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The Health Department has activated an emergency operations centre to deal with the global outbreak of the Coronavirus.

“The emergency centre was activated recently and is now currently operational. We are busy building up the staff numbers.” said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize as he detailed the country’s response to the outbreak recently.

Sipho Twala is a young furniture-maker who has gone from being unemployed to showcasing his beautiful creations at national and international exhibitions.

Twala is one of over 1 000 people who have been empowered to succeed through the Furniture Technology Centre Trust (Furntech).

Supported by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), Furntech offers support to existing and start-up businesses in the furniture industry. The organisation targets a number of groups to be a part of its programmes, including unemployed people with a passion for furniture or woodwork.

Children from Upington in the Northern Cape are benefiting from 10 early childhood development (ECDs) centres recently launched by the Department of Social Development (DSD).

Five-year-old Lithemba Bacela, who lives with cerebral palsy and has a speech impairment, is better able to indicate what she feels and needs, thanks to her time at one of these centres, Oasis Skills Development Centre’s ECD unit.

Lion Stars FC in Joe Slovo Park, Cape Town, has helped a handful of youngsters kick life-destroying habits.

Owner Khayalethu Dyani (49) said his club saved a youngster who was living on the streets, as well as three others who were heavily involved in drugs.

Balini Naidoo (28) believes that being a fashion designer is not only about creating clothes that are trendy but is an opportunity for her to address social challenges that are close to her heart.

Labani Mgimeti’s catering business Hiteka Kitchen recently won R40 000 worth of equipment during the City of Ekurhuleni’s Festival of Ideas Programme.

The initiative aims to support emerging businesses, to help them grow and boost Ekurhuleni’s economy. More than 15 emerging entrepreneurs received prizes worth R2 million in 2019.

If a child who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attention deficit disorder (ADD) is not treated, the conditions could have long-term negative impacts on their health.

This is according to Dr Khatija Jhazbhay, who heads up the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit at Townhill Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.

She explained that as adults, these children could be at an increased risk of other mental conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and could also misuse substances.

Individuals qualifying for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) do not have to pay upfront registration fees at universities or colleges.

From the Union Buildings

Fellow South Africans, a few weeks ago we celebrated the start of a new year and a new decade. This gave us an opportunity to reflect on our plans for the year ahead but also to think deeply about the challenges that confront us. Of these challenges, and perhaps the most pressing, is the need to build a capable state. This is a task that does not capture the imagination of most people, yet it is essential to everything we want to achieve.

A Limpopo organisation is determined to help shape boys on their journey to becoming courteous, respectful and honourable men.

Teaching young men how to behave is crucial to ending gender-based violence (GBV).