Water Crisis: We’ve to adapt or perish
The Free State is in the grip of its worst ever water shortage in decades, thanks to limited, read non-existent, rainfalls. This has prompted authorities in several municipalities across the province to impose restrictions on water usage to make sure communities can last longer on the little of the life-saving liquid that’s available. In order to make the people appreciate the gravity of the situation, the municipalities have embarked on aggressive public awareness campaigns which as seen it circulating missives to residents reminding them that each drop of water could be the last. We can only hope people will heed…
Economy would suffer if deprived graduates
There is a real risk that some of South Africa’s universities will not see out the 2016 academic year which ends in November. The ongoing “fees must fall” protests have seen classes disrupted at some institutions, and there are fears that exams won’t be written. What might a total shutdown mean for the country’s labour market in 2017? To find out, we conducted an analysis using a model designed for economic research by the University of Pretoria in collaboration with the global Centre of Polcy Studies. The model allowed us to isolate and measure the impact of a large reduction in…
The F-word: No we are not facing the end of times
But this column is not about rugby. It is certainly not about the All Blacks, especially not now, after they have wreaked havoc and cost many an ear to hear impolite words from the normally self-restrained. I want to return to a theme I have been harping on in the past few columns. Youth and the despair of those who believe we are facing the end of times as a nation. I do not agree that we are. South Africa is undergoing great turbulence. To every birth its blood, as Wally Mongane Serote said in his novel of the same…
