AJ Calitz and Bernard Rakudza (Contego K-Way) shook up the field during Stage Two of the ProNutro AfricanX Trailrun presented by New Balance on Saturday, 15 March 2014 claiming the stage victory in a lightning fast time of 02 hours 41 minutes 34 seconds, cementing a 03 minute 06 second lead going into Stage Three [...]Calitz, Rakudza take AfricanX Stage 2 is a post from: Trail Running South Africa


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Abu Dhabi, UAE, 15 March 2014 – Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee today won the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon short course crown for a second year running, however this year he shared the winners glory with his 2012 World Champion brother and Olympic bronze medalist, Jonathan. The British Olympians crossed the finish line arm in [...]Brownlees crowned Abu Dhabi champions is a post from: Time-to-Tri

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A tiny kiwi chick – believed to be the smallest of its kind in New Zealand – has successfully hatched at the Rainbow Springs Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua. Staff at the Kiwi Encounter have overseen more than 1,300 hatchings of North Island brown kiwi eggs over the years, but the arrival of ‘mini’ – the [...]
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FIFA U-20 World Cup officials have given New Zealand their seal of approval as the country gears up to host one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. A FIFA inspection team spent 10-days travelling the North and South Islands of New Zealand, assessing training venues and hotels in each of the seven host [...]New Zealand gets FIFA Thumbs Up is a post from: Time-4-Sport


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Competition was heated in the men’s race during Stage One of the ProNutro AfricanX Trailrun presented by New Balance on Friday, 14 March 2014.Â* Starting and finishing at the Houw Hoek Inn, there was a constant tussle at the front end of the men’s race with Kane Reilly and Thabang Madiba (Salomon Men) and Michael [...]Bailey, Brimble take Stage One is a post from: Trail Running South Africa


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The newly installed Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) pumps in the Witwatersrand area is expected to take the country a step closer in resolving the challenge of AMD.

AMD refers to the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. The long history of mining in the Witwatersrand area has created the challenges faced by the country today.

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa and Mineral Resource Minister Susan Shabangu on Friday lowered the state-of-the-art pumps into the newly built Central Basin Pump Station in Witwatersrand.

The pumps will convey the AMD from deep in the mine void to the surface, where it will be treated and made safe for the environment.

The process will ensure that the AMD does not reach the environmental critical level, which is prescribed by legislation and will also guarantee the safety of the environment and people.

Minister Molewa said the installation of the AMD pumps was a short-term solution.

“The full project involves the establishment of a new AMD pump-station, an AMD neutralisation facility (high-density sludge AMD treatment), and treated water and waste sludge pipeline.

“When completed, this should provide a permanent solution for the treatment of AMD in this basin,” Minister Molewa said.

The minister said about R319 million will be used for constructing and installing acid mine drainage pumps, the treatment plant, and monitoring the shafts.

“Once in place and fully operational by end of April 2014, an average of 57 million litres of AMD per day will be treated and discharged into the Klipriver,” Minister Molewa said.

AMD project to address challenges

This initiative will ensure that underground AMD in the Central Basin is managed at a suitable level so as not to create adverse environmental and socio economic impacts.

Some of the challenges include AMD affecting the water system, polluting groundwater, fields and rivers. Indirect effects are that access to clean water can be reduced, the health and wellbeing of the community will be affected and the natural environment will be damaged.

However, as efforts are intensified to further manage the problem sustainably, a pro-active approach is required to prevent further duplication of the situation in other mining areas.

“We will continuously apply regulatory mechanisms for the adoption and implementation of long-term AMD/mine water management strategies by mining companies,” Minister Molewa said.

Mining houses, way forward

On the contribution by mining houses to the AMD, Minister Shabangu noted that government was dealing with the legacy of over 100 years.

“Mining comes from a past where there was no liability on mining companies as they continue to pollute, it’s only in 1991 when the Minerals Act was a liability imposed on mining companies. We can’t charge whoever is here for what happened in 1896.

“We are looking at forward movement on how we deal with this issue…we don’t license anymore, unless you have money,” Minister Shabangu said.

She added that that government is also dealing with the current law, which talks about concurrent rehabilitation, meaning that what they have in Witwatersrand can no longer happen in other parts of the country where mining happens.

“As you mine you have to continue to rehabilitate, releasing the land to be used whether for human consumption or agriculture,” Minister Shabangu said. – SAnews.gov.za

he Community Work Programme (CWP) aims to create one million work opportunities by the 2018/19 financial year, covering all local municipalities, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Lechesa Tsenoli announced on Friday.

“The department will spend R2.5 billion in 2015/16 to provide 202 000 work opportunities and R3.7 billion in 2016/17 to provide one million work opportunities across local municipalities,” the minister said.

Minister Tsenoli was speaking during a Post State of the Nation Address (SoNA) briefing on local government.

The CWP is a key government initiative aimed at mobilising communities to provide regular and predictable work opportunities at the local government level.

“The purpose of the programme is to provide an employment safety net for those without access to opportunities designed to lift them out of poverty,” he said.

The programme also provides access to a minimum level of regular work, two days a week; 8 days a month; and 100 days a year at a wage rate presently set at R71 a day.

Minister Tsenoli said the programme recognises that policies to address unemployment and create decent work will take time to reach people living in marginalised areas where few opportunities exist.

According to the Minister, the CWP is now being implemented in every district across the country, including the 23 Cabinet Priority Districts.

He said the programme has been implemented in 76 of the department’s 105 priority municipalities in the short-term, while in the medium-term; all municipalities in the country will have at least one CWP site.

The minister said the department will spend R2.7 billion in the 2014/2015 period to create 332 000 work opportunities covering all municipalities.

“Against a target of 171 500 in the current financial year, the programme has created 206 000 work opportunities. Over the last five years the programme has grown significantly.

“In 2009/10 we set a target of 10 000 participants; but reached 55 582 participants by the end of March 2010, exceeding its revised targets,” he said.

In the 2010/11 financial year, the minister said the programme reached 89 689 participants in 45 municipalities across the nine provinces, adding that 65% of the participants were women and 59 % were young people.

The programme reached 105 218 participants far exceeding the targeted 69 120 in 2011/12, while in 2012/13, the programme reached 204 494 against a target of 171 500 across the country in 140 municipalities.

“In 2013/14, the programme reached 206 166 participants against a target of 172 000 across the country also in 140 municipalities,” the minister said. - SAnews.gov.za

A new friendly environment, with an increased number of beds and state-of-the-art equipment, are just a few things that patients can look forward to, at the upgraded maternity and neo-natal wards, at the Leratong Hospital, in Kagiso.

Opening the newly renovated wards on Thursday, Gauteng Health MEC Hope Papo said reducing maternal and child mortality remains government’s key priority.

“It is widely accepted that any health system worth its salt is measured on services it provides to pregnant women and children.

“We are also aware of the fact that some contributory factors to increased maternal and infant mortality cannot be traced directly to the health sector. Social determinants of health such as poverty also contribute to maternal and infant mortality ratios,” he said.

Last year, MEC Papo visited the hospital and announced that the labour ward, medical wards, gynaecological and surgical wards will be upgraded.

At that time, Papo said the hospital will receive greater support to be able to provide better services to the 1.5 million people living on the West Rand.

Leratong is the only regional hospital in the West Rand and serves as a referral point for 79 facilities that include two district hospitals, two maternal and obstetrics units, 61 clinics, 10 mobile clinics, a psychiatric hospital.

Some of the state-of-the-art equipment includes cardio-tochography (foetal monitoring) machines, Dinamaps, Cardiac Monitors, Emergency trollies, transport incubators and wheelchairs.

The upgraded neonatal ward is equipped with essential equipment, including cot beds. It now has 22 cubicles which can accommodate up to 54 babies. – SAnews.gov.za

President Jacob Zuma says the launch of the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund further demonstrates government’s commitment to invest in education and freeing young people from economic oppression.

President Zuma said the R20-million scholarship fund, a partnership between the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Department of Higher Education, was aimed at assisting excelling leaners from disadvantaged areas wishing to further their studies at an institution of higher learning.

The launch of the Fund comes days after ANC Stalwart Martha Mahlangu, mother of the late Umkhonto we Sizwe cadre Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, passed away in hospital. She passed away on Wednesday.

“As we celebrate 20 years of freedom and democracy this year, we commit ourselves to ensuring that young people in South Africa would live a better life than we did during our time, during the era of apartheid colonialism where education was used as an instrument of subjugation.

“This occasion today, proves that the democratic government views education as an instrument of freedom and development.

“We want access to quality education to be one of the tangible fruits of freedom for our youth,” he said on Friday.

President Zuma said the fund was named after Mahlangu, who was executed under apartheid laws, at the age of 23, after he was wrongfully accused of murder and terrorism, to honour his contribution to the struggle for freedom.

“When he went defiantly to the gallows in 1979 at the tender age of 23, he left these powerful words.

“He said: ‘My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight’.

“Today, his blood is nourishing the tree of education and progress, the fruits of freedom,” he said.

The launch of the fund comes after the NYDA hosted the Presidential Youth Indaba on Youth Jobs and Skills, in Boksburg, a week ago, to track the progress made in implementing the Youth Employment Accord, which was signed in April last year by youth leaders, business, labour, government and the community sector.

President Zuma said the core business of the NYDA had changed to focus on education and skills development based on studies that revealed that most young people in the country actually derive their income from salaries and remittances instead of entrepreneurship.

“The studies further indicate that the level of education and the quality of that education promotes the chances of employment for the youth.

“Therefore, the NYDA’s new intensive focus on education and skills development is in line with the developmental needs of young people.”

He said the decision to launch the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund was also in-line with the NYDA’s new strategic focus.

Amongst the first beneficiaries of the fund are some students who previously failed matric, but achieved top marks the second time around after taking an opportunity to enrol for the NYDA’s National Senior Certificate Matric Rewrite Programme.

“To date, more than eight thousand young people have been assisted to rewrite their matric.

“It is good that we have among us some of the graduates of the rewrite programme who are now beneficiaries of the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund,” he said.

He said the Fund augments the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), and added that government was committed to investing in education and training as this was the key to giving young people economic emancipation.

“The youth is our future. We will continue to invest in our country’s future through investing in education and training. We are investing in skills development so that we can produce the skills necessary to grow the country’s economy and create jobs,” President Zuma said. – SAnews.gov.za

A star turn at the newly refurbished Roundhouse showroom in Fulham is a new Urbo island. With the trend towards creating a ‘social hub’ in the kitchen seeing no sign of abating, this new stainless steel and Wenge wood island meets the demand for a central feature that is both practical and good looking. With [...]Stainless Steel And Wenge Island is a post from:


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