Labour unrest: SA faces decisive choices Agri SA says that the choices on labour unrest will be decisive for South Africa. It says in a statement that it is evident that the wage and related challenges are not exclusively, but mainly that of seasonal workers who have to earn their annual income over a period of a few months. On the education front, something really needs to be done to jack up our education system after the latest results show that maths and science skills remain poor, with grade nine pupils recording a dismal average score of 12.7% in mathematics and 35% in first additional language in the Department of Basic Education's second annual national assessments of pupils' mathematics and literacy abilities. Such results will have a massive impact on school-leavers' ability to find employment. On the tourism front, Chris Moerdyk asks: Is SA being priced out of the tourist market? As comments on the article seem to have it, the answer could be a big "Yes!" and remember, once tourists have been ripped off - or feel they have been ripped off - they will never come back, and they will tell everyone they know. Finally, Amelia Jones reckons that the proposed BEE amendments are nonsensical, immoral and counter-productive and will hamper social development efforts in the Western Cape and elsewhere. Rod Baker: Content Director
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Environment & Conservation
 Engen Petroleum bagged four awards in the recent KwaZulu-Natal 2012 Waste Management Awards, held under the auspices of the KZN Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs and the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa. These awards are held every two years. Read more >>
[Li-Fen Chien] The National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA), states that "no person may unlawfully and intentionally or negligently commit any act or omission which causes significant or is likely to cause significant pollution or degradation of the environment". NEMA specifically requires proof of fault in the conviction of this offence. Read more >>
 In line with its promise to run its business in the most sustainable way, Konica Minolta South Africa has been supporting South Africa's national greening and food gardening social enterprise, Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA), for five years and has most recently planted 2 008 trees at impoverished schools in the Cape Town and Paarl region. This brings the total of trees donated by the company to 17 678 and illustrates its vow to taking proactive steps against global warming. Read more >>
 The Zamani Research Group of UCT's Geomatics Department is partnering with UNESCO, the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and the Jordanian Department of Antiquities to digitally survey and map the fabled rock city of Petra, between the Dead Sea and Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan. Read more >>
 A new report released recently by WWF-South Africa and WWF-UK, in collaboration with Carbon Tracker, Trucost, SinCo and the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF), shows that institutional investors are failing to systematically factor in climate change and freshwater risks when making investment decisions. Read more >>
Climate change
[Neil Morris] Progress towards an international agreement on tackling climate change has been painfully slow, dogged by fundamental disagreements between the countries involved and exacerbated by the financial crisis and political elections. Read more >>
Conservation
 South Africa's first and largest online insurance aggregator, Hippo.co.za, is putting its weight behind the drive to stop the escalating rhino killings. Hippo.co.za will donate R10 for every selected online quote generated, with R68 000 already raised during the first few weeks of the campaign. Read more >>
 Gondwana was recently selected among hundreds of applicants in the Preferred Hotel Group to be the honouree in the category of Conservation Well Being in the hotel group's Great Initiatives for Today's/Tomorrow's Society (GIFTTS) awards held in Delhi, India. Read more >>
Environmental management
 Sasol's directors have defended the R31.88m package paid to chief executive David Constable, saying he has been the main driver of the company's sterling financial performance. Read more >>
Sustainable development
South Africa's entire economic system is geared towards coal dependency with an abundance of relatively inexpensive natural resources, ESI-Africa reports. This makes South African industry extremely coal-reliant, with an estimated 90% of CO2 emissions resulting from coal production. Various options - such as South Africa's proposed carbon tax - are now being investigated in order to accelerate moving away from coal dependency. Read more >>
 Serena Beach Hotel & Spa in Mombasa, Kenya is this year's winner of the coveted Eco-warrior Awards 2012. The resort was given the recognition at a ceremony held at the Nairobi Serena Hotel, one that saw several competitive entries in the Eco-tourism Enterprise of the Year - Holiday Homes and Villas category. Read more >>
 General Motors South Africa (GMSA) is focused on reducing and eventually eliminating the amount of waste which gets sent to landfill sites over the next three years. The company has a dedicated full-time environmental team which is constantly investigating better ways of making the company a greener organisation. Reducing the amount of waste material sent to landfill sites is a key priority for this team. Read more >>
 Ellies Renewable Energy was recently awarded the Best Energy Project of the Year award and placed second in the Energy Company of the Year category at the Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency Convention (SAEE). Read more >>
With its growing focus on policies and laws aimed at ensuring environmental sustainability, the South African government should set an example for the private sector by embracing green IT as a way of saving costs and cutting carbon emissions. Read more >>
 Local company sustainableIT has been nominated in two categories for the international Tech Trailblazers awards. The Tech Trailblazers awards were designed specifically for tech start-ups and not only recognise innovation, but also proactively helps companies to grow their businesses with exclusive coaching, mentoring and development services. The awards are focused on the key enterprise IT sectors of cloud, infosecurity, mobile, networking, storage and virtualisation. Read more >>
[John Coetzee] The cleaning product you've just purchased is "green", at least, that's what the manufacturer claims. The truth is, however, that if you were to scrutinise the ingredients, you would probably find it's not green at all. In fact, it's far from it. Read more >>
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2012 Report of the JSE 100, recently released by the National Business Initiative (NBI), shows the South African CDP response rate of 78% is the second highest internationally by geographic region reaffirming local business as a global leader in terms of their participation. Read more >>
 Despite falling fish catches since 2009, South Africa was one of three African countries that retained their positions as major marine producers, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) State of World Aquaculture and Fisheries 2012 report. Read more >>
Wildlife management
At 16 Nadav Ossendryver has designed an iPad app, saved a lioness's life, cracked an invite to the Google offices and had more than a million people watch his YouTube videos. Read more >>
 Criminal acts call for tough measures and that's the reason Nambiti Private Game Reserve's rhino population has been dehorned; the process having been completed on 22 November 2012. Read more >>
 South African National Parks (SANParks) has 30 new armed field rangers after a passing-out parade held on 23 November 2012 at the Weltrac Training Centre, situated in the Welgevonden Game Reserve near Thabazimbi in the Limpopo Province. The 30 graduates are part of SANParks environmental monitors from Kgalagadi, Mokala, Addo Elephant and Kruger National Parks. Read more >>
 The Kruger National Park's Operation Rhino Task group comprising of rangers, SANParks Environmental Crime Investigation (ECI) and South African Police Services (SAPS) arrested two suspected rhino poachers on Saturday, 24 November 2012. Read more >>
Dr. Larry Hansen, chairman and CEO of the Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad, has announced the founding of the 'Rhino Conservation Award'. This project is in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa and The Game Rangers Association of Africa. Read more >>
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