The new vice chancellor of the University of South Africa (Unisa) and former chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, Barney Pityana, who oversaw the hearings into racism in the media, has accused the "Mail and Guardian" newspaper of racism and is threatening to take it to court for defamation.

An internationally renowned South African composer has rejected a call by Nelson Mandela to apologise for the lyrics of a new song which portrays the country's Indian population as abusing black people and being more racist than whites. A barrage of criticism has led to Mbongeni Ngema's song AmaNdiya - Zulu for "Indians" - being banned by some radio stations and record shops.

The New Plan For Africa's Development (Nepad) is little more than recolonisation of Africa and is just an extension of Gear, protesters at a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban said on Wednesday. "The name Nepad is a myth - there is nothing new about it. It is just Gear for Africa and, just as Gear resulted in the loss of one million jobs in SA, so too will Nepad further plunge Africa into poverty," said Ashwin Desai of the Concerned Citizens' Group.

The Church Community Leadershipt Trust (CCLT), requires the services of a helpful, hardworking SwitchboardOperator/ Receptionist.

The APC (Association for Progressive Communications) urgently needs to fill two challenging positions, Programme and Projects Manager/Deputy Director and Logistics Coordinator.

SANGONeT's Executive Director is raising funds for the organisation's training programmes by running the Comrades Marathon 2002. For more information on how to help develop South Africa by making a pledge, visit the SANGONeT website.

The R1,3 million high-technology IT centre was opened at the Fort Hare Institute of Governance. The Dutch – funded initiative will be used extensively in the training of civil servants.

A R1, 2million double-storey complex with eight new classrooms is to be built for a primary school in Ginsberg here. The AngloGold Fund, the social development arm of AngloGold, South Africa’s largest gold producer, funds the project for the Ginsberg Seventh Day Adventist Primary School.

South Africa is the first major sub-Saharan African country that is trying to create a competitive connectivity market. How it is done and whether it succeeds will have important lessons for the rest of the continent.[News Update]

Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad has told the National Press Club that South Africa cannot tolerate a situation where one individual controls the .za domain on the Internet, after Mike Lawrie, the domain's administrator, insisted that he would not hand over the administration if the new electronic communications bill provided for government interference.

UNIFEM facilitated a solidarity mission by the Women’s League of the African National Congress (ANC) on 4 April to support Congolese women attending the Inter-Congolese Dialogue (ICD) in Sun City, South Africa. The ANC women shared the history of their struggle for political participation and urged the Congolese women to create a support group to assist one another to access political leadership. They also urged the more than 60 Congolese women present to fight the system of gender discrimination and not their male counterparts.

Scientists and health officials have criticised what they call the "cool response" of the developed world towards investing in an African AIDS vaccine. "We will continue to challenge the apathy of the rich nations to investing in an AIDS vaccine," Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said at the first forum of the African AIDS Vaccine Programme.

African leaders are gathering in Durban, South Africa, to discuss a key plan for the continent's economic development just weeks before the time comes to argue the case with the world's richest states. The three-day Africa Economic Summit which opened on Wednesday will tackle Africa's home-grown recovery plan, known as Nepad, which targets increased foreign investment and better economic growth.

Parliament is set this year to consider a number of methods of keeping businesses, government and society clean of corruption and bribery. The anti-graft measures will be considered against the backdrop of the upcoming trial of former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni for allegedly taking bribes from a company hoping to win a State contract related to the multi-billion rand arms deal.

The systematic sale of live chickens to disadvantaged communities for informal slaughter, has potentially lethal consequences especially for the very young, very old and those carrying the HIV-AIDS virus, says Compassion in World Farming.

The prevalence in South Africa of morbidity associated with an incomplete abortion -- whether spontaneous or illegally induced -- "immediately decreased" following the legalization of abortion in the country, according to recent study.

Deputy president Jacob Zuma has been excused from testifying at a R1,1 million corruption trial in Mpumalanga after submitting a nine-page sworn affidavit denying that he had any material evidence in the case. Zuma was subpoenaed to testify at the trial of former Mpumalanga government advisor Pieter Rootman along with a list of other provincial political heavyweights.

South Africa's hunting industry has boomed into an R800-million per year foreign exchange earner, the Bosveld Hunters' Association announced this week. Association chairman Fred Mulders said on Thursday that more than 300 000 foreigners flock to Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and North West province every year for the winter hunting season.

During June, CREA South Africa, under a contract to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will issue a Request for Proposals to interested South African organizations for the award of firm fixed price contract for a period of twenty four months to undertake a Community Participation and Capacity Building for Effective Local Governance Project for the West Coast District Municipality. This project forms part of the USAID/DPLG Local Governance Support Program (LGSP).

During June, CREA South Africa, under a contract to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will issue a Request for Applications to interested South African organizations for the award of a cooperative grant agreement for a period of twenty months to undertake Capacity Building of Ward Committees and the Implementation of an Awareness Campaign on the new structures and systems of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council.