. South Africa’s starting XV has a total of 990 combined test caps among them. This is three more than the run-on team that played in the Rugby World Cup final in France last year. Between them, they have…
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32 of South Africa’s prisoners are children
The number of young inmates in South Africa’s prisons – those under the age of 18 – has dropped by about 83% since 2015/16, according to data from the department of correctional services. In August 2022, the age of criminal capacity was raised from 10 years of age to 12. The Child Justice Act means…
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Cholera surges in Africa: Over 110,000 cases in 5 months
More than 110,000 cases of cholera were reported in Africa in the first five months of the year. This is half of the total reported in 2023 and more than all the cases in 2022. Last year, a cholera outbreak in South Africa claimed the lives of 47 people. The disease spread quickly in areas…
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School trip: Walking is the only option for two-thirds of SA’s learners
There are about 15.4-million school-going children in South Africa and almost two-thirds of them have to walk to school every day, according Statistics SA’s 2023 General Household Survey. Walking to school is not necessarily a bad thing but for many learners there are few alternatives. There is little in the way of school buses available to learners and public transport is equally limited…
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SA steps up to meet growing global demand for avos
The world can’t get enough avocados, and South African farmers are capitalising on the soaring demand for this popular superfruit. Exports have increased by 63% over the past decade, according to the SA Avocado Growers’ Association. About 74,4000 tonnes of avocados were exported last year, just 9,500 shy of 2018’s record. ITC figures show the…
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100 days of keeping the lights on signals improved power stability for SA
With just 83 days of loadshedding in South Africa so far this year, 2024 is on track to be one of the best years for reduced power cuts. Fuelling the optimism is the announcement last week that Kusile’s unit 5 was now in operation, adding 800MW to the grid.