Nine in 10 consumers tell us the energy market should be referred for further investigation. As your organisations are about to jointly report on...

more Environment news ...

London 2014 – British contemporary self-taught artist, former ballet dancer and esteemed stuntwoman Maxine Shivling, is pleased to announce her debut art collection ‘The Shivlings’, which features contemporary wall art for homes and interior spaces. Available for the first time on the launch website, this captivating collection of decorated pen and ink prints for sale... Read MoreThe Shivlings by Maxine Shivling is a post from: ArtnSpire

The post The Shivlings by Maxine Shivling appeared first on ArtnSpire.


More Art News and Information ...

Johannesburg – The opening of a new R16-million clinic in Slovoville, near Dobsonville in Soweto, will mark an end to the days when residents used to travel for up to 10km to access health care.

Joburg Mayor Parks Tau unveiled the clinic on Tuesday morning, with just over 2 000 people in attendance.

Mayor Tau said the construction of the clinic offered a wide variety of services that will not only give the community primary health care, but that the facility would meet standards that will make it possible for the National Health Insurance (NHI) to be rolled-out.

“It is important today that we should acknowledge and congratulate the Department of Health within the city... for initiating and implementing a project that will make us proud today.

“The clinic is also a facility to meet the standard of NHI. While the scheme is being rolled-out in other areas, we believe we should be able to build a clinic that meets those standards that will make it possible for NHI to be rolled out in the area,” he said.

The NHI is a financing system that will provide all South Africans with essential healthcare, regardless of their employment status. NHI compliant health facilities have to meet stringent standards, including cleanliness, safety and security of patients.

The Slovoville Clinic offers a wide variety of services, including reproductive health services, maternal (antenatal and postnatal) health services, women health services, adolescence and youth friendly services, child health services (including immunisation), HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis (HAST), management of acute illness, management of chronic conditions and health promotion and emergencies.

The clinic has five consultation wards for chronic diseases, Mayor Tau said, adding that the city had forged partnerships with private clinicians [doctors from private clinics] to come and work with the clinic.

“We have agreed that Slovoville will be a pilot area for us to do a health profile of the community.

“We will be visiting homes, and people will be visiting the clinic. We will then come back in a year and we will measure how the health profile of the community has improved,” the Mayor said.

The opening of the clinic was also attended by First Lady Bongi Ngema-Zuma, who in 2010 started a foundation that advocates for health and non-communicable diseases, with a special focus on diabetes, education and rural development.

“I stand here representing the Bongi Ngema Foundation. I grew up in a family that is affected by diabetes. My mother lived with diabetes for three decades. During her time, there were no clinics like this one that cares and treats diabetic patients.

“I commend you [Mayor Tau] for the wonderful work done, and indeed this is a good story to tell and I am going home to tell everyone,” she said.

Ngema-Zuma, who has visited the area while the clinic served the community from a mobile container, also commended the nurses for having persevered, despite working in an under-resourced situation.

The construction of the new brick and mortar clinic, which is amongst the first to be built with a back-up generator, started in 2013.

It has 18 consultation rooms, emergency room, drug store room, store for stock and linen room, counselling room and waiting area with an open reception.

The Slovoville Clinic, Mayor Tau said, will go a long way in providing comprehensive reproductive and antenatal services to patients.

The clinic will serve a population of 8 000 in a remote area that consists of RDP houses, mining complex and a mining hostel.

The area is situated in the far south of Soweto, and was named after Joe Slovo – a struggle stalwart who went on to become the first Minister of Housing of the new democratic South Africa. – SAnews.gov.za

Tuberculosis in the mines is expected to be the focus of this year’s World TB Day event in Fochville.

Miners in South Africa’s gold mines have the highest rates of TB infection in the world.

The rate of TB infection among miners is between 3 000 and 7 000 per 100 000 populations – between four and seven times higher than the general population of South Africa, the country with the second highest TB rates in the world.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is expected to address a World TB Day event at the Popo Molefe Stadium in Fochville this morning. The theme the event is “finding, treating and curing TB in hard to reach communities”.

On 25 March, South Africa will host a SADC Ministerial Summit in Johannesburg to thrash out the regional response to TB in the mining sector.

World TB Day provides an opportunity for affected persons and the communities in which they live, governments, civil society organisations, health care providers, and international partners to call for further action to reach people who have been infected with TB.

