Archive for September, 2010

Wilma den Hartigh

Thanks to South African consumers, the demand for over-exploited fish stocks is declining.

Increasing consumer pressure on seafood retailers to stock sustainably harvested fish and support eco-friendly fishing methods have caused stocks of species such as kingklip to show signs of recovery.

The Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) was launched six years ago to involve the entire seafood supply chain, including consumers, in creating a sustainable seafood industry.

Today this initiative has proven to be a highly successful South African consumer campaign. The ocean has often been viewed as an "infinite resource", but buy-in from the public is helping to correct this perception.

Janine Basson from the Sustainable Fisheries Programme (SFP): Fisher and Consumer Outreach, says the SASSI programme has been so successful to date because consumers feel empowered. Their choices can drive positive change towards the recovery of fish stocks.

"Consumers are given the opportunity to make informed choices when choosing which seafood to buy and eat. People want to be part of the solution to overfishing, and SASSI is a tool that allows them to do that," Basson says.

There are other seafood campaigns globally that are doing similar work. However, Basson says the major difference is that other international programmes do not partner with seafood industry players, whereas the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa is partnering with industry. This is a key strength of the programme.

Finding solutions together

A number of programmes are jointly finding solutions to the problem of overfishing and declining fish stocks. The SFP forms part of the WWF Sanlam Living Waters partnership, an initiative to promote marine conservation in South Africa.

The SFP works across the seafood supply chain to address ecosystem overexploitation. It contributes to two of the partnership's targets for the marine sector – firstly, to apply an ecosystem approach to fisheries in South Africa and reduce the impacts of destructive fishing practices to acceptable levels.

Its other goal is to restore at least half of over-exploited fish stocks to sustainably managed levels, while still maintaining or improving the state of other stocks.

The SFP aims to meet these targets through activities that focus on how fish are caught and traded. The Responsible Fisheries Programme works directly with the fishing industry and resource management and addresses how fish are caught. SASSI focuses on the trading aspect, which involves retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumers.

Consumers asking the right questions

Dr Samantha Petersen, project manager of the SFP, said in a statement that consumers must continue asking restaurants and retailers if they serve or sell sustainably harvested fish and seafood.

Some fishing and seafood farming methods pose more harm to the environment than others. For instance, Basson says, line- or pole-caught methods are relatively selective and don't kill unintended species such as seabirds and sharks.

Although some forms of seafood farming can reduce pressure on overexploited wild stocks, this is only the case if wild fish don't have to be fed to farmed fish, or if the production method doesn't further degrade the environment.

Consumers must not hesitate to ask in-depth questions about seafood and find out what they are buying or eating, where it comes from and how it was caught. Research indicates that positive changes at sea have predominantly resulted from consumer queries.

"One consumer who asks questions about the sustainability of their seafood is likely to have a bigger influence than 100 who simply make a green choice without telling the restaurant or retailer why," Basson says.

Major success has also been achieved with SASSI's progressive consumer tools. The SASSI Consumer Pocket Guide, originally drafted in 2005, uses a three-level colour classification to rate fish. Green indicates best choice while orange suggests caution and red means the species is illegal or classified as a "no sale species".

Certain species such as tuna were categorised in the green group, but this did not take the fishing method into account. The original red group only included the species that are prohibited from being sold by law.

Get the SASSI list

The new and updated SASSI list includes a revision of a number of species included on the original list. The new red group lists unsustainable species along with those that are illegal to sell in South Africa.

Basson says the original list excluded important imported and aquaculture species, but the updated version includes a selection of these species.

"This was becoming an increasingly pressing need due to the growing South African aquaculture industry," she says.

• Download the pocket-sized version of the SASSI list (PDF, 1.25MB)

The SASSI programme's prominent online presence has also made it easy for consumers to participate. Consumers can obtain the most up-to-date information at any time on the SASSI website, FishMS and mobi site. The FishMS service allows consumers to access the SASSI seafood database from any mobile phone. Consumers can send a text message to the number 079 499 8795 to find out whether a particular species is on the red, orange or green list.

