Wendell Roelf
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/ 12 September 2006

Plan to help seabirds ‘fallen by the wayside’

South Africa, signatory to a treaty to protect the imperilled albatross, has ironically not yet adopted a plan of action to stop endangered seabirds being killed by fishing vessels. ”The national plan of action seems to have fallen by the wayside … ” said Samantha Petersen, manager of the Birdlife and World Wildlife Fund Responsible Fisheries Programme.

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/ 12 September 2006

One in five pregnant women in W Cape is HIV positive

One in five pregnant women are testing HIV positive in the Western Cape’s public health antenatal clinics, according to a survey released by the department provincial health on Tuesday. The HIV prevalence is highest in women aged 25 to 29 years, with an infection rate of 20,1% of the 8 656 people examined at 400 facilities in the province’s 25 health districts.

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/ 30 August 2006

Female condoms slowly rise in popularity

Some parts are used as decorative bangles in certain countries and, at times, it is derisively referred to as a ”fish bag”, but usage of the female condom seems to be rising in South Africa, its second-largest market in the world. The female condom has been around for nearly a decade, and in South Africa it is a focal point of the government’s HIV/Aids programme.

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/ 24 August 2006

ANC bigwigs turn out at Yengeni’s send-off

African National Congress national executive committee member Tony Yengeni, who was swept to the gates of Pollsmoor prison on a wave of solidarity from party officials, suggested on Thursday that Parliament erred in its handling of his fraud case. He was addressing a crowd of supporters outside the prison’s gates.

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/ 16 August 2006

TAC: Charge Manto, Balfour with homicide

Detailing the suffering of a late Durban Westville prisoner, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) chairperson Zackie Achmat on Wednesday called for homicide charges to be instituted against two Cabinet ministers. Achmat, supported by a group of TAC activists, made the call after occupying the offices of the South African Human Rights Commission in central Cape Town.

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/ 14 August 2006

Debate rages over massive new Limpopo dam

The development of a massive dam in water-scarce Limpopo province raises concerns the government is compromising principles of sustainable development for economic progress. And while the construction of large dams has undoubtedly fuelled industrial growth, it has come at a cost to the environment and taxpayers, displacing communities and even changing local climates.

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/ 9 August 2006

Leon: Women now have less to celebrate

With South African women remaining society’s most vulnerable members, the country still has not achieved the kind of nation the marchers 50 years ago would be proud of, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon said on Wednesday. He said that 50 years onwards, women actually have less to celebrate.