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All systems recede for Eastern Cape Presidential Imbizo

Location: News

All systems go for Eastern Cape Presidential Imbizo

It is all systems go for the District Development Model (DDM) Presidential Imbizo, which is set to be held in Instika Yethu Local Municipality in the Chris Hani District in the Eastern Cape on Friday.

This is according to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister Thembi Nkadimeng, who was briefing media ahead of the imbizo.

“All the Ministers will be here. They will be able to account on issues that are raised on human settlements, water and sanitation, health, education, societal ills and crime.

“We are confident that the ninth imbizo will yield the positive results that we have seen in the last eight izimbizo. The main objective is to ensure that our communities are tomorrow afforded the opportunity to speak to the President.

“In a nutshell, tomorrow we will strengthen a partnership with citizens in order to deal with issues affecting their daily lives, as imbizo is a tool of development communication to bridge the information gap and address service delivery backlogs in rural areas,” Nkadimeng said.

Honing in on the challenges the Eastern Cape is facing, the Minister said government is already focused on implementing and finding solutions to the water challenges in the province.

“We are looking strongly into the improvement of our disaster management assessment teams at COGTA and also in the province because we know now that KZN and Eastern Cape are more disaster prone in terms of floods… and some areas like Gqeberha are disaster prone in terms of drought.

“[There is] a water and waste water treatment project… that services both the Amathole and Chris Hani [Districts]. The project is currently running and servicing two districts. I would want… the Eastern Cape government, COGTA and the Department of Water and Sanitation to do a replica of such projects in all the areas in the Eastern Cape that have a problem of water provision and sanitation,” she said.

Izimbizo present an opportunity for South Africans from all corners of the country to voice out the challenges they have directly to the President and Cabinet, with a view to tackle them head on.

Thus far, the President has visited all provinces, with the Eastern Cape imbizo expected to be the last in this round.

“These series of interactions and engagements brought communities closer to the President and the entire leadership across the three spheres, and also ensured that their issues are made known.

“As reflected earlier, the successful institutionalisation of the DDM compels us to collaborate with key strategic stakeholders, including traditional and Khoi-San leaders, as well as business and civil society at large in planning, budgeting and implementation, as well as monitoring and evaluation.

“The DDM Presidential Izimbizo are a practical expression of community centred development that is rooted on active public participation and accountability. President is committed to continuing to build an ethical, capable and developmental State that delivers on its mandate and is corruption free at every sphere,” Nkadimeng said.

She called on citizens in the Eastern Cape to attend tomorrow’s imbizo and have their voices heard.

“We call on all communities of the Chris Hani District to come and interact directly with President Ramaphosa, who will be accompanied by public representatives from national, provincial and local government in keeping with the principles of the DDM.

“Transport and related logistical arrangements have been finalised to ferry communities from various areas to ensure that no one is left behind in the transformation journey of our country,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za

NeoB
Thu, 08/10/2023 - 10:44

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Rhodes Business School to partner with eLearnAfrica

Location: News

Rhodes Business School
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Recognised as one of the leading business schools for its focus on sustainability and ethical leadership, Rhodes Business School (www.RU.ac.za/BusinessSchool/) has entered into a partnership with eLearnAfrica to develop a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), to fulfil the School's goal of enabling its AMBA accredited MBA to reach into Africa and beyond, like never before.

Professor Owen Skae, Director of Rhodes Business School, says that the eLearnAfrica supported VLE will be operational from 2024. “We are very excited about this as it means our MBA is now more accessible than ever”.

Founded in 2000, Rhodes Business School's Vision is to “transform business for a sustainable world” and its Mission is to “educate and influence responsible business practice, responsibly”.

Says  Skae, “We learnt two things from teaching through the pandemic. Returning to the old ‘business as usual model' of ‘chalk and talk' is not going to happen like it used to. At the same time, running Zoom or Teams sessions and just displaying your power-point slides does not suffice. Students and lecturers want the best of both the digital and the physical teaching world. ‘Phygital' is key! The digital or virtual mode provides convenience and flexibility. The physical mode provides the immersion and human engagement that we still need. We know that our students still value the opportunity to come to Rhodes University, given that it is such a unique and special institution.”

