A recent row in South Africa over the deployment of HIV-positive soldiers on peacekeeping missions has turned the spotlight on the issue of HIV testing and the exclusion of HIV-positive individuals from the army. South Africa's Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota sparked controversy earlier this month when news reports quoted him as saying: "Anybody with the condition (HIV/AIDS) cannot be recruited (into the defence force)."

Several South African National Defence Force (SANDF) bases and their troops were identified in 2001 to help carry out a plan to overthrow the state, the Pretoria High Court heard in the Boeremag treason trial on Wednesday.

The Community Agency for Social Enquiry, a leading South African research NGO, invites applications for our 2004 Internship Programme. The Programme is a six-month internship aimed at young graduates who are planning a career in research and are committed to development in South Africa.

What has freedom brought? It is almost 10 years since apartheid ended and government has published its draft review of its first decade in power to hold up a mirror to its own performance. Its reflection of the freedom years reveals a chequered pattern - good in parts; patchy in others. There are more poor households than there were in 1994 when the African National Congress (ANC) was voted in. Then, 28 percent of all households lived in poverty; that figure has now grown to over one in three households.

Environmental activist group Earthlife Africa has accused the department of minerals and energy of having a public participation process designed to "delay and distort" public engagement around the country's radioactive waste policy.

South African Justice Minister Penuell Maduna was instructed by the US government to oppose lawsuits brought in the US against multi-national corporations which allegedly benefited from apartheid, lawyer Michael Hausfeld has alleged. Professor Hausfeld told the Cape Town Press Club he had been told by Khulumani victims who attended a reparations meeting last month that Maduna had been given the instruction by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

South African Justice Minister Penuell Maduna was instructed by the US government to oppose lawsuits brought in the US against multi-national corporations which allegedly benefited from apartheid, lawyer Michael Hausfeld has alleged. Professor Hausfeld told the Cape Town Press Club he had been told by Khulumani victims who attended a reparations meeting last month that Maduna had been given the instruction by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Environmental activist group Earthlife Africa has accused the department of minerals and energy of having a public participation process designed to "delay and distort" public engagement around the country's radioactive waste policy.

As Parliament readied itself for business after re-opening last week, one of the major issues that may likely generate hot debate touches on the sovereignty of the country, with the NPP Government trying to get the House to ratify a Bilateral Non-Surrender Agreement (BNSA) Ghana is said to have signed with the United States (US).

Deputy President Jacob Zuma took a swipe at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) late last week, saying three years was a long time for it to fail to find any evidence of wrongdoing or corruption against him. The deputy president was referring to the three-year probe into allegations he was involved in corruption related to South Africa's multibillion-rand arms deal.

We are an established NGO, with the aims of reconciliation and comunity development through a range of grassroots projects including the Tsebong Community library, computer training courses for the disadvantaged, the Iphediseng women's sewing project, art programmes and the Interactive Themba Theatre group who are pioneering HIV/AIDs education through drama. We are looking for a part time administrator to start at the end of November. Ideally you are a mature person with initiative, fluent English and a minimum of one African language ( preferably Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho). You will also have at least 3 years' previous experience in an office environment, with a good working knowledge of Word, Excel and email with proven skills in book-keeping as your role will be to deliver the day to day administration of the office at the Centre and its various projects. The salary we can offer is from R2750pm for 3 days a week. Please send your cv & letter of application/phone number, with current salary and references by fax to 011 477 3490, email [email][email protected] or post PO Box 468 Westhoven 2142 Jo’burg by NOON Wednesday 29th Oct. Interviews will be at the Centre on Friday 31st Oct.

Branch and regional structures of the African National Congress (ANC) are questioning the decision of their president, Thabo Mbeki, to use a legal route to resolve a party problem. Some members and leaders say the appointment of a commission of inquiry into allegations that national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was a spy was shortsighted and ill-advised. They are concerned that Mbeki failed to provide leadership or seek "a political solution to a political problem" which threatens to divide the party.

AIDS experts have raised doubts about a new study suggesting South Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic peaked in 2002 and was expected to level off as fewer new infections were reported. The study, published in the recent issue of the African Journal of AIDS Research, said that the epidemic in South Africa peaked last year with about 4.69 million people living with HIV/AIDS and had started to level off.

Every district in the country will be compelled to offer anti-retroviral drugs to citizens if Cabinet approves the drug rollout plan that is expected to be presented to it in the near future. The operational plan has been substantially reworked since the task team headed by Dr Tony Mbewu presented its proposals to Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and provincial MECs on 30 September.

Child rights groups are increasingly alarmed at attempts by Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya to fast-track the Children's Bill ahead of next year's election. The Children's Bill - meant to replace the Child Care Act of 1983 - is a holistic approach to the rights of all children. Among other things it would have put in place a new child-friendly court system.

The Freedom of Expression Institute's (FXI) Anti-Censorship Programme (ACP)
has just released its second report, which tracks the progress of the programme since the release of its first report in May 2003. The report notes the fact that censorship has now firmly set in, in South Africa.

The multinational companies currently being sued in the United States by the non-profit Khulumani Support Group were not merely doing business in apartheid South Africa, they were knowingly aiding, abetting and in effect sustaining the racist regime. So says US attorney Michael Hausfeld, who lodged the so-called apartheid lawsuit in New York on behalf of some 82 members of the Khulumani group.

Timberwatch, a coalition of Environmental NGOs and individuals, has called on the South African government as well as the timber industry, to halt the planting of new industrial timber plantations in naturally vegetated areas, especially grasslands.

South Africa said Monday it had smashed a cross-border gang of rhino poachers in a joint operation with neighbouring Mozambique, but the incidents have raised concerns about security in a planned transfrontier park. The first incident occurred in early September, when a heavily pregnant female rhino was found shot dead with her horn removed in South Africa's famed Kruger National Park, the country's Environment Ministry said in a statement.

The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef), the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) and the South Africa Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-SA) have expressed disappointment at Hefer Commission chairman Justice Joos Hefer's ruling that former Sunday Times reporter Ranjeni Munusamy will have to testify before the commission. She was subpoenaed to give evidence to the commission about her story that the African National Congress (ANC) investigated National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka as an apartheid government spy. The judge ignored a substantive argument from the three organisations, which stated that media freedom and journalists' lives would be in danger if they were forced to testify and identify their sources.