South Africa’s children are bearing the brunt of increasing food prices – and the effects may be permanent. More than one in five children in South Africa are stunted because of malnutrition, according to the Global Nutrition Report 2015 released on Friday. Experts warn that this will get worse as food prices rise. Childhood stunting…
On Saturday 22 August, SciBraai, Code4SA and the International Center for Journalists hosted the first ever science-themed Data Quest, which produced some great potential multimedia science stories. Held at Code4SA’s Codebridge lab in Cape Town, the event put data nerds, scientists and journalists into teams tasked with sifting through publicly available data to find stories and create interactive data…
Anger has been growing over embargoes on published works that “limit access to knowledge and make academics’ work outdated”. South African universities and government agencies have banded together against international academic publisher Elsevier’s new hosting and sharing regime, which they argue “curtails scientific progress and places unnecessary constraints on delivering the benefits of research back…
Barry Dwolatzky, University of the Witwatersrand Over the past two years, an initiative has been underway to put an area of central Johannesburg on the map as a place where digital innovation and entrepreneurship happens in South Africa. There is a growing belief that the work being done by the University of the Witwatersrand a…
By Michelle Galloway, media officer for the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS). Edited by Anina Mumm Urbanisation has a huge impact on health in South Africa if one considers that, according to a 2012 UNICEF report, South Africa is the most urbanised country in southern Africa and more than half of children in South Africa…
John Butler-Adam, University of Pretoria Foundation essay: This article is part of a series marking the launch of The Conversation in Africa. Our foundation essays are longer than our usual comment and analysis articles and take a wider look at key issues affecting society. South Africa is fortunate to boast excellence in a large number…
South Africa’s Minister for the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele has stressed that closing the digital divide is just as important as the struggle against apartheid was. “We all know how much harm apartheid did. Failing to close the digital divide will do more harm than apartheid did. In the spirit of co-operation, we…