Since the 19th century, South Africa's economy has been sustained by the migration of cheap labour from neighbouring countries. But the end of apartheid, the consequent search for a new national identity and the accompanying tensions of a nation in transition have also fuelled deep suspicion and hostility against such migrants, who are now viewed increasingly as 'aliens'.

South Africa's Freedom of Expression Institute has called for the withdrawal of the draft Anti-Terrorism Bill, saying that, if passed, it will impact seriously on individual civil and political liberties such as the rights to freedom of expression, association, security of the person, belief, opinion, assembly and demonstration.

South Africa launches a programme this week to exterminate its "national flower" -- the millions of used plastic bags that litter the landscape.

Children in South Africa are being infected with HIV through dirty needles, experts have claimed. Researchers have suggested hundreds of thousands of children may have contracted the virus in this way.

The ANC said it was with a heavy heart and profound sense of loss that they had learned of the death of Isithwalandwe Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu. The organisation described Sisulu as a giant of the liberation struggle and one of the founding fathers of South Africa's democracy.

Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe has contributed R50 000 to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) towards the Disaster Fund set up to help families of the victims of last week's bus tragedy on May Day. More than 60 workers attending a May Day rally drowned when their bus took a wrong turn in QwaQwa and plunged into a dam. Only 10 people survived the tragedy that has shocked the entire nation.

The R1,5-million raised after the Workers' Day bus disaster is not to pay for the victims' mass funeral, a Congress of South African Trade Unions spokesman said. Other sponsors were being sought for this, said Fusi Nchabeng from Cosatu in the Free State. The trust fund would be distributed after the funeral among the victims' families.

Nelson Mandela has dedicated the brand-new Nelson Mandela Foundation House in Johannesburg to the late ANC father figure Walter Sisulu. The Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) previously operated from Mandela's Houghton home, but it expanded to such an extent that new premises were needed. Therefore the R15-million Nelson Mandela Foundation House was built a short distance away.

Unlike being a murderer, being a 'terrorist' is often a function of being on the wrong side of power rather than possessing any inherent and universally disagreeable qualities or having committed a readily identifiable act. This is according to a statement by the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) about a submission to the South African Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security on the Anti-terrorism Bill, B12-2003.

Scratch the surface of post-apartheid South Africa, and deep-rooted racism lurks underneath. Almost every week, newspapers carry reports of another racist attack, or a racially motivated murder. "People's attitudes haven't changed," says Dr Zonke Majodina, a commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

Since apartheid collapsed, the Afrikaners have been a lost and divided race. Some have formed an unlikely alliance with the ANC, while the extreme right are blowing up anything they disapprove of. Now even moderates want to create a new homeland. Novelist Christopher Hope reports in the Guardian UK.

The National Association of People Living with HIV/Aids has intensified its struggle by targeting individual Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PMA) affiliates who are responding negative to their demands, says Thanduxolo Doro, NAPWA Deputy Director and Spokesperson.

Since it was first held in 1996, Adult Learners Week has become the highlight of the adult education calendar in South Africa. Adult Learning Week aspires to highlight innovative programmes and celebrate adult learning in all its diversity. It aims to promote a culture of lifelong learning amongst all South Africans.

Before receiving a triple life sentence for murdering three black people on a Pretoria bus in 2000, De Wet Kritzinger told the city's high court he had intended to kill many more, and had no remorse for what he had done. "I believed I would be a hero in the eyes of my Father (God)," he said. After choosing not to testify in his own defence, Kritzinger went into the witness box in mitigation of sentence last Friday. He would not take the oath, saying it was a sin.

Following a meeting with South African Deputy-President Jacob Zuma last week, AIDS lobby group, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), announced it would suspend its civil disobedience action aimed at forcing the government to introduce a national HIV/AIDS treatment programme. The following is a chronology of events during 2002 and 2003 over South Africa's controversial HIV/AIDS treatment access programme.

Access to Information and Communication Technologies in Africa received a shot in the arm when the Canadian-based International Development Research Centre (IDRC) launched a R63mn project last week, reports ITWeb.The project, launched at an African networking conference in South Africa, will apply Canadian ICT expertise to projects for education, health and community development. The connectivity project is the latest addition in a series of projects under the Acacia Programme banner.

SABCNews reports that Global Philanthropist and head of computer company Microsoft, Bill Gates, has donated US$28 million for a study on the effectiveness of latex diaphragms.The study seeks to prevent the spread of HIV infection among women by supplying them with latex diaphragms. Recent studies in Zimbabwe, which has a high Aids prevalence, showed high levels of satisfaction with the product among women.

The Cape Times reports that Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane announced one of the largest funded Aids programmes undertaken by a church on Wednesday. The multi-million rand programme aims to reduce the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/Aids.

Dispatch Online reports that Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) has partnered with Business Partners Limited to set up a new investment fund aimed at youth empowerment. The fund has been constituted to make all opportunities and benefits of franchising available to young entrepreneurs. An initial amount of R125mn has been allocated to the fund.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said in a statement on Tuesday it was suspending its civil disobedience campaign pending the outcome of a meeting with the SA National Aids Council (Sanac) on May 17. The decision was made at a meeting of the TAC executive committee despite reservations expressed by several members who stressed the urgency of changing government policy on treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS and concerns about whether Sanac had the power to act to save lives.