The last of the 3,200 miners trapped deep in a South African gold shaft for more than 24 hours has been rescued. Buyelwa Sonjica, South Africa's minister for minerals and energy, said that the operation finished on Thursday as the last group was brought to the surface.

The Johannesburg Pride week took off at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, on Monday 01 October with educational workshops by gay and lesbian organisations such as OUT LGBT-Wellbeing (OUT), Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW), Behind The Mask (BTM) and some other affiliates. Sexual and mental health, sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community and voluntary testing were central issues of discussion leading to the Johannesburg Pride Parade.

With the view to preserving the history of black gay people in South Africa, Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (formerly Gays and Lesbians Archives of South Africa [GALA]) published a book entitled Till the time of trial – The Prison letters of Simon Nkoli. The book was launched a week ago in Johannesburg at Constitution Hill. While celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action contributes to the development of human rights and democracy in the country by sharing its archived information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) affairs with communities.

The Legaletlwa High School has opened a new computer centre to allow school going kids access to the web. The centre was opened by the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi. Present at the launch of the centre were Mec of education in Limpopo Dr Aaron Motswaledi, Mayor of greater Sekhukhune municipality His Excellency Namane Masemola, Makhuduthamaga mayor Queen Mkhabela, and the Chief Executive Officer of TSS (Tactical Software Systems) Mr. Danny Mackay.

The African Business Leadership Conference 2007 will be held in Accra, Ghana, October 17-19, 2007. Among the renowned speakers at the conference, writes Carole Muchendu, will be Jerry Vilakazi, whose passion for transformation, social equality and the economic development of the entire African Continent is evident in his current role as CEO of Business Unity of South Africa (BUSA).

SaferAfrica is proud to partner with the International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC) on the presentation of the Practical Solutions To Small Arms Control In Africa 2007 Conference. It will take place from 14 to 16 November 2007 at the Holiday Inn, Pretoria, South Africa. The theme of the conference is how to practically tackle the scourge of small arms and light weapons in Africa.

A new focus on healthcare in South Africa's most densely populated inner-city suburb, is to help regenerate a community hard hit by HIV/AIDS, poverty and crime. Hillbrow used to be the most trendy and cosmopolitan area in Johannesburg; today it is thought to be one of the most tightly packed places on the continent.

Environmentalists and tour operators appear to be losing the battle against mining companies in Mpumalanga, a province in the east of South Africa. This confrontation - which also pits two ministries against each other - will determine the future of hundreds of lakes and rivers, and has implications for the economic sustainability of the province. All parties in the long running dispute argue that they are working towards the economic development of the province in general, and of the Mpumalanga Lake District in particular. They differ fundamentally, however, over methods of achieving this goal and over the long term sustainability of their respective plans.

We are appalled and deeply disturbed by the unprovoked violent and aggressive action of the SAPS at the public gathering organised by Abahlali baseMjondolo held in Sydenham, Durban on 28 September.

CIVICUS seeks to recruit Associates for its Civil Society Watch Programme (CSW).

Deputy Director (Communications and fundraising)
AFRA is an independent progressive Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), working with rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal on land rights and rural development issues.

The South African E-government Learning Network workshop was held recently in Pretoria to learn about Legislative framework that governs ICT, Framework gap analysis, Feedback on the implementation of the frameworks and the way-forward for ICTs in South Africa. 'we are here to learn and understand ICT legislation, to improve service delivery and ensure compliance' said Lufuno Raliphana, director at the Department of Public Service and Administration.

A call for papers has been issued for Labour Crossings: World , Work and History, an international conference to be held at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa from Friday 5 September to Monday 8 September 2008, and organised by the History Workshop and the Centre for Sociological Research, South Africa, in association with the International Association of Labour History Institutions and the International Conference of Labour and Social History.

A trial of the microbicide gel, Carraguard, is being run by the Population Council, an international non-profit organisation, at three sites in South Africa: the Setshaba Research Centre in Soshanguve, in Cape Town and in KwaZulu-Natal Province. Microbicides include a range of products - such as gels, films and sponges - that could help prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. No microbicide has yet been shown to be effective.

When Mohsin Hendricks, an Imam in South Africa, revealed that he was gay he expected protests and calls for his death. But he never imagined he would talk about his sexuality and religion publically. Hendricks appears in Jihad for Love, a documentary about gay Muslim men and women in Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt and South Africa. Indian filmmaker Parvez Sharma, who is gay himself, wants his movie to reach Muslim communities, even those where being homosexual remains a crime punishable by death.

Police arrested ten people who were part of a large group of protesters blocking the N4 highway linking South Africa and Botswana earlier this month. Residents of the tiny village of Ntsweletsoku were so angry about the persistent water shortages in their area that they resorted to violent demonstrations to attract the attention of the authorities. Ntsweletsoku is part of the arid Lehurutse area in South Africa’s North West Province close to the border with Botswana.

