Civil-society organisations in South Africa are preparing to push government to meet its commitment for setting national targets on HIV/Aids, made at the recent United Nations General Assembly Special Sessions on HIV/Aids. The first special sessions on HIV/Aids were held in 2001, when UN member states signed a declaration of commitment on HIV/Aids that recognised the need for concerted action against the pandemic.
Glenn Agliotti, the Brett Kebble associate who is close to Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, has been identified by the Scorpions as a "boss" of "one of South Africa’s most prominent syndicates" smuggling drugs and other contraband. Scorpions Gauteng head Gerhard Nel dropped the bombshell — although under the cover of a code name.
A male news anchor appears on screen from the safety of Arabic station al-Jazeera’s studio in Doha as two female correspondents in full war gear report live from both sides of the Lebanon-Israel front line. This is the new face of war reporting that Arab audiences have been seeing since Israel launched its all-out onslaught on Lebanon on July 12 in an attempt to defeat Hezbollah militants.
The news on the inflation front may not be good, but there is no immediate reason for Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni to activate his itchy trigger finger. Inflation is on the up and levels of indebtedness are at an all-time high, at least measured by one influential economic research body, but incomes have also been increasing.
A quiet battle is being waged in the African National Congress over the powers of South Africa’s nine provinces, with a sizeable body of opinion coming to the realisation that they represent a huge drain without much gain. Look at the figures. In the past seven years, provinces have underspent — yes, underspent — by R4,7-billion.
Business is helping tackle crime, with several initiatives by Business Against Crime bearing fruit. Vehicle theft and hijackings are down about 16% over the past five years from about 115 000 in 2001 to 96 000 last year. Even more impressive is the 30% reduction in Gauteng hijackings last year.
Communist Alert! Johannesburg’s Top Star drive-in has closed after 48 years and will literally vanish without a trace over the next three years. Remember, without eternal vigilance, it can happen here. Joe Bob Briggs, the cult drive-in movie critic of Grapevine, Texas, concluded his reviews with a paragraph like that whenever a drive-in died to make room for a “six-screen indoor-bullstuff puke-plex”.
One of South Africa’s contributions to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s elections has been shrouded in controversy. Air charter company Adagold Aviation charged the Department of Defence over R20-million more than its competitors to fly ballot papers from South Africa to the DRC.
Tucked away at the end of City Press‘s Sunday scoop on Cyril Ramaphosa entering the succession race, the line ”Additional reporting by Wikipedia” tweaked the Oom’s interest. A visit to Cyril’s entry turned up a curious final paragraph: ”Many people in South Africa, both prominent voices and ordinary citizens, view Ramaphosa as the next president of the country.”
The irony is almost beyond belief. Since the capture of an Israeli soldier, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to a large-scale military operation, what Israel calls ”Summer Rain”. Because Israel bombed the power plant, and the area needs electricity to pump water, most of Gaza now has almost no access to drinking water.