The directive by the ANC-led government that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) investigate the possibility of a third force being involved in recent protests, while the ANC itself acknowledges that the issues raised by protesters are genuine, is very mischievous and a waste of resources. This seems to be a tactic to split the forces protesting for change and also to divert attention from the issues leading to protests.

South Africa's most important corruption trial since liberation has ended in a 15-year prison sentence for Schabir Shaik, financial adviser to the country's deputy president, Jacob Zuma. The long prison term adds to the pressure on President Thabo Mbeki - who soon faces a crucial G8 Heads of Government Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland - to fire Zuma, the leading contender to succeed him as head of state.

Elephants are back in South Africa's semi-arid Karoo region for the first time in more than 150 years, adding new life to a harsh environment that saw much of its large wildlife exterminated long ago. The family group of 12 elephants was relocated from South Africa's Kruger National Park to Kuzuko, a 14,500 hectare (35,830 acres) nature reserve on the Karoo's southern boundary.

The Education Portfolio Committee was on May 31 briefed on 'Emerging Voices: Report on Education in South African Rural Communities' which was a study on rural education in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. The Nelson Mandela Foundation, the University of Fort Hare, the Human Sciences Research Council and the Education Policy Consortium had been involved in producing the survey and report. The presenters covered the philosophy underpinning the research methodology and did not provide any hard findings, although these do exist. The philosophical approach of the Report was based on looking at rural communities as having potential within themselves to challenge problems of poverty and not looking at them as "deficit models" (communities where resources are so lacking that the only solution is to provide them with resources from outside).

A South African political party has asked parliament to debate claims that relatives of cabinet members benefited from a controversial oil deal. The Freedom Front said it sought "an urgent debate about apparent conflicts of interest" around the "Oilgate" case. Two weeks ago, the Mail & Guardian newspaper reported that the governing ANC received $2m from a state oil deal. A week later, a firm involved in the purchase won an interdict barring the paper from printing further details.

Deputy President Jacob Zuma was studying the guilty verdict in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial before making any comment, a statement from the government communications department said in response to the verdict. Shaik was convicted in the Durban High Court on two counts of corruption and one of fraud relating to alleged irregular financial dealings with Zuma.

"The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is disturbed by the government's over-reaction to protest actions by members of some of our poorest communities over the past three weeks. Instead of listening and talking to the people, who are demanding basic services and legitimate rights, and addressing their concerns, the government seems to want to criminalise them. In one case, in Harrismith, it has even brought wild charges of sedition against protesters. It has also involved the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). This demonstrates a degree of paranoia among sections of the government."

South African police have arrested 33 people after housing protests in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the protesters who had set up burning barricades and threw stones at passing vehicles. Grievances over housing shortages and poor services have prompted demonstrations in four Cape Town neighbourhoods in the past two weeks.

Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has for the past three years been promoting an untested diet for people with AIDS-related illnesses, and now believes that it could be an alternative to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. As the AIDS epidemic intensifies, thousands of sick and desperate people have turned to controversial nutrition nurse Tine van der Maas who advocates that the immune system can be restored through a diet based on garlic, lemons, olive oil and a supplement called Africa’s Solution.

President Thabo Mbeki has issued a stern warning that corruption will not be tolerated among members of his cabinet and the executive structures in provincial and local government. Mbeki says the government will have to ensure that the work of its executive structures - national ministers, provincial premiers and provincial ministers as well as mayors and members of their executives - "is not undermined or compromised by corruption". Mbeki's comments come amid intense scrutiny of Deputy President Jacob Zuma's financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who is on trial in the Durban High Court, facing fraud and corruption charges for allegedly soliciting a bribe from French arms company Thales. Zuma has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.

Despite claims that Bt cotton will catapult African farmers out of poverty, recent reports revealed that the majority of Bt small-scale cotton farmers on the Makhathini Flats in South Africa have stopped planting Bt cotton because they cannot repay their debts. A five year study by Biowatch South Africa, has shown that small-scale cotton farmers in Northern KwaZulu Natal have not benefited from Bt cotton and that the hype surrounding this case is just that - a media hype created by American biotechnology companies to try and convince the rest of Africa why they should approve genetically modified crops. A summary of this study has just been published in GRAIN's quarterly magazine, Seedling (available at http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=330).

"The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-South Africa and the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) are deeply shocked by the judgment in the Johannesburg High Court banning publication by the Mail & Guardian of further details of the "Oilgate" scandal. The scandal involves oil company Imvume, state oil company PetroSA, and the questionable gift of R11-million of taxpayers' money to the 2004 election fund of the African National Congress plus a further irregular payment of R11-million of taxpayers' money to make good the shortfall created by the payment to the ANC. The two organisations regard the issue as a matter of great public interest because of the improper use of taxpayers' money and the judgment which has enabled legal censorship to be imposed on the newspaper."

Applications for this one-year contract (renewable) with the South African New Economics (SANE) Network are invited from suitably qualified persons. SANE advocates and demonstrates a new paradigm of macro economic policy and sustainable development to end poverty and create an equitable society. To that end it designs and implements local economic development projects to demonstrate alternative models. It also conducts education and training for organisations and individuals to promote critical thinking.

Housing protests in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha set Cape Town ablaze on Monday as residents burned tires in Landsdowne Road, Khayelitsha as well as Gugulethu. In Gugs, the whole of NY1, the township thoroughfare, was blockaded every 100 metres with piles of burning tires. Residents were expressing anger at the lack of service delivery in terms of houses as well as water and electricity for informal settlements.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation invites applications for the position of Fundraising Manager. The incumbent will be responsible for implementing a fundraising strategy to secure the resources needed for successful implementation of CIVICUS programmes. This position will involve extensive work in developing and writing grant proposals, based on CIVICUS' strategic and operating plans and current and new programming.

A woman is killed every six hours in South Africa by her partner and less than 40 percent of the homicides lead to a conviction, according to a new study. The study is further evidence of the deep social scars that remain a decade after the end of apartheid, a regime that provoked a major upsurge in violence and alcoholism and stigmatized and disempowered black men, according to analysts.

South Africa's Constitutional Court was told Tuesday that barring same-sex couples from marrying is discrimination. The court was hearing a legal challenge brought by Marie Fourie and Cecilia Bonthuys, who have been partners since 1994 but are unable to marry. Last year the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman discriminated unfairly against same-sex couples, and that common law should be developed to take this into account.

The latest edition of ePoliticsSA from IDASA evaluates draft legislation currently in process which aims to address the issue of transformation in the judiciary. An introduction to the issue notes that the transformation of South Africa’s judiciary is constitutionally prescribed, necessary and inevitable – what is important about transformation, however, is the form it takes. Since the structure of the courts and composition of the judiciary in South Africa are firmly rooted in apartheid, the question is not whether transformation should occur, but what steps should be taken to ensure that transformation processes are effective, transparent and respect the independence of the judiciary.

South African officials are due to provide technical and financial aid to public service institutions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over a three-year period, a government minister said on Tuesday. The South African experts would also help with anti-corruption measures, and the setting up of a national public administration training institute.

Education Minister Naledi Pandor has criticised tertiary education institutions for focusing on claiming funding without making enough effort to ensure that students passed. SA spent R1,5bn a year - about half of the state's higher education subsidy - on students who dropped out of study, Pandor said on Friday.