Alpine plants are native to mountain districts. The Director of the ARU, Dr Ralph Clark, elaborates on the recent expansion on Alpine research that is taking place in the Maloti-Drakensburg, saying that the project will expand the comprehension of the ecology of the alpine zone and its similarity or dissimilarity with alpine and tundra environments. He goes on to say that this has a tremendous impact on the landscape and could possibly be seen as the biggest concern for the sustainability of the system. Ultimately, he encourages people to be mindful and supportive of research in the mountains, as the occurrences in those mountains directly affect the water provision for most of Southern Africa.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent announcement that Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act is being amended to increase the National Energy Regulator of South Africa's licensing threshold for embedded generation projects from 1 MW to 100 MW, has been widely welcomed. Mimie Jacobs, a crop farmer in the Free State, says high electricity costs and the impact that load-shedding have, affects farming activities, adding the proposed amendment of the Electricity Regulation Act is a welcoming one and creates room for positive developments.  Jacobs explains that she pays between R9 000 and R17 000 for electricity, which she considers to be relatively low compared to other farmers, who pay monthly electricity bills which range between R35 000 and R50 000. Ramaphosa said during his announcement that while the challenges we face are steep, our starting point must be to acknowledge the severity of the crisis. South Africa’s energy security plays a major role in the country’s agriculture sector, as electricity is one of the key requirements for the countries food security and the sustainability thereof.

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