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On the back of Cabinet’s stamp of approval in September, government has announced the introduction of the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) in an effort to promote growth and transformation, funding challenges, and stimulate job creation in the sector.

The TEF is a fund established by the Department of Tourism (DT) in collaboration with the private sector’s banking institutions in line with the existing B-BBEE legislation. It will be implemented by the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) on behalf of the DT.

The road to success is becoming smooth for a young paver from Bochum, in Limpopo, after he decided to formalise an unregistered business he had inherited from a mentor.

Tumelo Ratala, 31, following the demise of the owner of the unregistered business, decided to formalise the start-up in 2017. And with that, Senwabarwana Pavements, a small pavement installation company, was born. 

Young aspiring creatives are set to benefit from a stream of opportunities that will see them gain invaluable experience and exposure in the creative arts industry.

This is made possible by the Creative Careers Acceleration Programme (CCAP) that was recently launched by Creative Careers South Africa, an organisation dedicated to empowering and developing emerging talent within the nation's vibrant arts and culture scene.

Sefura Matlala, a senior manager for Market Data Analytics at the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), encourages citizens to practice responsible whistleblowing to avoid putting their lives in danger.

“If people do not report corruption responsibly, they are putting their own lives in danger. When you report corruption and you start talking about it to your friends, you do not know who they will share that information with and you may end up being victimised,” she explained.

She added that reporting corruption responsibly means doing it anonymously.

In the last few months, there has been much discussion in South Africa about AGOA, which stands for the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2000, granting qualifying African countries duty-free access to the US market for their exports.

While this may seem to many in our country to be a rather distant, even obscure, topic, AGOA is an important instrument for growing and transforming our economy. The benefits of AGOA are felt in the lives of our people through increased economic activity and the jobs that such activity created.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Ebrahim Patel, has thrown his weight behind the swift reauthorisation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), albeit with refinements that do not require lengthy discussions.

Patel made the remarks at 20th AGOA Forum held at Nasrec in Johannesburg in November.

“One idea that's come up from the discussions is whether we should consider a two-stage programme. But the first stage firmly focused on reauthorisation as rapidly as possible, maybe with a modest package of refinements that does not require lengthy discussions.

A young, curious farmer’s quest to pivot from farming traditional crops has seen her become an environmental warrior. Zinhle Ngidi now cultivates seeds that produce biofuel.

For the Nkandla-born and now Durban-based farmer, it all began in 2017.

“I was running an agricultural business and looking for alternative energy crops that can grow in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), just to try and move away from the clichéd crops," she said.

She then stumbled across an article about an Italian company exploring the possibility of growing the Solaris seed in KZN.