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/ 9 December 2005
The intriguing tale of Zimbabwe’s apparent incremental victory over HIV continues, with the United Nations saying that the course of the disease in South Africa’s troubled neighbour appears to have been altered. In a UNAids report released recently, the organisation says Zimbabwe has seen a fall in the prevalence, or level of existing HIV infections, over the past few years.
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/ 9 December 2005
Western Areas’ new executive chair-person, Gill Marcus, on Monday swapped her trademark kaftan for an overall and took an extensive tour of the company’s South Deep mine near Westonaria, south of Johannesburg. Western Areas, which has a 50% interest in South Deep, can be thought of as more of a conundrum than a company.
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/ 9 December 2005
Seismologists have warned that East and Central Africa will be struck by natural disasters such as earthquakes, mudslides and volcanic eruptions in the near future, but that countries in the region remain ill-prepared for catastrophes. A powerful earthquake struck the region on Monday afternoon, causing panic in at least six countries.
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/ 9 December 2005
I am perplexed. In the past few years, I have grappled with why the post-1996 women’s movement (in whatever way one wants to define it) has not taken up HIV/Aids in South Africa as a flaming, life-and-death issue. If women’s voices had been heard more loudly and coherently they might have responded to the Aids crisis with urgency and wisdom.
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/ 9 December 2005
The arrest of the editor of a local news website this week has raised fresh concerns among defenders of freedom of expression. "Such practices reflect the government’s lack of tolerance for freedom of expression and opinion," said Mahmoud Aly, of the Egyptian Association for the Support of Democracy.
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/ 9 December 2005
Zimbabwe’s notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is running amok in the Midlands province, allegedly terrorising supporters of the yet to be launched United People’s Movement. The party is an initiative of former Zanu-PF members who fell out of favour with the ruling party.
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/ 9 December 2005
What a sordid end to a sordid year! The rape charge laid against Jacob Zuma this week, which effectively ended his political career, rounded off 12 months that have shaken the foundations of our democracy. The African National Congress has been split and so have the allied organisations with which it governs the country.
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/ 9 December 2005
Zimbabwe’s health authorities, who have been on high alert for bird flu since October, had their worst fears confirmed when two farms reported outbreaks in the south of the country this week. Initial tests show that the strain of the virus on the farms in Nyamandlovu and Bubi is of the H5N2 type.
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/ 9 December 2005
What do you do when you work in local government and you’ve been spending tax-payers’ money at the rate of R230Â 000 a day for four years without official authorisation? Option 1: You plead guilty, get a suspended sentence, and are back at work in six months. Option 2: You use the media to allege a media-fuelled conspiracy against you.
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/ 9 December 2005
What a difference three quarters of a year can make. In April this year, the South African gold industry was characterised by the cacophonous strains of a sector strangled by a strong rand and rising input costs and about to breathe its last. It had just announced that production output from last year had fallen to 308 tonnes — its worst level since 1930.