Category Archives: south africa

Africa is GDP anorexic

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World map showing relative GDP’sI just came across a cool site called World Mapper which generates statistical maps of the world. They warp the sizes of countries to show relative statistics. For instance the image on the left (click for full size) shows world GDP (at purchasing parity). As you can see countries in the northern hemisphere are a lotter richer than us in the south. Most of Africa has all but disappeared in this view! Also have a look at the size of Japan!

 

Africa is a lot more prominent in the next map. Unfortunately that’s because it shows relative homicide rates (murder and manslaugther but excluding war). And look at South Africa – a fat blob even compared to the rest of Africa!

World map showing relative homicide rates

Wild Card – get into

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Wild Card - Get into hundreds of South African national parks for freeIf you live in (or are visiting) South Africa and you enjoy going to our national parks then a Wild Card is well worth it. A once-off purchase gives you a year of free entry to lots of national parks around South Africa. It isn’t particularly expensive – mine paid itself off ages ago.

You can check out the details for all pricing options for yourself, but I went for the couple membership which costs R335 (about $45) for the year. We were in Kruger for 5 days which added up to R300 – so the card had already almost paid for itself after one trip.

Also note that if you are not South African the card could really save you money. Kruger will cost you R120 (about $17) per day so the Wild Card pays for itself almost immediately! And you can apply online too.

Two Oceans Aquarium

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Kelp tank at the Two OceansJules and I hit the Two Oceans Aquarium at the Waterfront yesterday. They have some really cool displays (including this one with hundreds of clown fish) and plenty of super-keen volunteers. We were lucky to be there for shark feeding time. Two divers popped into the predators tank which has hundreds of fish. The sharks weren’t hungry but most of the other fish including tuna, rays and one cheeky turtle had a ball.

Clown fish at the Two Oceans Aquarium

Economist article on the South African economy

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There is an interesting article on the South African economy in a recent edition of the Economist:

Basically, it says that the South African economy is going very well. However, some people (e.g. trade unions) feel that this growth is not benefiting the poor enough and that the government should be taking more drastic steps.

In this kind of argument I always think of the Kennedy quote: “A rising tide lifts all boats”. I suppose their problem is that not all boats are lifted equally…

Here are some of the interesting excerpts from the article:

  • “When South Africa’s apartheid regime conceded power in 1994, it also bequeathed an economic shambles. The government’s budget was in the red, interest rates were uncomfortably high, and the country’s economy was as distorted as its society. But this fiscal year, for the first time, the government is running a surplus.”
  • South Africa’s economy “has grown by more than 4% in each of the past three years.”
  • “About half the population falls below the poverty line, according to some estimates. And although the economy creates 500,000 jobs a year, unemployment remains stubbornly high.”
  • “Local governments (municipalities) struggle to hire managers and engineers, leaving many essential posts unfilled”