Saturday August 28 has been declared Software Freedom Day and the Go Open Source campaign and Linux user groups are hosting "install-fests" across South Africa. Members of the public will be able to take their computers to one of these national install-fests to have open-source software installed.
Officials in Lilongwe, Malawi, are working hard to promote safe alternatives to the agricultural pesticide methyl bromide, which they hope to phase out by the end of the year. If they succeed, Malawi will beat South Africa to be the first country in the region to phase out all non-essential use of the chemical.
A bird-flu virus closely related to the strain that has infected South African ostriches has been found in pigs on several farms in China, according to an announcement from a Chinese scientist. The virulent H5N1 strain is highly infectious in poultry and can spread from birds to humans.
A senior Sudanese official has rejected any immediate wider role for African Union troops in its troubled Darfur region, saying security in the western region was the responsibility of Sudanese forces. Sudan’s Agriculture Minister Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmad on Monday dismissed a proposal by the African Union to send nearly 2 000 peacekeepers to the area.
A people without hope in Sudan
HIV/Aids threatens subsistence agriculture in Mozambique with long-term decline, with ominous implications for the country’s food supply, the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned on Tuesday. A major new study of subsistence agriculture in Mozambique has documented the loss of many varieties of grains, tubers, legumes and vegetables due to HIV/Aids, flood and drought.
Union leaders representing striking miners at three of Botswana’s diamond mines will face charges of contempt of court on Tuesday afternoon. ”Branch leaders were served with notices during the night at their homes in Jwaneng, Orapa and Letlhakane,” said Botswana Mining Workers’ Union general secretary Donald Lobotse.
Three municipal by-elections that will test the resilience of South Africa’s key opposition parties, are to be held on Wednesday. With the United Democratic Movement having recently lost control of the city of Umtata — as a result of the loss of municipal by-elections — General Bantu Holomisa’s party will be looking to poll well in a seat in Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, where it is standing for the first time.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was drifting in the red in noon trade on Tuesday as players paused for breath after the bourse’s strong rally on Monday. A slight recovery in the rand and a lower gold price added to the negative picture. The rand traded at a worst level of R6,7350 against the dollar earlier in the session.
Standard Bank staff vigilance helped prevent fraud of more than R286-million against the bank last year. To reward staff who have gone out of their way to prevent fraud, Standard Bank has an incentive programme called Fraud Miles. Its objective is to remunerate staff who report incidents of fraud.
Non-performing loans (NPLs) — loans that are more than 180 days overdue or considered irrecoverable — amount to 2% of the total loan book of South African commercial banks, South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said in his inaugural address of his second five-year term on Tuesday.