Stellenbosch University (SU) is among South Africa’s leading tertiary institutions based on research output, student pass rates and rated scientists, and is recognised internationally as an academic institution of excellence. This is confirmed by two world university rankings after SU was included in the Times Higher Education and QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) world rankings in 2012, for the second consecutive year. In 2011 the University was also listed on the Leiden rankings, and in 2012 SU was named the leading African University by the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities which ranks universities according to their web presence.
SU also boasts the second-highest number of scientists in South Africa who have been ranked by the National Research Foundation (NRF) – 306 in 2012. With 18 research chairs under the NRF South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChi), the University is regarded as a leader in the fields of biomedical tuberculosis research and management, wine biotechnology, animal sciences and mathematical biosciences. Another SARChi chair, in the field of invasion biology, is shared between SU and the University of Venda. This constitutes but one of SU’s many partnerships, both local and international. As preferred research partner, SU also participates in various international academic networks.
Intervention in Cabo Delgado is a potentially dangerous move with far-reaching consequences for SADC if its efforts fail, or it becomes a protracted intervention.
Media multitasking: constantly juggling media and non-media activities, often using multiple digital devices.
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Moringa as a crop is on the rise in South Africa. But more must be done to make use of this versatile, climate resilient plant.
Members of the Ossewabrandwag on parade during WWII. The then political opposition collaborated with the Germans.
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Research shows that grit is a strong predictor of reading achievement. This suggests that socio-emotional skills are important for student achievement, even in high-poverty contexts.
Some workers prefer a hybrid approach, whereby they can alternate between working at home and in the office.
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If the best people management practices of the formal economy were to be deployed in the informal economy, new avenues of stimulating economic and life empowerment may be opened.
Input subsidies aren’t helping women like Malawian farmer Grace Stenala.
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Malawi’s revamped subsidy regime is designed to reach many more farmers. But a granular look shows that women aren’t reaping the benefits.
Wildfires are the inevitable consequence of three factors coming together at the same time: an ignition, the weather and fuel.
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The fynbos vegetation that historically clothed the slopes of Table Mountain is highly inflammable. This has been worsened by the spread of alien trees that burn more intensely than the fynbos.
A wildfire spread across the slopes of Table Mountain to the University of Cape Town.
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Fire hazards are influenced by three factors: weather, an ignition source and fuel loads. The first two are unpredictable. But fuel loads can be managed.
Giant old trees in the rainforest at Campement de Kloto, Missahoe, Agomé in Togo, West Africa.
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A stable ecosystem of organic matter is the key to improving agricultural yields in the surrounding farmland and fighting climate change.
Members of Ghana’s parliament during a break from electing a new leader of parliament. Only 14% of parliamentarians are women.
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The attitudes that people with disabilities may encounter when trying to access sexual and reproductive healthcare are hugely deterring.
The judicial inquiry into grand corruption heard shocking details of the abuse of power at South Africa’s preeminent spy agency.
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Globally, intelligence services trade in secrets and conduct covert operations. But this does not exempt them from public scrutiny, parliamentary oversight, and audit processes.
There’s much that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has yet to explain to South Africans about the COVID-19 vaccine procurement.
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South Africa’s constitutional values of good public governance and transparency in public procurement have been sacrificed in the process of buying COVID-19 vaccines.
In some African countries, lion trophy hunting is legal.
Riaan van den Berg
Debates centred on the role of recreational hunting in supporting nature conservation and local people’s livelihoods are among the most polarising in conservation today.
Muslim-based schools have retained the same racial and cultural exclusivity that was enforced during apartheid.
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Negotiating for the fair treatment of study participants and benefit sharing before a study commences does not constitute an unfair inducement. It is an ethical imperative.