According to Petersen, the response from wholesalers and retailers to consumer pressure has also been encouraging. A growing number of participants at this end of the value chain are actively involved with the SFP. Quarterly assessments are carried out with each partner to evaluate their seafood procurement process and raise awareness amongst staff.

The programme is working with 11 of the biggest seafood suppliers in South Africa (such as Aquatic Foods and Fish On Line), the large retailers (Pick n Pay, Woolworths, Spar) and popular restaurant chains such as John Dory’s and Ocean Basket. Offshore and inshore commercial industry players, such as I&J and Sea Harvest, are also involved.

Fish stocks recovering

Petersen said in a statement that kingklip stocks almost collapsed a few years ago. However, because of consumer pressure many restaurants stopped offering it on the menu and retailers no longer kept it in stock. Catch limits were also introduced and the kingklip spawning site near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape was placed under protection. "I really hope to see kingklip on the green list one day soon."

Basson says that some of South Africa's linefish species are also showing signs of recovery. For example, red roman, a member of the seabream family, is a popular linefish species that is endemic to Southern Africa. It is a reef-associated species with a relatively narrow distribution from Namibia to the Eastern Cape.

She says it is a slow growth species – a 40cm fish could be as old as 40 years. They achieve late sexual maturity and change sex from female to male as they mature. These factors make them highly vulnerable to overfishing.

Red roman stocks are in urgent need of rebuilding as they have almost disappeared in some areas such as False Bay on the southern Cape coast.

However, she says that there is evidence of recovery within Marine Protected Areas (MPA) along the coast. Research has shown a 90% increase in catches of red roman within the Goukamma MPA. Goukamma is situated on the Garden Route on the Cape South Coast. The exclusion of fishing boats from Goukamma has also been beneficial.

"Although much remains to be done to get the red roman stock back to its former glory, this still indicates the tremendous value of MPAs in rebuilding the breeding stock of important over-exploited linefish species," says Basson.

SA consumers more environmentally aware

Consumers are becoming more aware of issues affecting the environment.

"South African consumers are one of the main reasons why SASSI has been so successful and why we have seen some of our fish species recover," Basson says.

Another success story is that of the South African hake trawl fishery. Significant progress has been made in the management of the hake resource, as a result of both Marine Stewardship Council certification and consumer pressure. If consumers continue to ask questions, it will have major positive impacts for the entire seafood industry.

First published by MediaClubSouthAfrica.com – get free high-resolution photos and professional feature articles from Brand South Africa's media service.

From the cold Atlantic of the northern Cape to the diver's paradise of Sodwana Bay.

Wilma den Hartigh

A spectacular hand-beaded chair is getting South Africans talking about their dreams and expectations for their country, their communities and themselves.

The Dreams for Africa Chair is a project of the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust (HACT), situated in KwaZulu-Natal.

The chair has become a nationally recognised initiative that has warmed the hearts of South Africans and given them the license to express their expectations and raise their hopes for the future. Some may even be inspired to go on and take action to bring their dreams to life.

Unleashing South African dreams

About eight years ago, the HACT launched the highly successful Woza Moya (Zulu, meaning "Come Holy Spirit") income generation project to help women affected by HIV/Aids to earn a living. KwaZulu-Natal is one of South Africa's provinces that is most affected by HIV/Aids.

A study titled South African National HIV Prevalence, HIV Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey 2008 reveals that between 2002 and 2008, KwaZulu-Natal had the highest HIV prevalence in the country.

The original purpose of the chair was to draw more visitors to the Woza Moya stand at the 2010 Design Indaba, an annual conference and exhibition that brings together designers, architects, crafters, artists and other creative talents from all over the world.

Besides showcasing their jewellery and small crafts at Design Indaba, Woza Moya wanted to create something spectacular to help raise funds of R1.5-million (US$214 000) for a new craft centre.

Paula Thomson, who runs the project, described the dream chair as a revolutionary idea. "We realised that the women in the project had stopped dreaming about the future, and we were saddened by this. Their circumstances, being HIV positive and living in poverty, didn't leave much room for dreaming anymore," she said.

This thinking led to the creation of the "talking" chair. The entire chair, except the painted arms and legs, is adorned with beautiful handmade beadwork. Every woman in the project was asked to put her personal dream into the little beaded pieces that would become the chair's patchwork upholstery.

