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Planning interventions in Africa that support sustainable rural development, and sustainable rural livelihoods as an extension thereof, are often considered in terms of broad-sweeping central government approaches. However, these homogenous approaches often disregard the differentiation that exists between different rural areas. In this article, the development of Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres as micro-level planning interventions situated within the specific community circumstances of the rural areas of South Africa, are investigated as a change catalyst in sustainable rural livelihood development. This has been done by means of a literature survey and practical research. The main objectives were establishing a theoretical framework through literature studies pertaining to sustainable rural livelihood development, determining whether a community-integrated empowerment approach in this regard was a feasible option, and considering if the development of ECD centres in rural areas aligned with local community priorities and could consequently serve as entry point for sustainable rural livelihood development, and to reflect on the benefits and limitations of this approach as an integral part of sustainable rural livelihood development. In examining the relevance and applicability of the theoretical perspective, the Footprints of Hope ECD centre (a non-governmental organisation) in Griekwastad, Northern Cape (South Africa), was examined as case study. The main findings of this study indicate that the establishment of ECD centres could be an effective change catalyst in sustainable rural livelihood development, especially when approached in an integrated and multidimensional manner. Specific aspects highlighted are the importance of community-driven grassroot initiatives, circumstance-specific approaches towards sustainable rural livelihood development, and the empowerment of local communities through the provision of ECD, employment, skills training, and food security. However, isolated instances of micro-development initiatives cannot effectuate broader sustainable rural livelihood development, and thus, an enabling policy and legal framework as well as the mobilisation of non-governmental organisations is required in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining town of Aggeneys is situated in a world-class polymetallic base metal district. The Black Mountain Mining Complex (BMC), located in the Northern Cape, South Africa, contains six known orebodies with more than 25.5 Mt contained metal in resources and reserves. Currently, three of the six known orebodies are actively mined. The Big Syncline East prospect is situated directly east of the massive Big Syncline mineral resource of > 150 Mt of open pit and underground resources. Big Syncline is one of the six declared resources at BMC. Recent high-power super conducting quantum interference device transient EM identified a large 3500-Siemens conductor at depths greater than 400 m. Initial follow-up drilling confirmed the presence of mineralized sulfides. A follow-up drone-based magnetic survey was flown, primarily to improve on the poor-quality, high-ground clearance magnetic data recorded with a fixed-wing aeromagnetic system, but also to trial a novel hybrid ground and drone total-field transient EM survey over the extreme topography encountered in the area. Results are very encouraging and now pave the way for more routine implementation of hybrid ground-drone total-field transient EM applications, where a large transmitting loop on the surface is surveyed by a relative fast-moving drone-carried fast-sampling total-field magnetometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]