Rural women living with HIV in circumstances of poverty in South Africa face discrimination in relationships and in communities because of their gender, HIV status and economic marginalization. A new Amnesty International report based on interviews with rural women, the majority of them living with HIV, exposes the overwhelming challenges they face in the midst of the severe HIV epidemic affecting the country.

South Africa has called on rich nations to spell out whether cash for a climate change technology fund was new money, and said it was unhelpful of them to label big developing countries "major emitters". Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 energy and environment ministers near Tokyo, also called for greater clarity on the management of World Bank-administered climate funds.

Mothers and children in South Africa are dying in alarming numbers. Far from being on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing child mortality by two-thirds, the country is among only a dozen worldwide where child deaths are rising. In 2000, South Africa committed to eight MDGs set by the UN, which included reducing child and maternal mortality and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Jacob Zuma, the leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, has launched his final attempt to prevent evidence being used against him in a corruption trial. Zuma and his legal team appeared in the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, requesting leave to appeal against the confiscation of documents against him, in 2005.

Women who have sex with other women (WSW) were yesterday revealed to carry high prevalence of HIV in South Africa despite that it was known of them to have less HIV infection rate than gay men. Preliminary research findings about HIV testing and HIV status between South African men who have sex with other men (MSM) and WSW was presented by a New York based research scientist, Theo Sandfort, in Tshwane.

The South African health department has called on drug manufacturers to submit bids to supply the government's antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programme, just days before the current ARV tender is due to expire. AIDS experts and activists said decisions on which drugs to include were made with little consultation.

SAA has been branded a human rights violator for failing to provide adequate boarding equipment for disabled passengers at airports. The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) revealed that disabled passengers were transported to and from SAA aircraft in adapted catering vehicles and manually loaded on to and off planes. On Sunday, a group of disabled people were forced to crawl out of the plane or be carried out at OR Tambo International Airport.

Jacob Zuma, the president of the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, has of late been called a chamaeleon who adapts his speeches to what his audience wants to hear. It's a tactic that has proved controversial, not least when Zuma took up the issue of the death penalty. Since his recent election as head of the party in December, Zuma has indicated that he is in favour of opening a debate on the issue of capital punishment.

GroundWork has released its 6th GroundWork Report, Peak Poison: The Elite Energy Crisis and Environmental Justice. The groundWork Report explores the social and environmental justice impacts of energy crises. It also asks questions about the politics of energy. When government talks about a solution and Eskom about their response, it is a response aimed at the global and national energy elites in service of capital.

In this report, the Special Rapporteur acknowledges the legislative achievements of South Africa, such as the Constitution that is often cited as an example for the protection of economic, social and cultural rights, including for the right to adequate housing. He notes that South Africa has put in place a number of progressive legislative measures and policies aimed at fulfilling the right to adequate housing. Yet, a significant number of South Africans do not have access to this basic human right.

APC thanks the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (“the Authority”) for the opportunity to make comment on the oral presentations on the draft regulations prescribing a list of essential facilities and matters related thereto, pursuant to Section 42(8) of the Electronic Communications Act No. 36 of 2005 (“the Act”). We fully support the introduction of these Essential Facilities Regulations because they will create conditions of open access on a non-discriminatory basis to undersea-based submarine cables.

UNDP Regional Service Centre now have a possibility for an internship in Democratic Governance/Aid Effectiveness at the centre in Johannesburg, for Southern and Eastern Africa. The internship will be unpaid, preferably for a minimum of 6 months, and starting in March or April. Women and candidates from Southern or Eastern Africa are especially encouraged to apply.

To apply, interested individuals are asked to send a cover letter to [email][email protected] with their stated preference for work or focus within Governance, Aid Effectiveness, Corruption or a related area, identifying how this would relate to any academic work they have pursued or will be pursuing in this period, if applicable. Kindly attach a CV. Preference will be given to candidates who reply by 10 March.

A conference on “The Potentialities and Challenges of Constructing a Democratic Developmental State in South Africa” to be held at a venue within the Cradle of Mankind, Gauteng, South Africa, and will take place on Wednesday 4 to Friday 6 June 2008. The Human Sciences Research Council calls on scholars with knowledge of the South African political economy to submit abstracts on the themes listed within the attachment to the convener of the conference, Dr Omano Edigheji ([email protected]) by 28 March 2008.

on March 10, 2008,Judge Hlophe of the Cape High Court (who has been embroiled in a previous corruption scandal related to property developers) issued an order for the forced removal of the residents of Joe Slovo settlement in Langa, as requested by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Western Cape Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, and John Duarte and Prince Xanthi Sigcawu of Thubelisha Homes.

Several white students in South Africa face criminal charges after allegedly forcing black campus employees to eat food that had been urinated on. A video has surfaced which appears to show the students instructing five elderly workers to drink beer and perform athletic tasks. At one point, the University of Free State employees are apparently forced to eat food which has been urinated on.