Abdelbagi Jibril, director of the Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre, compares South Africa's economic and trade relations with China and the Arab Gulf states and its defence of the Khartoum regime with its indifference towards the tragedy of the people of Darfur, which, he concludes, is tantamount to the genocide of Africans.

The South African government is playing an increasingly important role in the political and economic affairs of the African continent. South Africa’s increasing political role is directly linked to its economic might. Its economy accounts for about 45 per cent of Africa’s GDP, equivalent of three times the size of the second biggest economy in Africa (Egypt). South Africa's economic interest and importance are the driving forces behind its political stands on some of the crucial situations facing Africa today, including Darfur. Within the African Union (AU), South Africa is a member of the influential Peace and Security Council, where vital measures affecting peace and security in Africa are discussed and acted on. At the international level, South Africa is currently a member of the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council.

South Africa and Sudan, south Sudan

South Africa has developed a special relationship with Sudan, especially after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005. The two countries collaborate in various economic and commercial fields. They have growing cooperation in the energy sector, as well as in security and military fields. Immediately following the signing of the CPA, South Africa decided to establish a diplomatic mission in Sudan, which opened soon after. President Thabo Mbeki was the only African head of state outside of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to attend all the concluding sessions of the important phases of the political negotiations between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) and Khartoum that ended in Nairobi with the signing of the CPA on 9 January 2005. He was also among the few African heads of state to attend the coronation of the late Dr John Garang as the first Vice-President of Sudan in July 2005.

After the defeat of apartheid and the establishment of a democratic nation in 1994, the ANC government made a strategic decision to support the people of south Sudan and their representative organisation the SPLM/A. A number of SPLM/A cadres received training and education in South Africa. Cooperation in this field continues through the Pretoria-based Centre for African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa. A considerable contingent of scholars and students from south Sudan are now attending South African universities. Following the increase in the production of commercially viable quantities of Sudanese crude oil and the establishment of the autonomous Government of South Sudan, the relationship between the two countries has been further strengthened and consolidated. The struggle of the people of south Sudan for justice and equality was the cornerstone of South Africa’s interest.

It has been observed that some SPLM/A supporters, especially those who participated in the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks on Darfur, hold unusual enmity towards the insurgent movements and people of Darfur. These cadres have aggressively rejected the demands of the people of Darfur for a proportionate share in the economic and political life of the country, on the grounds that such demands will affect the CPA. Some of them even claim that the people of Darfur instigated the destruction of their region in order to sabotage the peace agreement. Since then, some SPLM/A elements have launched a sinister campaign against the demands of Darfurians for justice and equality. This campaign has reached many parts of east, west and southern Africa.

South Africa and China

South Africa has strong trade and economic ties with China. There are political and ideological affinities, inherited from the era of black South Africa’s revolution against the oppressive apartheid regime. This relationship has created a complicated dynamic, especially at international decision-making fora. Both China and South Africa are currently members of the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council. At the international level we have observed that South Africa and China assume similar positions on some issues in the area of international peace, security and human rights, in particular on the situation in Darfur.

South Africa and the Arab Gulf states

South Africa has strong trade and economic relationships with countries in the Arabian Gulf region. In fact, the Gulf region is becoming an important trade zone and It holds great potential for South Africa, not only as an export market and a source of energy, but also as a strategic source of foreign direct investment. During the past few years, the oil-rich Arab Gulf states have invested billions of US dollars from surplus oil revenue in real estate, private equity investment, infrastructure development, tourism and other related business affairs in South Africa. Sudan represents a special area of geopolitical interest for the Gulf States. Protecting the Arab-centric government of General El Bashir is one of the main factors, which bring together all members of the League of Arab States in their support of Khartoum. On the other hand, it is clear that most states in sub-Saharan Africa have yet to understand the full ramifications of the crisis in Darfur: which is largely driven by the quest for encroachment on the land owned by indigenous African tribes.

South Africa and Darfur

The position of the government of South Africa vis-à-vis the situation in Darfur is characterised by indifference to the suffering of the victims of this human tragedy. Although South Africa participated in the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), and has sent some military and police forces to Darfur, the effectiveness of its contribution remains disproportionate to the role of political leadership that it actively pursues in relation to the Dafurian situation.

Out of the total AMIS authorised troops of 6,171 military and 1,560 police personnel, South Africa has contributed some 600 individuals. Recently, we have observed that the government of South Africa increasingly supports the Khartoum government in its handling of Darfur. South Africa continues to use its membership of the AU Peace and Security Council to back the position assumed by Sudan and its north and east African allies within AU institutions. At the international level the country follows a similar policy. On no less than a dozen occasions, South Africa has used its membership of the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council to oppose and water down projects and resolutions which could have helped provide the victims of the armed conflict in Darfur with protection and relief. Below are some examples of South Africa’s callous position on Darfur.

