The blog has a photo gallery of the Global Day of Action Against UN Conference of Polluters (COP) in Durban, while the Durban Climate Justice blog has a

'We demand that climate change solutions put indigenous knowledge systems at the centre of policies to promote biodiversity, rehabilitate our ecosystems and rebuild the livlihoods destroyed by colonialism, apartheid and economic imperialism. Rural women are the holders of indigenous knowledge - our marginalisation from economic production, scientific knowledge generation and social systems has resulted in the steady loss of such knowledge to Africa, thereby making us more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.'

'On Saturday 3 December, the mid-point of COP 17, about 12,000 people from across the continent and the world gathered in Durban to demand climate justice and unite against climate change. The march was largely peaceful, with divergent activist groups uniting to demand action from governments around the world. There was, however, disruption during the course of the march in which a group of about 300 protesters, dressed in official COP17 volunteer uniforms tore up placards, physically threatened and attacked activists participating in the march.'

ANC supporters dressed in the COP17 volunteers' tracksuits tossed stones and water bottles at members of civil society organisations that were marching in protest against climate change, the corporate-funded lack of progress at COP17 and other green issues in Durban on Saturday. At around 11am, as the protesters were still congregating at Botha's Park near Warwick Triangle in Durban, a phalanx of volunteers joined the march, in 'support of COP17' and 'in defence of President Zuma', according to some of the 200 or so volunteers who spoke to the Mail & Guardian.

Protesting outside the Durban climate talks, members of the Southern African Rural Women’s Assembly are expressing their frustration with international inaction on climate: 'We’ve come to join other rural women farmers from the southern African region,' said Thandiure Chidararume, a member of ActionAid, an international organisation that helped bring together this meeting of the Southern African Rural Women’s Assembly. The assembly unites women’s farming and agricultural unions and movements from around the world. The protesters, who also have the support of women’s movements in Latin America, do not believe that government negotiators represent their interests.

The ANC will push for a new interventionist economic nationalism, rather than a simplistic nationalisation of the country's $2.5-trillion in resources not yet mined, which was what ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema had wanted. The Mail & Guardian has learned from various sources that central to this plan is to force competitive input prices through taxes and other penalties and for state institutions to take bigger stakes in companies that hold key strategic infrastructure minerals.

'I am a woman trapped in a man’s body. People ask me whether I am a woman and I answer, no. I have no feelings to women, I prefer relationships with men.' Gulam Peterson sighs and takes a long drag from his cigarette: 'Transgender sex workers have a tough time. They often get beaten up and raped by so-called clients insisting on a full house. Going to the police is not even an option. Going to a clinic or a hospital even more so,' says the tall, lanky man, dressed today in khaki slacks and a body-hugging denim jacket.

International climate negotiators were at odds Tuesday 29 November on how to raise billions of dollars to help poor countries cope with global warming. Details of the tussle over the funding emerged as the UN's weather agency reported that 2011 was tied as the 10th hottest year since records began in 1850. Putting the final touches on what's known as the Green Climate Fund is a top issue at the 192-party UN climate conference.

Nearly half a million asylum seekers in South Africa may lose their right to earn a living or study while their refugee status is being determined after indications that the government plans to amend legislation governing those rights. An announcement on 23 November that Cabinet is 'reviewing' the minimum rights of immigrants, including the right to work and study, was followed by a media briefing two days later at which Mkuseli Apleni, Director General of the Department of Home Affairs, suggested that the asylum seeker system was being abused.

A refugee from Eritrea has obtained an urgent North Gauteng High Court order to force Home Affairs to supply him with application forms and to immediately process his application for travel documents so that he can attend a peace conference in Djibouti next month. Tsehaye Yoel Alem applied for a court order with the help of Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) after being told Home Affairs no longer issued refugee travel documents as the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees no longer provided such documents. He said there was no certainty as to what Home Affairs was doing to reinstate the issuing of refugee travel documents and it in effect meant it was almost impossible for refugees like himself to travel outside SA.

