SABC: Resignation letter of Managing Director Rachel Kalidass (15.11.2017)

New Study Finds Worrying Climate Trend in Karamoja Over Last 35 Years (20.03.2017)

Released in Kampala today, the ‘Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security and Livelihoods in Karamoja’ found that temperatures have been rising in Karamoja over the last 35 years.

KAMPALA, Uganda, March 20, 2017 – A new study carried out by the Government of Uganda and its partners has found a new weather pattern that threatens to worsen food insecurity in the Karamoja region if no action is taken.

The study found that the average monthly rainfall in the region increased over the last 35 years and that the rainy season is now longer by two months. However, the rains – which now fall from around March to the end of the year – increasingly varied in volumes. This unpredictability was found to undermine agricultural production, thereby threatening to aggravate food insecurity in Karamoja.

Released in Kampala today, the ‘Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security and Livelihoods in Karamoja’ found that temperatures have been rising in Karamoja over the last 35 years.

The rising temperatures threaten to increase the frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves in the region, therefore reducing availability of water for crops and animals. This too undermines food security.

A large majority of people in Karamoja, particularly women, were not aware that changes to the climate had been taking place over decades, the study states. However, most of the people that had perceived changes to the climate had not taken any action to adapt, typically because they did not know how to do so. Where trees were planted as an adaptation measure, the sale of charcoal and firewood were also a common measure that people took in response to climate-related crop failure.

Sponsored by the Swedish Government, the study was carried out in 2016 by the Ministry of Water and Environment with support from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the CGIAR Consortium’s Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.

The Uganda Minister for Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris, said today, “These are significant findings that threaten any hope for Uganda achieving its Vision 2040 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), if no immediate action is taken.”

Cheptoris said that his Ministry was already calling for a national and regional response, advocating for climate change sensitive approaches across all Government sectors, educating the population about climate change, and undertaking emissions profiles.

“Karamoja’s population is heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to climate change,” said El Khidir Daloum, WFP Country Director for Uganda. “However, little has been known previously about the impacts of climate change on food security, and in particular, the ability of households in the region to adapt.”

WFP hopes that the findings and recommendations of the study will contribute to efforts toward appropriate adaptation measures while helping to identify policies that will safeguard the most vulnerable communities in Karamoja.

The study recommended that the Government and its partners increase investments in water harvesting and agroforestry schemes, education of the people, improved access to climate change information and the cultivation of drought-resistant crop varieties.

Within the Ministry of Water and Environment, the study was carried out by the Climate Change Department and the Uganda National Meteorological Authority.

WATCH | ANC veteran Zola Skweyiya calls for Zuma’s resignation (Youtube-Clip)

“Johannesburg, 03 September 2016 – ANC veteran Zola Skweyiya has added his voice to calls for an early elective conference. In an exclusive interview with eNCA, Skweyiya says he believes ANC leaders are out of touch with the aspirations of South Africans” (eNCA, 2016)

South Africa: South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Fires Journalists for Protesting Censorship (20.07.2016)

The SABC is silencing journalists who protest censorship and advocate for press freedom, while its leadership appears more interested in protecting and serving a privileged few than the Public.

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, July 20, 2016/APO/ —

In response to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) firing seven staff journalists and a freelance writer, who are collectively known as the SABC 8, Freedom House issued the following statement:

“It is deplorable that the SABC fired its own journalists for insisting on covering the news,” said Lynn Fredriksson, director for Southern Africa programs. “The SABC is silencing journalists who protest censorship and advocate for press freedom, while its leadership appears more interested in protecting and serving a privileged few than the public. The SABC should quickly reinstate the journalists and reverse its decision to censor news content.”

Background:
Seven SABC journalists and one contracted freelance journalist were fired between July 18-19 for protesting an SABC management decision not to report on violent protests, a directive issued by Chief Operating Officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng in May 2016, ahead of violent unrest in Tshwane, the metropolitan area that includes Pretoria, the national capital. Critics of the SABC have likened its behavior to that of the Apartheid-era state broadcaster of the same name, in its use by the government as a propaganda tool.

The eight journalists say they will contest their firing in Labour Court and the Constitutional Court.

ANC structures must refrain from commenting on SABC: Mantashe (Youtube-Clip)

SABC Censorship Protest – Black Friday (Youtube-Clip)

Footage: Journalist who were disciplined are finally out of the building. Dirk Hermann from Solidariteit explaining what will happen now.

Footage: Zwelinzima Vavi is calling for Hlaudi Motsoeneng to go. He says the ANC is supporting censorship and demands suspended journalists to be reinstated.

Footage: Some SABC staff are reportedly locked inside the building. Suspended journalists are currently in a disciplinary hearing.

Mmusi Maimane statement: STOP #SABCCencorship (28.06.2016)

In November last year, the SABC’s previous CEO, Frans Matlala, was erroneously suspended for acting in a manner “too independent” for Mr Motsoeneng and Minister of Propaganda, Faith Muthambi.

In March this year, the SABC cancelled senior political journalist Vuyo Mvoko’s show, On The Record, after he had planned to discuss state capture by the Guptas on a future instalment of his show.

In May this year, the SABC refused to air the DA’s election adverts, citing “delays in the IEC’s work with respect to the elections”.

In June this year, Hlaudi banned the reading of newspaper headlines on all SABC radio stations.

Also in June this year, The Editors – a very popular programme on SAFM on Sunday mornings where the political events of the week are critically analysed, debated and discussed by newspaper journalists and editors – was discontinued.

Just last week, Hlaudi Motsoeneng placed a ban of visuals of community protests involving the destruction of public property in Tshwane.

Fellow South Africans, our constitution protects freedom of the press and the free flow of information by stating that “everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom of the press and other media, and freedom to receive or impart information or ideas”.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it say – “unless the President does not approve, or unless it paints the government and governing party in a bad light”.