The Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) is a membership network of individuals and organisations working for sustainable peace in Africa. It aims to be a resource for African wisdom and expertise able to respond effectively to the conflicts besetting different parts of Africa. It connects people working for peace and development, human rights and related goals, in Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone countries throughout Africa. Twice a year, COPA holds a 5-week training workshop. This course covers diverse aspects of conflict transformation and peace building, and is aimed at building the capacity of participants, mostly from the African continent, working for development, human rights, peace, justice and related fields.

Web users searching for South Africa's newest search engine Jonga on Google are more likely to find an Indian army 4x4, a South African tour company or the genealogy of a German whose name is "Jonga". That is if they find it at all. The search engine was dropped from the Google index "in its entirety" last week, according to owner of Jonga, Alistair Carruthers. Carruthers says he has "no idea whatsoever" why Jonga is no longer indexed by the world's biggest search engine.

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) is pleased to announce the first ever South African NGO Web Awards. In recent years a growing number of South African NGOs have invested in ICT skills and infrastructure, including their own dedicated websites. This is a very encouraging trend and one which will hopefully continue to grow in future. This competition aims to raise awareness amongst South African NGOs about the benefits of having a web presence, stimulate interest in the application of web solutions and applications, and showcase best practices in website creation and maintenance.

Peter Busse, one of the first South Africans to openly declare his HIV status, died on Friday. Health-e News Service spoke to a few people whose lives Busse touched in many different ways. When 34-year-old mother of three Vicki Bam stood up at an International Women’s Day meeting in 2004, she had been living with the disease for two years. Her speech was testimony to the lives Peter Busse had touched and in the case of Bam – saved. “The first three months after I was diagnosed was a living hell. I even thought of committing suicide. But at that time I met someone who made a positive impact on my life. His name is Peter Busse who had been living with HIV/Aids positively for the past 17 years and he made me realize that being HIV positive is not a death sentence,” Bam told the gathering.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has pulled the plug on a television interview with former State President PW Botha - the first he has given in 11 years - sparking accusations of censorship against the public broadcaster. The exclusive interview, conducted by controversial former SABC journalist Cliff Saunders, was allegedly scheduled to have aired on Thursday night to coincide with Botha’s 90th birthday celebrations.

The Digital Education Enhancement Project (DEEP) is exploring how information and communications technologies (ICTs) can improve the quality of teacher education and learning. Research looks at primary schools in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province and in Cairo, Egypt.

The AIDS Consortium embarked on a process of restructure and change in 2004. This resulted in the organisation being strengthened, repositioned and a new governance structure implemented and additional funding secured as part of a feasibility plan. Now, nearly two years on, the AIDS Consortium is seeking to enforce its governance structure and leadership with the appointment of additional specialist Board members, in the following areas of expertise:
Financial Management – qualified chartered accountant
Business Management – senior experienced business leaders
Civil rights – advocates or attorney’s
Health – Medical – HIV/AIDS and related health specialities
Community Leaders – rural, urban and peri-urban

The AIDS Consortium is seeking to receive CV’s for the post of Executive Director. Key responsibilities include: Overall management of organisational operations; Oversee the development & maintenance of a strategic programme of action for the organisation; Full understanding and management of financial resources, procedures and systems in place or required in the organisation; Undertake fundraising and ensure effective donor management; Reporting to the Board of Directors on all financial, organisational and programme matters; Ensuring the implementation and maintenance of workplace policies and systems; Ensuring full compliance with statutory obligations including all secretarial and labour law matters; An excellent communicator at all levels: CBOs, ASOs, NGOs, Government, Private Sector, Nationally and Internationally; Providing visionary leadership to the organisation.

A tense calm descended on Soshanguve late Wednesday as pockets of angry residents were still caught in a standoff with police. This follows violent clashes and running street battles in the township, 25km north-west of Pretoria. Thousands of people took to the streets, barricading several roads leading into the township with uprooted trees, boulders and burning tyres, in protest over a lack of service delivery. The clashes saw protesters hurling stones at security personnel, who responded by firing rubber bullets, wounding several people, reports The Star newspaper.

