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Government has intensified its efforts to combat substance and alcohol abuse through intervention programmes in all provinces.

There are Provincial Substance Abuse Forums and Local Drug Action Committees at municipalities to enhance existing community initiatives with knowledge and skills to manage their own prevention work at grassroots level.

The committees are supported by the Central Drug Authority (CDA), which is a government body that consists of experts in medicine, law enforcement and community mobilisation.

In an effort to win the war against drugs and substance abuse in South Africa, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu launched the National Drug Master Plan (NDMP) 2019- 2024 in June 2020.

Abusing alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism instead of seeking professional help or reaching out to your loved ones for support can do you more harm than good.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has confirmed the outbreak of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) in the Western Cape and Norther Cape provinces.

The department said it has received reports of die-offs of wild rabbits and hares from the Karoo areas in the Western and Northern Cape.

Thandeka Sifunda (33) is the chairperson of Umsekelaze Cooperative which recently received a R4 million worth packhouse which will be used to store and pack fresh fruit and vegetables before they are sold.

The mushrooming of illegal colleges and practices is a continuous concern for the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), especially at the beginning of the new academic year.

Students who have just completed matric and are desperate for admission to institutions of higher education and training sometimes fall prey to bogus colleges.

If you could not meet the pass requirements of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, you can register with the Department of Basic Education for the Second Chance Matric Programme (SCMP).

The SCMP is a matric rewrite programme that was established in 2016 for learners who would like to improve their results or eventually complete their matric qualification on a part-time basis.

Registration for the 2023 SCMP opened in October 2022 and will close on 8 February 2023. You can register at any education district office near you.

Children and youth from disadvantaged families in Mamelodi East, Gauteng and surrounding areas are being given a life-changing opportunity through music.

Mamelodi Music Conservatoire (MMC) is a non-profit organisation founded by Mmatapa Ramatjela in 2009, while she was studying towards a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Pretoria (UP).

The organisation offers classical music lessons to children and youth aged between 7 and 22 years-old who stay in and around Mamelodi East.

The entrepreneurial journey of Tando (38), a Port Elizabeth businessman and beneficiary of Coega Development Corporation (CDC) programme, has come full circle.

The CDC is the operator and developer of the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ), and its overarching objective is to boost economic growth and job creation through investment, in pursuit of socio-economic development.

The Coega SEZ  headquarters are in the city of Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality with a strategic operational footprint in South Africa and on the African continent.

When the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) launched the Decade of the Artisan campaign in 2014, Nelisiwe Duba (24) could not believe her luck as she immediately saw this as her chance to pursue a career in the trades and becomes a successful female artisan.