On 12 July 2007, three members of the UN Security Council, Britain, France and Ghana, submitted a draft resolution for consideration and action by other members of the council. Because of the gravity of the situation on the ground, the resolution was tabled under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The draft text approved the 'hybrid' African Union-United Nations force. Although the text was reasonably prepared, it ran into strong opposition from some council members, in particular China and South Africa took the lead.

South Africa's ambassador to the UN in New York, Dumisani Kumalo, labelled the draft resolution as 'totally unacceptable'. He further accused the sponsors, including Ghana, of 'throwing everything into the kitchen sink'. He strongly supported the position of the Sudanese government that the resolution should be 'more Sudan friendly'; and that it should drop 'irrelevant' and 'alien' issues, like the threat of 'other measures', usually meaning sanctions. Ambassador Kumalo has been consistent on this position. In March 2007, when he was President of the Security Council, he said that 'the UN can't send troops into Darfur without the permission of the Sudanese Government…[the] UN can't just order the marines into a country'. This assertion is irrelevant and misleading about UN peacekeepers being drawn from the US marines.

The irony is that the government of South Africa seems to be blindly supporting Khartoum. On 17 June 2007, at a press conference given by the UN Security Council delegation following a meeting in Khartoum with Sudan’s president, Ambassador Kumalo was quoted as saying 'I can tell you that the Foreign Minister told us in no uncertain terms that the Government of Sudan accepted the hybrid operation without any conditionality. The President himself just confirmed the same thing to us'. Indeed, Sudan’s president did not miss out on the opportunity to declare that '…no Western European soldier will touch Sudan’s soil', thus belying Kumalo’s statement.

At the High Level Meeting held in New York, Sudan, supported by South Africa and other AU members, formally objected to the deployment in Darfur of infantry contingents from Uruguay and Thailand. They also objected to the deployment of a military engineering unit from Norway. These objections are clear violations of the AU agreement with the UN on the UN/AU hybrid military presence in Darfur. They disregard completely the letter and the spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 1769 (2007), which authorised the UN/AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

At the fifth session of the UN Human Rights Council held in Geneva, 12–30 March 2007, many human rights activists were shocked when the South African delegation stood fast in support of the Sudanese government. Together with Algeria, they endorsed a weak resolution text that praised Sudan’s militaristic policy in Darfur. This occurred despite the almost unanimous opinion among delegates from sub-Saharan Africa, including SADC countries, that they could no longer extend unconditional backing to the government of Sudan for its crimes in Darfur. When their efforts failed, the delegation of South Africa used all kinds of tactics to water down the resolution, introduced by the EU, on the situation in Sudan.

The position of the ANC government in South Africa vis-à-vis the situation in Darfur is disappointing. Providing unconditional political and diplomatic support to the government of Sudan amounts to certain complicity. Moreover, efforts of the government of South Africa to abort robust regional and international plans to protect the defenceless civilian population in Darfur betray the ideals of justice, human dignity, equality, liberty and peaceful coexistence, for which the South African masses fought an heroic rebellion against the racist apartheid regime. Because of such a glorious history, the position of the ANC government in South Africa, in support of the the crimes the Sudanese government continues to commit in Darfur, disturbs the victims of this tragedy more than the positions of China, Egypt, Algeria, Russia and other friends of Sudan. External observers too could easily point out that if Africans themselves don’t give a hang about African victims of the Darfur tragedy, why should the rest of the world care?

In 2010, South Africa is expected to host the Football World Cup. This important global manifestation will focus the world’s attention on South Africa as a preferred destination for tourism, trade and investment. Hosting this prestigious global tournament should place a certain moral responsibility on the host nation regarding the values of solidarity, friendship, peace, justice and human dignity. What we see in South Africa’s policy towards Darfur is the antithesis of these high moral values. It should be rejected by all peace-loving people. The world should know that by protecting the government of Sudan over Darfur, South Africa has tainted its hands. It supports a killer regime that actively pursues a policy of imposing living conditions that will eventually lead to the destruction, in whole or in part, of a specific group of people because of their ethnic or tribal background. Dafur is tantamount to the genocide of Africans.

* Abdelbagi Jibril is Executive Director of the Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre.

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Dear Mr Nayager,

Forgive me for taking your time, but I felt that, given what I have heard about you and what is going on there, I had to do everything possible to reach you in a way that, maybe, just maybe, no one has been able to do.

While civil society movements have grown, become more vocal and are leading municipal protests, they pose no immediate threat to the ruling African National Congress (ANC), analysts say. These non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have made their presence felt recently by staging service delivery protests across the country, especially in Gauteng. The government has responded by accusing the organisers of misleading communities, saying development plans were already in place.

Unaccompanied children, an average of 14 years old but sometimes as young as seven, are being drawn to South Africa from neighbouring states in the hope of work and receiving an education, according to report published by Save the Children (UK). The report, compiled from a survey of 130 undocumented children in South Africa, said 'there are sufficiently large numbers of children crossing borders unaccompanied to warrant major concern'. An estimated 1,500 underage Zimbabweans enter South Africa each year.