Aids activists are waiting anxiously to see whether South Africa's government will appeal a landmark court ruling Friday that it must provide pregnant HIV (news - web sites)-positive women in state hospitals with a drug that can prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Sunday launched a bare-knuckled attack on United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa for suggesting that President Thabo Mbeki had been involved in underhand activities surrounding the multi-billion rand arms deal.

South Africa's second-largest miner of gold, Gold Fields Ltd., signed an agreement on Wednesday with the representatives of several mining unions to create "one of the most advanced" workplace HIV/AIDS programs in the country, Reuters reports.

In a historic victory for the Treatment Action Campaign, Pretoria High Court Judge Chris Botha ruled on Friday that the South African government must supply the antiretroviral drug nevirapine to all HIV-positive pregnant women in the public health system in order to reduce transmission of the virus from mother to child.

The dispute between Cape Town based Radio 786 and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies which is now before the constitutional court has again highlighted the need for engagement on hate speech versus the freedom of expression. The matter has also raised the incompatibility of apartheid regimes' laws on media and the country's constitution.

The Policy Directorate is seeking two energetic, experienced and analytical professionals who enjoy working with people, doing research, writing and liaising with a wide range of people and organisations, in the above positions.

The purpose of the workshop in Cape Town is multifaceted. Primarily, it aims to train participants on how to use the "Youth to Youth" manual effectively, and thus to empower them to initiate youth activities around HIV/AIDS and Human Rights in their own communities. It is also hoped that the workshop will equip participants with the necessary skills to ensure that they, as future community leaders, will advocate the care of people living with HIV/AIDS in an ethical, judicious and most appropriate manner.

The VSO programme in South Africa currently has over 30 volunteer development workers and focuses on three main sectors: HIV/AIDS; gender; housing, water and sanitation. It is now seeking to recruit a development professional, with the initiative, drive and energy to develop the programme in the housing, water and sanitation sector.

The Soweto Youth Drama Society seeks to employ a young and energetic outgoing person to assist the coordinator to work in primary schools in SOWETO and other surrounding townships.

The GreenHouse Project seeks to employ a person with a strong commitment to people driven development, sustainable urban regeneration and a participatory approach to work. The candidate should have a strong fundraising background with skills in the areas of management and
organisational development.

The National Clearing House on Youth Employment (NCYE) urgently needs to employ a Project Director to co-ordinate the implementation, management and sustainability efforts of the project.

Purpose includes: Identify the origins and causes of new and ongoing conflicts in various parts of Africa; Examine the causes of these conflicts in order to understand more clearly the dynamics of the various factors and forces, and the relationship between peace and development; Support and strengthen skills for facilitating dialogue, including communication and facilitation skills, negotiation, mediation and arbitration.

The Freedom of Expression Institute is deeply distressed that Jonathan Ball Publishers have taken a decision not to publish Robert Kirby's novel "Songs of the Cockroach" on the basis that defamation action may be taken against the publishers by the Democratic Alliance and other characters (or their families) mentioned in the novel.

Peter Marais, former mayor of Cape Town and a member of the New National Party, was sworn in yesterday as premier of South Africa's Western Cape province in a power-sharing deal made with the ruling African National Congress and immediately voiced his support for anti-AIDS efforts, Agence France-Presse reports. In his inaugural address, Marais said that "HIV causes AIDS, full stop," a statement that appears to "sho[w] little caution" for the views of South African President Thabo Mbeki.

The Centre for the Book is an autonomous project of the National Library of South Africa set up to promote a South African culture of reading and writing. The Centre aims to promote the writing, publishing, reading, marketing and distribution of South African books in order to develop a truly South African literary culture. The core functions of the Centre for the Book are book development, lobbying, raising awarenesss, advocacy and acting as a hub of information and as an advice centre for the book world.
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An HIV advertisement that depicts the remorse of a man who infected several women before testing positive, has led to threats to against the actor Sibusiso Mhlongo. Some viewers are apparently unable to tell the difference between the television character and the actor himself.

For the second year running, an under-resourced, rural school in Northern Province has produced the winner of the Maths and Science Teacher of the Year Award.

A number of South Africans of Jewish descent have chosen to express themselves on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "as a matter of conscience and concern for the safety and well being of the Israeli and Palestinian Peoples and for world peace". This is the text of their declaration.

The International Human Rights Academy (IHRA) is to be held from 3 April to 20 April 2002 on Robben Island, Cape Town under the auspices of the Law Faculty of the University of Western Cape (UWC), the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghent (RUG), and the Law Faculty of Utrecht University.