"Rural people are very knowledgeable, but they don't have degrees. Neither do they speak the 'right' language. This study helps me to empower the community. I see myself as a voice of the voiceless, committed to the struggle for the advancement of the dignity of our people," John Blessing Karumbidza said, opening his presentation in Vitória. Born in rural Zimbabwe, Karumbidza is a Junior Lecturer in Economic History at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. He was commissioned by Timberwatch to carry out research into the impacts of tree plantations on rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa.

This discussion paper, by Alan Finlay and commissioned by the APC, aims to raise the profile of e-waste issues in developing countries so that the implications of ICTs for development initiatives can be better understood - particularly in the context of the increasing flow of old technology from developed to developing countries. South Africa is thought to be at the forefront of waste management in Africa, and practitioners aim to develop an e-waste model in the country that can serve as a blueprint for an approach to e-waste elsewhere on the continent.

Since 1994, the South African government has embarked on an ambitious land reform programme to redistribute and return land to previously disenfranchised communities. However, many black people lack the knowledge, skills and experience needed to manage their land. Furthermore, this paper finds that the way in which the government is implementing its land reform programme is constraining many of its beneficiaries from making agriculture a more important part of their livelihoods.

An AIDS epidemic as severe as the one plowing through South Africa will change society. But how and along what lines? 'Buckling: The impact of AIDS in South Africa', tackles the question in distinctive and critical-minded fashion – and arrives at disquieting and surprising conclusions. A detailed, multidisciplinary review of research evidence, this short book adopts a unique perspective which reveals more clearly the contingency and complexity of the epidemic's effects. It shows how conventional conceptions of AIDS impact (and programme responses) tend to reflect dominant ideological fixations – particularly the overriding emphasis on productive processes and economic growth, governance and security – and how the wellbeing of humans typically is refracted through those preoccupations.

The fuel shortage in South Africa has started affecting supplies in neighbouring countries dependant on exports from the regional economic power and some petrol stations in Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique have already run dry. Airlines have been unable to refuel and the shortage has caused flight delays.

The SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) condemned what it called Tuesday's secrecy and exclusion of the media from a court appearance of Jacob Zuma. Zuma was charged with rape and released on R20 000 bail until his trial starts on February 13. Sanef continued that reporters were barred entry to the court and were not allowed access to the charge sheet and no reasons could be obtained early on Tuesday.

South Africa has made progress in the fight against corruption, but more needs to be done to eradicate the vice, say analysts - this as the world marks International Anti-Corruption Day, Friday. "There have been efforts within government to clean up corruption," Ayesha Kajee of the South African Institute of International Affairs, a Johannesburg-based think-tank, told IPS. She pointed to the response to claims of graft in a multi-million dollar arms deal, as well as to an oil scandal and a parliamentary travel voucher scam.

The congruence of G8 Summit in Scotland, the UN World Summit + 5 and WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong and the revisions of Beijing + 5 and Cairo + 5 led to 2005 being seen as a landmark year in relation to the 2000 Millennium Declaration and the fight against poverty, injustice and exploitation and men and women's rights violations. It was in this context that the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) was established in September 2004 as a means for a joint mobilization and collaboration for the year 2005. One year after the Johannesburg consultation in September 2004, the Global alliance and the national campaigns are confronted with the decision of whether to continue their cooperation beyond 2005 and if so, how to frame a possible next phase (2006-2007) of the call. 2005 is coming to an end, and with it, the global policy platform, global structures and days for global mobilisation days agreed in Johannesburg, September 2004 have expired. TWO EXTERNAL RESEARCHERS are therefore being sought, to carry out a comprehensive review of the campaign to date, with a view to developing a report that will inform further dialogue on the future of GCAP.

The man who would be president is accused of rape. A soccer star admits to having sex with an under age girl but claims it was consensual and he did not know her age. His wife is charged with assaulting an alleged lover. A young woman in her prime is kidnapped from college and brutally murdered. A jealous lover is charged with killing a police woman. Two young girls disappear from their home in Soweto. A teacher, found guilty by a disciplinary committee of rape, is still teaching in a school. These stories and many more have dominated the headlines since the last Sixteen Days of Activism campaign that runs each year from 25 November (International Day of No Violence Against Women) to 10 December (Human Rights Day). No matter what the outcome of investigations and court cases still pending, the reality that underpins each of these stories is that gender violence is not abating, according to the Agenda website.

In a move that could cast doubt on the continued independence of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Xolela Mangcu has quit as a director of the research institute due to what he calls "undue and inappropriate political interference". Mangcu is the first senior member to break ranks at the HSRC. His sudden resignation could ratchet up fears that government is seeking to impose a greater hold on supposedly autonomous organisations.

