As the World Cup gathers momentum in South Africa, so do its critics. Explo Nani-Kofi investigates the real impact of this tournament on a nation still recovering from apartheid oppression. Nani-Kofi insists that poor South Africans ‘pay a big price’ for this monumental sporting extravaganza.

A South African study suggests that nurses are able to manage patients on antiretroviral (ARV) therapy as effectively as doctors, supporting the case for “task-shifting” in HIV treatment. The study, published in the Lancet on 16 June, divided 812 HIV patients into two groups - one of which received ARV therapy from doctors, the other from nurses. Both the nurses and doctors were inexperienced in ARV management and received similar training from clinicians who were also on call during the duration of the study to answer questions.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) youth should celebrate themselves on Youth Day and assert the protections and freedoms enshrined in our constitution, Justice Edwin Cameron said as the country prepares to commemorate the Soweto Uprising of June 16, 1976.

The historic meeting at the Kennedy Road settlement on Sunday went well despite the intimidation from the local ANC. The background to this meeting, and its importance, is that in September last year Abahlali baseMjondolo(AbM) and the Kennedy Road Development Committee (KRDC), the openly and freely elected committee in the settlement, were expelled in violent attacks organised through the local ANC and supported by the police and the criminal justice system.

Women in abusive relationships have a higher risk of being infected with HIV, a South African Medical Research Council study has found. Researchers said one in seven new HIV infections could be averted if women were not subjected to physical and sexual abuse or relationships inequalities. In a randomised trial they studied 1 099 HIV negative women in South Africa. Women were tested once over a period of two years. Face to face interviews were conducted with women to assess exposure to gender based violence and inequality in their relationships.

Twenty South African boys have died following botched circumcisions in the Eastern Cape Province. "The deaths occurred over the past 12 days, with nine of them occurring over the past 24 hours," said a provincial health spokesperson. Some 60 boys have been rescued from 11 initiation schools which have since been closed. Circumcision is seen as a rite of passage into manhood in some South African communities

The year is 2010 and the destination is Johannesburg in South Africa. A group of women monopolise the backseat of a commuter transborder omnibus covering themselves with thick blankets despite the warm weather and at every police checkpoint, they pile more blankets, jackets and jerseys over their legs. Two hours later with Polokwane in sight, their thighs part to reveal the peeping faces of three young children smothered beneath the layers of wool, blankets and nylon – they last resurfaced five hours before for a toilet break along the Masvingo highway, long before the Beitbridge border.

On the 13th of June 2010, the Poor People’s World Cup successfully kicked-off their first day of matches at the Avendale soccer fields, next to Athlone stadium in Cape Town. Early in the morning, the first minibuses with soccer teams arrived from all over Cape Town to play their first games in this Poor People’s tournament. Everybody was excited and the atmosphere was amazing, considering the bad weather forecasts.

At long last, soccer fans, the moment is here. On Friday, South Africa took the field against Mexico, the World Cup was officially underway. Nothing attracts the global gaze quite like it. Nothing creates such an undeniably electric atmosphere with enough energy to put British Petroleum, Exxon/Mobil and Chevron out of business for good. And finally, after 80 years, the World Cup has come to Africa.

The soccer World Cup began this weekend here in South Africa, with the home team playing a 1-1 draw with Mexico before 95,000 fans at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium. Regardless of whether South Africa’s Bafana Bafana (our boys), ranked #90 in the world, can survive its next matches against France and Uruguay to advance a round, we know this society is already a big loser. The reason: egregious mistakes made by national and municipal governments, apparently under the thumb of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

South Africa sees growing opportunities for trade with other developing countries as new economic powerhouses emerge and Europe is engulfed by economic and currency weakness, its trade chief said on Wednesday. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said the changing world economy meant South Africa could intensify trade ties with countries such as Brazil, India and China at the expense of links with traditional partners such as the European Union.

The corruption case against South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, which was dropped by the prosecution before he became President, still haunts national politics. The opposition fights for documents in the Zuma prosecution case.

TB patients who have knowledge regarding the relationship between TB and HIV or have been counselled on HIV are more likely to report having used a condom during sexual intercourse, according to a study presented at the 2nd South African TB conference held in Durban last week.

All of the Protea South Five, arrested after the electricity war in Protea South, Soweto, have been released on the grounds that 'there is no evidence against them'. None of the five were harmed while in detention. A sixth person from Protea South (who is not an LPM member) has now been arrested and charged with burning the transformer. There are currently conflicting reports at to whether or not there has been an arrest for the murder of the LPM activist shot by the Homeowners' Association in Protea South.

For lies to continue to hide the truth they must be constantly sustained and maintained. For truth to be able to emerge from under the lies we have to constantly remember what has really been said and done, by whom and for what purpose. We have often said that the attack on our movement in the Kennedy Road settlement on the 26th and 27th of September last year was planned at a very high political level. It was planned outside of the Kennedy Road settlement.

Researchers have started testing the safety a vaginal ring containing an antiretroviral drug in South Africa in the hope that it has the potential to prevent HIV infection in women. The clinical trial, known as IPM 015 will test the safety and acceptability of the dapivirine-containing vaginal ring – which is successfully used in Europe as a delivery method for hormonal therapy and birth control.

The gold mining sector came under heavy criticism from clinicians, ex-miners, advocacy groups and the Minister of Health for the TB crisis it faces at the recent South African TB Conference. “If TB/HIV is a snake in Southern Africa, we know that its head is in South Africa in the mines,” stated Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi. Paula Akugizibwe from the Aids and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) stressed that the mining sector, which she referred to as a “TB factory”, was over a century behind schedule with regards to its TB response.

South African Foreign Affairs officials in Pretoria are making frantic efforts to squeeze in a meeting between President Jacob Zuma and the three principals who will be at the official opening of the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup opens in Johannesburg on Friday and Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara have been invited to attend. The three will travel to the football extravaganza having failed to agree on any of the outstanding issues in the GPA during their Tuesday meeting in Harare.

South Africa’s travel and hotel industries have signed a code of conduct designed to protect children against sex tourism, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, praising the ethical guide as an enduring legacy of the 2010 World Cup. “The contribution of the travel and tourism industry is vital to help stamp out child sexual exploitation,” said Aida Girma, UNICEF’s representative in South Africa, following the signing of the Tourism Child Protection Code of Conduct in Johannesburg.

With the World Cup finals looming, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) turned to football to tackle the lingering problem of xenophobia in South Africa's townships. The partner organizations, together with the Africa Diaspora Forum, have just staged a pilot Township Soccer Challenge. The initiative began in May and culminated last Saturday in Mohlakeng, when Randfontein beat Tembisa 5-0 to earn bragging rights to being the best township team in Gauteng Province.