Jan Hennop

Former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic has been placed in custody in The Hague to await trial for war crimes after almost 16 years on the run.

Scientists in South Africa are exploring whether one of the country's most precious commodities, gold, could hold the key in the battle against diseases such as HIV/Aids, malaria and cancer. Once developed, the drugs could be considered as a potential choice of therapy for individuals infected with HIV.

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela turns 88 on Tuesday.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in South Africa on Wednesday on a groundbreaking visit during which the two giants are to sign a nuclear cooperation pact and discuss the thorny question of textile imports from Beijing. South African officials have said the proposed agreement between South Africa and power-hungry China on the peaceful use of nuclear energy was vital.

South Africa's trade relations with juggernaut China will be put to the test this week when Premier Wen Jiabao jets into Cape Town for talks centred around China's mighty textile industry. The SA economy has been hit hard in its own textiles sector by cheap imports from China and President Thabo Mbeki's government has come under increasing pressure to deal with the problem.

Sounds of Zulu war dances and a military parade filled the air on Sunday as South Africans hailed a Zulu hero whose rebellion a century ago sowed the first seeds of black resistance. Soldiers and Zulu warriors, dressed in traditional leopard skins, joined thousands to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Bhambatha rebellion, an event that had huge ramifications in South African history.

South Africans of all races are gearing up to mark a historic Zulu uprising against British colonial masters a century ago, seen as the birth of black resistance that later ended apartheid. Soldiers in uniform and Zulu warriors on Sunday will commemorate the 100th year of the Bhambatha rebellion in protest against a British tax.

To some, it's the symbol of one of the most powerful rugby-playing nations in the world, united by former South African president Nelson Mandela. Others remember it as an icon of racial oppression and exclusivity based on skin colour. There is even a drink named after it.

The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa opening in Cape Town on Wednesday will take stock of Africa's strongest growth in three decades and the impact of China and India on the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa is poised to post growth of 5,8%, its best performance in more than 30 years, according to the International Monetary Fund.

South Africa's famous Soweto township is undergoing an economic metamorphosis as more and more blacks join the middle class, creating a demand for top quality consumer goods. Plans are afoot in the township to build a world-class shopping mall as well as an upmarket hotel.

South Africa's lumbering gold-mining industry is smiling broadly as commodity prices hit quarter-century highs on world markets, opening up new frontiers once thought financially unviable. Gold charged to a new high of an ounce in London on Thursday before cooling off to finish the week on Friday at ,50.

Residents in Harare say they live on a "cholera time-bomb" as the Zimbabwean city struggles to clean up garbage and maintain sewers in an outbreak that has already cost 27 lives. An unusually wet rainy season compounds the problem, especially in slum areas like Dzivarasekwa, about 10km north of the city, and the sprawling semi-urban area of Epworth, to the east.