Good News

BULLETIN 19 April 

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# South Africa’s longest-running and most diverse arts festival, the National Arts Festival in the Eastern Cape, is celebrating 50 years. Organisers have released the curated programme, which includes the world premiere of Third World Bunfight’s The Stranger, and 1789 by Sibikwa Arts Centre. The festival will also launch the groundbreaking multi-national dance development programme Third Space, a collaboration with the French Institute of South Africa and the Lesotho and Malawi embassies. The festival takes place in Makhanda from the 20th to the 30th of June.

# University of the Free State’s coordinator for International Partnerships has been selected to participate in the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. Kagiso Ngake has been assigned to the Public Management Institute at Arizona State University in Phoenix, USA, for his fellowship. Ngake is excited to start his fellowship in June, saying he eagerly anticipates personal interactions with fellow participants, and engaging with representatives from organisations with vested interests in Africa.

# Tshwane University of Technology student, Zenele Nkambule, has won the ROTOCON Wine Label Design Competition. The 34-year-old is an Advanced Diploma Integrated Communication Design student. He won 30-thousand-rand, as well as return flights and accommodation to attend the prestigious WineLand Media/ROTOCON 30 Under 30 Awards in Paarl in the Western Cape in June. The university says Nkambule’s design entitled Route 62, draws inspiration from the picturesque landscape of the garden town of Stellenbosch.

# The Gauteng government is launching a mobile shower initiative for the homeless at Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg today. Premier Panyaza Lesufi and MEC for Social Development Mbali Hlophe will unveil mobile shower services as part of efforts to provide essential support to those living on the streets. The initiative aims to assist the increasing homeless population by providing essential services and ensuring hygiene and health. The mobile showers will be located in parks, open areas, under bridges, and on streets where homeless communities often reside.

# And finally: Western Cape premier Alan Winde says the provincial government continues to help small, medium and micro-enterprise businesses stay open during load-shedding. The provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism’s Alternative Energy Support Programme has allocated 12.5-million-rand in the 2023/24 financial year to install solar photovoltaic backup systems at trading hubs where small businesses operate. Winde says they are assisting at least 50 businesses to stay open, sustaining more than 100 jobs:

Stay tuned for more news………….