Viewpoint

Suicide may be an uncomfortable topic – but talking about it is very necessary as it can help prevent tragic, untimely deaths. World Suicide Prevention Day, an annual awareness day marked on 10 September 2024, highlights the importance of ongoing awareness and public education to help reduce suicide rates and reach those who need professional support in time.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation was established in 1936 by the Broadcasting Act that year. That Act was substituted by a 1973 Broadcasting Act, which has been replaced by the current Broadcasting Act, of 1999.

In South Africa where 2.1 million people experience hunger weekly, up to 10.3 million tons of food is wasted each year. The figures are alarming....

Siviwe Gwarube is the first Democratic Alliance (DA) member to become Minister of Basic Education; an impressive feat that is fraught with peril. The DA did not nearly accomplish all that it should have after forming a government of national unity (GNU) with the African National Congress (ANC).

South African policymakers learn all the wrong lessons from other countries. Rather than look to the free and prosperous societies of the United States and Europe, politicians and pundits would rather push us to imitate Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba and Zimbabwe. And even when policymakers identify genuinely good role models, they take the wrong lessons.

With a newly established government of national unity in South Africa, the criminal justice system remains one of the most crucial areas for any society seeking peace. It would be in the best interest of the new government to direct its executive branch, especially the criminal justice system (Police and Courts), to prioritise violent crimes over other offences.

There is a rare opportunity to right a lot of South Africa’s wrongs in one go. Corruption and unemployment are two major roadblocks. Permit me to explain how they can be simultaneously addressed within the current administration. I suggest an amnesty largely on the African National Congress (ANC’s) past wrongdoing in office in return for liberalisation of labour laws. This may be for a bit further down the line.

Gargantuan and tyrannical unions like the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) have leveraged their power, numbers, money, and capacity to threaten violence, and in so doing hold the economy hostage.

We live in a time where human beings are better off than they have ever been, yet our natural systems are under stress and millions of people are suffering. Sufficient evidence and rationale support the imperative to alter our behaviour and embrace sustainable living practices. Yet, why do we hesitate to do so? And if we are indeed taking steps, are we progressing swiftly enough?

The fluctuations of the South African currency (the rand) in the period leading up to the recent national and provincial elections, and during the negotiations by political parties to form a Government of National Unity (GNU), have resulted in many wild and drunken speculations - especially on social media.