News Archive
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Google gets small South African businesses online
20 January 2012
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has thrown its weight behind a Google initiative to get small businesses online.
The initiative makes it easy for small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMEs) – which DTI Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe referred to as the “bedrock” of the economy – to set up an online presence quickly and easily.
The free service, available at www.wozaonline.co.za, guides users through a few simple steps in creating a basic website, that is also optimised for mobile phones, in less than an hour.
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The deaf are not heard in South Africa
19 January 2012
About 93 percent of deaf South Africans are unemployed – more than three times the national average, according to the National Institute for the Deaf (NID).
This was raised on 17 January 2012 during a parliamentary hearing into the proposed SA Languages Bill, which aims to give effect to language rights provided for in the constitution.
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Fake malaria drugs risk in Africa
Hopes of controlling malaria in Africa could be wrecked by criminals who are circulating counterfeit and substandard drugs, threatening millions of lives, scientists are warning.
There has been growing hope of an end to the age-old scourge of malaria, with UN and donor countries having contributed to a massive effort to get modern technological tools to endemic areas, including insecticide-impregnated bed nets and new drugs that had their origins in China, derived from artemisinin plants.
But large parts of Africa are threatened by the distribution of fake and poor quality anti-malarials made illicitly in China.
Analysis showed some counterfeits contained a mixture of wrong active pharmaceutical ingredients, some of which may initially alleviate malaria symptoms but would not cure malaria. Worse still, these unexpected ingredients could cause potentially serious side effects, particularly if they were to interact with other medication that the patient was taking, such as anti-retroviral therapies for HIV.
Read the full article on The Guardian’s website. More news headlines can be found in our News archive.
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Seminar: increasing youth volunteering In South Africa
17 January 2012
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) invites interested persons to participate in a knowledge seminar on how to increase youth volunteering in civil society organisations in South Africa.
The seminar is part of a three-year project entitled ‘Promoting and up-scaling youth volunteering in civil society organizations in South Africa’, which seeks to cultivate an enabling environment for youth volunteering to flourish in civil society. It is hoped that the seminar will provide a platform for the sharing of experiences and ideas around this vision.
Date: 24 and 25 January 2012
Venue: Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre, Benoni, Gauteng
Information and application: Tine Comillie, tel +27 (0) 11 651 7000 extension 295 or email TineC@nyda.gov.zaThe deadline for enquiries is 19 January 2012 at 16:00.
The NYDA will provide accommodation for all seminar participants on 24 January 2012 to encourage attendance of the evening event which launches cooperation between the NYDA and the Flemish government on promoting and up scaling youth volunteering.
