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From The Union Buildings

On 12 September 1977, Stephen Bantu Biko died in police custody in Pretoria Central Prison.

Human dignity, the principle at the heart of his black consciousness activism, was denied to him. In the words of the family lawyer Sir Sydney Kentridge, his was “a miserable and lonely death on a mat on a stone floor in a prison cell”.

Pregnant women have the responsibility to not drink because alcohol can cause a condition that affects a baby’s development.

This is according to the Deputy Minister of Social Development, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, who recently launched the 9-9-9 Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) advocacy programme.

Mduduzi Jijana is the owner of the Disability Empowerment Movement, which is one of the companies that is currently benefiting from the R26 billion upgrade of the N3 highway between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal.

The project, which is being spearheaded by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral), is ensuring that entrepreneurs such as Jijana not only benefit but in turn create employment for others.

Young people in Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) who started a community radio station to give youth a voice on critical issues such as HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, social cohesion and rising unemployment, are riding the airwaves with pride.

Intokozo FM 101.2 MHz was established by Umlazi youth in 2013 and has an estimated 100 000 listeners. The name Intokozo means happiness or joy in IsiZulu.

As part of efforts to remove barriers that prevent persons in the deaf community from communicating effectively, the country has developed the first bilingual South African Sign Language (SASL) Dictionary.

The bilingual English/ SASL video dictionary is available as an app on smartphones to provide standardised SASL terminology. Users can search for words by handshape and body location. The signs were collected from deaf communities across South Africa.

Tiger Brands is recalling Purity Essentials Baby Powder products as a safety measure after trace levels of asbestos were detected in test samples.

The test samples were from a batch of pharmaceutical-grade talc powder used as raw material in the production of finished powder products.

The batch of raw material with the detected trace levels of asbestos does not meet the company’s strict quality and safety standards.

While many people enjoy a bit of gambling – be it betting on their favourite sports team or playing the slot machines at a casino – some people can become addicted to it and end up taking their own life.

This is according to the National Gambling Board (NGB), which says the link between problem gambling and suicide is often overlooked.

Various research studies, including one conducted by the NGB, indicate that gambling can cause various emotional and behavioural issues, including anxiety and depression caused by losing money and finding oneself in debt.

A Limpopo cobbler is fixing school shoes for free to help less privileged learners stand tall.

Denice Maphanga (27) learnt the art of cobbling from his grandfather and used these skills to start an informal roadside shoe repair business in his community of Steelpoort. He repairs and resoles all types of shoes and promotes his business through his popular Facebook account and via word of mouth.

Itumeleng Sekhu-Pedi (34) from Soshanguve outside of Pretoria has defied the odds as a person living with a disability. When she was just 11 months old, she suffered third-degree burns after a candle fell over and created a 70 degrees Celsius fire. As a result, she lost her right arm, four fingers on the left hand and has extensive scarring on her face and the right side of her body.

Despite this, Sekhu-Pedi lives a rich life. She is a philanthropist, internationally accredited speaker, author, business owner, wife and mother.