HIV/Aids has become the leading cause of deaths in South Africa of children under the age of five years, according to the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute. The pandemic is first among a number of factors standing in the way of realising child rights in South Africa, the institute’s director said on Tuesday.

The government is not specially selecting the land of Afrikaans South Africans for expropriation purposes, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Dirk du Toit said on Tuesday. He was briefing the media following discussions between a government delegation led by President Thabo Mbeki and the Afrikaans Discussion Group.

President Thabo Mbeki has appealed to all parties to ensure their candidates for the upcoming municipal elections have the interests of their communities at heart and not self-interest. Replying to questions in the National Assembly on Thursday, he said there appeared to be intense competition among people wanting to be elected by their parties as candidates for the elections.

The Democratic Alliance suffered its first losses in the National Assembly on Thursday when five of its MPs used the floor-crossing window to defect to other parties — only hours before the window closes at midnight. Four DA MPs — Bheki Mnyandu, Enyinna Nkem-Abonta, Richard Ntuli, and Dan Maluleke — joined the African National Congress.

The African National Congress is expecting more MPs from all political parties, including at least six from the Democratic Alliance, to join it before midnight on September 15. Briefing the media at Parliament on Thursday, ANC Chief Whip Mbulelo Goniwe said there were ”many people who have shown interest in joining the ANC”.