Agri SA says that the
choices on labour unrest will be decisive for South Africa. It says in a statement that it is evident that the wage and related challenges are not exclusively, but mainly that of seasonal workers who have to earn their annual income over a period of a few months.
On the education front, something really needs to be done to jack up our education system after the latest results show that
maths and science skills remain poor, with grade nine pupils recording a dismal average score of 12.7% in mathematics and 35% in first additional language in the Department of Basic Education's second annual national assessments of pupils' mathematics and literacy abilities.
Such results will have a massive impact on school-leavers' ability to find employment.
On the tourism front, Chris Moerdyk asks:
Is SA being priced out of the tourist market? As comments on the article seem to have it, the answer could be a big "Yes!" and remember, once tourists have been ripped off - or feel they have been ripped off - they will never come back, and they will tell everyone they know.
Finally, Amelia Jones reckons that the
proposed BEE amendments are nonsensical, immoral and counter-productive and will hamper social development efforts in the Western Cape and elsewhere.
Rod Baker: Content Director
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Gondwana was recently selected among hundreds of applicants in the Preferred Hotel Group to be the honouree in the category of Conservation Well Being in the hotel group's Great Initiatives for Today's/Tomorrow's Society (GIFTTS) awards held in Delhi, India. 
Low cost airline Mango will launch daily return flights between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth as well as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth from 5 December this year. Initially, the airline will operate one return flight daily between the respective cities using leased-in aircraft until early next year when Mango expects to add additional capacity to its own fleet. 
Serena Beach Hotel & Spa in Mombasa, Kenya is this year's winner of the coveted Eco-warrior Awards 2012. The resort was given the recognition at a ceremony held at the Nairobi Serena Hotel, one that saw several competitive entries in the Eco-tourism Enterprise of the Year - Holiday Homes and Villas category. 
According to the Industrial Development Corporation's Integrated Annual Report for 2012, tourism makes up 8.6% of South Africa's GDP and employs an estimated 1.2 million people. For a country that relieves as heavily on tourism as South Africa this is very good news and, like the Soccer World Cup in 2010 and the Design Capital of the Year in 2014, will hopefully encourage more people to visit the country. 
With its head office in Cape Town, online travel agency Travelstart has rapidly grown to include operations in Tanzania, Namibia, Kenya, Nigeria and most recently Turkey. Travelstart will be launching in Egypt in January with plans to add more African countries in early 2013. With planned expansion throughout Africa, Travelstart is the largest and fastest growing travel group on the continent. 
GABORONE, BOTSWANA: Botswana on Monday (3 December) became the second African country to be featured on Google Maps' Street View, allowing users to explore landmarks such as the Okavango Delta. 
