July marks winter break for South African students. But in the middle of Orange Farm, an informal settlement about an hour south of Johannesburg that is known for its violent crime and back-breaking poverty, the lights stayed on at Leshata Secondary long after other schools had gone on holiday. On the world's poorest continent, official debates about education reform invariably pivot around money. But as the Association for the Development of Education in Africa has argued, chalk boards are only as useful as the people who write on them are qualified.

As a week-long campaign to create awareness around the Sexual Offences bill draws to an end, South African NGOs involved in gender violence issues are calling for the proposed legislation to provide free anti-AIDS drugs for rape survivors. South Africa has one of the highest incidences of sexual abuse in the world. According to police statistics, 52,107 rapes and attempted rapes were reported in 2002, while a 1999 health department study found that 7 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 had been raped or coerced into having sex against their will.

The South African Government has announced that it will convene a second national summit against corruption towards the end of 2004. A spokesperson for the Cabinet announced that “the objectives of the Summit will include an assessment of strategies, achievements as well as challenges in dealing with this scourge”. It was confirmed that the government would consult with the private sector and civil society before convening the summit.

South Africa's Scorpions have submitted the names of 23 parliamentarians wanted for questioning in connection with a multi-million-rand travel scam estimated at R16-million. In an interview a Scorpions spokesperson, Sipho Ngwena told the press on Wednesday night that “This is the first group of people we want to talk to. There will be more.”

President Thabo Mbeki, the leader of the ANC, this week described the New National Party's decision to join the ANC as an historical development. The NNP announced last Saturday that they would fight all future elections under the banner of the ANC. In a statement released soon afterwards the ANC said that they "view this move as a positive step in South Africa's political development and believe it will contribute to building an inclusive and non-racial society."

South African NGOs involved in gender violence issues are to launch a week-long campaign in Johannesburg on Monday to create public awareness around the Sexual Offences Bill, currently before parliament. "Since the parliament is in session this month, the awareness campaign is also an attempt to lobby for the bill's enactment," Lisa Vetten of the Johannesburg-based Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation told IRIN.

South African company, OnPoint Solutions have invented a low-cost, four-in-one PC that could lower the cost of offering ICT in learning institutions. The purpose built PCs offer internet, e-mail, phone, word processing and network facilities exclusively for educational purposes and concessions provided from Microsoft International have allowed the machines to be sold at the low cost of ?298 per system.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the Secretariat of the World Bank Civil Society Joint Facilitation Committee (JFC), is seeking a Senior Researcher to produce proposals on how engagement between civil society and the World Bank could be more transparent and relevant.

In South Africa, Women’s Day commemorates the courage of the thousands of women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to protest against the pass laws. This action placed women at the centre of the struggle against Apartheid. Today South Africa has a new constitution that protects the rights and dignity of women. The government has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. Yet South Africa has the 3rd highest rape statistics in the world, young women are in the high-risk category for HIV infection and one in six women are abused in their own homes.

Rushed in as a last minute substitute speaker for the Minister of Health, the head of the national health department's HIV/AIDS cluster, Dr Rose Mulumba, has told students that prohibitive costs were the reason for the long delay in providing antiretroviral treatment in the public health sector. When Dr Rose Mulumba first confronted the figures on her computer screen that showed her how much it would cost to treat South Africans requiring antiretrovirals she had to get up, “clear my head” and recalculate the numbers.

A survey conducted for the South African Institute of Race Relations three years ago had shown most people saw unemployment and crime as the biggest problems facing SA. Racism was far lower on the list. It also pointed out there now seemed to be less inclination on the part of top leadership "to play the race card". President Thabo Mbeki once dismissed critics of his stances on Zimbabwe and other issues as racist.

More than five hundred Phiri residents were joined in the Phiri Hall in Soweto to support the launch of a research report - The Struggle Against Silent Disconnections - produced by the Coalition Against Water Privatisation. Police kept their weary eye on the convergence of residents who were outraged by how their 'free' monthly supply of 6kl of water runs out after 11 days.

South Africa’s presence in the rest of Africa has to be seen in the dual context of its relative economic size and sophistication, together with the insulation the country endured through the apartheid years. The South African economy contributes 19% to the total African economy, one-third of sub-Saharan Africa’s and nearly two-thirds of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) gross domestic product (GDP). This is according to an Occasional Paper from the South African Foundation.

South Africa's plan to boost the black majority's stake in agriculture is too ambitious and contains proposals not agreed by industry players, the country's largest farming union said this week. The plan says half the country's prime agricultural land should be in black hands within 10 years - 30% owned and another 20% leased out. Analysts say so far less than 4% of land has been transferred to blacks since the end of apartheid in 1994.

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights in Gauteng and North West has approved 485 land restitution claims in respect of 1 254 properties in the towns of Mafikeng, Vryburg, Ventersdorp, Lichtenburg, Schweizer-Reneke and Klerksdorp. More than 94% of the Gauteng restitution claims have been finalised, with over 13 000 people in the North West benefiting from the process.

Twenty-six people, including a senior manager of the Free State department of education appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on charges including fraud and corruption. The court appearances follow a joint investigation by the South African Police Service and the anti corruption unit of the Free State education department into allegations of corruption over the awarding of tenders during a three year period.

Applications are sought for an epidemiological research assistant. Working under the supervision of the Epidemiologist of the Italian Cooperation, the position holder will be responsible for coordinating surveys to evaluate the activities of the health services in KwaZulu Natal. The successful candidate will hold a first degree in a science discipline, have a valid driver's license and preferably have postgraduate training or working experience in Public Health or a related area.

If proposed amendments to the country's abortion legislation are passed, nurses will be allowed to conduct complicated abortion procedures, a provision the country's largest nursing organisation has warned against. The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill was debated before parliament's portfolio committee on health by a range of religious and medical organisations.

Migration of male workers in South Africa is known to fuel the spread of HIV. This may also be the case for the increasing numbers of migrant women. Research funded by the UK Department for International Development looks at risk factors for HIV infection in migrant and non-migrant women in Carletonville, South Africa.

Earthlife Africa eThekwini has welcomed the announcement by the Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, that the Thor Chemicals cleanup is finally being launched. This follows years of action by Earthlife Africa to stop the company from importing toxic mercury waste for incineration which has had a detrimental effect on both the health of workers at Thor Chemicals and the surrounding environment.