1. Mega-Trends That'll Underpin Food Sector In The Medium Term
U.S. agricultural economist Jason Lusk wrote a wonderful piece in his personal blog about the disruptive trends in food and agriculture. Lusk identified six key trends on the horizon. While Lusk's sentiments do correspond to my own, I would like to add a few more trends that I believe will also underpin the food and agricultural sector in the medium to long run – particularly on the African continent, writes Wandile Sihlobo.
2. Where Is The Public Outrage Over The Shortage Of Schools?
The first day of school has always been a day of excitement and anticipation. Parents, scholars and teachers all courageously embark on a journey into the unknown. The start of the new school year is filled with joy and even a little bit of dread for all scholars. However, for approximately 30,000 scholars in Gauteng, the beginning of school 2018 was filled with trepidation and anxiety, as the Gauteng department of education was unable to place them in schools. The 30,000 scholars affected are fewer than the 40,000 who were affected in 2017, but substantially more than the 9,000 who were affected in 2016. Read more.
3. Do Learnerships Perpetuate The Black-White Earnings Gap?
It is a bitter pill to swallow that so many years after apartheid, there exists such a huge gap in the average monthly earnings between black and white professionals in South Africa. According to earnings-monitoring firm Analytico, white professionals earn on average almost three times more than their black counterparts: R20,000 and R8,000 respectively. Read more.
4. Bra Hugh Lived With A Rare Openness, Truth And Candour
He was all about truth and authenticity, which is usually a casualty of "joining'' and "belonging", as evinced by the mind-numbing defence of Jacob Zuma's treachery by his party. Bra Hugh was too free a human being to be a "joiner". He did not go along to get along. He marched to his own drum and enchanted us with this fidelity to truth and freedom. We witnessed him battle and conquer the demons of substance abuse that are a bane of the artistic community with reverberating courage, as he would the cancer that ultimately claimed his life, writes Oyama Mabandla.
5. The Disrespect For The Voting Public Is What Will Sink The ANC's Electoral Fortunes
You would think that the outcomes of the 54 national conference of the ANC would be the writing on the wall for all to strive for a new day. Not so – for what can only be described as the "hear no evil, see no evil and say no evil" squad behind President Jacob Zuma, writes JJ Tabane.
6. Local Languages Must Be Developed To Their Full Potential
The right to receive education in one's mother tongue cannot outweigh the right to education. This is all the more true for South Africa, given our history, in which Afrikaans was imposed on black schools, leading to the 1976 uprising. However, the Höerskool Overvaal case is not clear-cut. Read more.
7. The Horror Of My Childhood: How I Was Molested
Trigger Warning: It has not always been easy for men to speak on issues relating to abuses they have encountered. I relate very well to this, because I am one of those who has suffered humiliation at the hands of a woman. Sexual violence doesn't only happen in prisons, but also in our comfortable homes where nobody thinks it can happen, writes Thabo Makwakwa.