Condom brand Durex has issued a hasty apology over an offensive, misogynist tweet apparently sent out by their public relations company on Friday. Blog memeburn.com breaks down the various reactions to the controversy over the tweets, which came just before the launch of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. The post quotes from another blog, FeministsSA: 'It’s sad though that Durex’s actions were able to bolster the opinions of those who already thought that using your penis to shut someone up is not rape, and to give them a small semblance of credence. I hope that everyone realises that in the first place, the sentiment that women need to be shut up at all is only valid or valuable in an extremely sexist society.'

Visit for news and event information about COP17, currently taking place in Durban, South Africa.

Corporations have colluded with governments to capture climate change negotiations for their own interest. At the start of the ‘Dirty Energy Week’ in South Africa, participants called for real commitment to heal the Earth. More than 100 community, union and NGO representatives gathered on 23 November to kick of the ‘The Dirty Energy Week’ gathering, organised by the South African based environment justice NGO groundWork, together with 14 national and international NGOs and community organisations. On the eve of the UN negotiations, they gathered to discuss climate proofing communities and cleaner energy solutions.

'Abahlali welcomes the world in our country, our province and in our city. We also welcome progressive delegates to our homes, our settlements and our flooded shacks. Last night after heavy rain some of our shack settlements were flooded leaving shack dwellers, stranded, hopeless and with all their belonging swept away through floods. We have had enough shack fires already. We have had enough rat bites. We have had enough electricity disconnection. We have had enough of being excluded from the rest of our society and today the storm, the full force of what extreme weather does to the poor, proves itself to the world during the first day of the Conference of the Parties.'

'As a movement we are struggling to build a society in which there is an economic system where human beings come before profit and a political system in which leaders take direction from below. We are struggling to build a society in which there will be a fair distribution of land and decent housing for all. But we are alive now, our children are growing now. We are living in the rain and with shack fires now. Therefore it is clear that we also have to take direct action to struggle for what land and housing we can get right now even as we continue the long struggle for a more democratic and just world.'

COSATU plans to challenge the draconian Protection of Information Bill in the Constitutional Court. The bill, dubbed the 'Secrecy Bill' by the media, was pushed through the National Assembly by an ANC majority on Tuesday last week despite widespread condemnation.

Recent media reports have shown a rise in attacks against lesbian women in townships across South Africa. The nature of the violence includes assault, often with grievous bodily harm, rape, murder or any combination of these. The sexual violence perpetrated against these women has become a particular focal point in media coverage, crudely termed ‘corrective’ or ‘curative rape’. This Consultancy Africa Intelligence (CAI) brief argues that contemporary media and the public should rethink their understanding of ‘corrective rape’ and the discourse used to engage this notion. The paper problematises the language of ‘corrective rape’, arguing that it inadvertently further reinforces and re-inscribes patriarchal, heterosexist and racist power through its construction of the phenomenon as sexual violence inflicted by black township men against black lesbian women.

Climate change will exacerbate the existing vulnerabilities of children in South Africa, unless mitigation and adaptation strategies are child-sensitive and implemented in a timely manner, UNICEF said. ‘Exploring the Impact of Climate Change on Children in South Africa’ was commissioned by UNICEF in partnership with the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, and the Department of Environmental Affairs and highlights the likely impact of climate change on children’s health, education, nutrition, safety and access to adequate housing and sanitation in South Africa - both directly and indirectly.

'The Freedom of Expression Institute wish to register our disappointment in the ruling ANC for voting in favour of the bill in its current form. We are particularly disappointed since the ruling party promised more consultation on the bill when the bill was withdrawn from parliament a few weeks ago.'

With climate talks set to open Monday, African civil society activists are alarmed, writes Nnimmo Bassey for the New Internationalist. 'The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zewani, who is the spokesperson for the African Union, is credited with saying that Africa will be "flexible" in the negotiations. This announcement would considerably weaken the hands of African negotiators who have taken a strong stance against the failure of developed countries to deliver on their moral and legal obligations for climate action.' Should African civil society bother turning up at all?