Thomson and the team envisaged that the wings attached to the chair would resemble wire angel wings. However, a German volunteer at the project came up with a much better idea – he constructed the wings from wood in the shape of the African continent, giving the chair a local twist on the classic wingback style.

The next challenge was to find a suitable chair. "I was just walking past a skip bin one day and I saw four chair legs sticking out of it," Thomson said. She rescued an old broken chair from the skip, it was glued back together and local upholsters were tasked with patching it up.

The chair has now become a metaphor for the women who come into the project. "They come in broken and damaged and by working together there is transformation within."

After the chair's first appearance at the Design Indaba in February earlier this year, it has toured the country.

Thomson and Claudia Krumhoff, HACT marketing and public relations officer, and photographers Peter Upfold and Matthew Willman have visited many South African towns and cities. Every person who sits in the chair and shares their dreams adds to the character of this work of art.

The photographers have generously donated their time and creative input to take photographs of anyone who wants to sit in the chair and share their dreams.

Wherever it goes, people are curious about the chair. "The good thing about the chair is that it also connects people to HIV/Aids in a non-threatening way," Thomson said.

South Africans can take a seat

HACT staff and patients in the respite care unit were the first to receive the honour of sitting in the chair. Thomson said that although some of the patients were too weak to walk, they still insisted on being carried to the chair.

"This was an incredible experience because it was as if their dignity had been restored."

Many local celebrities and South African icons have since been photographed in the chair: Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (famous as Zapiro), local band Freshlyground, radio personality DJ Fresh, musicians Lira and Johnny Clegg, and actors Leon Schuster and Shorty, to name but a few.

Claire Johnston, vocalist of the everppopular South African band Mango Groove, was recently photographed in the chair. She was amazed by its detail.

"So much work and care had gone into making it; so much human feeling, which is what makes an object special. I was told that the chair had a certain magical quality, and that people who saw it were drawn to it and wanted to sit in it," Johnston said.

She also said that the chair has come to represent something very powerful: "It is definitely a symbol of what we all have in common, what unites as opposed to divides. I want to be like the chair – positive, bright and full of possibility!"

The support of high profile South Africans is invaluable to the Dream Chair project, said Thomson, but it is also important to photograph ordinary South Africans, especially those who are doing outstanding work in their communities.

Jessica Foord from Hillcrest is one such example. She survived a gang rape while walking with her father at a dam near Hillcrest in 2008. Foord didn't want to remain a victim, so she established the Jes Foord Foundation to help people restore their lives after rape, to raise community awareness about rape, and also to support victims' friends and families.

South Africans' dreams

"We get to hear everyone's innermost dreams. People have even asked if they can have two or three dreams. This shows that to some extent, we have all stopped dreaming," Thomson said. There is no limit to the type of dream people can express, whether it's for themselves, their communities or for the country.

The dreams that South Africans have shared reflect the diversity of the country. They have been funny, uplifting, thought-provoking and unexpected.

A mother from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape dreams of clean water for her children who are always sick; a three-year-old girl wants to be teen television character Hannah Montana; a young boy wishes to become a successful businessman and make his parents proud; and another South African would like wealth to be distributed more evenly in the country.

While taking the chair to Robben Island, Thomson encountered a man on a Cape Town wharf whose dream was that South Africa would overcome its biggest stumbling block of people not talking to each other any more.

Bursting at the seams

Woza Moya is currently housed in a garage, but is in need of a craft centre to inspire the women to come in and work. The garage also houses a sewing and pottery project and the venue is bursting at the seams. Although it is an incredible hub of creativity, said Thomson, the project is now at the stage where it needs larger facilities.

Over 300 crafters are involved in the project. The team helps every woman who comes in to identify a creative skill such as beading, quilting, embroidery or sewing, which she can use to earn an income. The body of crafters grows every week, but infrastructure constraints are making it difficult to accommodate more women.

A R1.5-million injection would make it possible to enlarge the craft room, build a second storey and do other renovations. Last year the centre raised R3-million ($428 000) for the crafters. "This proves that our crafters are at the centre of everything we do," Thomson said.

