Minister Naledi Pandor says more should be spent on research. Photo: World Economic Forum via Flickr
Not enough money is being spent on research and development in South Africa.
This is what Minister of Science and TechnologyNaledi Pandor said when she presented the department’s National Survey of Research and Experimental Development report for 2008/2009 yesterday.
BuaNews reports that even though R2.4 billion more was spent on research and development than last year, the government’s target of spending 1% of GDP on this field has not been met.
This year R21 billion has been spent on research and development. According to Pandor, President Jacob Zuma wants spending on this field to increase to 1.5% of GDP by 2014.
A Gugulethu youth discusses some key issues. Photo: Gugulective via Flickr
The youth of Gugulethu are very involved in political and civil society organisations. In fact, the majority of youth participate in development issues in this township situated 15km from Cape Town. This is exceptional in an era where youth are often thought to be apathetic.
The involvement of youth in the community of Gugulethu is largely due to the work of the Gugulethu Youth Development Council (GYDC) which has been operating in the area since 2008.
The Municipal Wards of Gugulethu came together to form a relevant vehicle that will help youth to take active part in development. They looked at the challenges that are faced by today’s youth and established the Council.
The Council members want to see young people of Gugulethu working and going to tertiary institutions. Their goal is to inspire youth to be energetic, passionate, focused and hungry for success.
GYDC is an umbrella organisation that represents youth from different sectors for example Sports, Politics, Arts and Culture, Safety and Security, Social Services, Health, Education and Agriculture, to name a few.
The goal of this organisation is to promote and protect different cultures in Gugulethu. The Council is very committed to this goal; in 2008 they mobilised young people from high schools and primary schools to march against xenophobia.
Nelson Mandela's prison cell on Robben Island. Photo: Samantha Marx
On International Nelson Mandela Day, people all over the world are meant to spend 67 minutes doing something to benefit their community. Creative Consulting & Development Works has some ideas of how you can get involved in your community as well.
The man behind this day
Anti-apartheid activist and first democratic president of South Africa, Nelson Rholihlala Mandela, is the inspiration behind this day, because even though he was jailed by the apartheid government for 27 years, he never saw his release from prison as time for revenge. After his release on 11 February 1990 he advocated peace, reconciliation and the rebuilding of the South African nation.
According to www.mandeladay.comNelson Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. “All we are asking is that everyone gives 67 minutes of their time, whether it’s supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community.”
What can you do?
Creative Consulting & Development Works, as a research, evaluation and communications consultancy working in a development context, often deals with non-profit organisations and we would like to suggest that you volunteer to help some of them on Mandela Day or any other day of the year!
One of the Community Based Organisations in the NACOSA network.
NACOSA is a national civil society network of HIV and AIDS and TB role players, which includes NGOs, CBOs, FBOs and other developmental organisations, who seek to contribute to reducing the impact of HIV and AIDS.
You can contact NACOSA at info@nacosa.org.za or on 021 461 7348 and perhaps get involved in a Community Based Organisation close to you.
Adonis Musati Project
Recently, Development Works presented a Preferred Futuring workshop to the NGO for refugees, Adonis Musati Project. AMP provides clothing, blankets, food packs, medicine and toiletries to refugees and help them to compile and send out their CVs. They help refugees to access transport, accommodation and training. The Adonis Musati Project also has a halfway house for refugee children and single mothers.
You can help Adonis Musati by providing food or toiletries, volenteering to transport goods, assisting on week mornings in the refugee office, or making a cash donation. Contact AMP on 021 448 3348 or email Gayle at gayle@adonismusatiproject.org.
View the video below on the Preferred Futuring workshop that we conducted for the Adonis Musati Project as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility.
Now that South Africa has proven that it can present a world class Cup and Closing Ceremony, what will it tackle next? Photo: AFP - Monirul Bhuiyan
The final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was played last night and Spain walked away with the cup. Now that the World Cup has come to an end, newspapers are already starting to ask “What next for South Africa?” How can we harness the positive energy generated during the past month to achieve much needed development objectives for the country?
IOL.co.za reports that “rarely can a global event have generated so much advance pessimism as the World Cup”, but South Africa has silenced all its critics by hosting a successful tournament. The closing ceremony held at Soccer City in Johannesburg last night was especially spectacular and of a world class standard. Images were projected onto the field, Shakira sang Waka Waka and hundreds of dancers demonstrated various South African dances.
