Sunday Independent 2021-12-12

Wesley Diphoko wesley@fastcompany.co.za SOUTH African scientists have been lauded for the discovery of the Omicron variant although this was initially clouded by travel bans. What is less well known is the role played by Hyrax Bioscience’s software platform, Exatype, in enabling the scale-up of genomic surveillance that led to the detection of Omicron. Exatype automates the process of characterising variants through its capacity to analyse thousands of viral DNA sequences simultaneously. Automation of the process, which would otherwise need to be conducted manually by a highly skilled bio-informatician in a complex series of steps, is key – finding variants cannot happen without scaling up sample analysis. Exatype makes this possible. How the software came into being offers important lessons about developing impactful innovations for society. It’s important to…

THE South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and UCT’s Online High School have partnered on an initiative that aims to accelerate access to online learning, particularly for girls in rural areas. In its pilot phase, set for next year’s school calendar, this collaboration will focus on the communities of the Valley of 1000 Hills, about 50km north-west of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal. The Valley of 1000 Hills is plagued by high levels of poverty, with 48% – 50% unemployment rates, and limited access to quality education for the large majority. The area is also considered one of the major epicentres of the HIV/Aids pandemic, with HIV infection rates as high as 40% or more in some communities in the area. The majority of the homes are informal dwellings, without adequate basic…

According to Statistics SA, we’re in for a better festive season than last year in terms of consumer spending; and in a climate overshadowed by ongoing surges of the pandemic, this is encouraging news. On average, South Africans plan to spend R6 326.00 over and above their monthly expenses this year, compared to R5 673.00 in 2020. For small businesses, particularly in the retail and services industries, this news presents an opportunity to recover at least a portion of revenue lost due to lockdowns throughout the pandemic. What many small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners may not be aware of, is that major retailers plan their festive season campaigns up to a year in advance. Their advantage is that many of those retailers employ trend forecasters who can make projections…

THE tourism sector’s initial desktop survey suggested that the sector had seen R1 billion worth of bookings cancelled over the past few days, according to Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa. He said these figures did not include airline and other on-the-ground spending losses at restaurants, curio shops and other sector traders. This followed the recent announcement that South Africa and other Southern African countries were back on the UK’s red list, which triggered many other travel restrictions imposed as a result of the identification of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant by South African scientists. Tshivhengwa said the tourism industry has seen a 71 percent decrease in tourist arrivals last year, and this year it was starting to show positive numbers before…

EARLY this month veteran television and radio presenter, Tim Modise hosted a webinar on Galela, a brainchild of a chemical engineer and tech businessman, Thami Mtshali. This product registered in the US as a food supplement and cleared by the CSIR as presenting no toxicity was discussed from several angles. The Galela journey by Mtshali was driven by his and daughter’s acute ulcers that made their lives miserable and as a chemical engineer he started the search for a solution six years ago. Leornado Malhebre, a respected German professor of neurology whose academic eminence run in American and European universities, says his research on Galela present properties that in the main addresses autoimmunity. It attacks the inside and outside of the cell, he says. Four areas were addressed. The first…

Naomi Nix Meta Platforms Incs photo-sharing app Instagram is encouraging users to take a break as the company battles accusations that too much time spent on its social networks hurts the mental well-being of teenagers. Instagram will let people opt to see pop-up messages when they have spent a lot of time looking at a particular topic, suggesting they explore other subjects. Users can also decide to be nudged to take a break after they have spent 10, 20 or 30 consecutive minutes on the app, Instagram said on Tuesday in a blog post. The platform will then remind users about alternative activities to social media, such as going for a walk or taking a series of deep breaths, Instagram head of well-being and safety Vaishnavi J said in…