Editor

Mhlengi Ngcobo (23) is a farmer and social entrepreneur who wishes to see his community prosper. 

Ngcobo, from  Kwa-Maphumulo in northern KwaZulu-Natal, believes in imparting farming skills to youth to help them rise above poverty and realise their potential.

Childline South Africa has a new tollfree number, which is shorter and easier to remember. By dialing 116, children and adults can receive help with problems facing children, says Childline South Africa’s National Executive Officer Dumisile Nala. 

The Department of Social Development's Risiha Programme is providing much-needed support to child-headed households. 

The Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu and Mpumalanga MEC for Social Development Lindiwe Ntshalintshali recently launched the community-based child protection programme in Kwa Guqa, in Emalahleni.

Risiha is a Xitsonga word for ‘resilience’.

The recent launch of the second phase of the Presidential Employment Stimulus represents great progress in our quest to create job opportunities for unemployed South Africans.

We established the employment stimulus last year to create as many opportunities as possible in the shortest possible time. This required new and innovative ways of working to implement programmes at an unprecedented speed and scale.

Toyota recently announced massive investments in KwaZulu-Natal that will lead to more jobs in the province.

The first production run of the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid vehicle was recently celebrated in KZN, with President Cyril Ramaphosa present to witness the achievement.

The production of the Corolla Cross on home soil will result in Toyota investing R 2. 6 billion in the country.

Applications for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding for 2022 are now open. The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, says learners and out of school youth from disadvantaged and working-class backgrounds can now apply for funding to study at public universities and technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.

Government has categorised students into five cohorts for funding. “We believe these will cover all students who have potential and are in need of funding,” the Minister says.

The categories are:

The Gauteng Rebuilding Fund has set aside R100 million for SMMEs in distress.

The Gauteng Economic Development Department and Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) have opened applications for relief funds to boost small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the province.

The Gauteng Rebuilding Fund has set aside a R100 million for SMMEs in distress as result of July’s civil unrest and the Coronavirus Disease pandemic.

A year before the first democratic elections, President Nelson Mandela wrote an article in Foreign Policy magazine on the new South Africa’s future foreign policy. 

Reflecting on the shifts in global alliances brought about by the end of the Cold War, he wrote that countries would have to “recast their nets” if they were to reap any benefit from international affairs.

Men, who are slower to get their COVID-19 vaccines than women, need to roll up their sleeves and help protect their families. 

No South African has died after being vaccinated for the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

This was according to the National Immunisation Safety Expert Committee (NISEC) Chairperson, Professor Hannelie Meyer.

Professor Meyer was speaking during a webinar on self-reporting of side effects or adverse events.