TB is a preventable and curable disease. Symptoms include a cough for two or more weeks, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, loss of appetite and tiredness.

TB is a disease that is caused by a germ called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. The germ usually attacks the lungs, but can attack any part of the body, such as the kidney, spine and brain.

Once diagnosed with TB, patients are encouraged to complete their six-month treatment. If you stop taking the TB medication before the full six months you can spread the infection to other people, fall sick with complicated TB disease and develop the resistant form of TB disease. – SAnews.gov.za

Sekhukhune – Walking long distances through thorny bushes in order to access clean water will soon be a thing of the past for thousands of people residing in the Sekhukhune District in Limpopo, thanks to the opening of the De Hoop Dam.

President Jacob Zuma on Monday officially opened the much awaited De Hoop Dam, which will alleviate the water woes in the province.

This fulfils the commitment made by the President in 2009, during his State of the Nation Address, when he said: "As long as there are communities without clean water or proper sanitation, we shall not rest."

In the 2003 State of the Nation Address, it was announced that a dam would be constructed in the Olifants River system to unlock the rich mineral deposits in the Limpopo province.

The *** turning ceremony followed in 2007 and the construction began, leading ultimately to the completion and opening of the project.

The over R3 billion dam was built by the Department of Water Affairs to supply potable water to thousands of people in Sekhukhune District.

De Hoop Dam, which is the 13th largest dam in the country, created more than 1000 jobs.

It is one of the key projects that fall under the umbrella of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordination Commission, which was established in 2012 to coordinate and fast-track infrastructure projects, under the leadership of President Zuma.

The Dam will be used to supply water to the towns, industries and poorly serviced rural communities in Sekhukhune, Waterberg, and Capricorn Districts of the Limpopo Province.

It will also be used to supply water to the mines in order to help unlock vast mineral deposits, mainly in the form of platinum group metals found in the region. It will therefore be a catalyst for both social and economic development for this region.

Speaking at the opening of the dam on Monday at GaMalekana Sportsfield, President Zuma said the dam confirms the good story of the country -- the story of development and progress that South Africa has achieved since 1994.

“The opening of this dam is yet another contribution to that drive of building a better South Africa through improving access to basic services and socio-economic infrastructure,” President Zuma said.

20 Year Review

Early this month, the Presidency launched the 20 Year Review Document that outlines all the work that has been done to rebuild South Africa since 1994.

The Review states that millions of South Africans now have access to water, health care, education, housing and many other basic needs which they did not have before 1994.

“When we talk about this area being water stressed, we are talking about the plight of many people such as the unacceptable conditions of the people of GaMashabela near Jane Furse who struggle to access clean drinking water.

“People still have to walk through thick and thorny bushes to reach the wells of Ntsoaneng GaKgari Mountains in order to access fresh water. Some of the residents still rely on borehole water which is insufficient to meet the demand of these communities,” the President said.

He also informed the community that the pipeline from Jane Furse to Lobethal, which covers the villages of Ga-Mashabela, Diphagane, Ga-Phahla,Ga-Marishane, Tisane and Mamone, is 70% complete, while a pipeline from Mooihoek to Tubatse is 100% complete.

“The pipeline will provide water to the villages including Mandagshoek, Mashabela, Ntsoaneng, Driekop and River Cross. The bulk distribution system connected to the dam will ensure that over a period of time, all the people of this area will be served with an uninterrupted water supply, which is the ultimate goal of government.”

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said that government has launched a number of infrastructure projects throughout the country reiterating that the opening of the dam is a reality that is seen by all citizens.

“It’s a good story. A project like this is for all of us to continue to work hard and support the President in his endeavour to fight poverty in this country,” said Minister Molewa.

Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabathe said that through the opening of the dam, government has improved the lives of people in the province.

“Today is better than yesterday, we are certain that tomorrow, will be better than today,” Premier Mathabathe said. – SAnews.gov.za

The South African Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, has met with her Vietnamese counterpart, Dr Bui Cach Tuyen, to thrash out ways to bolster cooperation in controlling illegal wildlife trade.

The Vietnamese delegation will stay in the country for four days to learn from South Africa’s experience in biodiversity conservation and management, particularly with regards to wildlife and protected area management.

