The Obstacles In March 2016 President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the opening of the Human Resources Development Council (HRDC) summit, said, “We need a skills revolution in our country that will fundamentally change our society in many ways…No country can achieve economic growth without paying attention to the skills development of its people.” He went on to say, “Education and skills development are the most effective means we have at our disposal to end poverty and reduce inequality.” President Ramaphosa…
Ever wondered why your brain wants you to follow the crowd? Studies have proven that we have a natural desire to be part of the ‘in crowd’ and this can lead us to make decisions that could be damaging. When the herd mentality sets in, it means that people can be influenced by the “herd” to act in ways that are mainly emotional, rather than rational. In 2014, the University of Exeter led a research team who showed that individuals have evolved in such a way that they can…
Major South African cities are often characterised by their vastness, occupying large amounts of land space while being less densely populated than international cities of comparable importance. Johannesburg, as but one example, is South Africa’s largest city, the hub of South Africa’s economic activity, has an estimated population of 5.9 million people as of 2021, has a population density of about 2 900 people per square kilometre (7 400 per square mile) and the population is spread over a…
The COVID-19 pandemic is the single largest global calamity to have impacted all human beings, across the world, this century. At this moment, 165 million people have been infected with the virus, leading to nearly 3.5 million deaths across the world. South Africa has been severely impacted by the pandemic within the year that the respiratory virus has reached our shores. Locally, 1.62 million people have been reported as infected and we have lost nearly 56 000 lives to the…
The fourth industrial revolution has melded the work-, educational-, living- and play premises into one. With increased internet speeds, the ability to use mobile, portable devices such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops, anyone can work, learn or entertain themselves anywhere, at any time. These technologies have allowed us to make bounds and leaps in terms of work efficiencies. Increased connectivity, in increasing work efficacy has however, particularly within little more than a year since the global breakout of…
The development of large-scale urban regeneration projects is at an all-time high across Europe and the US as well as here, at home, in South Africa. This accelerated process of urbanization is impossible to ignore, especially in Johannesburg – the heart of our country. The Jewel City precinct, which covers six city blocks, was once home to Joburg’s diamond trade and was owned by JSE-listed Redefine Properties. Exponential urban growth in the early 1990s led to numerous large monofunctional…
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that was founded by Zeno of Citium, in Athens, in the early 3rd century BCE. It is an ancient tool for remaining calm in adversity. Some mistakenly think that it is the ancient equivalent of “keeping a stiff upper lip”, but Stoicism is actually a deep philosophical framework, useful in providing ethical tools for both everyday life and times of difficulty. Stoics welcomed hard times. They saw their life as training for…
Most people are happy to say goodbye to 2020, but what does 2021 have in store? The pandemic is a wake-up call, telling us that we’re not as in control as we thought. We don’t know what’s going to happen in January, much less in the rest of 2021, but we do see certain themes coming strongly to the fore. Inequality and the Disappearing Middle Class One of the themes that is going to be a focus in 2021…
In the wildlife industry there many factors we must consider if we want to be successful. Running a wildlife farm takes a certain kind of expertise, but there are also factors critical to success that are external to the day-to-day running of the farm. In the world beyond the farm there are certain foundational principles which, I believe, everyone from individual farmers to the industry at large (and government), should be made aware of. These are necessary in order…
Silicon Valley and other centers of innovation are embracing a new approach to innovation in which the focus is on questions, rather than answers. The reason for this is that, if you look at innovations and breakthroughs and trace them back to their origins, you will find, at the root of the each of them, a great question. Warren Berger, “Questionologist”, and author of The Book of Beautiful Questions, says: Questioning enables us to organize our thinking around what…
Tebogo Mogashoa
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