Category: The Outlier
-
Paris 2024: South Africa’s Olympic journey in 7 charts
Paris 2024 – or, officially, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad – gets underway on Friday, 26 July. It will be South Africa’s 21st Games, its ninth since the ban against its participation was lifted in 1992. South African athletes have won a total of 38 medals in the post-apartheid era – 11 gold, 18…
-
Rushed and chaotic: The Life Esidimeni tragedy, in charts
In September 2015, the Gauteng department of health decided to end a contract with Life Esidimeni, a group of specialised private psychiatric care hospitals. The decision was part of a wider plan to deinstitutionalise mental healthcare users in the province by placing them into non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in communities. It was also to cut costs. What transpired was a poorly planned,…
-
Death trap: Timeline of the Life Esidimeni tragedy
Life Esidimeni, a psychiatric hospital, had been contracted for 30 years by the Gauteng department of health for the long-term, specialised care of mental healthcare patients. Despite warnings from experts, the department ended the contract in September 2015. Its aim was to deinstitutionalise the patients and save costs by moving them to non-profit organisations. What…
-
SA is embracing hybrids, but all-electric and plug-in sales lag
South Africans are slowly warming to hybrid vehicles but not to fully electric or plug-in hybrids. More than 6,000 hybrid vehicles were sold in 2023, 10 times the number sold in 2021. That is still just a fraction of the approximately 350,000 traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) passenger vehicles sold every year. FULL STORY +…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…