A high-profile delegation from Japan will visit the former Transkei on Friday to mark the completion of 20 schools, thanks to R62m (7,5 million US dollars) in Japanese Grant Aid. Funding of R62m for a further 20 schools was then granted, mainly in the Umtata-area (Alfred Nzo district).

The Mandela Park Anti-Eviction Campaign, responding to issues raised in community meetings, has opened a school at Andile Nose Community Centre, in Govan Mbeki Road, Khayelitsha. This school is a response to the exclusion of students from government schools because they cannot afford school fees, or because they are too old.

The post apartheid government has greatly expanded water service; but in many rural villages, the resulting water price increases have placed the cost of water beyond the reach of many. The push to lure private companies to buy utilities has led to water shutoffs and the worst cholera epidemic in the nation's history.

LWOB is seeking lawyers interested in a)assisting with development of the project, b)assisting with the drafting of funding proposals, c)being a link in a Lawyer to Lawyer (L2L)linkage with South African lawyers or d)travelling to South Africa (possibly self funded) to assist with an evaluation of the problem and potential solutions.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) general secretary has blamed lack of engagement and consultation within the tripartite alliance for the frequent differences between the African National Congress (ANC) and its partners, COSATU and the SA Communist Party.

COSATU this week admitted that six of its affiliated trade unions were among those the labour department has found to be in contravention of the regulations of the Labour Relations Act and thus being targeted for possible action against them.

COSATU this week joined its alliance partner, the African National Congress (ANC), and millions of people across the world in support of a call against the US’s intention to attack Iraq. President Thabo Mbeki wrote in last week’s ANC Today that the destruction of any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq should be achieved peacefully and further stated that the ANC was not aware of information that suggested Iraq has not cooperated with the UN’s weapons inspectors team.

People living with HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) are set to finally benefit from the US $72 million granted to the province nearly eight months ago by the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Allegations of corruption which New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk had made against two senior NNP members, as well as a complaint which the Democratic Alliance made against Van Schalkwyk, would be treated similarly, Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana said.

Former South African president, Nelson Mandela has lost patience with diplomacy and launched a scathing personal attack on U.S. president George W. Bush for his apparent determination to take military action against Iraq, if the middle-eastern country does not prove it has no weapons of mass destruction to the satisfaction of the United States.
Related Link:
* Mbeki highlights differences with UK over Iraq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/uk_politics/2718191.stm

While the Treasury and Department of Health number-crunch to determine whether government can afford anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment in public health, a number of small ARV programmes are already up and running. Several others are in the pipeline, the most ambitious being the SA Medical Association pledge to raise R80-million to set up two ARV pilot projects in each province to treat 9 000 people.
Related Link:
* SA govt heeds calls for free anti-Aids drugs
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=11&o=15219

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed South Africa's $20 million donation for the agency's emergency food operation for southern Africa.

The inaugural Nkosi Johnson International Soccer Challenge will take place on February 9. The Kansas City Wizards from the United States will play against two premier soccer league clubs to raise funds for Nkosi's Haven. All the money raised during the two games will be contributed to Nkosi's Haven in honour of the boy who touched so many hearts with his Aids message.

It appears that all the major obstacles involving the Burundi peace process have been overcome and a peace force will be in that country soon, Deputy South African President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday. "We believe that in a matter of days many things will be happening. We believe we have crossed all the major hurdles and implementation (of the peace force) will start soon," he told the Johannesburg Press Club.

Two SABC journalists were allegedly assaulted and held captive by teachers at a school near Lomanyaneng, North West Province. The two radio journalists, Ms Lexi Herholdt and Ms Nthabiseng Makhongoana told the South African chapter of MISA that they were investigating a story of a school principal who refused to give learners reports because of non-payments of school fees.

The South African Department of Health issued public statements in May 2002, upgrading its HIV/Aids policy, and acknowledging the link between HIV and Aids. But the Department of Health has yet again taken a step back by inviting an Aids dissident to address departmental officials. Minister Tshabalala-Msimang is not, however, alone in playing down the magnitude of the HIV/Aids problem. It seems that the Afrikaans and the conservative English media also follow her lead in the limited coverage HIV/Aids receives.

Researchers in South Africa were astonished as rural youngsters quickly taught themselves how to operate their first computer without any formal instruction. Run by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and supported by the Department of Science and Technology, the project was designed to find out whether rural South African children had the cognitive skills to understand computers without any formal training.

US-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation is planning to file a complaint with the SA Competition Commission against pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, in a bid to widen access to AIDS drugs. The attorney representing the foundation in SA, Musa Ntsibande of law firm Strauss Daly, said that the complaint would argue that Glaxo abused its dominant market position in contravention of the Competition Act, and was engaging in excessive pricing of its drugs to the detriment of the consumer.

The South African Communist Party will hold a seminar that is aimed at appraising the theoretical contribution to the South African struggle of its late former national chairperson, Joe Slovo within the alliance and the overall South African perspective.

The South African Communist Party and the Aids Consortium have called for a meeting with the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, Jody Kollapen, to inform the body of its campaign against HIV/Aids discrimination in the financial sector.