Team Contego consisting of veteran trail runner Dion Middlekoop and his partner Bernard Rakadaz took line honours on day 1 of the afb Southern Cross 3-day trail run, crossing the finish line in a time of 2:34:44. Day 1 started and finished in Karatara, just past Sedgefield along the Garden Route, and saw just over [...]Team Contego powers to Day One Lead is a post from: Trail Running South Africa


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The streets of Johannesburg were buzzing with excitement on Friday, 09 August 2013 when a record field of 7734 runners gathered to celebrate National Women’s Day at the much loved Totalsports Ladies Race. Nedbank runner, Cornelia Joubert set the course on fire in the 10km Totalsports Ladies Race crossing the finish line in an astounding [...]Joubert triumphs in JHB is a post from: Time-to-Run South Africa


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South Africa’s minister of science and technology Derek Hanekom has launched the South African version of the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO-SA). It’s a searchable full-text journal database that is completely open-access – that is, free to access and free to publish. SciELO is a boon for the local and international research community, and is [...]Research data for SA is a post from: Teach-the-Brain


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Pretoria – The newly-launched Transnet Enterprise Development Hub will expand business opportunities for smaller enterprises and new business entrants.

Speaking at the launch in Johannesburg, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said the hub will be a “one-stop shop” for entrepreneurs and new players – from registering their businesses to financial support.

Transnet, a state-owned company (SOC), will invest over R2 billion in the hub, with the aim of developing enterprises and to assist them in participating in the economy.

“The hub, the first of its kind in the country with an integrated approach, will be a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs and potential suppliers to Transnet.

“Services on offer will include business development, business registration, procurement advisory services, tax registration and compliance, financial support and guidance on black economic empowerment requirements, among others.

“The plan is to roll out the concept across the country. R60 million has been set aside for this and it might increase in the months and years to come,” Gigaba said.

The launch of the hub comes over a year after Transnet - which is the custodian of rail, ports and pipelines - announced its intention to spend R300 billion through its Market Demand Strategy (MDS) on capital projects over a seven-year period in projects it said would to create 588 000 jobs.

More hubs planned for other regions

Gigaba said the launch of this hub was a concept that would pave way for more hubs to be opened at other parts of the country.

“R200 million will be for other enterprise development initiatives such as business incubation, financial and non-financial support focused on providing an enabling environment for small business.

“R200 million will be invested annually over the MDS period, increasing as the Transnet profit itself increases,” he said.

Gigaba said the hub will primarily target potential suppliers to Transnet and added that up-and-coming entrepreneurs would also get advice on a broad range of opportunities, including teaching them how to tender for Transnet business.

Small business SA’s lifeblood

On Tuesday, Gigaba said small businesses were the lifeblood of the economy and that 12 million South Africans relied on small businesses to get by.

“The aim of this intervention is to ensure that we increase the participation of small businesses in the mainstream economy, as they have been identified as critical to unlocking economic growth as well as the pursuit of inclusive growth.

“Small businesses in South Africa employ between 60% and 70% of the employable population. I therefore believe that it is our responsibility as government to harness this opportunity,” he said.

Gigaba said the hub will operate five days a week and was created in partnership with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Gauteng Enterprise Propeller, BEE Verification Agency, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Small Enterprise Development Agency and the Department of Trade and Industry’s Companies Intellectual Property Commission.

“Transnet provides the bulk of the funding, while the partners provide advice and expertise on their respective areas.

“The partnership is expected to cultivate strategic relationships between Transnet, provincial and national economic development institutions and provide small businesses access to financial and non-financial support.

“It is our firm belief that the hub will provide meaningful contribution in supporting and promoting viable and sustainable SMMEs that will have a direct impact in the economy through job creation,” Gigaba said. – SAnews.gov.za

Pretoria - The Commission of Inquiry into the Strategic Defence Procurement Package, also known as the arms deal, today resumes with its public hearings in Pretoria.

The commission, led by Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Willie Seriti, was set up by President Jacob Zuma in October 2011, to look into allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity in the Strategic Defence Procurement Package.

The commission is to investigate six areas, including whether any person or persons within and/or outside the government may have improperly influenced the awarding or conclusion of any of the contracts in the arms deal procurement process of the 1990s.

Recently the commission was hit by resignations with the latest from Judge Legodi who tendered his resignation for personal reasons last week.

This has raised questions about the credibility of the commission, but last week, the Presidency said President Zuma was “satisfied that the resignation of Judge Legodi does not impact negatively on the integrity of the Commission nor any of its functions, albeit that the timing poses certain challenges”.