South Africans living with HIV/AIDS have once again had a horribly confusing year, thanks to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s promotion of those who denounce antiretroviral drugs. The most memorable alliance the Minister made this year was with the internationally discredited German vitamin salesman, Dr Matthais Rath, who claims that his vitamins can “reverse AIDS”. The Minister’s persistent refusal to denounce the Rath Foundation’s activities has resulted in the Treatment Action Campaign and SA Medical Association resorting to the courts this week to try to force her and her Director-General, Thami Mseleku, to “take measures against [Dr Matthais Rath’s] illegal activities”.

The bruising political row over the rape charge being investigated by police against former deputy president Jacob Zuma has become a barometer of where South Africa stands on gender violence as the Sixteen Days of Activism campaign gets under way. Never before has the campaign, that runs from 25 November- International Day of No Violence Against Women- to 10 December- Human Rights Day - been held in such a charged atmosphere. Leaving aside for a moment what did or did not happen in Zuma's Johannesburg home on 3 November – something we may indeed never know – the unfolding story rings many familiar bells, says this Gender Links commentary.

Lisa Vetten, manager of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation's Gender-Based Violence Programme, will be part of an Agenda e-talk. The e-talk will be held on Thursday the 8th of December from 13:00 - 14:00 SA time. You can join the chat by going to the online community section on the Agenda website (http://www.agenda.org.za) and clicking on Agenda e-talk link or by following the link below.

ActionAid International (AAI) is looking for a dynamic and committed individual to join its Affiliate/ Associate Development Team. This role will be responsible for providing support to the Head of Affiliate/ Associate Development in coordinating the internationalisation process of AAI.

More than 7000 people gathered in rural Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape on Saturday, to celebrate the “Vulamasango Singene” campaign, which aims to secure compensation for victims of betterment dispossession in the province. The stadium in Cofimvaba was filled with people from 85 villages in the western part of the former Transkei, wearing yellow t-shirts with the campaign slogan: Vulamasango Singene (open the doors, we go in). Music and dance groups were performing in front of the excited crowd, who also listened to speak-outs from people whose land was taken away when the betterment policy of the former apartheid government was implemented from the 1930´s and onwards. Nomkhita Davidson spoke about the day when her family was forcibly removed in the 1960s. “They burned our houses and chased us with guns. We ran away without our possessions. A woman had to give birth to her child in the mountains. Gun shots were fired all around us. It was a terrible day”, she said.

A report released by global development, advocacy and relief organisation Oxfam International a few days ago concludes that several countries, including SA, could bring multiple cases against the European Union (EU) and the US - and win. The report showed SA had legal grounds to drag the EU before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over illegal subsidies for six products, including citrus juice, wine and butter, Hilton Zunckel of trade consultancy Floor Incorporated said. SA could also take the US to the world trade body for its illegal subsidisation of maize and sorghum, Zunckel said.

UNIC is looking for someone with knowledge of at least two programming languages, basic systems analysis and design techniques, testing, debugging, and documentation standards, and database design. Good analytical and problem solving skills and ability to handle a range of systems-related issues to work as an Information Systems Assistant in their Pretoria office.

"As the Joint Working Group (JWG) we are proud to be in a Constitutional democracy that honours the equality and dignity of all citizens, as reflected in the judgment. In terms of the current form of both the common and statutory laws of marriage, the Court’s ruling acknowledges the denial of equal protection of the law, as well as the unfair discrimination of the State, against lesbian and gay people. As such, the Court was unanimous in declaring the common law definition of marriage and the Marriage Act unconstitutional, as they infringe our right to equality and dignity. Furthermore, in line with previous decisions, the Court asserts the rights of lesbian and gay people to access equal benefit and protection of the law and for our relationships to hold equal status in the eyes of the law."

For the transcript of the Constitutional Court ruling, visit
http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/ga ylesb.htm

Further information can be found at:
http://www.mask.org.za

Eleven years after South Africa’s miraculous transition from apartheid, the spectre of race has reared itself in the judiciary, the very institution that is tasked with upholding the rule of law. Both black and white judges are now accusing each other of racism in their rulings, reports the New African.

Open verbal war broke out on Tuesday November 29 night between the Western Cape ANC and its key alliance partner, the SA Communist Party, with the SACP accusing "elements" of the ANC leadership of being racist and corrupt, and the ANC hitting back, calling the accusations "childish", "tragic" and devoid of truth. The communists were acting as though they were in heaven and everyone else was in hell, the ANC charged. The extraordinary verbal battle between the two parties came as tensions rise in the ANC ahead of next year's local government elections and against the backdrop of a drawn-out and debilitating regional fight for the heart and soul of the party.