TAC invites applications for the following positions.
- Western Cape organiser - Based in Khayalitsha, Cape Town.
- Gauteng TP coordinator - Based in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
- Provincial administrators (2) - Based in Nelspruit (Mpumalanga) and Elim (Limpopo).
The deadline for all positions is 5pm on Wednesday 10th March.

The department of home affairs will compile a business plan this week to address the widespread corruption in its ranks. Last Tuesday, the department's director-general, Barry Gilder, presented a report to the parliamentary portfolio committee on home affairs on the state of the department. Although Gilder confirmed that the current situation at the department was "precarious", he was also confident that measures introduced since he took the reins last year would ensure stability in the future.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on February 26 2004, the First Conference for the Advancement of Sexual Health and Rights in Africa opened in Johannesburg. The range of discussion topics includes issues such as: abortion laws, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.

Excessive force by South African security forces and deaths in police custody were serious problems in the country's human rights performance, a global rights review has found. The annual United States State Department's Human Rights Reports, a hefty country-by-country survey comprising almost two million words, found that the government in 2003 generally respected the human rights of its citizens.

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) passed the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Bill yesterday, intensifying the fight against corruption in the country. The National Assembly approved the Bill in November last year. The Bill seeks to replace the Corruption Act of 1992 and it also endeavours to reflect government's broad strategy to combat corruption at all levels of society.

South Africa has emerged as the second country with which the Home Office has started talks to take failed asylum seekers from Britain as part of a concerted drive to step up immigration removals and deportations. Negotiations with Tanzania are already underway though Tanzania, which already houses more refugees than any other sub-Saharan country, said it had rejected the idea.

Emigration figures of highly skilled researchers remain high, but the greatest mobility of high–level skills is now within the country. This is a key finding of Flight of the Flamingos, the Study on Mobility of R&D workers, released by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on 28 January.

While much has been made of the so-called digital divide, the reality of the issue is that it is also a capacity and human resource divide. This is according to David Hartshorn, secretary general of the Global VSAT Forum (GVF). He was discussing ways to overcome this problem at the SatCom Africa 2004 satellite technology conference, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Cheaper drugs, certificates of need, social health insurance? Has government made sudden and major shifts in health policy? From the African National Congress’ perspective it is perhaps timely in a year that we celebrate the 10th anniversary of democracy and with a general election only a few months away, that three critical pieces of health legislation are about to be signed into law or are being drafted for future legislation. The three pieces include Regulations relating to a Transparent Pricing System for Medicines and Scheduled Substances (Medicines and Related Substances Act of 1997), Social Health Insurance (Medical Schemes Act of 1998) and the Certificate of Need (National Health Bill – still to be signed into law by the President).

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is affecting the capacity of governments to deliver services as well as efforts to entrench democratic political frameworks in society. However, researchers and planners are well aware of the current limitations in the research and strategic interventions. HEARD, therefore, has established a research post to help refine and develop practical and theoretical frameworks for confronting the challenges of HIV/AIDS to democracy and governance in the developing world.

In a letter to the Registrar of Genetically Modified Organisms, the South African Council of Churches and 38 other civil society organisations opposed the granting of a commodity clearance permit that would allow the US chemical firm Monsanto to import genetically modified (GM) wheat into South Africa. Noting the lack of conclusive studies of the impact of GM crops on human and environmental health, the letter said: “We do not believe South Africa should be the first country to take the risk to allow GM wheat (seeds or seeds for milling) if the social, environmental and economic impact is of such concern to the rest of the world.”

An open letter to the South African Government, endorsed by prominent civil society groups in South Africa, has been circulated and endorsed by South African organisations, on the eve of the first Conference of the Parties on the Cartegena Biosafety Protocol (BSP) being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from the 23 to 27 of February. The BSP is the internationally negotiated UN supported agreement to manage the international movement of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). This letter calls for the South African government to halt its active undermining of the BSP by continuing to allow the promotion of the international trade of GMOs using South Africa as a conduit.

