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As part of government’s long-term planning for future projects, South Africa’s next census will take place in October 2011. A census is a survey that counts all the members of a population and gets information about them. In South Africa, a census is taken every 10 years.

The awareness campaign for Census 2011 was launched in October this year to start preparing people for National Census Day on 10 October 2011.

As part of government's commitment to stop criminals from using South Africa's exit and entry points, a group of 350 former National Defence Force (SANDF) members have recently received intensive training in Cuba.

The programme, introduced by the Department of Home Affairs, trained officers to provide security at national key points including land, air and sea ports of entry, as well as at major airports.

South Africa is well-known for its excellent wines, which are mostly produced in the Western Cape. In future, however, when you enjoy a glass of wine with your meal, it could be produced from grapes grown in KwaZulu-Natal. A group of rural women in the province are blazing a trail in wine-making.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Community Safety and Liaison is stepping up its fight against crime. The Building a United Front Against Crime programme aims to fight crime within communities by involving individuals and community leaders. The department will drive this programme as a priority for the next four years.

Every year, thousands of people are trafficked into South Africa and sold into forced labour or prostitution. This is seen as slavery. Several government departments are presently working together on a massive awareness campaign to stop this social evil.

Nurses are at the heart of the country’s health system and play an important role in delivering an effective healthcare service. There is growing public concern in about the declining quality of healthcare, particularly nursing in the country. By uplifting and revitalising the nursing profession it will be possible to increase the population’s life expectancy, reduce the deaths of mothers and babies, decrease the spread of HIV/AIDS and TB, and improve the health system.

South Africa is still one of the countries in the world with the highest incidence of TB. This is made worse by the high rate of people who are infected with HIV. HIV weakens the immune system, which increases the risk of TB.

“Many of our people will now get much-needed assistance in the form of EPWP projects. Some of the work opportunities include repairing and maintenance of roads...”  - President Jacob Zuma, State of the Nation Address, 2011

The programme is aimed at providing primary school learners with an extra hour of supervised homework and one hour of supervised play or physical education after school every day. 

Homework 

The next elections are scheduled to take place in March this year in all public schools throughout South Africa. The Department of Basic Education has dedicated the entire month of March to the elections.