The common denominator is having the necessary technology enablement to provide the best teaching and learning experience for students whilst creating a virtual classroom environment for academic staff to deliver effectively and efficiently, regardless of the mode of delivery.

”Getting the state-of-the-art VLE platform that was needed required partnering with someone who knows what they are doing. Students need the right balance of synchronous and asynchronous interaction that only a top-class VLE can bring. That partner is eLearnAfrica” Prof Skae said.

The VLE will provide the full suite of synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning applications to ensure that the Rhodes Business School MBA continues to be the transformative experience it is renowned for. The partnership with eLearnAfrica brings, immersion, flexibility and convenience.

The VLE-enabled MBA will allow the current four two-week block attendances (i.e. two blocks in Year 1 and two blocks in Year 2) to be reduced to one block in each year (i.e. one block in each of Year 1 and Year 2), for the invaluable face-face delivery mode.

The Rhodes Business School's s essence is “Leadership for Sustainability.” Leadership and sustainability principles underline all subjects in the curriculum. Emphasis is placed on business continuity and achieving a balance between economic, social and environmental sustainability. The School applies its unique 4E (Economy, Ethics, Ecology and Equity) model in its teaching and learning practice.

“Management Education is crucial to unlocking Africa's vast potential. Our MBA strives to educate Africa's future business leaders and managers that it ‘isn't about how much money organisations make, but how they make their money'. Getting that right is critical to achieving the African Union's Agenda 2063, whilst simultaneously meeting the Sustainable Dvelopment Goals and gearing up to take advantage of the  African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. The favourable rand-dollar exchange is also a compelling reason to get full value for money in studying for a world class MBA”, says Skae.   

The Rhodes MBA is a coursework degree comprising coursework and a research assignment. The degree is offered on a part-time, modular basis over two years.

The admission requirements are, an Honours degree or Postgraduate Dipploma, a minimum of three years' work experience and an admission test such as NMAT, GMAT or GRE. Applications close on 31st October 2023.

Rhodes Business School, Rhodes University is located in the rural city of Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Its nearest large city is Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Rhodes Business School.

For more information on how accessible a Rhodes Business School MBA is, email mba@ru.ac.za or visit www.RU.ac.za/BusinessSchool

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Dynamic US conductor, Joseph Young, to step in for Marin Alsop on SA tour

Location: Entertainment, MyPR

The Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra has announced that Marin Alsop will no longer be joining the Orchestra for their upcoming national tour in August 2023, as she is unexpectedly indisposed due to health reasons, and currently unable to travel.. “I am devastated that I have had to make the difficult decision to cancel this engagement …

Read moreDynamic US conductor, Joseph Young, to step in for Marin Alsop on SA tour

Vodacom Eastern Cape region ramps up fight against vulgar station battery theft and vandalism

Location: MyPR

GQEBERHA – Vodacom Eastern Cape is taking significant steps to address the escalating issue of vandalism and battery theft at base station sites in the region. On average, 120 sites on average per month experience vandalism, while approximately 62 lithium batteries are stolen each month, with Kei County being one of the worst areas affected. …

Read moreVodacom Eastern Cape region ramps up fight against vulgar station battery theft and vandalism

Nzimande calls on BRICS partners to invest in science, innovation

Location: News

Nzimande calls on BRICS partners to invest in science, innovation

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, has called on his partners from BRICS to develop science and innovation capacities across Africa for the creation of a better future for all. 

Nzimande was speaking on Friday at the 2023 BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa) Ministerial Meeting on Science and Innovation in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape. 

He told his counterparts from Brazil, Russia, India and China that one of the strategic objectives of the annual ministerial meeting is to provide an opportunity for a high-level exchange on science, technology, and innovation policy. 

The platform is to also share information on priority investment areas, as well as national progress in the implementation of BRICS partnership initiatives.  