Finanace Minister Trevor Manuel's eighth Budget was greeted by opposing reactions from the labour movement, and tax experts and economists. While Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi described the Budget as a "victory for the working class", independent economist Mohau Pheko said the Budget was "a mixture of unrealistic targets".

On the 10th of February, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the AIDS Law project held a joint seminar on transformation of the South African Health System, including both the public and private sectors. This is part of preparations for a conference to be held in May with the aim of developing detailed policy positions for TAC's Campaign for a People's Health Service. Presentations made at the workshop can be found on the TAC website.

Improvements in secondary and tertiary hospital capacity should not come at the expense of basic care for the poor, the Health Systems Trust (HST) says. The Durban based NGO was responding to Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's speech, in which she said R2 billion would be spent on upgrading and revitalising hospital facilities next year, including the building of 18 new facilities. The minister also said inequities in the funding allocated to primary healthcare in different provinces would have to be addressed, with some provinces allocating R50 per person each year, and others R300. But Antoinette Ntuli, HST information dissemination and equity director, urged her to ensure resources and initiatives are "fast-tracked in poor, rural areas".

South Africa's Cape Flats area is awash with drugs and violent gangs, but amid the despair is a window into the dusty landscape's former ecological glory. "Our story will blow you away," Zwai Peter said proudly, looking out at the "fynbos" - rare flowers unique to the region - and the chattering birds in the heart of Cape Town's ganglands. The Edith Stephens Wetland Park is a haven for some of the rarest plant and animal life in the world and has become a source of pride for the people of neighbouring Manenberg.

FEMNET'S Men against Gender Based Violence Programme is in the process of conducting a review of existing men groups in Malawi, South Africa, Kenya and Namibia. The review of male initiatives in support of gender equality is already underway in Kenya. FEMNET will document and share the experiences with other male groups in the continent to encourage formation of more men groups and in the process strengthen the Africa Network of Men for Gender Equality. FEMNET will also share the experience with national, regional and global networks, including the INSTRAW and UNIFEM networks.

In the last 5 years Mbeki made a conscious and strenuous effort to put his own stamp on the presidency. He revelled in the now clichéd label of the man who was committed to delivery – the cold exponent of technical detail rather than the warm fuzziness of Nelson Mandela. But the state of the nation address didn’t reveal any new plans for ‘delivery’. In fact most of the speech drew on Mandela’s speech at the opening of the first democratic parliament. The looming election meant that he had to account for the failed promises on delivery epitomised in the targets set out in GEAR became a shooting gallery for critics. Mbeki’s solution was to try and disguise his failure by showing that he was ruling in the spirit of Mandela, that he had Mandela’s approval. It was a cheap trick and a clear sign of failure. It is common knowledge that the two biggest challenges facing South Africa are AIDS and unemployment. In now typical fashion both were only mentioned once. And the context was ominous: “Many of our people are unemployed…The burden of disease impacting on our people, including AIDS, continues to be a matter of serious concern, as do issues that relate to the fact that many of our people, including the youth, lack the education and skills that our country and society need.” Once again Mbeki was careful to place the AIDS pandemic on par with other issues. And of course he offered no analysis of the fact that, despite its projections, GEAR has failed to create jobs.

This is a study of how the production of history is part of a global process forged by the struggle between colonialism and resistance. The author looks at the 1952 celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the landing of Jan van Riebeeck and the founding of Cape Town. Examining newspapers brochures and pamphlets, the author looks at how history and historical figures were reconstructed and how the ANC and others mounted opposition to it.

The relationship between the South African government and the Clinton Foundation, which helped procure low cost antiretroviral drugs for the country's long-awaited AIDS treatment programme, appears to have broken down. Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang appears to have turned her back on the Clinton Foundation, which has been assisting her department to develop the country's antiretroviral (ARV) drug treatment programme.