Keep on Feeling it
Will the closing ceremony mean the end of the positive vibe in South Africa? Photo: www.shine2010.co.za via Flickr
“Feel it!” was the catch phrase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Ray Hartley writes “We felt ‘it’. Now let’s define and bottle ‘it’” in the Sunday Times. According to him everyone felt a certain emotion when Bafana Bafana sang the national anthem before the kick-off of this cup. And we kept feeling that emotion as South Africa showed that they could host a mega sports event.
Hartley says this “it” can probably be defined as patriotism. “True patriotism is very different to nationalism. It is closer to the notion of civic duty, the desire to do something to make your country a better place and to celebrate others who make the same effort.”
He says we should now find new outlets for this patriotism. “In this scenario, we would treat our major civic challenges – such as the delivery of houses, health, safety and education – in the same way we treated the World Cup.”
But our patriotism should not turn us into a “nation of spin doctors” that do not want to give criticism where it is due. After all, criticism can help you to recognise your weaknesses and improve on them.
Patriotism should also not turn into an ugly nationalism involving xenophobia, David Smith writes in the Mail & Guardian.
Olympic Games?
Should South Africa bid to host the Olympics? Image: Patrick Hoesley via Flickr
Some have suggested that South Africa bidding to host the Olympic Games next would be a way to keep the “high” produced by the World Cup going. But Danny Jordaan, chief organiser of the Soccer World Cup is quoted in the Mail & Guardian as saying: “There is a sense of pride and achievement. We’ll have to see how we will ensure that pride is not the pride of 90 minutes in a World Cup but a permanent feature. Some people say find it in the hosting of the Olympics, find it another big event. I think we must find it in addressing some of the issues — housing, health, education, economic growth. We have to come together to deal with some of these issues.”
A renewed focus on development issues within the country, with renewed vigour and passion would be wonderful. It is something that Creative Consulting & Development Works, as a research, evaluation and communications consultancy working in the development sector definitely supports.
Quite a lot of controversy has surrounded the Jabulani ball, designed by Adidas to be the official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
According to jabulaniball.com regular balls are made with 32 hexagonal panels. The Teamgeist ball used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany had fourteen panels and the Jabulani ball only has eight. This makes for a very round ball.
Complaints
At the beginning of the World Cup in South Africa, Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano called the ball “supernatural”, because he thought it unpredictably changed direction when traveling through the air, according to Wikipedia. Some goalkeepers also complained that the ball was difficult to handle. The ball was blamed when very few goals were scored at the beginning of the tournament, but after Portugal beat North Korea 7-0, Portugal’s coach Carlos Queiroz said, “We love the ball.”
There have been some great goals by strikers and some great saves by goalkeepers so far in the tournament, so it seems that problems with the ball were either exaggerated, or that players have now gotten used to the Jabulani.
While these Jabulani balls are being sold for about R1000.00 elsewhere in Africa a charity called Alive&Kicking is producing hand-stitched leather balls, so that children who have never gotten the chance to play with a real ball can finally do so.
The late founder Jim Cogan saw a man in Tanzania on the side of the road stitching a ball, stopped to talk to him and the concept was born of an organisation that would give balls to children, jobs to adults and health education to all.
Alive & Kicking employs local people to stitch soccer balls. Health messages are printed on the balls and some of the stitchers are trained as HIV peer councilors. The charity believes every child should have the right to play. In our post on street soccer you can see the home made balls that children in Africa make to entertain themselves. Alive & Kicking wants to give each child in Africa a real ball to play with.
And there have been no complaints about the quality of these balls! The website says: “Alive & Kicking balls are hand stitched out of local leather. They are tougher than imported synthetic balls, last far longer on rough ground and therefore give children in Africa lasting fun.”
Watch a video on how the Alive & Kicking balls are made:
Creative Consulting & Development Works is a research, evaluation and communications consultancy, servicing nonprofits, government and funders with innovative solutions in a development context.
On our blog, Development Talks, we discuss politics and social development. We are interested in the impact of politics on the ordinary citizen and the political activities of those on the ground.
