The oceans off the Antarctic peninsula are some of the most mysterious on the planet. A thick cover of ice has concealed what life they contain for the past few millennia. But with the rise in global temperatures, speeded by the gaping hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica, some of these ice sheets have collapsed.
The Life Offices Association has made a recommendation that HIV/Aids exclusions should be dropped on all existing life and disability policies because Aids should be treated like any chronic disease and not singled out for special pre-conditions. This is an important psychological step for the country in terms of how it views the disease.
When Mark Shuttleworth donned his space suit and ventured into the "final frontier" of outer space, he took with him the aspirations of the nation and stirred our Âcollective consciousness. So it came as no surprise when Cabinet last year approved the establishment of South Africa’s first space agency, tasked with coordinating research into space technology.
Alcohol abuse costs South Africa in the region of R10-billion a year, or 1% of GDP, but the excise tax on alcohol collects only about R7-billion. This leaves the country with a shortfall of about R4,5-billion in costs to health services, the criminal justice system, and, of course, human lives.
Between the N2 highway and the government’s flagship Gateway housing project, a double-storey shack stands all by itself. Last year Nosandiso Dyonase, who runs a shop from this house, stared down building contractors, government officials, policemen and even bulldozers when they cleared the land around her of shacks and families. A defiant Dyonase and her goats were the only ones left standing.
The Southern African Development Community is placing unprecedented pressure on President Robert Mugabe to quit office and pave the way for peace and stability at home and within the region. Mugabe is now facing a war on two fronts: with SADC heads of state at the regional level and a divided ruling Zanu-PF party at home. All are pondering the political implications of his continued stay in office.
It requires no gym subscription, no legwarmers and is an activity to which even the most fitness-phobic individual might not be averse. So what is the latest exercise trend that we are being encouraged to embrace for the good of our health? A daily stroll. Lucy Knight, author of Walking for Weight Loss (Kyle Cathie), says that the benefits of walking are countless.
Babies of HIV-positive mothers are twice as likely to become infected by the virus if they are given formula milk in addition to breast milk, and the risk rises eleven-fold if they are given solid foods, South African researchers have found. Exactly why mixing breastfeeding with other foods increases the risk of HIV infection is still unknown.
The leader of the Cape Town-based African Muslim Party, city councillor Badih Jamil Chaaban, has launched a R300 000 defamation claim against City of Cape Town executive mayor Helen Zille. Although the trial date has yet to be fixed, Chaaban’s lawyer, Brian Lutzno, on Monday confirmed that the summons had already been served on Zille.
This column concerns an old theme — can we truly develop a constitutional democracy without any shared normative framework? The question is prompted by the government’s inexplicable failure to respond to the oppression in Zimbabwe in anything other than its usual passively ineffective way, as refined over the past five years.