Good News

BULLETIN 13 August 

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# SANParks says its annual National Parks Week has proven to be a successful campaign that provides education and awareness about the country’s inclusive approach to conservation. SANParks will again offer free access to most of the 21 national parks under its management next month. It says it will also use this time to cultivate a sense of pride in the country’s natural, cultural and historical heritage as protected and preserved by the national parks system.

# Duo Willem van der Merwe and Francois du Toit, and Tiaan Barkhuizen have been selected as the finalists for the TLU SA Young Farmer of the Year competition. Now in its 24th consecutive year, the competition celebrates young agricultural leaders. Van der Merwe and Du Toit from Chrissiesmeer, Mpumalanga, are crop farmers who share responsibilities in marketing, planning, finances, maintenance, trials, and security. Barkhuizen from Garies in the Northern Cape farms commercially with Boer goats and sheep. The winner will be revealed next month.

# University of Fort Hare Fine Arts lecturer, Natasha Bezuidenhout, has been named among the top five finalists for the 2025 Bag Factory Artists’ Commission. The Bag Factory is a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation in Johannesburg. Artists have been asked to create work that reimagines studio spaces as collaborative, sustainable, and community-centred environments. Bezuidenhout’s proposal involves the creation of large-scale ceramic tiles made in collaboration with nature. She says this is an opportunity to reflect on how people might engage with their immediate environments in ways that are attentive.

# The Eastern Cape’s Walter Sisulu University has launched its Toastmasters Club, a significant milestone in its commitment to producing confident, articulate and career-ready graduates. Toastmasters is an international programme designed to help individuals improve their public speaking, communication and leadership skills through practice and feedback. WSU’s Khanyisa Mbali says it is very important to have empowering programmes that provide life-long learning and leadership experiences that will give students a competitive edge in the work environment.

# And finally: The University of Pretoria raised 620-thousand-rand as part of its inaugural Giving Month campaign in July. The campaign received support from various organisations, including the Pretoria-based Bulls and Bulls Daisies rugby teams. The UP Giving Month culminated in a Food Pack-a-Thon on the Hatfield Campus, where hundreds of volunteers donated more than two-thousand-600 non-perishable food items to help students facing food insecurity. Vice-Chancellor and Principal Francis Petersen says giving is not defined by the size of a donation but by the intention behind it.

Stay tuned for more news………….