The public hearings are set to run until January 2014. Former President Thabo Mbeki, Planning Minister Trevor Manuel and former Ministers Mosiuoa Lekota, Ronnie Kasrils and Alec Erwin are some of the people who will appear before the commission. – SAnews.gov.za

Durban - In 1998, Daniel Matsoso woke up in the intensive care unit after suffering multiple organ failure.

“When I woke up, the doctors told me that both of my kidneys had permanently failed”.

That was the beginning of his journey. Today, 37-year-old Matsoso from Alexandra in Johannesburg, is a kidney transplantee.

Before Matsoso’s kidneys failed, he had lived a fulfilling life as an athlete and a student at the Alexandra College training in hospitality management.

“I already had Gauteng colours – specialising in cross country and 3 000 metres steeplechase. My life was beautiful and the future looked bright,” he says.

After the diagnoses of kidney failure, Matsoso began the dreaded procedure of dialysis - the artificial process of eliminating waste (diffusion) and unwanted water (ultrafiltration) from the blood. The procedure lasted four & half hours per session – three times a week.

“Due to the intensity of the dialysis, I lost everything. I dropped out of college, and stopped being an athlete. My girlfriend also left me. I was devastated,” he says. “I kept asking myself, Why me?”

Despite numerous pleas, none of his family members were prepared to give him the gift of life - a new kidney.

“Social workers tried to persuade my three brothers, mother and father to donate one of their kidneys but all attempts failed.”

It took four years of waiting for Matsoso to get a second chance in life. Somewhere in Bloemfontein, a young man attempted suicide and upon arrival in hospital, he was declared brain dead. The boy’s parents decided to donate all his organs.

“Out of the blue, I received a call from the hospital saying I had a match for the kidney transplant. I was overjoyed,” he remembers.

Matsoso’s transplant was performed in November 2002. Since the transplant, he says he is now living a double life – one for the donor and one for himself.

“I wrote a letter to the Social Workers to thank the donating family – I got a response that said - do well on behalf of our son”. He has never met this family nor had a chance to thank them in person as organ donation protocol precludes any gratuity to the organ donor or family.

Today, Matsoso is a multiple Gold and Silver Medalists and is currently competing in the World Transplant Games taking place in Durban. The event is the biggest organ donor event in the world, with approximately 1 800 participants from 50 countries competing.

In the current, games, the Johannesburg resident has already won gold for the five kilometre race.

In 2007, in Thailand, he won Silver for the five kilometre road race, Gold for the 1500m track & field, and Silver for the 800m race.

In 2009, in Australia he won Gold for the five kilometre road race and two Bronze Medals for the 800 and 1500 metres in track & field.

However, it was in Sweden in 2011 where he cleaned up the medal table – winning three Gold medals in the 1.5 kilometre road race, and two in the 800 and 1500 metres track & field events.

“I am very happy with the way things turned out for me. After the transplant I was blessed with a son – now nine-years-old. I’ve got a job in one of the hotels in Johannesburg, and of course I am an organ donor,” he says with a wily smile.

Overcoming adversity

Along with Matsoso, Swedish national, Martha Ehlin, knows all about overcoming adversity.

Ehlin holds the record for being one of the few people in the world who has had five simultaneous new organs transplanted.

The 35-year-old athlete and physical education teacher by training holds the record as the only person with five new organs to win five gold medals at the World Transplant Games Sweden 2011.

She is also the only person in her country (Sweden) to have received five organs simultaneously – stomach, liver, pancreas, duodenum and small intestine.

“In the World Transplant Games Sweden 2011, I entered five athletic events (volleyball, track & field, high jump, javelin, and ball throw) to pay tribute to each new organ I had received,” she recalls. She won in all events collecting all five Gold Medals.

Ehlin was diagnosed with a rare endocrine cancer – which are a mixed group of diseases in which cancer cells are found in tissues of the endocrine system, which includes the thyroid, adrenal, pancreas, parathyroid and pituitary glands.

Ehlin’s form of cancer began in the pancreas at the age of 30. “It spread to the liver and other organs quickly – doctors decided they had to change the whole package for me to survive.”

Ehlin was lucky; she waited for only nine months to get the “whole package”. In the current games, she hopes to win more medals as she is participating in seven sporting codes.

Acute organ shortages

According to the South African Organ Donor Foundation Executive Director Samantha Volschenk there is a general lack of awareness, and cultural and religious barriers to organ donation.

“Some 4 300 South African adults and children are languishing in various hospitals waiting for a miracle – to get a donor,” Volschenk explains.

The organisation says only 85 000 South Africans or 0.2 of the population are registered organ donors.

Volschenk confirms that less than 600 transplants are performed in South Africa annually due to the acute shortage of organ donors.

The 2011 Organ Donor Foundation figures show that there were 556 organ and cornea transplants. 337 of these were solid organ transplants which include hearts, liver, lungs, kidneys, and pancreas.

