“We, poets of South Africa, declare for all the country and the world to know that a country that does not appreciate poetry is a doomed country. This means that our poetry, just like our music and dance, contributed a great deal to South Africa’s present dispensation. Another reason is that new South African poetry is hardly ever studied in schools and universities; and that our public libraries do not carry sufficient poetry resources. Although there are policies and institutions to support the arts, there has been very little support for poetry and poets. We therefore commit ourselves to building a conscious society that appreciates poetry from primary to higher levels.”

EISA is a not-for-profit section 21 company located in Johannesburg. EISA's mission is to strengthen electoral processes, good governance, human rights and democratic values through research, capacity building, advocacy and other targeted interventions. EISA services governments, electoral commissions, political parties, civil society organisations and other institutions. EISA has a vacancy for local Government Programme Officer. The post requires the following qualifications: A minimum 3 years qualification in Social Science; A postgraduate qualification is an advantage; Familiarity with and experience in local government environment in South Africa including an understanding of relevant legislation; Good computer skills; Willingness to travel; Support and work within EISA vision; Self-motivated and able to work under pressure; and Facilitation and training experience.

Global technology group Dimension Data has announced that it will help Grahamstown's St Raphael Centre for the care of people with HIV/AIDS to achieve its goal of raising R1 million.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed an agreement with Ehlanzeni Municipality aimed at building the capacity of councillors in the area. Ehlanzeni comprises four municipalities - Mbombela, Nkomazi, Umjindi and Thaba Chweu. The partnership programme will see direct financial assistance, about R4 million from the USAID, flowing into Ehlanzeni, which amongst others, will be used to develop and implement an efficient ward system.

Comprising of six dancers, the work ‘Ludic Liminality’, will be showcased to a South African audience before moving to the Netherlands for a series of performances there in November and December.

The Anti-Eviction Campaign, a group that campaigns against the forced removal of people from their homes, says it is “saddened and disturbed” by recent events, including a spate of arrests, to hit the community of Mandela Park in the Western Cape, which comprises thousands of old people who are all facing eviction.

An "angry and disappointed" Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Sunday leaked the key findings of a secret government report, kept under wraps for months, which says that 1,7 million lives can be saved by 2010 if Aids drugs are given to everyone needing them. This comes after months of frustration among health care workers and activists, who say they have lost patience with the government's apparent ambivalence over anti-retroviral drug programmes.

The South African man’s reputation is in crisis. He is held responsible for one of the world’s highest rape rates, including the rape of children and babies. He perpetrates domestic violence, which is commonplace. And womanisers who prefer condom-less sex are driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic, experts tell us. A range of researchers grappling with what has, and is, framing this male identity have identified economic circumstances, the new political order and HIV/AIDS as important factors.

The number of people with no education in SA is decreasing, according to the results of Census 2001, released by Statistics SA this week. This bodes well for the country as it shows that the education system is reaching more and more people.

The Sunday Independent tells the shocking story of the gang-rape of five months old Thandiwe and how it led her foster mother, Claudia Ford, to establish the Princess Trust. First on the list of trust beneficiaries are Women and Men Against Child Abuse and the Child Protection Unit.

The ministry of health has still not signed an agreement to accept R715-million in international funding to combat HIV and Aids despite a promise earlier this year to sign the agreement by May. However, an announcement would be made "very shortly" about when the agreement with The Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria would be signed, a department spokesperson said this week.

Two local seed companies are considering entering the legal fray over local nongovernmental organisation Biowatch's longrunning battle to get government's information on genetically modified crops. Biowatch launched a high court application last September to compel government to give it a list of all the genetically modified crops grown in SA, the locations of field trials, and information on the risk assessments on the basis of which government had granted permits for the crops.

Judging from their recent exchanges in parliament, the debate on race between President Thabo Mbeki and Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon is a dialogue of the deaf. Neither man seems willing to listen to his interlocutor. Mbeki interprets criticism of the pre-dominantly black ANC-led government as a campaign perpetuated to negatively stereotype black Africans, particularly when it focuses on allegations of corruption. Leon accuses Mbeki of seeking to deflect legitimate criticism by playing the race card and portraying his political opponents as people who have not excised the prejudices of the apartheid past from their minds.

President Thabo Mbeki urged religious leaders at a mass Christian gathering in Pretoria to actively help fight the legacy of racism. He said that religious bodies were in a unique position to support the government in the struggle against poverty and in promoting reconciliation. "As religious leaders, perhaps it would be important to take an active role in fighting the legacy of racism, ensuring that we find practical ways and means of reconciling our people and communities."

Any attempt to extract heavy minerals from the dunes along the Eastern Cape's Pondoland coast will be massively destructive and according to one South African expert, such mining operations typically wipe out everything in their path. University of Natal geologist Dr Ron Uken says in terms of the environment, mining coastal dunes for titanium minerals such as ilmenite and rutile "leaves nothing".

The environmental non-governmental organisation Earthlife Africa says it is to press ahead with a high court challenge to Eskom's proposed pebble bed nuclear reactor. Eskom has applied to the Department of Environmental Affairs for permission to construct a demonstration module at Koeberg near Cape Town.

The Chief Specialist and/or head of school post may be filled by one person fulfilling both roles or by two separate people, one as the Chief Specialist and one Head of School. These appointments may be at Professorial or Associate Professorial level. The Epidemiologist will be a dynamic person with excellent skills in Epidemiology and/or Biostatistics who will lead the Epidemiological research and training undertaken by the School of Public Health. The incumbent will be expected to stimulate epidemiologic research within the School and the Faculty.

'If in time, the reality of the absence of fundamental change convinces the disadvantaged majority that we have created a political democracy which is unable or unwilling fully to dismantle the system of racial oppression and exploitation, then we must expect that the dream deferred will, rather than wilt in the sun, explode!' (Thabo Mbeki, 1994). This book assesses how far South Africa has come in uprooting poverty since this pronouncement. It traces developments from the end of the apartheid economic system, that institutionalised and perpetuated poverty, and some of the highest levels of inequality in the world; to the new era, which grew out of this regime, and is characterised by black stratification, and an ever widening gap between rich and poor.

Often it is said that the devil is in the detail. This is both true and not true of the new Anti-Terrorism Bill before Parliament. A week of public hearings recently saw speaker after speaker, including veteran human rights lawyer George Bizos, tear the bill to shreds and condemn it as an affront to the rights enshrined in the constitution.

HIV is rampant among young people in South Africa, despite sound knowledge about sexual health risks. Levels of perceived vulnerability among this group are low and unprotected sex is common. Researchers from the London School of Economics studied a participatory programme seeking to empower young people to change gender norms as an HIV prevention strategy.