The 17th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition will be held at the University of Pretoria, South Africa from 30 June to 5 July 2008. Students, academics and judges from all over Africa are invited to participate. All law faculties in Africa are invited to send one faculty representative who works in the field of human rights (dean or another lecturer) who will serve as judge in the preliminary rounds, and two undergraduate students (preferably one man and one woman) who will constitute the team representing its university at the Moot Court.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_01_matubalemurphy.gif by Matuba Mahlatjie.
Matuba Mahlatjie is a gay blogger living in Pretoria. He comments on the possibility of Jacob Zuma becoming the next President of South Africa. He is particularly concerned over the recent acceptance by Zuma to attend a luncheon by Black Journalists Forum in South Africa.
“This forum of black journalists is so anti democracy and transparency. I listened to all their excuses for barring white journalists and they did not make any sense. The truth is they are making us look like uneducated savages who are comfortable with being repellers of change.

It is unfortunate that the people (Journalists) who are supposed to help the nation eradicate the evil spirit of racism - are the ones who are painting the country black and white. All media houses in South Africa have black journalists, but I like the fact that Talk Radio 702 and e.tv deliberately sent white journalist to expose the devil that possess the Black Journalist Forum here in South Africa.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_02_lesbianrules.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_03_bandwidthblog.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_04_jontyfisher.gifThe Fish Bowl comments on an article by Dr Steven Friedman on the political and economic realities of the ANC
“The article summarises what I have been trying to push for some time. We keep trying to look at the ANC through Western prisms, when the leader of the ANC party is not usually the decision-maker. Mbeki was the ultimate decision-maker in his cabinet, but it is this type of leadership that has sparked the current "revolution" in voter sentiment. There are many players in the NEC and the NWC who hold vast business interests, the it is much more likely that a third way scenarion will occur.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_05_yblog.gifYblogZA uses the total eclipse of the moon as a metaphor for the downward spiral of South Africa largely due to the ANC.
Moeletsi Mbeki, brother of President Thabo Mbeki, told the Cape Argus that South Africans had to face the fact the rest of the world had reason to be "very concerned" about the direction in which the country was moving.

“[Moeletsi] Mbeki also criticised new ANC president Jacob Zuma for "bad-mouthing" his own country's political and justice system in a foreign country. Zuma claimed in court papers in Mauritius this week that fraud charges against him were part of a political move against him. Moeletsi Mbeki, who is deputy chairperson of the SA Institute of International Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, said: "Here we have the president of the ANC, the possible future president of the country, claiming that the 16 charges of fraud against him are part of a political campaign to keep him out of office.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_06_khanya.gifKhanya has a philosophical discussion on “political and spiritual identity and personal values” and the separation of the church and state.
“Earlier today I got a message from another blogger about the liberation struggle in South Africa and its spiritual basis. Here are some preliminary thoughts, linked to the example above. I was a member of the Liberal Party, and while the humanist student in the example I gave was not, there were several others with views similar to his. The student whose banning we were protesting against was, however, both a Christian and a member of the Liberal Party. And one of the interesting things was that people with radically different religious backgrounds and worldviews were able to work together in a political party for common political goals. Christians, atheists, humanists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims and Hindus worked together for a common political goal of a democratic nonracial South Africa. Their reasons for pursuing that goal may have been very different, and almost opposite. But no matter what the reasons, they were able to agree on a political goal and a political programme.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_07_abahlali.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/349/feb26_08_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks has another report on the diamond empire of Israeli billionaire, Lev Leviev whose diamond mines in Angola have been cited for human rights violations and which fund illegal settlements in the West Bank and his real estate business in New York using underpaid workers in hazardous conditions.
“Leviev’s wealth was built while trading with a business that was a huge pillar of the South African apartheid regime. He then went on to use the proceeds to construct an apartheid reality in the West Bank.”

* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks and www.africanwomenblogs.com

One legacy of South Africa's extensive mineral deposits is the infrastructure and wealth of the country. But another more troubling legacy is emerging as an increasingly urgent problem: environmental contamination from over 100 years of mining that could severely pollute the country's water, affecting the food chain and citizens' health.

The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to throw out a lawsuit that accuses more than 30 U.S. and European corporations of violating international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government. The case -- three suits being considered jointly -- seeks up to $400 billion in damages from corporations such as Ford Motor Co., IBM Corp., Citigroup Inc., and General Electric Co., for their business relationships with the South African government from 1948 to 1994, according to court papers.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is one of the leading and most diverse international civil society networks, with members and partners in more than 100 countries and around 30 staff members from 20 countries. CIVICUS implements a range of activities focusing on strengthening civil society and its role worldwide. CIVICUS is recruiting a Gender Consultant to advise on the implementation of its Gender Policy and to consider related equality issues. Closing date of applications: 28 February 2008.