Confronted with sophisticated fraudsters and increasing levels of corruption, experts are now seeking systems that can empower leaders to spearhead the fight against the two vices. A major effort is already going on, particularly within the local corporate sector, to adopt an anti-corruption and anti-fraud culture, to encourage employees to " blow the whistle" on such activities.

The Anti-War Coalition has issued a call to workers, the youth and the unemployed to join the international movement against the war on Iraq and the plans of the giant monopolies.

When the leaders of the Boeremag were tracked down and arrested last year, investigators came across a document describing how the organisation planned to take over SA. Among the institutions the plotters wanted to seize in the first stage of the coup were television and radio channels, power stations and abattoirs. Why abattoirs?The plotters wanted to trick blacks into abandoning the interior of the country for the east coast. So they planned to line all eastbound highways with raw meat. The blacks would follow the trail, the plotters believed, and once they were all in KwaZuluNatal, the borders of the province would be closed. Trapped in the eastern lowlands, they would be herded northwards, at gunpoint, into Mozambique. Think about it. And once you have gotten over how staggeringly stupid the plotters were, think about it again. How on earth did a group of men, most of whom grew up in rural SA, cheek-byjowl with black communities, learn so little about their fellow human beings during the course of their lives?

The Anti-War Coalition has announced that it will be joining women around the world in commemorating International Women's Day on Saturday, 8 March 2003. The group has organised a Women Against the War demonstration at the US Consulate in Killarney and a symposium on the effects of war on women and children.

The fraud trial of Nelson Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has resumed in South Africa after months of delays and postponements. The well-known and controversial character, known as "the mother of the nation" in South Africa, is facing 85 charges of theft and fraud relating to a bank loan scam.

South Africans living with HIV/Aids have been given new hope. They might soon have access to treatment and better care, after the Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, announced plans to almost double the amount spent on HIV/Aids. Over the next three years, R3,3 billion (400 million US dollars) will go towards extending preventative programmes and finance "medically appropriate" treatment for HIV/Aids.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel 2002/2003 budget has been likened to “sweet fruits” when he dished out goodies in his annual speech. Manuel has been praised for his pre-election year budget, which boosts social spending and grants to the poor. It puts money into the taxpayer’s pocket without compromising fiscal discipline.

The Youth Development Network will be hosting a unique conference that seeks to bring integration to the sphere of Youth Development in South Africa. The conference will take place on the 5th and 6th of March 2003, at the Sunnyside Park Hotel, in Johannesburg.

Drug companies are continuing to sell anti-retrovirals at hugely inflated prices in South Africa with some branded drugs selling for up to eight times more than generic versions available worldwide but that are not yet manufactured locally. The price for an annual course of triple therapy consisting of AZT, 3TC and Nevirapine in South Africa would cost around R20 000 (around R1 700 per month) before VAT and the chemist’s mark-up is added. In contrast, the same course of generic ARVs would cost around R3 300 year (or R275 a month). The huge profit margins of the drug companies forms the basis of a complaint lodged last year at the Competition Commission by a group of people living openly with HIV/AIDS, health workers, labour and civil society.

The cost of a state supported anti-retroviral programme in its most expensive year could be below R10-billion and still be highly effective, according to calculations by Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT). TAC manager, Nathan Geffen, presented these figures to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health last week.

The HDN Microbicides E-Advocacy Project has been on-going since 2001. The project aims to report on local, regional and international efforts to advocate for prevention options for women and to facilitate virtual discussion and debate around microbicide research in popular discourses around HIV/AIDS. The Project Manager will co-ordinate and implement the project, manage a small international team of writers and engage in international advocacy efforts - in collaboration with the Global Campaign for Microbicides.

On 26 February, the Minister of Finance tabled Budget 2003 in the National Assembly. As with every year, this kicked off a process of parliamentary deliberation that will culminate in the passing of the budget by Parliament in June 2003. A relatively new parliamentary committee, the Joint Budget Committee (JBC), is set to play a key role in the deliberations, but the exact structure of the parliamentary budget process is in a state of flux.

Renowned South African actor comedian and talk show host Desmond Dube’s comment on his comedy show, Dube on Monday, unleashed a storm of furry from South African Tsonga people. This happened three weeks ago when Dube likened Shangaan people to baboons. A voice over apology was aired at the end of the show after a flood of calls from concerned citizens to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) condemning Dube’s annotations.

While funds from the National Lottery is being distributed to charities, sports and to a lesser extent arts projects, not a single rand destined for RDP projects has been disbursed, reports the Sunday Independent. Since the inception of the national lottery three years ago, R10,9 billion has been made in ticket sales but not a cent of the R153 million set aside for "RDP" projects has been spent.

While KwaZulu-Natal education officials have been spending hundreds of thousands of rands on sprucing up their offices, the Japanese government has donated R50-million in a year-long project to build schools in the rural areas of the province.

Western Cape premier and New National Party (NNP) leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk fended off an attack by the Democratic Alliance (DA) as more allegations of corruption were made against members of his cabinet. The DA believes that Van Schalkwyk must have known about the R300000 party funding scandal involving the Roodefontein golf estate and is convinced that this has adversely affected the NNP's co-operation agreement with the African National Congress (ANC).

South Africa's Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Wednesday unveiled a range of poverty relief measures in the country's budget for the next financial year which include extending the child support grant, raising pensions and providing for a food relief fund.

The culture of reciting poetry has become a part of the lives of Gauteng youth. They say poetry unites people from different backgrounds. Timbila poetry sessions are held in Braamfontein at the Yard of Ale and integrate creative thoughts from the townships to other parts of Johannesburg suburbs.

State involvement in the economy and the role, function and size of the public sector has been under severe attack. As a result, essential services such as health, education and social welfare have been under attack through privatisation, deregulation and ideas that campaigned against the public good and propagated exclusivity, says the South African Democratic Teachers Union.

A mobile phone company has started a national ''Take a girl child to work day'' - a concept to shatter gender stereotyping and to encourage young school-girls to go into different careers.