The SACP and Cosatu have shelved damaging rifts in the tripartite alliance over the Jacob Zuma affair with calls to vote for the ANC in the municipal elections, reports Independent Online. They presented a united front at Sunday's launch of the ANC election campaign by President Thabo Mbeki in a packed Athlone Stadium. The two alliance partners had openly backed the beleaguered ANC No 2 after he was axed as Mbeki's deputy in the government.

South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka used an Air Force plane for a private holiday in December. A spokesman said the deputy president used the plane for a trip to the United Arab Emirates estimated to have cost taxpayers about 400,000 rand ($66,000). He said she was entitled to use the plane. The opposition described the "gravy plane" incident as outrageous.

The National Anti-Corruption Forum has received a boost with the commitment of R3,6m for corruption-fighting activities by Business Against Crime and the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) development body. The forum, which started its work last year, consists of 30 members, with 10 representatives each from business, government and the civil society. Forum objectives include encouraging whistle-blowing and reporting of corruption in business, government and civil organisations. The forum also wants to promote leadership that is committed to the creation of a culture of integrity, as reported by Transparency International.

South Africa and Zimbabwe are to open a border reception centre to try to curb the flow of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe into South Africa. The office at the Beit Bridge border will help Zimbabweans get work permits. Supported by the International Organisation for Migration, it also aims to help the 2,000 Zimbabweans deported from South Africa each week. Immigration from Zimbabwe has risen amid economic collapse and a government housing demolition programme.

South Africa needs more women in its local councils, the country's local government association said yesterday (January 4). With women still under represented in some sections of local government, local authorities have a responsibility to appoint and train capable women within their structures, the organisation believes. Moera Marais-Martin, the Northern Cape provincial chair of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), said that the province was already making plans for boosting women's role after the forthcoming local elections, reports the Millennium Campaign.

Health-e’s new resources page include the following sections: Reports, which includes a selection of developmental and health-related reports, papers and publications; HIV/AIDS and the Media, includes topical discussion papers on the role of the media and guidelines for journalists reporting on the epidemic; A range of statistics and indicators from various sources is found in the Statistics section; Upcoming Events and Conferences will be of interest to those working in the health sector and a list of contact numbers can be found under Contacts.

If there's one struggle that's looking on the up at the moment, writes Raj Patel on his blog Voice of the Turtle, it's the fight to get Ashwin Desai's job back at the Centre for Civil Society. Patel explains why Desai, a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle and author of ‘We are the Poors’, has been banned from the University of KwaZulu-Natal for his uncompromising honesty. Desai applied for funding earlier this year to undertake research on the history of race and sport in South Africa, but the Vice-Chancellor, Malegapuru William Makgoba, instructed the selection committee at the University of KwaZulu-Natal not to consider Desai's application. Visit Voice of the Turtle for the full story and sign a petition in support of Desai by visiting http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/567835610?ltl=1136454112

London's Guardian on Tuesday examined the effects of HIV/AIDS on teachers in South Africa and how teachers' unions and other organizations in the country are leading a movement to implement education and prevention programs in schools to fight the epidemic. Four South African teachers' unions joined U.S. and South African partners in October to launch a two-year pilot project that aims to combine peer education, HIV testing and antiretroviral treatment for teachers in three provinces in the country.

A new website has been launched where you can publish your own eyewitness accounts of an event, send in news reports, write a column, become a movie or music reviewer, or take up a community issue. Visit the website to register and submit a story, picture or sound file.

Applications are invited from suitable candidates for the post of Research Assistant in the Policy Development and Research Project (PDR). The main focus area is to provide research and administrative assistance to Senior Researchers and help organise policy seminars and advisory group meetings. Applications are also invited from suitable candidates for the post of Project Officer in the Conflict Intervention Peacebuilding Support Project (CIPS). The main focus area is to provide mediation, facilitation and training in the conflict resolution processes across Africa.

This book, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and edited by South African activists, provides more detail on the practical threats to public well-being and climatic stability arising from the growing fashion for carbon trading. It focuses in particular on the disturbing record of South African "carbon-saving" projects and their role in shoring up a destructive oil economy with a record of harm to African people.