Recently, elderly Katrina Mtsweni, of Delmas’s Botleng township, received a surprise visit from President Thabo Mbeki. Mtsweni, who lives in a dilapidated shack in the Mandela B section waited for a lull in Mbeki’s sweet talk before asking him to help repair her leaking, collapsing shack. The very next day, brand-new corrugated iron sheets arrived at her door.
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/ 20 February 2006
The South African Police Service and the Zion Christian Church in the Vhembe district of Limpopo last year joined forces on a project that claims to have reduced rape in the area by 7%. But social workers at four local victim empowerment projects say they have never heard of the project and other groups argue that the figures are higher than statistics suggest.
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/ 31 January 2006
As platinum quickly becomes the world’s leading commodity, the Bakwena ba Magopa royal family in the North West is being rocked by a protracted succession dispute that has turned violent. The royal homestead has been torched and the new regent, Motlalepule Mathibedi, has flown their Bethanie headquarters as different factions fight for control.
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/ 26 January 2006
A current exhibition by Irish artist Phillip Napier gauges the potency of an apology, writes Kwanele Sosibo.
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/ 16 January 2006
A growing number of South African media companies are following MultiChoice into Africa, and they’re all learning that partnerships with local players are the key to bypassing negative sentiment and establishing a workable model. Kwanele Sosibo reports.
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/ 23 December 2005
The Mail & Guardian pays homage to living examples of that hope. The young South Africans who represent only a fraction of the growing number of mavericks out there, throwing dirt in the face of conventional wisdom and holding on tightly to their freedom.
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/ 14 December 2005
South Africa has an estimated 250 tons of obsolete pesticides within its borders, with more unaccounted for either in buried containers or scattered across its agricultural land. The reasons for the accumulation of stockpiles in developing countries vary, but include aggressive sales practices by the pesticide industry, inappropriate procurement and central purchasing policies.
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/ 25 November 2005
A new chapter in Soweto’s history will open on Saturday at 3pm, when a locally based community TV station goes on air for the first time. Armed with a special events broadcasting permit to coincide with World Aids Day, Soweto Community Television is embarking on a UHF free-to-air broadcast that ends on December 20.
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/ 22 November 2005
As the Aids pandemic gathers momentum, the number of people requiring treatment grows, and more are dying every day. The reality is that just a small number of those who need anti-retrovirals have access to them. A number of private initiatives have sprung up recently to pick up the slack.
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/ 31 October 2005
The People’s Budget Campaign, which comprises the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African NGO Coalition and the South African Council of Churches, has argued that the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement’s is thin on details regarding broader social targets and fails to properly account for the supposed drop in unemployment statistics.