Getting involved

Anyone can hire the chair at a daily rate to photograph it on their premises. Many companies are hiring it as part of their strategic planning meetings as well as brand and team building sessions. Any photo shoot with the chair can be tailor-made to an organisation's needs. The rate includes a set of postcards, which can be customised with the customer's logo, and extras may be bought for an additional fee.

Prints of South Africans, celebrities and community leaders who have already been photographed in the chair can be ordered and prices vary depending on the size of the image. An extensive catalogue of the postcards, as well as rates, is available online.

Woza Moya also sells dream-themed items such as tablemats, handbags and notepads directly from their craft shop in Hillcrest. They plan to soon release a coffee table book of all the photographs and dreams.

Thomson hopes that the Dreams for Africa photo exhibition will raise more awareness of HIV/Aids in South Africa. "We've never really met anyone that hasn't been moved by the chair," she said. "It has been on an incredible journey, and it just makes you feel connected to South Africa again."

First published by MediaClubSouthAfrica.com – get free high-resolution photos and professional feature articles from Brand South Africa's media service.

South Africa is a culturally diverse country, one nation made up of many peoples.

Chancellor House, where Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo had their Johannesburg law firm in the 1950s, is to be completely restored and become home to a new legal museum and resource centre, taking its rightful place as an iconic site of the struggle for human rights in South Africa.

Tambo, in the introduction to Ruth First's No Easy Walk to Freedom, described the downtown Johannesburg structure as "a shabby building", and one of the few in the city that could be rented by black people.

Designed by architect Frank Jarett and built around 1948, Chancellor House is soon to shake off its shabby reputation. The City has just expropriated the building, offering the owners R350 000 for the derelict structure.

Work on the building begins this month, says Yanda Tolobisa, the Johannesburg Development Agency's project manager for Chancellor House, and is expected to be complete by June 2011.

"The turnaround of Chancellor House is a great achievement, both for reclaiming heritage and for urban renewal in central Johannesburg," says Eric Itzkin, the deputy director for immovable heritage in the City's arts, culture and heritage department.

"After wasting away for many years, Chancellor House will take its rightful place as an iconic site celebrating the struggle for human rights."

Law offices

Located on the corner of Fox and Gerard Sekoto streets in Johannesburg's CBD, Chancellor House was home to the law offices of Mandela and Tambo in the 1950s. They had two small rooms on the second floor, with the words "Mandela & Tambo Attorneys" sandblasted on the window.

"Africans were desperate for legal help," Luli Callinicos writes in The World that Made Mandela.

"It was a crime to walk through a Whites Only door, a crime to ride a Whites Only bus, a crime to use a Whites Only drinking fountain, a crime to walk on a Whites Only beach, a crime to be on the street after 11pm, a crime not to have a pass book and a crime to have the wrong signature in that book, a crime to be unemployed and a crime to be employed in the wrong place, a crime to live in certain places and a crime to have no place to live Every day we heard and saw the thousands of humiliations that ordinary Africans confronted every day of their lives."

Callinicos interviewed communist party leader Chris Hani two weeks before he was assassinated in 1993. He said: "We admired [Mandela and Tambo] because we saw in them a different type of intelligentsia; an intelligentsia which is selfless, which was not just concerned about making money, creating a comfortable situation for themselves, but an intelligensia which had lots of time for the struggle of the oppressed people of South Africa; how they used their legal knowledge to alleviate the judicial persecution of the blacks.

"And as we therefore studied, we felt that our priority as probably future intellectuals, should be to participate in this struggle."

Mandela and Tambo's office ran for eight years, from 1952 to 1960. Both were arrested in 1956 and tried for treason. The Treason Trial ran for four years before the charge was dismissed against the remaining trialists in 1961. During the trial their legal obligations were curtailed, and other partners joined the firm: Duma Nokwe, Ruth Mompati, Mendi Msimang, Godfrey Pitje, among others.

"And I must say my life was shaped by the outlook of people like comrades Tambo, Mandela, Duma Nokwe and others," Hani said.

Living Legal Museum

The building has belonged to the Essa family from Polokwane in Limpopo, since 1943; they have been refusing offers to buy the historic building for many years.

