MoE drags its feet over student sponsorships?

7 May, 2009 in Botswana, Education

source: Mmegi
CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer

The Ministry of Education and Skills Development has not stated yet whether it will sponsor students to study in private tertiary institutions as pledged by Vice President, Mompati Merafhe a week ago.

When contacted yesterday, Deputy permanent secretary Golekanye Setume said they are still in consultations and working around the issue of where to send the students in both private and public institutions. Government last week backtracked on its decision of sponsoring only students who passed with 40 points and above in public schools. The ministry had also revealed that it would not be sponsoring students in local tertiary institutions or outside the country.

But after an outcry, government lowered the cut-off points to 36 but did not indicate whether the decision not to send students to local private tertiary institutions still stands. While students complained about [continue reading]

South Africa – Indaba: tourism`s finest on show

7 May, 2009 in South Africa, Tourism

source: SouthAfrica.info
6 May 2009

Indaba 2009, one of the biggest tourism marketing events on the African calendar, takes place at the Albert Luthuli Convention Centre in Durban from Saturday to Tuesday.

The event showcases a huge variety of southern Africa’s best tourism products, attracting exhibitors and journalists from across the world.

Indaba 2008 drew more than 13 200 delegates, confirming its status as Africa’s top travel show and one of the top three in the world. There were 621 journalists in attendance, including 175 from abroad.

The show received a prestigious World Travel Award as Africa’s best travel show, while South African Tourism picked up a World Travel Award as for best destination marketing organisation on the continent.

Indaba’s visitor profile includes adventure [continue reading]

Africa: Mobile Internet Taking Off

7 May, 2009 in Africa, Technology

source: allAfrica
5 May 2009

Washington, DC — “The number of people in Africa using their mobile to access the Internet has rocketed over the last year. In many instances the number of mobile Internet subscribers far outstrips their fixed line equivalent. … By the end of 2008, South Africa had 1.35 million Internet subscribers, of which, according to World Wide Worx, 794,000 were wireless Internet subscribers …I hear you saying that this is South Africa and the rest of Africa is different. [But similar proportions hold in Uganda, Tanzania, and other countries] – Russell Southwood, Balancing Act Africa

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains this article from the latest Balancing Act Africa on the rapid expansion of mobile internet access in Africa.

Also included: a link to a new book on “Mobile Phones: The New Talking Drums of Everyday Africa” featuring case studies of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Sudan, and Tanzania; excerpts from another recent article from Balancing Act Africa on the rapid advance of [continue reading]

BOBS pledges highest standards to boost trade

7 May, 2009 in Botswana, Business

source: Mmegi
MARTIN NYIRENDA
Correspondent

Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) has pledged to have the highest standards put in place to promote both internal and external trade.

Speaking at a Technical Committees (TCs) chairpersons’ seminar in Gaborone last week, BOBS deputy managing director Masego Marobela said despite BOBS scoring successes in its activities, there were still challenges specific to standards development and implementation work as well as limited public participation through commenting on draft standards at public comment stage.

She told the seminar that the other challenges were limited consumer demand for goods and services compliant to standards and non-robust mechanisms to reference standards in central, local government, parastatals and other major buyers’ procurement and tender processes.

Other challenges included less than [continue reading]

South Africa: `No surprises in new cabinet`

7 May, 2009 in South Africa

source: IOL
May 06 2009 at 09:44PM
By Wendell Roelf

Cape Town – ANC leader Jacob Zuma was elected president of South Africa by parliament on Wednesday, and set boosting the economy and creating jobs as his immediate priorities.

Zuma, jailed for 10 years under apartheid before going into exile, is the nation’s fourth head of state since the end of white rule in 1994.

An eight-year corruption case nearly ruined him, but graft charges against him were dropped shortly before the election on April 22, which his ruling party won handsomely.

Aside from fighting poverty, crime and Aids, Zuma faces the task of guiding Africa’s biggest economy, which may already be in recession, through the global financial crisis.

Zuma moved quickly to reassure foreign investors who will be watching to see if [continue reading]

NBB launches Digital switch

7 May, 2009 in Botswana, Technology

source: Mmegi
MARTIN NYIREND
Correspondent

National Broadcasting Board (NBB) Chairman, Dr Masego Mpotokwane has said that the process to switch from analogue to digital broadcasting transmission is deeply involving, hence the need for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to achieve the goal.

Speaking at the launch of the Digital Migration Task Force in Gaborone last week, Mpotokwane said that as a signatory to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Botswana is obliged to effect the migration from analogue to digital transmission and that failure to do so by the stipulated time could result in the country failing to benefit from some of the digital services that are on offer around the globe.

Digital switchover is when the current analogue terrestrial television broadcasting switches to digital. Digital television is an advanced broadcasting technology that transmits TV pictures and sounds as computerised bits of information. The main advantage of digital television is that [continue reading]

Francistown council sounds rabbies alarm

7 May, 2009 in Botswana

source: Mmegi
PATRICIA MAGANU
Staff Writer

FRANCISTOWN: The Francistown City Council (FCC) has issued a warning on the outbreak of rabies in the town, according to a press release from that office.

FCC senior public relations officer, Priscilla Gulubane, states in the press release that the public should be aware that the disease kills and it has no cure.

“The City of Francistown is liasing with the department of veterinary services to vaccinate dogs and kill all stray ones,” she said.

Gulubane further said that people are advised to be aware of the symptoms of rabies, which include becoming aggressive and not drinking water because the throat closes down as a result of the disease. She further said that a dog that has rabies will become aggressive and bark excessively and also becomes dull and droops.

