The announcement in late 2009 that the government had approved a new HIV/AIDS policy in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was widely welcomed by AIDS and human rights lobbyists as long overdue. A November 2009 statement by the SANDF noted that the new policy made provision for the "recruitment and selective deployment of HIV-positive members" of the military and complied with a High Court ruling in May 2008, which found the previous policy of excluding HIV-positive people from recruitment and foreign deployment unconstitutional.

On Friday the 29th of January, over 260 women, men, children and elderly will be represented in court for our appeal trial against forceful relocation from Zille Raine Heights informal settlement in Grassy Park to Happy Valley, 35 kms away from Cape Town.

After the 26th September 2009 attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo in Kennedy Road by the shebeen owners and the ANC the life of the people has changed into misery. Everything is out of their control and some people are even abandoning the area due to a high level of crime activities making it unsafe. These activities are being started in the shebeens which are operating right through the night again.

South Africa faces potentially huge cuts in donor support for its HIV/AIDS programme over the next five years, yet it needs an extra R2-billion a year to reach all those who need antiretroviral treatment. “US government funding is going to come down dramatically over the next five years,” warned Dr Roxana Rogers, USAID South Africa Health Team leader last week.

Media and communication activists and organizations in South Africa have united into the strongest since the collapse of formal apartheid: the SOS Support Public Broadcasting coalition. The coalition formed first in response to the governance and financial crisis at the SABC and then broadened to engage the Department of Communication's (DOC) bold steps to review Broadcasting legislation.

If Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill becomes law, it will be little short of state-sponsored "genocide" against the gay community. So, the ambassadorial appointment of Jon Qwelane, well-know for his homophobic and derogatory statements against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and intersex (LGBTI) community, was a shock to human rights and gay activists.

While lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) groups are up in arms against the alleged appointment of controversial columnist John Qwelane as South African ambassador to Uganda, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s remains ambiguous about his appointment.

The South African Department of Environmental Affairs has expressed a “firm intent” to complete the country’s national climate change policy white paper by the end of 2010.

The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), a South African-based civil society organisation, is currently accepting applications for its Internship Programme. ACCORD works across Africa to bring creative African solutions to the challenges posed by conflict on the continent.

In what is being considered a significant milestone for communications in the country, the number of South Africans to have access to the Internet has hit the five million mark. Research conducted by local analyst house World Wide Worx, in conjunction with Cisco, shows that local Internet penetration has increased to 10%.

At 4pm January 21, 48 law enforcement officers from the City of Cape Town invaded the city's Temporary Relocation Area, Blikkiesdorp, and removed about 60 people from the one roomed dwellings. This was done completely unlawfully without any high court eviction order, without any explanation, and even more inexplicably by the same city officials who installed the people in the first place.

On Friday 22 January, the "Kennedy 12" will be in court for the eighth time. The five will be expecting judgement in the bail application, while the seven will be seeking relaxation of their bail conditions. The "Kennedy 12" now need your presence, your prayers and your protest more than ever before.

The Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network seeks the services of a senior policy and advocacy expert for its regional campaign on making care work count. Please submit a letter of motivation CV, references, and at least two samples of your work to [email][email protected] by Friday 5 February 2010.

Gender Links, a dynamic Southern African NGO based in Johannesburg that promotes gender equality in and through the media seeks to fill the post of Gender and Media Programme Manager on an initial two year contract basis. Deadline ofr applications is Friday 5 February 2009.

Last year marked 15 years of official relations between Cuba and South Africa, and 50 years of the Cuban Revolution, writes Nicole Sarmiento. But before official relations between the two states began, there was already a long history of assistance to the liberation struggle, which forms the background to relations between the two countries today, and provides a significant example of the possibilities of strengthening South-South relations.

A study finding that foreigners are about half as likely to fail antiretroviral (ARV) treatment as South African citizens attending the same Johannesburg clinic has challenged widely held assumptions about migrants' ability to adhere to HIV/AIDS drug regimens.

Four of the world’s largest and fastest-growing carbon emitters will meet in New Delhi this month ahead of a January 31 deadline for countries to submit their action plans to combat climate change.

The 31st Durban International Film Festival (22 July - 2 August 2010) is proud to announce the 3rd edition of Talent Campus Durban from 23 - 27 July 2010, an intensive 5-day programme of workshops and seminars delivered by film professionals to enhance both theoretical and practical approaches to filmmaking.

Muslim marriages have no legal recognition in South Africa, writes Waheeda Amien, but the use of written marriage contracts – the terms of which are enforceable in a secular court – offers a form of protection for parties, both within marriage and upon divorce.

Dale McKinley looks at what the new decade holds for South Africa, as politicians, corporate mandarins and the media attempt to gloss over the “dirty” realities of the country's ‘grinding poverty, homelessness and mass inequality’ ahead of the World Cup.