Unemployment is rife in South Africa, affecting people across the nine provinces. This translates to more young people who are stuck at home without jobs, not knowing where their next meal will come from. Some of these young people hold qualifications while others do not, but the reality of unemployment remains the same for them. read more »
On 30 June 2026, widespread anti-immigrant protests and marches tookplace in major cities across South Africa, drawing attention to the movementof people across the country’s borders. While public debate often focuses onmigration from a policy or social perspective, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) provides an objective, data-driven view of migration patterns through itsofficial statistical releases. Download read more »
Adolescents and young people represent a growing share of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2025 estimates, about 1 million older adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 were living with HIV worldwide. Download Mbalo Brief – June 2026
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how quickly a virus can spread across borders and disrupt lives around the world. Thus, the Department of Health in South Africa is on high alert following the discovery of a rare but deadly case of hantavirus in the country. This is after three confirmed passenger deaths on a cruise read more »
South Africa will mark 32 years of freedom on 27 April this year, commemorating the first democratic elections held on the same day and month in 1994. For the first time, millions of South Africans of all races were able to vote, marking the end of apartheid and the beginning of a new political era read more »
The countdown to South Africa’s 2026 local government elections has begun. With the municipal council term in South Africa expiring on 1 November 2026, the preparations for the next general elections are underway. On 10 March 2026, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that voter registration for the 2026 local government elections will take place read more »
Welcome to the February issue of Mbalo Brief, our first issue for 2026. February is widely recognised as the month of love, but it is also a time to celebrate something equally powerful, our languages. On 17 November 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared 21 February as International Mother Language read more »
South Africa gears up to host the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit, placing the nation firmly on the global stage. The G20 is an international forum that brings together the world’s major economies to discuss and coordinate global economic and financial priorities. The forum consists of 19 countries and two regional bodies—the European Union and read more »
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) compiles data on economic activities within each province, producing provincial gross domestic product (GDP) figures. The provincial GDPs estimates add to national GDP with each province contributing depending on their respective dominant industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and mining among others. On 18 September 2025, Stats SA published Provincial gross read more »
In South Africa, legally and traditionally, when a woman marries, she has the option of changing her maiden surname to that of her spouse, or she can choose to use a double-barrel surname by combining both surnames. However, for men, the same right does not apply, as it is not legally possible for a husband read more »