The visit to South Africa follows the signing on 6 May 2013 of an implementation plan in terms of the MoU on cooperation in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Protection that was signed in Hanoi, Vietnam, in December 2012.

The implementation plan was developed and is being implemented in accordance with the nature of the MoU. It is aimed at promoting cooperation between the parties in the field of biodiversity management, conservation and protection, law enforcement and compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). - SAnews.gov.za

517,000 households have been helped to improve their homes to make them more energy efficient through the Green Deal or Energy Company Obligation (ECO) since the schemes started last year. Energy Company Obligation The Green Deal and ECO were introduced by the government to help people take control of their energy use and reduce their [...]
The post Green Deal improve UK homes appeared first on EconSpire.


read more Eco News ..

Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande will next Tuesday convene a summit on issues that continue to pose a significant challenge to the functioning of Walter Sisulu University (WSU).

The WSU was formed on 1 July 2005 as a result of the merger between the former University of Transkei and the former Border and Eastern Cape Technikons.

However, since its inception, the university has been beset with financial, governance and management challenges that have impacted negatively on the institution and its financial stability.

An independent assessor, that was appointed to investigate the affairs of WSU, found that the university was an institution in crisis, with the all-encompassing collapse of systems, governance and financial management.

This was followed by the appointment of Professor Lourens van Staden as the University Administrator from November 2011, in terms of Section 41 of the Higher Education Act (Act No. 101 of 1997), as amended.

The administrator has also highlighted a number of challenges that still need to be acknowledged and if unresolved, they will continue to impose risks on the future, viability and sustainability of the institution.

According to the department, the summit to be held at Umthatha Health Resource Centre, will thoroughly consider all matters that warrant immediate and long-term interventions relating to governance, management, student and staff issues and most importantly, academic provision at WSU.

“As deliverables of this summit, it is envisaged that matters to be address by the incoming council and funding imperatives for the attention of the Department of Higher Education and Training would be identified. All stakeholders will make pledges, committing themselves to shaping the post-administration future of WSU,” the department said.

Participants at the summit include student formations, trade union leadership, senior management, leadership of all concerned political parties, members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, community leadership, the business forum and Higher Education South Africa (HESA) - the leadership body of University Vice-Chancellors. - SAnews.gov.za

Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile has announced the Interim Committee for the South African Creative Industries Federation.

The committee is aimed at assisting the arts, culture and heritage sector to be organized, so that it can effectively deal with the challenges it faces. These include funding, piracy, exploitation, lack of social security and lack of recognition as workers.

The members of the Interim Committee are Yvonne Chaka-Chaka ( Chairperson), Mabutho Sithole (Deputy Chairperson), Sello Galane, Mpho Molepo, Bulelwa Bam, Mandla Balisa, Ramadan Suleman, Freddie Nyathela, Sello Maake ka Ncube, Portia Mashego, Mokena Makeka, Vuyisile Mshudulu, Eugene Mthethwa, Dodo MonamodiFlorence Masebe, Andre Le Roux and Jyoti Maistry.

“The responsibility of the Interim Committee is to facilitate the process of establishing the federation and mobilise the entire sector nationally to ensure inclusivity and unity,” the department said in a statement.

Minister Mashatile further announced that the department will grant the Interim Committee a R5 million operational budget and a secretariat to ensure that it performs its duties efficiently.

"We are talking about something serious here. We want a federation that will be a legal entity with an office and address, proper financial management and programmes that address the needs of the sector.

“Government has no intention to manage the federation, we are merely assisting the sector to organise itself so that it can take its rightful place in the economy and society at large. This federation will be not be a government agency - it will be a body made of representatives elected by and accountable to the creative sector," said Minister Mashatile.

He urged delegates to work together to ensure that the federation is established. He said the department was included in the government Economic Cluster because Cabinet appreciated the role of the sector in economic development and job creation.

"The arts will never be the same from today. It's now in your hands," the minister told committee members.

Chaka Chaka said she was honoured by the responsibility given to her and the committee. She urged everyone with ideas and skills to work with the committee.

"Minister, I promise you that we will account for every cent of the R5 million grant. Nobody will misuse the funds under my watch. Let us make this work, we owe it to our children", said Chaka Chaka. – SAnews.gov.za

Mbombela - Operations in the Kruger National Park are back to normal following floods which caused havoc in the park for the first two weeks of...

more Africa Travel News ...

:tourist: