Columbia University and Wits University will host a symposium from Monday, 27 September to 1 October on Effective ways to increase vaccination rates. Download the full programme here. The symposium will be convened by Dr Wilmot James, Senior Research Scholar at ISERP Columbia University, and will bring together leaders, decision-makers, strategists and implementers of vaccination campaigns in Africa and the developing world, including Maverick Citizen editor Mark Heywood who will give closing reflections on the last day. You can register to attend the symposium here.

On Tuesday, 28 September, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, My Vote Counts will be launching its local government webinar series, Local government in crisis: Why are municipalities failing? The discussants are Ayanda Kota from the Unemployed People’s Movement and Phindile Kunene from the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education. You can join the discussion here.

At 11am on Wednesday, 29 September, the Kathrada Foundation will host a discussion titled State Capture: Unpacking the institutional damage as part of its #FixIt series to discuss what needs to be done to fix the government after State Capture. The series will run until March 2022. You can register to join here.

Also on Wednesday, from 2pm to 4pm, the Dullah Omar Institute, Global Environmental Law Centre and University of the Western Cape will be hosting a discussion on Next generation constitutionalism: Climate change and constitutional law. Register to attend here.

Later on Wednesday, from 3pm to 4pm, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative will be hosting a webinar titled Innovation for NTDs in the next decade: the critical role of African leadership. The discussion will focus on how to achieve the elimination and control of neglected diseases. The discussants are Professor Samuel Kariuki, Ag Director-General, Kenya medical research Unit; Dr Margaret Agama, Anyetei, Ag Director for Health and Humanitarian Affairs, Africa Union Commission; Dr Michael Makanga, Executive Director of the EDCTP Association Secretariat; Dr Monique Wasunna, Director of the DNDi Africa Regional Office; Dr Francis Kuria, Head Directorate of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Kenya; and Gerald Chirinda, Founder, Youth Combating NTDs. You can join the discussion here.

On Thursday, 30 September at 1pm, PLAAS is hosting a webinar titled A Just Recovery: Rebuilding Food Systems after Covid-19 and Unrest in South Africa. The speakers are Ayanda Madlala from the Association for Rural Advancement; Dudu Ngcobo, a street trader in Pietermaritzburg; Makhanana Malungane from the University of Pretoria; and Mervyn Abrahams from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group. Register to join here

Also on Thursday, from 2pm to 3.30pm, the Socio-Economic Rights Project (SERP) and the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape will host the book launch and dialogue of Bright Nkrumah, a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. It is titled Seeking the right to food: food activism in South Africa. The speakers are Dr Oluwafunmilola Adeniyi, postdoctoral researcher, Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape; Dr Marc Wegerif, Senior Lecturer and Development Studies Programme Coordinator, University of Pretoria; and David Kabanda, Director, Centre for Food and Adequate Living Rights, Uganda . You can register to attend here. 

Later on Thursday, from 4.30pm to 6pm, Wits University and the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies will be hosting Unaids Executive Director Winnie Byanyima who will give a lecture on The inequality pandemic: overturning the concentrations of wealth and power. You can register for the lecture here.

On the same day, at 5.30pm, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Constitution Hill Trust will host a discussion facilitated by lawyer and SAfm radio host Songezo Mabece titled From Codesa to today: The struggles and victories of women mobilising for the Constitution. The speakers will be Shireen Hassim, Professor and Research Chair in Gender and African Politics, Carleton University; Thuto Thipe, Lecturer, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town; Pregs Govender, Activist and Author;  and Simamkele Dlakavu, Activist and Gender Studies Lecturer, University of Cape Town. Register here.

Also on Thursday, My Vote Counts will host its second local government webinar discussion, How do communities respond? The speakers are Dr Trevor Ngwane from the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee and Dr Tracey Ledger from the Public Affairs Research Institute. You can register to attend here.

On Saturday, 2 October, from 11am to 2pm, the Big Debate will be hosting a debate on The role of small political parties in South Africa. This will be the first of two debates focused on the local government elections, and will attempt to answer the question: Does the plurality and growth of political parties in our democracy signal progressive development for the system’s existence and sustainability? You can register here. DM/MC