insert_link Environment Healthy food is hard to come by in Cape Town’s poorer areas: how community gardens can fix that Community gardens can be a boon for residents. Nattrass/Getty Images Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira, University of the Western Cape In 1950, as part of the Group Areas Act, South Africa’s apartheid government banished people of colour to outlying areas, away from central business districts. The Cape Flats are one such area, sprawling to the east of central Cape Town. Today the legacy of apartheid spatial planning endures. The area is home […] todayJanuary 16, 2024 11
insert_link Africa Ghana is behind the curve on climate change laws: expert suggests a way to get corporations on board By Kikelomo Kila, University of Huddersfield Ghana has introduced some climate change policies and general environmental regulations but has yet to pass a Climate Change Act. This leaves the country without effective legal and regulatory instruments for addressing climate change. Climate change law expert Kikelomo Kila sets out her findings in a recent paper on why Ghana must not follow the “command and control” regulatory approach. Why hasn’t […] todayJanuary 16, 2024 19
insert_link Environment Unusual ancient elephant tracks had our team of fossil experts stumped – how we solved the mystery Elephants communicate underground by generating seismic waves. Anadolu Agency Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University Over the past 15 years, through our scientific study of tracks and traces, we have identified more than 350 fossil vertebrate tracksites from South Africa’s Cape south coast. Most are found in cemented sand dunes, called aeolianites, and all are from the Pleistocene Epoch, ranging in age from about 35,000 to 400,000 years. During that time […] todayJanuary 16, 2024 14
insert_link Opinion Pieces 20 years ago South Africa had 40 qualified astronomers – all white. How it’s opened space science and developed skills since then Southern African Large Telescope. SAAO, Author provided Patricia Ann Whitelock, South African Astronomical Observatory; Daniel Cunnama, South African Astronomical Observatory, and Rosalind Skelton, National Research Foundation South African astronomy started an important journey two decades ago, when an initiative to attract and train future scientists in the field welcomed its first group of students under the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme. World class facilities have been established during this […] todayJanuary 15, 2024 14
insert_link Opinion Pieces More than 4 billion people are eligible to vote in an election in 2024. Is this democracy’s biggest test? Shutterstock Nicholas Reece, The University of Melbourne 2024 is going to be democracy’s biggest year ever. In a remarkable milestone in human history, over four billion people – more than half of the world’s population across more than 40 countries – will go to the polls. National elections will be held in the United States, India, Indonesia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Mexico, and South Africa to name […] todayJanuary 15, 2024 7
insert_link Africa 60% of Africa’s food is based on wheat, rice and maize – the continent’s crop treasure trove is being neglected By Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine African countries have become reliant on a few food items. Just 20 plant species now provide 90% of our food, with three – wheat, maize and rice – accounting for 60% of all calories consumed on the continent and globally. This deprives the continent of diverse food sources, at the very time when research has found massive food and […] todayJanuary 15, 2024 10
insert_link Opinion Pieces South Africa’s legal team in the genocide case against Israel has won praise. Who are they? By Narnia Bohler-Muller, Human Sciences Research Council South African justice minister Ronald Lamola led a top legal team to argue the country’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 11 January. South Africa argues that Israel’s indiscriminate retaliatory bombing and siege of Gaza contravenes the Genocide Convention. More than 23,000 Palestinians, including at least 10,000 children, have been killed. Narnia Bohler-Muller, an international law […] todayJanuary 15, 2024 5
insert_link Opinion Pieces US election: third party candidates can tip the balance in a tight race – here’s why Robert F Kennedy Jr matters By Thomas Gift, UCL US politics will start with a bang in January 2024. The long-awaited Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries promise to provide early clarity on a likely Donald Trump v Joe Biden rematch for the presidential election this year. But beneath the hoopla of the first-tier White House candidacies will be another race – the sprint to get on the ballot for those not running as Republicans […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 10
insert_link Africa South Africa’s new intelligence bill is meant to stem abuses – what’s good and bad about it By Jane Duncan, University of Glasgow When South Africa became a constitutional democracy in 1994, it replaced its apartheid-era intelligence apparatus with a new one aimed at serving the country’s new democratic dispensation. However, the regime of former president Jacob Zuma, 2009-2018, deviated from this path. It abused the intelligence services to serve his political and allegdly corrupt ends. Now the country is taking steps to remedy the situation. […] todayJanuary 12, 2024 5
