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This South African winemaker is savouring the sweet taste of success

This South African winemaker is savouring the sweet taste of success

AS Nongcebo Langa walked between the barrels of a beverage enjoyed worldwide, a bubbling sound could be heard from the gas emitted during fermentation - part of the journey of every great wine. It's a sound Langa said now makes her feel at home - and stirs her imagination. “We have fermentation, then you age (the wine). You can age three months, six months, nine months, 18, 24 months to five years for MCC - Méthode Cap Classique. This is the method used to make South African sparkling wines,” she explained. Langa didn't grow up expecting to make wine. It…
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Thousands of Black women claim hair relaxers gave them cancer

Thousands of Black women claim hair relaxers gave them cancer

SHEILA Bush, a cosmetologist, was lounging in the recliner at her St. Louis-area home last winter when an advertisement from a law firm flashed up on her television screen, urging viewers to call a toll-free number if they or a loved one had used hair relaxers and been diagnosed with uterine cancer. After seeing the ad three times, Bush, who said she had used hair relaxers every six weeks for most of her life and was diagnosed with uterine cancer about a decade ago, decided to pick up the phone. The ads Bush saw, on television as well as on…
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Black women in rugby are tackling gender equality in sport one try at a time

Black women in rugby are tackling gender equality in sport one try at a time

IN April 2023, an all-Black women’s rugby team, led by Head Coach Bongi Nhleko from the University of Johannesburg (UJ), progressed to the first-ever First National Bank (FNB) Varsity Women’s Rugby Finals. It was a seminal moment for Black women's rugby in South Africa. "We were really honoured to be part of the first-ever Varsity Cup's Fifteens and we were grateful for it. It gave us exposure because going through to the finals we knew there was going to be pressure and we were looking to perform… It was a great experience… It wasn't the result we were looking for…
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Black women in South African academia struggle to get ahead: what needs to change

Black women in South African academia struggle to get ahead: what needs to change

IN South Africa, the number of black women who acquire undergraduate degrees has increased more than any other population group. Yet they remain underrepresented in senior academic and management positions in the country’s higher education institutions. Author JEAN LEE FARMER, Advisor: Higher Education Professional Development, Stellenbosch University Historically, black South African pupils received separate schooling and less funding for education from the apartheid government than white pupils. Mixed-race, Indian and Asian learners received slightly more than black learners. Separate higher education institutions were also established for the different race groups. Very few black students could apply for special permission to…
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One year on, Tunisia’s #MeToo movement grapples with race

One year on, Tunisia’s #MeToo movement grapples with race

BAN BARKAWI FEMINIST activist Khawla Ksiksi did not expect a backlash from supporters of her country's #MeToo movement when she used the campaign to highlight the double discrimination faced by Black women in Tunisia. Inspired by the global movement to expose sexual abuse and harassment, Tunisian women's campaigners launched their own version #EnaZeda in 2019, sparking street protests and a long-overdue debate about sexual violence and gender inequality.  But 28-year-old Ksiksi, who is Black, said that while EnaZeda had been instrumental in helping women speak up against sexual abuse, awareness about racism in the North African country was still in…
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