About 224 kidney transplants were done in 2011 alone, of these 36 percent of kidney donors were related to the recipient.

“Our target for 2013 is to sign up 50 000 organ donors, hence our support for the 19th World Transplant Games 2013,” she says.

Speaking at the games official opening earlier this week, eThekwini Metro Municipality Mayor Councillor James Nxumalo made an impassioned plea to the people of South Africa to register as organ donors.

Nxumalo said the World Transplant Games; “represent hope and triumph of the human spirit”.

“They serve to highlight to us the importance of organ donation in saving lives and giving an individual a second chance to live a full productive life. It’s about time we changed our perception about organ donation. I plead for more organ donors to come forward and give a gift of life to another human being,” he said.

World Transplant Games Federation President, Olivier Coustere, said: “Countries that have hosted the transplant games have experienced a 30 percent or higher increase in organ donation rates.”

For more information about being an organ donor contact the toll free line 0800 22 66 11 or visit the Organ Donor Foundation website on http://www.odf.org.za. –SAnews.gov.za

Athletics South Africa (ASA) will be sending a team of 27 athletes to compete at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow (10-18 August). A look at the statistics shows that it is probably one of the most experienced SA teams ever. No less than eight athletes are current South African record holders. But it could [...]SA Team for Moscow selected is a post from: Time-to-Run South Africa


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Pretoria - Small-scale sugar cane farmers in the Nkomazi area of Mpumalanga are to benefit significantly from government’s Jobs Fund and are expected to double their production and create 1 544 new and sustainable jobs.

The farms should, over a five-year period, increase production from 450 000 tons cane per annum to 850 000 tons per annum.

The Jobs Fund was announced by President Jacob Zuma during the State of the Nation Address in 2011. In June 2011, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan set aside R9 billion for the Jobs Fund, to be allocated over a three-year period.

The fund is targeted at established companies with a good track record and which plan to expand existing programmes or pilot innovative approaches to employment creation, with a special focus on opportunities for young people.

According to Timothy Hobden, Technical Advisor to the Jobs Fund at the National Treasury, the sugar cane farmers lacked access to financing, which resulted in dramatic drops in their productivity.

“However, Akwandze Agricultural Finance Ltd, through funding provided by the Jobs Fund, is addressing this need by ensuring these farmers can get adequate, cost effective and appropriate financing with favourable terms,” he said.

Akwandze is also providing a package of associated farmer support initiatives such as on-site service back up, training and capacity building.

According to the South Africa Sugar Association, the number of small-scale sugar growers has declined by 33 percent – from 50 000 in 2005 to around 33 700 in 2011.

Related to this, the productivity of small-scale farmers has also been declining. The tonnage in sugar produced by small-scale farmers has dropped from 850 000 per annum at its peak to its current 450 000 tons per annum.

“The decline is attributed to many challenges faced by sugar cane farmers, including a lack of farming experience and poor business skills. Most critically and urgently however, is that they have limited access to appropriate and cost-effective financing.

“This has meant low levels of irrigation infrastructure investment and maintenance, which in turn has meant water insecurity,” said Hobden.

Roger Armitage, CEO of Akwandze, said water was crucial for the farmers. “Without water, you are dead. You are not going to produce cane.”

The company is also supporting a cooperative of 216 small-scale farmers called Siboshwa to expand their growing area of 83 hectares by 20 hectares, developing their irrigation infrastructure and ensuring everything is in place to maintain it according to manufacturer specifications.

This should allow them to produce another 2 000 tons of cane.

Through a grant of R50 million from the Jobs Fund - and matched by a further R70 million from Akwandze - Akwandze will recapitalise irrigation infrastructure for 1 281 small-scale growers, which will help to rehabilitate 10 000 hectares of sugar cane land.

Akwandze will also extend its lending capacity to the growers for replanting, fertilizer, weeding and irrigation costs. The result should be to double the total annual tonnage of sugar cane produced by small-scale growers in Nkomazi. This would be from the current output of 450 000 per year to 850 000 per year over a period of five years.

Armitage said as production increases, this will in turn lead to an increased demand in farm-level jobs, leading to work opportunities for unemployed local people.

It is anticipated that the Akwandze project will create 1 544 new full time jobs and increase turnover for these small-scale growers.

The fund reports that the incremental revenue will be a major contributor to economic stability and growth in the rural area of Nkomazi.

“This is great news for Mpumalanga, one of South Africa’s poorest provinces which, together with the Western Cape, showed the biggest increase of 2.2 in the unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2012,” said the fund.

