Government has released a list of 149 convicted criminals who have been recommended for political pardons – including perpetrators of some of the most heinous apartheid crimes committed in South Africa. Earlier this year, a coalition of NGOs that included the IJR, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Khulumani Support Group, International Centre for Transitional Justice, South African History Archives Trust, Human Rights Media Centre, and the Freedom of Expression Institute launched a successful constitutional court case challenging the lack of victim participation in the special dispensation allowing for political pardons, says this article on the SA Reconciliation Barometer Blog.

The Conference of the Democratic Left in the Western Cape reiterates its support for the period of action called in October by Abahlali baseMjondolo in the Western Cape in protest at the lack of housing and service delivery. In contrast to others, we regard the tactic of direct action and civil disobedience as legitimate forms of protest under a neo-liberal and pro-capitalist state.

Members of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) will march in Klerksdorp on Friday against corruption, Cosatu said. 'On October 22 the streets of Klerksdorp will be brought to a halt as Cosatu and Samwu members in the North West Province and other trade union activists from all over the country sing and toyi-toyi to expose rampant corruption,' said Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven in a statement on Tuesday.

The media sector has been buzzing with speculation about the reasons why five senior editorial staff at the New Age newspaper simultaneously quit their jobs on Tuesday, a day before the paper was due to launch. Though derided by some as the mouthpiece of the ANC and praised by others as a chance to bring diversity to the media landscape, readers from all quarters have been awaiting the launch of the New Age with great anticipation.

The Right2Know (R2K) Campaign, an umbrella campaign representing a broad front of civil society groups, is campaigning against the Protection of Information Bill - also known as the Secrecy Bill - currently before South Africa's Parliament, which they believe will fundamentally undermine hard-won constitutional rights including access to information and freedom of expression. R2K is currently running a countrywide week of action between 19 – 27 October 2010. Visit their website to find out about events in your area, to sign up against the proposed bill or to join their Facebook or twitter accounts.

In what could be a landmark case, seven schools in the Eastern Cape's OR Tambo district, near Mthatha, are taking the local, provincial and national governments to court due to the lack of resources, saying their pupils' right to basic education has been violated. The attorney representing the schools, Cameron McConnachie, from the Legal Resource Centre, said the right to education by means of proper infrastructure had not yet been tested in a court of law.

Masifundise is a community orientated development NGO in Cape Town, South Africa supporting fishing communities to mobilise and organise at community level to become strong and democratic role players in local community development. As an expanding organisation, Masifundise is desirous take its 30 years of South African experiences across the borders and work towards empowerment of fishing communities and fair re-distribution and management of the marine and freshwater resources.

The top leadership of Zimbabwe’s civil society organizations will meet with South African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday. The meeting, at the instigation of Zuma’s team, will explore ways of how SADC can help Zimbabwe come up with guidelines for violence-free elections, which are expected mid next year. The poll is expected after the drafting of the new constitution.

Lack of affordable and accessible transport is emerging as a major hindrance towards poorer South Africans accessing state health care, especially for those living in rural areas. The Western Cape is perceived as a well resourced province, but for some HIV-positive patients living in Mooreesburg, accessing treatment means relying on the goodwill of strangers for a lift and running the danger of defaulting on their treatment.

Despite liberal laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) students at schools and at tertiary institutions are faced with the harsh reality of prejudice characterised by homophobic slurs despite policies meant to protect learners. The South African Schools Act states that a school must serve learners’ educational requirements without unfairly discriminating. However previous research conducted showed that discrimination experienced by lesbian and gay people at schools is prevalent.

The Johannesburg edition of the 17th annual Out In Africa Film Festival officially opened on 14 October Thursday at NuMetro, Hyde Park, with the screening of Loose Cannons. Launched in 1994 with the aim of celebrating the inclusion of the clause prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, the Out In Africa South African Gay & Lesbian Film Festival sets out to address the lack of visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals in the South African social and cultural life after decades of apartheid repression.

Fairtrade has assisted greatly in steering agricultural in a developmental direction, despite its lack of a bottom–up approach, says this post on the blog of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape. However, in South Africa, with its stark legacy of oppression more is needed. However, Fairtrade beneficiaries need to lead the process of bottom up development, to direct the Fairtrade movement in terms of their reality and their needs.

Four NGOs have criticised a social movement for disrupting ordinary life in Cape Town with a protest campaign aimed at highlighting a lack of service delivery in informal settlements. But Abahlali baseMjondolo, which has launched the strike in informal settlements, have responded, saying they have never called for violence and accusing one of the NGOs, the Treatment Action Campaign, of double standards. This post contains the original statement issued by COSATU Khayelitsha, the Treatment Action Campaign the Social Justice Coalition and Equal Education, calling for a rejection of Abahlali baseMjondolo's tactics and a responding statement from Abahlali baseMjondolo.

The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) is offering 10 fellowships to enhance news media coverage of complex issues surrounding HIV and AIDS in South Africa. The IWMF will partner with media organisations in South Africa to identify eligible senior reporters working on HIV/AIDS.

A lack of space has forced psychiatrists at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital to accommodate adolescents as young as 13 in the same wards as adult psychiatric patients, often risking their safety. 'This has tremendous implications for the teenagers’ safety,' said child psychologist Wendy Duncan. 'But if the young person needs secure care, in other words, they need to be in a facility that’s closed, the door is locked, then we have no choice but to accommodate them here at Bara,' said Duncan.

Two more passenger 'fast-train' routes are being mooted, one between Johannesburg and Durban and the other from Johannesburg to the north of the country. Ordinary citizens, states Saliem Fakir, may wonder if we need to spend scarce money on new rail infrastructure. 'Is South Africa’s money not better spent on improving freight rail that could take lots of trucks off our roads by transporting goods safely and easily to and from our harbours? And what about public transport for the poor?'

'Quite obviously, the first job of the courts is to enforce the Constitution and the rights which it contains. A person whose home has been destroyed and who has nowhere she can legally live, has no access to housing and is denied one of the most fundamental necessities of life. A court cannot fold its arms and say that this is bad luck, it is the consequence of apartheid, and one day things may change. The question is not whether the court should do something. Rather, it is what the court should do.' - Advocate Geoff Budlender, the Second Irene Grootboom Memorial Lecture (2010) in Salt River, 11 October 2010.

"The way political parties conduct their affairs will determine the quality and strength of South Africa’s democracy," begins this research into the internal functioning of South African political parties by Idasa’s Political Information & Monitoring Service (PIMS). "Among the aims of this PIMS research project is to provide a comprehensive assessment of existing internal interest disclosure models and practices by South African political parties and to provide a best-practice guide for use in South Africa and possibly elsewhere on the African continent."

The Unemployed People's Movement will March on Jacob Zuma in Durban on 14 October 2010 in support of an earlier letter of demand issued to South Africa's president.

State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele has refused to supply a report on 'information peddling' - despite the information being revealed in an open parliamentary committee meeting with media present. His refusal is seen as a foretaste of a new era of state secrecy, following Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s refusal to release President Jacob Zuma’s flight details.