Lucy Taylor, a Chancellor House activist since 1996, has been trying to get the family to sell the building. Over the past 14 years she has written dozens of letters soliciting support for what she calls the "Living Legal Museum", a proposal to turn the building into a museum commemorating the two famous tenants, a coffee shop, a law library, and a legal resource centre for disadvantaged law students.

Her response from Mandela when he was president, reads: "Chancellor House was home to the first black-owned firm in South Africa, which was that firm owned by myself and the late Oliver Tambo – so this project has a special place in my heart."

In a letter from the Essa family lawyers, Ismail Ayob, indicates that the Essa family did not consider the building to be a historical monument. In 1997, it was to be demolished to make way for a parking garage. It was declared a provisional national monument in 1999.

National Monuments Council

Taylor got letters of support for her proposal from a wide range of people: advocate George Bizos; judges Albie Sachs, Joel Joffe and Richard Goldstone; businesswoman Irene Menell; the late Adelaide Tambo and her son Dali; and long-time friend of Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada.

In 1997, Sachs wrote to Taylor, saying: "When I was a law student at University of Cape Town in the 1950s I would visit the offices of Mandela and Tambo each time I came to Johannesburg. The building accordingly has strong memories for me."

Taylor tried to raise funds to buy the property. In August 1998, Abdool Essa wrote to the National Monuments Council, saying he would be prepared to sell the building for R925 000.

But this never happened, and the building became more and more shabby and uninhabitable, despite the fact there were about 100 squatters living in it until recently.

The building has finally been cleared – the squatters were relocated to several shelters in the city – and the family offered R350 000 for the structure, a price that was reached after the building was professionally evaluated. Ironically, in 1997, the building was evaluated for the same amount. It is estimated that the refurbishment will cost R10-million.

"I am delighted something is to be done," says Taylor. "I have been fighting on empty for 14 years. I am very happy."

Heritage report

HMJ Prins Architect and UrbanWorks Architecture + Urbanism were asked to compile a heritage and conceptual design report on Chancellor House. "The objective therefore results in finding a way to appropriately commemorate Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo relative to their relationship to Chancellor House," says the report.

"Chancellor House hereby becomes an important relic in capturing another layer of our recent history. Although the building itself is not of any notable architectural or aesthetic value, our role was to find a way in which to instil a level of historical significance to the structure."

The building is in Ferreirasdorp, historically an Indian area going back some 100 years that managed to resist apartheid attempts to remove tenants and owners. The area around Chancellor House contains several significant civic buildings: the Magistrates' Court, the Family Court, a Home Affairs branch, and the Johannesburg Central Police Station.

Chancellor House is across the road from the Magistrates' Court, where Mandela, Tambo and their partners represented their clients. In 1952, Mandela was brought before the same court and charged and sentenced under the Suppression of Communism Act.

Ferreirasdorp

The report outlines the significant surrounding buildings. One block away is Kholvad House, a block of flats. Mandela often visited his friend Ahmed Kathrada at number 13, and when his office closed in 1960, he moved his law rooms to this flat.

"Although my practice had dissolved, my reputation as a lawyer was undimmed. Soon, the lounge of No 13 and the passage outside were crammed with clients. Kathy would return home and discover that the only room in which he could be alone was his kitchen," Mandela recounts in Long Walk to Freedom.

Mandela socialised with other Indian families in Ferreirasdorp. The Pahad family welcomed him, Tambo and Walter Sisulu to their home, where they often had meals. Struggle icons Yusuf Dadoo and the Cachalia family also lived in the suburb, and Mandela often held clandestine meetings in the flat of IC Meer, says Callinicos.

Further west in West Street, was Sitha Investments, Sisulu's estate agency. Sisulu had a huge influence on the ANC intellectuals, having been a trade unionist and entrepreneur, with a "maturity and wisdom beyond his years".

"Sisulu's office became a formative meeting place in the lives of dozens of young intellectuals and activists, including Mandela," Callinicos says.

Several blocks north of Chancellor House is Chinatown, where the Chinese Club is the oldest building in the precinct. Recently, the Johannesburg Development Agency revamped Chinatown, installing concrete benches and new paving, and planting trees. Two gateways are soon to appear, demarcating this precinct which dates back over a hundred years.