Gulubane said that so far there have not [continue reading]

South African tourism faces the media

7 May, 2009 in South Africa, Tourism, World Cup 2010

source: SouthAfrica.info
6 May 2009

True or false? South Africa’s tourism industry has escaped the worst of the global recession. Do you agree? Safety should not be a concern for 2010 World Cup visitors. Fact or fiction? South Africa has no marketing campaign to generate excitement around the World Cup?

More than 600 local and international journalists will gather at the Indaba Global Media Face Off at the Durban International Convention Centre, Durban on Sunday to get straight answers to these and other questions on the state of tourism in South Africa and the challenges it faces.

Moderated by world-renowned CNN host Richard Quest, the Global Media Face Off panelists will include 2010 Local Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan, economist Iraj Abedien, and World Cup consultant Horst Schimdt, one of the [continue reading]

Botswana to borrow P13bn from AfDB, World Bank

7 May, 2009 in Botswana, Business

source: Mmegi
WANETSHA MOSINYI
Staff Writer

Government hopes to raise nearly P13 billion soft loans from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank to cover this year’s P13.4 billion budget deficit, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Baledzi Gaolathe has said.

Gaolathe, who was in Washington recently on marathon meetings with multilateral banks’ officials, said on Monday that government was in negotiations with the World Bank to lend the country US$300, 000 (P2.2 billion) and AfDB US$1.5 billion (P10.8 billion)as budget support.

Botswana will raise the money through the World Bank’s Development Policy Lending (DPL) window, which is a fast disbursing facility, intended to assist countries in economic crisis.”We met with representatives from the World Bank and we had successful discussions with them. In principle, they are willing to assist Botswana,” Gaolathe said.

He said the bank would be sending a [continue reading]

South Africa: Unemployment rate rise to 23,5%

7 May, 2009 in South Africa

source: IOL
May 06 2009 at 07:06PM

Growing unemployment will make it difficult for the ANC to meet its target of halving unemployment and poverty within the first two decades of freedom, Cosatu said on Wednesday.

“The incoming ANC government has the daunting task of realising its election promise of creating decent work for all in a climate where the economy is shedding employment at a frightening pace,” the trade union federation said in a statement.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions was reacting to a Statistics SA survey released on Tuesday, indicating that the unemployment rate rose to 23,5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 21,9 percent in the previous three months.

“Under the 2005 Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative, government suggested that if economic growth rose to six percent by 2009, it would be possible to cut [continue reading]

Botswana to benefit from Bill Gates Foundation projects

7 May, 2009 in Botswana

source: Mmegi

US $100,000 grants will explore how unique approaches, including the use of tomatoes, cows and magnets, can be used to prevent infectious disease

SEATTLE – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced 81 grants of US$100,000 each to explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve health in developing countries. Botswana is one of the countries that will benefit from these grants.

The grants were awarded to researchers in 17 countries through the foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, which aims to develop a pipeline of creative ideas that could change the face of global heath.

The projects focus on novel approaches to prevent and treat infectious diseases, such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia , and diarrheal diseases. The first round of 104 Grand Challenges Explorations grants was announced in October 2008.

“Investments in global health research are already [continue reading]

Botswana publishers challenge media law

7 May, 2009 in Botswana

source: IOL
May 06 2009 at 10:04PM

Gaborone, Botswana – A lawyer representing publishers in Botswana says they have taken a first legal step they hope will lead to a new media law being declared unconstitutional.

Attorney Batsho Nthoi says the notice of intent to sue the government over the law was filed on Wednesday.

The publishers and media rights groups in the southern African nation say the law passed late in 2008 violates constitutional protections on free speech.

The government argues it instead preserves media freedom and [continue reading]

Zuma South Africa`s President-elect

7 May, 2009 in South Africa

source: SouthAfrica.info
Bookmark and Share
6 May 2009

African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma is President-elect of South Africa, and will take over from Kgalema Motlanthe as President after his inauguration in Pretoria on Saturday.

The 400 members of South Africa’s National Assembly elected Zuma as the new President of the Republic following a secret ballot in Cape Town on Wednesday, after Zuma and the Congress of the People’s (Cope’s) Mvume Dandala were nominated for the position.

Zuma received 277 votes to Dandala’s 47. Three votes were spoilt, while the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s main opposition party with 67 seats in the National Assembly, abstained from the vote.

Zuma will remain President-elect until he is sworn in on [continue reading]

Zimbabwe: Fresh violence on Chegutu`s Mount Carmel farm

7 May, 2009 in Zimbabwe

source: SW Radio Africa
By Alex Bell
06 May 2009

There has been a fresh outbreak of violent attacks on Chegutu’s Mount Carmel farm, with invaders viciously beating a farm worker as well destroying the property, all in retaliation to a court order demanding they leave the land.

The High Court order was handed down to the invaders on Monday, as part of an ongoing effort by the farm owner’s, Ben Freeth and his parents-in-law, to have the invaders removed from their land. But the retaliation started in earnest on Tuesday night, with the invaders threatening to burn down the family’s home. The gang also used tractors to dig up the garden around the house, all while the family was locked inside. When the thugs eventually left, they took out their anger on the farm workers, threatening to burn down the worker’s village before abducting the farm foreman.

Freeth explained on Wednesday that the foreman was only found on Wednesday morning, after he had been severely beaten and then detained at the Chegutu police station. The worker is now recovering [continue reading]