A post template

No image available
/ 9 February 2005

Handshake halts the violence

Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced an unqualified end to all Israeli military attacks on the Palestinians on Tuesday as part of a historic ceasefire that formally ends more than four years of brutal intifada, suicide bombings and the destruction of occupied towns.

No image available
/ 9 February 2005

Matric success begins before school

It is that time of the year again where the matric results are scrutinised, pulled apart and defended or doomed. Education officials vow to spend more money on improving the teaching situation for Grades 11 and 12. But is this where they should be concentrating their efforts, asks Elsie Calitz.

No image available
/ 9 February 2005

Too little money for the big ideas

Early Childhood Development (ECD) in South Africa has come a long way since the inception of Ntataise about 25 ago. In 1980, when the organisation started, ECD opportunities and preschools for children in disadvantaged rural areas were virtually non-existent. Jane Evans, director of Ntataise, looks back.

No image available
/ 9 February 2005

‘Illness of unknown origin’ and ‘pockets of rubber’

HIV/Aids is a serious subject, and is not usually much fun. But this time it was. In this remote spot of southern Côte d’Ivoire, it was as if the circus had come to town. Under the banner of the Aids lexicon project, a team of specialists were here to introduce local language equivalents for words like "Aids" and "contraceptives" to promote a better understanding of the virus among the country’s rural population.

No image available
/ 9 February 2005

Culture stronger than death

Msinga, in KwaZulu-Natal, has been hit hard by HIV/Aids and the number of funerals in the district has risen dramatically in recent years. According to custom, farmers will not work their fields for one week after the death of a man and two days after the death of a woman. As the number of funerals rises each week, farmland lies fallow. Honouring the dead is putting this community’s livelihood at risk.

No image available
/ 9 February 2005

Chocolate sushi, witch-hunts, geeks and gimps

"I’ve been waiting years to say this in a public place — would you mind if I nibbled at Uranus? Or if you’re phobic, maybe I could just eat your Mars? Before you get huffy and indignant, some chocolate-makers decided that what the world needed was a fully edible party pack of all the planets of the solar system, made out of chocolate." This, and more, from Ian Fraser’s goodie bag.

No image available
/ 9 February 2005

When the cops become criminals

When 14-year-old Joyce Gwabasa went to the police station near her home on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, to report a street fight, she had no idea that the two officers whom she trusted to deal with the crime would attempt to rape her. KwaZulu-Natal’s safety and security minister has admitted that nine police stations in the Durban area have "bad, bad police officers working there".