The world has its Ivy Leagues, Oxfords, Cambridges, Kyotos, Tokyos, Pekings and Delhis – recognised as the top universities in the world. Why should South Africa be any different? It is long overdue to establish our own top league, perhaps call it the Madiba League, including the top six research-intensive universities in the country. The [...]
In their small, brightly painted boats the fishermen head out to sea. On some days they return with a haul of fresh linefish for their families and some extra to sell. On other days they return empty-handed. […]
In the 1600s and the 1800s over 1,25 million British and European citizens were captured by North African slave traders and taken in chains to the great slave markets of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and Morocco. Prodded and examined like livestock, the white slaves were sold to the highest bidder. […]
Farmers can keep on eating meat but they need to drop the rice and potatoes. That’s the word from Professor Tim Noakes who believes that it is not proteins and fats but rather carbohydrates and sugars that are the culprits of ill health and obesity. […]
Australian author David Mason-Jones is a cow man. He poses sensible cow questions such as ‘Should Meat Be On The Menu?’ and ‘Why Didn’t My Grandmother Get Fat? And why did I?’ […]
To maintain their vigour and reproductive power all grasses are dependent on being defoliated either by grazing and/or by the use of fire. Which is preferable – grazing or blazing or a combination of both? […]
Neziswa Mcinga, known as ‘Pinky’, was 23 years of age and at a dead end in her life when computer skills came to her community in the deep rural region of Dwesa on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape. […]
When Xolela Mangcu first stepped onto Wits campus in 1983, he swiftly gained a reputation for his undiluted Black Consciousness politics. Three decades later he sticks to his guns. […]
There’s good news and there’s bad when it comes to the state of South Africa’s linefish and seafood. The bad news is that 79% of our key linefish species are over-exploited or collapsed, with populations of household favourites such as Cape Salmon/Geelbek reduced to 3% of their original abundance and kob/kabeljou reduced to somewhere around [...]
It’s relatively easy to measure how many tons of carbon are present in a tropical forest, using physical measurements and satellite photos. But how do you measure how much carbon is present in a wetland or in a million hectares of grassland soil? It’s not easy, says Onno Huyser, the WWF Senior Manager for Fynbos [...]