And barely another block or two away was Kapitan's, the Indian curry restaurant that remained multiracial throughout the nine decades of its existence. Mandela regularly ate a plate of curry there, and often took Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to the restaurant when they were courting. Sadly, the restaurant has closed following the death of both owners – Madanjit Ranchod and his wife Marge.

Chancellor House

Chancellor House has been occupied by squatters since 2000, and it was damaged by a fire several years ago. Most of the interior walls are black from fire damage, and there may be damage to some of the supporting walls. The external face brick is in good condition, but the canopy and its support structures need to be replaced.

There will be minimal demolitions, says the JDA's Tolobisa. The basic structure – the facade, the height of the building and the canopy overhanging the pavement – will be restored.

Plans include the possible demolition of the old ablution block and staircase on Fox Street, to make way for the creation of a small inner courtyard and garden.

A permanent photographic exhibition is planned for the rooms from which they consulted, on the second floor. The ground floor will contain a gallery with an exhibition. The old offices on the first and second floors will be restored.

"New displays showcased in windows facing out onto the street, promise to be ground-breaking and visually exciting, with archival images and documents, many of them only recently uncovered and never before seen in public," says Itzkin.

"I am fully supportive of the project. I would like to see it not merely a historical monument but used by our young people as a library and training centre for candidate attorneys," Mandela wrote in a 1998 letter.

"I believe that my late partner, Oliver Tambo, would also have wholeheartedly approved if he were still alive."

Source: City of Johannesburg

An international hero ... as well as a son, husband, father and grandfather.

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and several local airlines have launched a new system that allows passengers to make online or mobile flight bookings and even print their own boarding passes, so by-passing airport check-in queues.

According to Acsa, the system went live early this month for domestic flights and is working well, while international travellers will be able to use the new 2-D barcode as soon as approval has been received from the Department of Home Affairs.

"The 2-D barcode verification system is the new standard in air travel that has been adopted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA)," Acsa executive for airport operations Bongani Maseko said in a statement this week.

No need to queue

The system is being rolled out in phases at South African airports, starting with Johannesburg's OR Tambo International, Cape Town International, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein International Airports, and George and Kimberley Airports. King Shaka International and three other airports will be running the system by the end of the year.

Passengers will no longer have to queue at the airport to check in, as their seat will be assigned at the time of booking, while they can also print their boarding pass on any home laser or ink-jet printer.

Airlines will offer a 2-D barcode printing service at their check-in counters for passengers who are not able to print their pre-booked boarding pass.

Carry positive identification

Passengers who use the 2-D boarding pass are required to carry positive identification, which must be produced at the boarding gate.

Acsa will be running an ongoing education campaign to help passengers and the industry adjust to the new system.

"There are equally positive benefits for airlines, as the volume of people using their check-in desks will diminish, while giving them real-time monitoring of which passengers have already checked into the secure area," Maseko said.

Acsa has been working with industry players and partners over the past two years to put the system in place, as it requires the implementation of certain technologies, standards and functionality.

2-D barcode system

IATA developed a detailed technical specification for the 2-D barcode system to ensure compliance and inter-operability among different participants.

Acsa has worked with industry bodies such as the Airlines Association of Southern Africa and the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa to ensure a smooth and collaborative implementation.

"The overall objective of the new system is to simplify the check-in process for the airlines and provide greater flexibility and convenience for air travellers," Acsa said.

SAinfo reporter

A package of tips to help make your stay with us smoother.

While South Africa has lost two of its top medal prospects ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, with the injury-enforced withdrawals of 800m word champions Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Caster Semenya, Olympic silver medallist Khotso Mokoena has been cleared to take part.

The long jumper was given the green light on Wednesday by Dr Shuaib Manjra, chief medical officer of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).

Just a day earlier, women's 800 metres world champion Caster Semenya was withdrawn from the Games after an MRI scan indicated that her lower back injury could be aggravated by taking part in India.

South Africa's other track and field big gun, men's 800 metres world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, was also withdrawn after "we did extensive testing on him and found abnormalities," Manjra said on Sascoc's website.