He told delegates that in 2022, the country witnessed a historic milestone in science policy development with the adoption of the Decadal Plan. 

The Decadal Plan, approved by Cabinet, focuses on growing South Africa by finding sources of new economic growth for a re-industrialised and modern economy.

“Although prepared by my department, it is not only a plan for the Department of Science and Innovation, or for government alone, but for all of South Africa,” he said. 

The plan also seeks to put science, technology, and innovation at the heart of South Africa’s growth and development agenda.

Meanwhile, the Innovation and Skills Compact will undertake amongst others a regulatory reform to create a more enabling policy environment for innovation in South Africa. 

It will also forge a closer collaboration between higher education and training bodies, and employers, to ensure that skills development better corresponds to the needs of the economy.  

“Our plan does not identify priorities [of] scientific disciplines or technology platforms in their own right, but instead focus on the collective and holistic response of South African science and innovation on key societal challenges confronting South Africa.

“This approach notably foresees a central role by the social sciences and humanities, which remains a priority investment area.”

He also touched on the strengthening BRICS collaboration, namely vaccine manufacturing, the hydrogen economy, and the marine sciences.  

“The Decadal Plan proposes a new dedicated programme on innovation for a healthy South African population.  

“This programme will focus on both physical and mental health; build on our existing successes in for example the fight against infectious diseases such as HIV-AIDS, while also reinforcing our pandemic preparedness.”

The Minister said developing South Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities will be a priority investment area.  

“Our objective is to develop a viable local vaccine manufacturing industry in South Africa, which will notably address African concerns regarding the security of supply.”

The plan will also zoom into energy security as a priority, which has led to the implementation of South Africa’s Hydrogen Society Roadmap.

The roadmap also seeks to exploit South Africa’s unique comparative advantage, the endowment of 75% of global platinum metals group reserves.

“We have made excellent progress in developing new hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and are keen to join forces with BRICS partners in this enterprise.

“Opportunities abound in areas such as the decarbonisation of transport and the production of green hydrogen, including as part of a dedicated Platinum Valley, spatial and economic development initiative.”

Nzimande said the country is also committed to the marine sciences and the development of a blue economy.  

He explained that cooperation with partners in the Global South and strengthening multilateralism and solidarity through our BRICS science, technology, and innovation partnership is a priority of the highest order.  

“I, therefore, have every confidence that our BRICS partners will join us in an effort, within the spirit of generosity President Mandela spoke about, to also develop science and innovation capacities across Africa. This will be a lasting contribution of our shared objective to creating a better future for all, ensuring no one is left behind.” – SAnews.gov.za

 

Gabisile
Fri, 08/04/2023 - 13:50

Read moreNzimande calls on BRICS partners to invest in science, innovation

6 Years Ago we Proposed Making Gqeberha SA’s Clean Energy Hub

Location: News

And, what has happened since? We went backwards! Wouldn’t it be incredible if our political leaders fixated on one thing that would make our City stand out internationally, create jobs and save the planet? The original proposal from 6 June 2017 is below: Lessons for PE in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s blunt Clean Energy message to Donald […]

Read more6 Years Ago we Proposed Making Gqeberha SA’s Clean Energy Hub

#NationalShutdown – One Way to Ensure that SAPS Members Don’t Vote For You

Location: News

There is positive marketing and there is negative marketing. And then there is Wee Julie marketing – Wee Julie has continued this week with some severe egg on his face after promising the revolutionary mother of all national protest actions – on a day when most South Africans were NOT at work anyway we had […]

Read more#NationalShutdown – One Way to Ensure that SAPS Members Don’t Vote For You

Deputy Mayor Jack – The Plot Thickens

Location: News

Earlier this month Deputy Mayor Khusta Jack was accused of ‘irregularly’ doing business with the Municipality after it had come to light that one of his businesses had been awarded an informal contract to repair/rehabilitate some fibre optics cable. It is normal for the municipality supply chain unit to FLAG any business on the database […]

Read moreDeputy Mayor Jack – The Plot Thickens