A Slice of News

Check out this article about living statistics in my adopted province, the Eastern Cape:

THE Eastern Cape is no place to live, get sick or go to school. And ranked against the other eight provinces, a South African Institute of Race Relations survey has given this province the thumbs down....

According to the survey, barely half the people live in formal houses, no other province has such a large proportion of the population without water, electricity or cellphone access and only North West has more homes still relying on bucket toilets....

On the education scorecard, the province fails dismally. Fewer than one in five people have passed matric, 15% of the people cannot read or write and fewer than one in 10 pupils gets a university entrance matric....

As has been highlighted during the past year, healthcare is the province’s worst feature with the highest incidence of diarrhoea among children, high and rapidly growing levels of HIV and TB infection, an average life expectancy of only 48 years and only one state doctor for every 6273 people.

And if those statistics are averages, just imagine what it is like in Itipini, a distinctly below-average part of the province.