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For the past decade, some families near Galeshewe in the Northern Cape have been living in rickety structures made of cardboard boxes, corrugated iron, plastics and even fencing. Now, thanks to a new housing development, 500 families are about to become proud new home owners.

As we begin the New Year, it’s time to focus on the year ahead. Vuk’uzenzele caught up with a few South Africans who shared their New Year’s resolutions with us.

Jabu Dludlu, Standerton 
My resolution for this year is to focus on getting a better job so that I can buy my own house soon. It is a dream of mine to be a home owner.

The Union Buildings in Pretoria, one the of the country’s most recognisable buildings, celebrated 100 years in November. To mark this important milestone, a golden statue of former President Nelson Mandela was erected – just days after he passed away.

Youth matters

Fire fighting has saved a young Mpumalanga woman from selling her body to earn a living.

What started off as a small project to teach women how to bake cookies in a community rife with unemployment has escalated into one of the most successful female cooperatives in the country.

For a group of elderly women in Roodepoort the entrepreneurial spirit was awakened by the experience of retrenchment and desperation.

More than 17 000 Eskom employees based at the Medupi Power Station in Limpopo are being trained in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and further education and training (FET) courses.

Rendani Makhomu and Peggy Mahlaba are two of an increasing number of local entrepreneurs venturing into Africa, with many more gazing with renewed interest at the continent.

Teachers from the Western Cape recently took a break from the daily grind of classroom work to enjoy the spotlight as the provincial Teachers Awards got underway.

The awards have been held since 2000 by the Department of Basic Education to acknowledge and encourage dedicated teachers in their efforts to develop learners as productive citizens of a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.

The following are some of the finalists that will go through to the National Teaching Awards next year.

On the streets of Khayelitsha, amid street vendors selling anything from socks to sweets, past shacks and houses and between hooting taxis, lies Cape Town’s first upmarket township coffee shop.