Mbalo Brief – November 2019

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) recently concluded the Census 2021 Mini Test, which took place from 9 October to 6 November 2019 in selected areas around the country. The purpose of this mini test was to test data collection methods, questionnaire and operation systems to prepare for the population census that will be conducted in 2021. However,   read more »


Mbalo Brief – October 2019

The first Rugby World Cup (RWC) was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia in May and June 1987. A total of 16 countries competed in the inaugural tournament and seven out of 16 places were automatically filled by the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) members made up of New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales   read more »


Mbalo Brief – September 2019

Citizens around the world celebrated International Literacy Day on 8 September 2019. This day, which was established by the United Nations (UN) in 1966, has been celebrated annually with the key aim to highlight improvements in literacy and numeracy rates while also providing a chance to reflect on the world’s literacy challenges. The UN has dubbed   read more »


Mbalo Brief – August 2019

Every year, on 9 August, South Africa celebrates Women’s Day in honour of the 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 to protest against the discriminatory pass laws. Since then, the role and recognition of women in South Africa has transformed. In 2005 for instance, former president Thabo Mbeki   read more »


Mbalo Brief – July 2019

South Africa was one of the 19 countries participating in the 14th G20 (Group of 20) Summit which was held from 28 to 29 June 2019 in Osaka, Japan. The participants of the G20 Summit were leaders from 19 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of   read more »


Mbalo Brief – June 2019

After every five years, the national and provincial elections take place where South Africans elect their preferred President and the five-year-term for cabinet ministers elapses. On 08 May 2019 marked the 5th democratic elections and saw Cyril Ramaphosa being unanimously elected as the president of South Africa. A few days after his swearing in, President   read more »


Mbalo Brief – May 2019

On 8 May 2019, millions of South Africans braved the cold and wet weather and headed to the polls to cast their votes in the country’s sixth democratic elections. The excitement across the country was so tangible that President Cyril Ramaphosa said the 2019 elections were reminiscent of the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.   read more »


Mbalo Brief – April 2019

Freedom Day is a public holiday in South Africa celebrated on 27 April each year. On this day in 1994, South Africa had the first national and non-racial elections where South African citizens of voting age of over 18 years from any race group were allowed to vote. Previously, under the apartheid government, non-whites in   read more »


Mbalo Brief – March 2019

In the past few months, many companies such as hotels, restaurants and coffee shops started switching from plastic straws to paper straws as a response to the public outcry demanding action against the continued use of plastic straws. Even though this small straw may not seem like a lot at first, when its usage is   read more »


Mbalo Brief – February 2019

Languages play a vital role in human lives as a tool of communication, education, development and it is the foundation for each person’s unique identity, cultural history, traditions and memory. Despite their huge value, languages around the world continue to vanish at a worrying rate. In trying to protect and raise awareness of indigenous languages,   read more »