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The agricultural sector is a key component of the economy and plays a crucial role in government’s efforts to drive and promote food security and economic growth, said President Jacob Zuma recently.

There is hope for emerging farmers in the Eastern Cape who have been turned down by mainstream financial institutions.

Following the establishment of the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA), they now have a reasonable chance of getting loans at lower interest rates.

The agency’s main responsibility is to fund farmers who have been rejected by main- stream financial institutions such as banks.

Until 2010, Nomfazwe Cwanyiswa was an unemployed, unskilled mother of 13, who lived in poverty in one of the many impoverished and underdeveloped areas of the Eastern Cape.

But Cwanyiswa’s life changed after she completed a training course in arts and crafts with Mninizo Trading in the Mhlontlo Local Municipality. She now uses skills to generate an income to support her family.

Government’s introduction of health services at schools that will protect learners from unhealthy diets and HIV, among others, has been praised by a range of organisations in the education community.

You should not wear dark clothes when walking on the road at night,” the actor said. “Why not?”, responded the young man with a puzzled look on his face. “Because we are losing friends, brothers andsisters daily due to road accidents,” the actor replied.

South Africa faces a shortage of more than 5 000 chartered accountants and government has the huge task of trying to fill the more than 40 perent vacant posts in the fi profession. To tackle this problem head-on, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) will, over the next four years, inject a whopping R84 million into the accounting department of the Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape.

A year after adopting the National Strategic Plan for HIV and Aids 2012 to 2016, South Africa has made great strides in its efforts to combat HIV and Aids.

Over the past financial year, the number of new patients placed on ARVs has increased drastically to 617 147, compared to the 418 677 who were on ARV treatment in 2010/11.

Researchers from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are making a name for themselves as TB-busters. As tuberculosis (TB) develops a new, drug resistant strain, the scientists are finding ways to contain it.

Infrastructure development

Government will soon roll out a massive infrastructure programme estimated to cost more than R4 trillion over the next 15 years.

Infrastructure development

Over the past 20 years the use of goods trains has declined, with more goods being transported by road.

All that is about to change following Transnet’s announcement that it intends to buy slick new goods trains and refurbish existing ones.