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/ 6 November 2007
The looming threat of an untreatable strain of tuberculosis emerging as the disease becomes ever more drug resistant will occupy the minds of about 3Â 000 experts at a conference in Cape Town this week. Though curable, more than 1,5-million people die of tuberculosis every year and growing numbers of patients do not react to standard drugs.
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/ 4 November 2007
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After eight years at the helm of Africa’s economic powerhouse, Thabo Mbeki cuts an increasingly lonely figure as the battle for the reins of the African National Congress (ANC) approaches its finale. As well as taking fresh blows from his political foes, the president has also become the target of senior ANC party members.
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/ 31 October 2007
A bitter Jake White announced on Wednesday that he is to quit as coach of South Africa’s World Cup-winning rugby team, accusing Springbok bosses of bouncing him out of the job. White, who has been linked to coaching positions with rival national sides, said he would take the team to Britain next month for matches against Wales the Barbarians.
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/ 28 October 2007
As South Africa’s economic growth slows and inflation heats up, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will present a medium-term budget on Tuesday with decidedly less to smile about than six months ago. While analysts expect Manuel to be more cautious in his revenue predictions, they believe past prudence has left him with enough room for manoeuvre.
The battle for the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) is becoming ever dirtier and fuelled by paranoia in the final weeks before delegates vote for the as-yet undeclared candidates. The challenge on the surface appears a straight contest between incumbent Thabo Mbeki and ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma.
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/ 23 September 2007
Hundreds of children in the Northern Cape dustbowl town of De Aar have been diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome, giving the town the unenviable distinction of the world’s highest reported incidence of the condition. Unfortunately, alcohol’s grip on the community will be hard to loosen.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) is set to entrench its political dominance with a 15-day window period opening this week to allow elected officials to swap party allegiance without losing their seats. The opposition is likely to be further fragmented as representatives at the national, provincial and municipal government levels are free to cross the floor.
Southern African leaders failed on Friday to heed calls for strong action against the embattled Zimbabwean government, saying the ailing country’s problems are ”exaggerated”. ”We feel they [Zimbabwe] will solve their economic problems,” the chairperson of the Southern African Development Community told journalists.
Southern African heads of state begin on Thursday a two-day summit in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, that is likely to be dominated by the crisis in Zimbabwe, which is being felt across the region as Zimbabweans flee the imploding economy at home. President Robert Mugabe arrived in Lusaka on Wednesday afternoon.
Mzamo Xala disavows the term ”black diamond” — conferred on members of South Africa’s booming black middle class who now hold nearly a third of the country’s buying power. The expression implies superiority, he protested, which offends the collective-mindedness of his cultural background.