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Editor's note
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A South African child living in remission from HIV for close to nine years has opened the door for scientists to explore the phenomenon, and ultimately offer hope to the 35 million people living with the disease across the world. Caroline Tiemessen explains.
Most African countries are showing an interest in information and communications technology in education. Rohen d’Aiglepierre, Amélie Aubert and Pierre-Jean Loiret explain why ICT will not resolve all of Africa's education problems but it can enhance skills development.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has come under increasing pressure over allegations of “state capture” and corruption. Two new books that focus on this unravelling of the state make for tough, unsettling reading, but Anton Harber argues, it is worth it.
Many vigilante groups are operating in Nigeria and are often implicated in abuse, including extrajudicial killings. Leighann Spencer explains how they even have official support and why this is a problem.
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Candice Bailey
Health + Medicine Editor
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Top stories
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Caroline T. Tiemessen, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
A South African child, who has been in HIV remission for nearly nine years, could help researchers understand how to make remission possible for millions of other HIV positive people.
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Rohen d’Aiglepierre, AFD (Agence française de développement); Amélie Aubert, AFD (Agence française de développement); Pierre-Jean Loiret, Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF)
Information and communication technologies (ICT) offer new opportunities for improving basic education in Africa.
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Anton Harber, University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa's perilous decline under Jacob Zuma's presidency is set out in two non-fiction books that provide unsettling, but essential reading.
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Leighann Spencer, Charles Sturt University
Inefficient policing in Nigeria has forced many communities to rely on vigilante groups for security. Despite using force and violence, many groups even have support from authorities.
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Politics + Society
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Andrea Freidus, University of North Carolina – Charlotte
Voluntourists' ability to change systems, alleviate poverty or provide support for vulnerable children is limited. They don't have the skills and can perpetuate patronising and unhelpful ideas.
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Peter Hain, University of the Witwatersrand
There are disturbing questions around the complicity - witting or unwitting - of UK global financial institutions in the transnational network set up by President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family.
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Environment + Energy
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Erik Nordman, Grand Valley State University
With cutting-edge technologies and innovative business practices, Cape Verde can achieve its goal in a way that is cost-effective and equitable
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David W. Olivier, University of the Witwatersrand
There are a number of myths surrounding Cape Town's drought, one of them being that the city saw the crisis coming but didn't prepare for it.
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Hartmut Winkler, University of Johannesburg
South African President Jacob Zuma's efforts to promote his unpopular nuclear project are weakening him politically but he still seems keen to pursue it.
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Izael Pereira Da Silva, Strathmore University
Kenya's inadequate electricity supply is due to an over-reliance on hydropower, high energy and infrastructure costs.
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Business + Economy
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Dr. Tanya Zack, University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg's central business district is developing into a major cross border shopping hub, servicing the broader sub-Saharan region and has a potential to grow even further.
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Steven Friedman, University of Johannesburg
A different form of state capture is underway in South Africa's rural areas where traditional leaders are selling off people's land to miners. But communities are fighting back.
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Keith Gottschalk, University of the Western Cape
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma seems to be making a final push to secure the nuclear power deal before his tenure comes to an end. But it won't be easy.
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Science + Technology
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Tania Douglas, University of Cape Town
African countries need to start producing and developing their own medical devices. Suitably skilled biomedical engineers are needed for this sort of innovation to take root.
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Amanda Gouws, Stellenbosch University
The #Metoo campaign shows that we should not think of Harvey Weinstein as an isolated case, or just one bad apple. There are thousands more like him. Globally, sexual harassment has become normalised.
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Andrea Saltelli, University of Bergen
We are observing two new phenomena. On one hand doubt is shed on the quality of entire scientific fields or sub-fields. On the other this doubt is played out in the open, in the media and blogosphere.
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Health + Medicine
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Irene Labuschagne, Stellenbosch University; Johan Nel, Stellenbosch University
Chronic kidney disease is a global problem with about 10% of the world's population suffering from the disease.
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Stephen Ojiambo Wandera, Makerere University
Uganda's primary healthcare system needs to be strengthened to provide long term care for older people with chronic conditions.
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Education
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Nhlanhla Mpofu, Sol Plaatje University
Distance education for teacher training has its problems. Improved support can address these issues - but some of it should come from students themselves.
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Sioux McKenna, Rhodes University
If there's a general sense that academic publication is about knowledge dissemination rather than meeting performance targets, academics and universities become less vulnerable to predatory journals.
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Frans Swanepoel, University of Pretoria
To stimulate innovation in the agriculture sector education and training is in dire need of substantial reform for greater integration, cooperation and accountability.
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Arts + Culture
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David Worth, University of Cape Town
From a heritage perspective, the transformation of Cape Town's grain elevator into an art museum delivers an innovative and creative solution to retaining and reusing industrial heritage sites.
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