litter

Angola is on the rise, and wants to diversify its booming but oil-dependent economy to include more business sectors. That's where South African investors come in, a recent Brand South Africa forum discovered.

Angola is on the rise, and wants to diversify its booming but oil-dependent economy to include more business sectors. That's where South African investors come in, a recent Brand South Africa forum discovered.

In a small village outside Kruger National Park, education, health care, employment and sustainability are key. Along with wildlife conservation, a safari lodge is putting into practice its social principles in creating a positive culture within the community.

More work needs to be done to grow small businesses in South Africa, as they are the engines of job creation, President Jacob Zuma said at the second annual South African Premier Business Awards ceremony in Johannesburg on Wednesday evening.

By foot or by bus, there are several tours on offer taking in the rich history of Johannesburg. For the first time, the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation is going as far east as Bezuidenhout Valley, and as far south as Kliptown, site of the famed Freedom Charter gathering.
• South Africa's heritage is world class

By Yvonne Fontyn
16 August 2013

I used to be a bit of a quiet freak – if given the choice between, say, a disco and a Buddhist retreat, I would opt for the latter. So I would usually choose somewhere quiet for a holiday – a remote seaside cottage, a B+B in the country where I could relax and recharge my batteries which had been depleted by Joburg life. I have a retired mom in Durban so I head that way a couple of times a year, usually staying in nearby Umhlanga, which mostly moves along at a sedate pace. But this time I wanted to be closer to Mom, so I looked for places in North Beach, around there.

What about the Marine Parade? I took a chance and booked the Belaire Suites, which looked quite glitzy on their website. It’s a newly revamped high-rise – trendy, with a vibey coffee shop downstairs.

As I arrived, the staff seemed genuinely pleased to see me and after getting the key for my 10th-floor apartment I was soon piling into a lift with a festive crowd dressed in Hawaii shirts and sarongs. A little too festive? I wondered…

As I was letting myself into my apartment, a manager walked past jangling a big bunch of keys. He popped his head into one apartment then banged the door closed – Blammm! It resounded through the block. And then blam, blam, blam he went, down the passage. My heart sank and my anger rose – if those two things can happen at once. There was panic in there somewhere too. Had I signed up for three days in purgatory?

I could only survive, I decided, somewhere in my tired brain, if I ignored it, if I did not construe every banged door, every raised voice, as an act of inconsideration aimed at me. Egocentric, who, me?

And so I went down for lunch to the coffee shop, where a bouncy waitress came over and soon we were chatting about why I was there, the weather and so on. She wasn’t at all like most of the B&B owners I’d encountered on my travels – pretty reserved.

The Ebenezer Hannah Home in Ennerdale, a suburb in the deep south of Greater Johannesburg, is one of the beneficiaries of dairy producer Clover’s empowerment project Mama Afrika.
• Brand SA plays its part for Mandela Day

While Team South Africa goes for gold at the London Olympics later this year, their supporters will go green and gold every Friday in support of the squad.
• Supporting SA’s sport stars

For years Malian women have been earning a living from their beautiful hand-dyed bazin fabrics – and have established an international reputation for the quality of their products.
• SA designer at London Fashion Week

President Jacob Zuma delivered his third State of the Nation address at South Africa's Parliament in Cape Town on 9 February.
• SA wants job focus