Mzoo Spot

In recent years I have developed a keen interest in development studies, because I think this field will bring me closer to understanding the complex challenges we face as a country. It is gratifying to note as well that the climate change discourse is seeking to incorporate almost all areas of development. Conditions on the ground however can be quite enriching. This is the rainy season in Johannesburg, that means flash floods can be expected. Yesterday we visited various areas of Jhb where it is known that flash flooding poses serious risk to livehoods. Of the places we visited Denver stands out because it is a squatter camp. It is situated next to Denver Men’s hostel. This squatter camp is built on an area that used to have factories. A concrete water channel was built in this area to direct water when the factories were still in operation. The situation has changed dramatically; the factories are no longer there and the channel is now used as a rubbish dump, so that during strong r...

On Monday and Tuesday I attended a Food Security workshop at Wits University. The intention of this workshop was to explore the issue of urban food security. In most cases when food security is mentioned people tend to think rural livelihoods and agriculture. This time we were looking at, inter alia, what people in Johannesburg eat, where and how do they prepare their food? Is this food nutritious? The bias was towards those people living in the margins of the mainstream economy,i.e., street vendors. The most interesting part of this workshop was a learning visit to Bree Street taxi rank. Before we went there, we were asked to say whatever assumptions we may have about the place. I assumed that the place will be dirty; that there will be so many people milling about; clutter of taxis, etc. Contrary to all of this, the place was clean, and well organized. It is not clear to me how the Bree Taxi rank is run, but it appears the place is co-owned by the City of JHB and taxi associations. ...

We arrived at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam around 10:30am on Tuesday 28 September. It was a drizzly morning, but not quite as cold as we had been warned. From the airport we were meant to get a shuttle to Rotterdam, a city about 45 km south of Amsterdam. Alas, our shuttle driver did not bother to arrive. We tried frantically to search for him, but at 3pm we decided to board a train. It was a swift ride from Schiphol with respites at Leiden then de Haag and finally Rotterdam, all in about 45 minutes. The train itself was destined for Dordrecht! Our next worry upon disembarking was to find our hotel (Manhattan), but luckily it was situated right across the station. To the shuttle driver who did not pick us up: thanks for nothing! The purpose of our visit to Holland was to attend “Deltas in the times of Climate Change” Conference. I was with Lebo, one of the Directors in Environmental Department of the City of JHB. The conference was attended by 1200 delegates from mainly deltas cities, eg...

By now, the 13th day of the tournament we are almost half way. This whole thing kicked off on the 11th June with an exciting game between Bafana Bafana vs Mexico that ended in a 1 all result. Many believe it was a match we needed to win given the opportunity we got on the 89th minute that saw Katlego Mpela hitting the upright. Socially we have seen so many foreign nationals from different countries seemingly enjoying themselves here. Many of us were nervous about the levels of crime, thinking that these tourists will be easy prey for criminals, but to date only minor incidents have been reported. Interestingly enough foreign nationals have made themselves guilty of various petty crimes, like stealing cellphones from unsuspecting South Africans. What I find outrageous was an arrest of a bevy of women (suppoters of Dutch team)wearing orange mini-skirts that spotted a tiny "Bavaria" brewery logo. This according to Fifa was ambush marketing, given that only Budweiser was allowed ...

We are almost at the end of the first month of 2010, and a lot is happening already. Firstly I have resigned from the South African Weather Service after working there for almost 7 years. I will take up a new job at the City of Joburg for the next five years, effective from 1 March. This job will still require a lot of my atmospheric science know-how, even though this time the emphasis will be more on application than just pure science. The job by the way is about Climate Change adaptation. Secondly, at the end of February I will be leaving Pretoria proper for Centurion. The move will coincide with the start of my new job. For seven years I have never known traffic jams to and from work, but now they are soon to be the order of the day. Perhaps this new helicopter shuttle over Jozi will come in handy! Lastly, even though this is not necessarily new, but it presents permanent change nonetheless: a baby boy was born in December, adding more voice to the Gwata family! 2009 was to a very e...