Regarding Mokoena, Manjra said: "There have been media reports that he hasn't been able to train for eight weeks and would be unfit for competition, but we have evidence which says otherwise.

"We feel that Mokoena is fit enough to come to Delhi and he will be injury-free and able to go for gold, which is what we expect of an athlete of his calibre."

Mokoena won long jump silver at the 2009 Athletics World Championships and 2008 Olympics, and triple jump silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

According to Sascoc, the remaining members of Team South Africa will continue to arrive in Delhi ahead of Sunday's start to the Games.

On Tuesday, New Delhi's mayor officially welcomed the first contingent of Team South Africa into the athletes village.

"After weeks of speculation over conditions, hygiene, security and general readiness, this was a clear indication that come Sunday, the Commonwealth Games 2010 will be up and running," Sascoc said.

SAinfo reporter

The South African government has extended an invitation to the private sector to invest in an envisaged multi-billion rand solar park – a concentrated zone of solar generating plants and solar component manufacturing facilities – in the Northern Cape.

Addressing a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday during a conference on South Africa's energy future, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said that developing the solar plants for the park was expected to cost billions of US dollars.

These costs, to be incurred over a period of 10 years, would largely be borne by the private sector, Peters said.

"We are looking primarily to the private sector," said the department's acting deputy director-general for electricity, nuclear and clean energy, Ompi Aphane. "We don't see the fiscus being overburdened [by the project]."

Wide-ranging benefits

A solar park would alleviate the pressure on South Africa's largely coal-based energy supply.

It is estimated that a 5 000 MW park constructed over a decade could create about 12 300 construction jobs annually. The project is also expected to create about 3 010 operations and maintenance jobs by the time the last solar plant is constructed.

Besides the jobs that would be created by the park, South Africa would be given the opportunity to become a manufacturer of solar technology materials.

Pre-feasibility study conducted

The Department of Energy signed an agreement with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) in 2009 to prepare a pre-feasibility study into the potential for creating a solar park in South Africa. The study was conducted with the financial and technical backing of the CCI.

Peters said the study found that the Northern Cape was ideal for a solar park because of the abundance of sunshine in the province. Land availability, connection to the national electricity grid, and water availability (through the Orange River) were also deciding factors in choosing the Northern Cape.

A number of developers are said to have shown interest in the project.

The government predicts that the solar park project will reach commercialisation within the next two years, depending on interest from investors.

Source: BuaNews

South Africa's Department of Basic Education has received R1.7-billion from the European Union to help improve primary education in the country over the next three years.

This was announced on Tuesday ahead of the 3rd South Africa/European Union (SA/EU) Summit taking place in Brussels, Belgium, with President Jacob Zuma in attendance.

The funds are part of the ongoing financial cooperation between South Africa and the European Commission.

Single-largest commitment

According to the Presidency, the handing over of the funds, and subsequent signing of the Primary Education Sector Policy Support Programme (ESP-SP) agreement, makes this the single largest ever development cooperation programme between the European Commission and the South African government.

The overall objective of the ESP-SP is to improve learner performance in literacy and numeracy at primary school level, in order to achieve better output to secondary and higher education and vocational training.

Early childhood development

According to the Presidency, the R1.7-billion will be used for expanding access to quality early childhood development opportunities in poor communities, as well as improving numeracy and literacy at primary school level.

It will also be used to attract appropriately qualified and competent teachers in all learning areas at all levels.

The agreement was signed by South African Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and EU Commissioner for Education and Culture Androulla Vassiliou.

SAinfo reporter

South Africa offers mining investors huge growth potential and proven economic and political stability, President Jacob Zuma told business people at a gala dinner hosted by the Antwerp World Diamond Center on Tuesday.

Zuma, in Belgium for the third annual European Union-South Africa summit, said the successful hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup had "demonstrated to the world that we are a country that can deliver on its undertakings."

Zuma said the mining industry has been the foundation for economic development in South Africa for well over a century.

"Despite considerable diversification of our economy in the recent past, the mining sector remains a key variable in our economic growth equation."

In 2009, the mining industry contributed more than 30 percent to the country's total export revenue, and employed 9 percent of the country's economically active population.