For more information on the Jobs Fund visit jobsfund.org.za. – SAnews.gov.za

Boksburg – Action to save the lives of women and children will be on top of the agenda as leaders from African countries meet to find solutions to prevent maternal and child mortality.

Despite the success in reducing maternal and child mortality in Africa, more than 57% of maternal deaths still occur in the continent.

With 900 days left for countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) deadline, leaders from the continent - including ministers of health and technical experts - will put the spotlight on this challenge during the three-day International Maternal, New-born and Child Health (MNCH) Conference.

Dealing with maternal and child mortality was put on the international agenda of the United Nations as Goal number 4 in the (MDGs).

The participants are expected to develop an action plan to scale-up implementation and monitoring of MNCH in Africa.

The conference, which started today, will identify ways to accelerate efforts to reach existing global health commitments and to overcome underlying challenges linked to persistent gender inequality, social exclusion and weak public health systems.

President Jacob Zuma, who delivered the keynote address, is optimistic that a lot can still be achieved in 900 days.

“The fact that we have gathered here today is also an indication that we have faith in ourselves. We have faith that we can review progress made, identify continuing challenges, generate new knowledge that we can use when we go back home, learn from one another and finally develop an action plan to take this continent forward. The important fact is that as leaders, it is within our power to do everything to ensure that no woman dies while giving life,” Zuma said.

He also noted that leaders recognised the importance of women and children’s health in the development of nations. He said this is why the African Union was proactive in its approach and did not solely rely on the United Nations.

“We also do our bit. Under the theme, ‘No woman should die while giving life’, we launched the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA). This campaign was launched at the African Union Heads of State meeting in 2009. In South Africa, CARMMA was launched in May 2009,” said.

However, he said while CARMMA does not have a target date, the MDGs do. He acknowledged that Africa in general, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, was going to find it difficult to achieve the health-related MDGs.

He encouraged leaders to work together to ensure that no child dies from avoidable causes. He said as they review their work and map the way forward, they must remember that the Southern and East African regions have had a serious challenge of HIV and Aids in the past 30 years.

“This pandemic complicated and completely altered the picture of maternal and child mortality in our continent … This means that in our strategies to accelerate the reduction of maternal and child mortality on our continent, we need to deal decisively with the HIV epidemic and of cause its twin, which is TB,” Zuma said.

Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said the death of a mother was not just the death of an individual - it was a loss to the family and the community

“It means the survival of the young children that she may be leaving behind is not guaranteed, and if they survive, they may not reach their full potential in life.”

Dlamini Zuma said there was a need to accelerate the work of the campaign to reduce maternal mortality, as well as putting more focus on the development of human capital.

She said it was unacceptable that women continue to die while giving birth, adding that investing in child health was not expenditure but an investment.

South African Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said he believed zero deaths were possible due to the expansion of ARV provision.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe also emphasised the need for a holistic approach when talking about women and children. He recommended a strong focus on obstetrics and access to a “one-stop shop” where women and children can receive lifesaving medicines.

“We need to look at life long processes. We need innovation like portable technology to reach poor people where they are …”

Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, said if the continent is to continue the remarkable economic and social progress achieved over the last decade, reducing child and maternal deaths must be a top priority.

“It is within our reach that no woman should die giving life. The realisation of this commitment is also in our hands. We know what to do, we have knowledge to prevent the mortality… It’s not too late,” said Osotimehin. – SAnews.gov.za

Harare - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday cried foul of Wednesday's polls, saying it is a "farce" and does not reflect the will of the people, even though the electoral process was endorsed by observers from the southern African region.

Tsvangirai, presidential candidate from Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) party, said in a statement: "In our view, this election does not meet the SADC (Southern Africa Development Community), AU (Africa Union) and international standards for a credible, legitimate, free and fair election."

He said the credibility has been marred by administrative and legal violations, which affect the legitimacy of its outcome.

Tsvangirai is seen the most serious challenger to the country's veteran president Robert Mugabe's 33-year rule of the country. Tsvangirai's harsh criticism came as election officers are counting the votes from Wednesday's peaceful and orderly harmonized elections, which combine presidential, parliamentary, and local council votes.

But the prime minister's statement was slammed by the SADC Electoral Commission Forum, which sent a 25-men team to observe the elections.

The head of the team Notemba Tjipueja, also head of Namibian Electoral Commission, told a press briefing held shortly after Tsvangirai issued his statement that the organization's observers consider the elections credible even though there are some flaws.

Tjipueja also denied being approached by Tsvangirai over his concerns.

About 6.4 million Zimbabweans were registered to vote in Wednesday's general elections. Tsvangirai is fighting an uphill battle in his third attempt in a decade to unseat veteran leader President Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe led Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980 and his Zanu- PF party is confident of an overwhelming victory in the polls.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says it will announce the results in five days. – SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua