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June 2020
By Steuart Pennington
COVID-19
Everyone is talking about the COVID-19 ‘New Normal’ and that nothing will ever be the same again. It seems that just about everything we do will change. It’s my sense that education, more than many other spheres of life, will be fundamentally impacted. In this newsletter I review the book “Partners for Possibility – Stories of Impact”.
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Dear Fellow South African,
The words of Frantz Fanon that ‘each generation must discover its mission’ come to mind every time I have an opportunity to speak with young South Africans.
No matter where they live and no matter what they do, they each have a burning desire to change the world.[read more]
By Justin Foxton
A revolution of thought
Several moons ago, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus discovered something rather disappointing to the 16th Century ego. Up until that point it was believed that the Earth not the Sun, was the centre of the universe. Mr Copernicus disagreed. He asserted that the Earth was one of several planets revolving around the Sun. What is now referred to as the Copernican Shift changed, well, everything.
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Dear President Ramaphosa,
I hope this letter finds you well, as you help SA navigate COVID-19 and the unintended social impact of the policies you and your colleagues designed to contain the virus. We appreciate your efforts and the goodwill underpinning them.
In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic The Little Prince, the prince narrates the story of a king he met on a tiny planet far away. Speaking of authority and public obedience, the king opined: “Authority rests first of all on reason.
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By Alec Hogg
Among my memorable assignments was a visit five years ago to Christel House, Cape Town’s 750-pupil Grade R to Matric school which only enrols children from abject poverty (household income under R1,500pm).
Established in 2001 by Christel DeHaan, its efficacy is proven through a 99% Matric pass rate with 93% of alumni studying, working or both.
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An alliance of five local and global organisations, backed by over 300 chefs, restaurant owners and volunteers has stepped in to play a small part in filling the massive need for sustainable production of meals for vulnerable communities around the country, igniting a surplus-driven movement that will extend beyond COVID-19.
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South African boerewors makers are cooking up a storm under lockdown
South Africa’s leading boerewors competition has seen a surge of high-quality entries, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the country’s ongoing lockdown.
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Brand South Africa is excited to announce its continued partnership with the Miss South Africa pageant this year, as reigning Miss South Africa, Sasha-Lee Laurel Olivier, prepares to hand over the crown.
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Language non-binary
Being merely bilingual is not enough in a country with 11 official languages; the average South African uses 2.84 languages. isiZulu is the first language for the most people (11.6 million people), as well as the most common second language (15.7 million people).
The least commonly spoken of the national languages are Tshivenda and isiNdebele (1.2 million and 1.7 million respectively). This year, President Ramaphosa added a twelfth official language: Sign Language (used by 0.5% of South Africans).
(https://bit.ly/30RZCun, https://bit.ly/3eh6yp6)
An age-old risk
Those aged 55 and older are at a higher risk of experiencing severe symptoms from the COVID-19 virus. In Italy, the median age is 45 with 35% of the country being over 55. This likely played a role in the severity of the outbreak in Italy. In contrast, in South Africa the median age is 28 with only 12.5% of the population aged over 55. (https://bit.ly/2XRhBzw, https://bit.ly/3cVSwaY)
June Good Deeds:
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