Category: The Outlier
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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.
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Younger, bigger and GNU: Ramaphosa breaks records with coalition cabinet
When he announced his cabinet on 30 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that although he had hoped to reduce the number of portfolios it had not been possible as he wanted to include ‘all the parties’ in the Government of National Unity. To do this, he has added new portfolios and new posts. The new…
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SA’s mayoral churn: 3+ mayors in 3 years for these 15 municipalities
Although coalitions may be relatively new at a national level, local municipalities are all too familiar with the idea of power sharing. Almost one-third of South Africa’s municipalities had no party with an outright majority after the 2021 local government elections so were run by coalition agreements. Of the 213 local municipalities and metros, 71 had…
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Cholera outbreaks highlight the need for Africa to make its own vaccines
There is a worldwide shortage of cholera vaccines, and only one WHO-approved producer in the world, EuBiologics in South Korea. In February 2024, Doctors Without Borders, a medical humanitarian organisation, reported that the global cholera vaccine stockpile had been exhausted. Already in October 2022 a decision was made to temporarily reduce the dosage of vaccine…