"That is currently just below half-a-million direct jobs and a further half-a-million indirect jobs," Zuma said. "As the global economy recovers, and the demand for commodities increases, real opportunities for maximum returns in the mining sector exist."

He said South Africa was well-placed to take full advantage of improving prospects in the sector.

"Our country continues to host significant known reserves of mineral commodities, with almost 60 minerals being actively mined," Zuma said, adding: "A large number of these known reserves were discovered using conventional exploration methodologies and technologies."

South Africa's mineral assets, excluding energy commodities such as coal, uranium and thorium, are currently valued at around US$2.5-trillion, with estimates suggesting that the country's mineral resources would be exploitable for over a century to come.

This was supported by extensive existing mining infrastructure, enabling investors to obtain maximum value from their investment in South Africa while at the same time contributing to socio-economic development.

Source: BuaNews

Rudo Mungoshi

The Johannesburg Social Housing Company is to receive the world's most prestigious human settlements accolade, the United Nations' 2010 Scroll of Honour award, for its holistic approach to providing shelter, which has benefited almost 30 000 people around the city.

The UN's Scroll of Honour awards recognise initiatives that have made outstanding contributions in various fields such as shelter provision, highlighting the plight of homelessness, and leadership in post-conflict reconstruction.

The 2010 awards will be presented in Shanghai, China on Monday, 4 October.

The Johannesburg Social Housing Company (Joshco) was established by the City of Johannesburg in 2004 to provide affordable rental housing to the lower-income market in order to help eradicate South Africa's housing backlog.

It has been active in several project sites, including in Orlando, Soweto and Industria West, where former hostels have been converted into 213 family apartments. At present, it manages more than 5 000 affordable rental accommodation units, and has reduced default on payments from 87 percent to only 6 percent since it started operating in 2006.

The company's annual budget is about R175-million.

Joshco's chief executive officer, Rory Gallocher, said Johannesburg faced a lot of pressure in delivering good quality and affordable housing.

"It makes a big difference to know that we are doing something right because it is often possible to get buried in the detail and forget that we have many counterparts all over the world who are wrestling with similar problems," Gallocher said. "But it is important for us to count our victories when they come along so that we realise that we are making progress."

Gallocher said the agency's application to be considered for the award was a test to see if the past six years of work had made an impact. "We thought it would be interesting to compare our efforts with other initiatives around the world."

The group was planning to push for more opportunities to develop more affordable stock, he added.

"Our focus right now is on reducing the costs and increasing the revenues. This is important so that we can stretch the budgets as far as possible so that the improved service delivery can be felt by more families in Johannesburg."

Source: City of Johannesburg

South Africa is to spend billions of rands on massive upgrades of five of the country's major public hospitals, using the experience gained in building stadiums for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in implementing the projects.

"We will put massive investment – it will be more than what the country spent during the soccer World Cup," Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban on Monday.

Task teams had been put in place to start planning the rebuilding projects at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in the Eastern Cape, Dr George Mukhari and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospitals in Gauteng, and the Limpopo Academic Hospital.

In the case of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, renovation and expansion work began years ago and is far advanced. Located on the outskirts of Soweto, Johannesburg, the hospital is the biggest on the continent, covering 0.7km² and serving approximately 3.5-million people.

Motsoaledi said the government had identified infrastructure development as key to transforming health care delivery in South Africa. "This was because of an honest introspection that informed us that we have not done much in the past 16 years," he said.

Hospitals had been chosen as flagship projects in fast-tracking infrastructure development in public health, in part because they provided referral services to mainly rural communities.

Motsoaledi said that one of the problems that had led to deterioration in some state hospitals – Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in particular – was that the department had used doctors to manage infrastructure projects.

Motsoaledi said the government wanted to use the experience gained in building the 2010 Fifa World Cup stadiums in implementing these projects.

Engineers would provide strategic management of these massive projects, including developing norms and standards for clinics and big hospitals.

Motsoaledi also warned that provinces that underspent on their infrastructure budgets would have them taken away. This was in light of a report showing that the provinces have been underspending on their infrastructure budgets over the past five years.

Source: BuaNews