Four South Africans have been abducted in Iraq, the South African Foreign Affairs Department said on Monday. Spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the four were abducted in what was believed to have been a bogus roadblock to the north of Baghdad on Sunday. ”The four were part of a convoy of four vehicles, which included Iraqis.”

The African National Congress (ANC) has dismissed as ”scurrilous” Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) claims that President Thabo Mbeki has left the ANC ”fractious and deeply divided”. Cosatu’s criticism could not stand up to ”honest scrutiny”, the ANC said in a statement on Monday.

Animal rights activists held a protest in Johannesburg on Monday, demanding heavier sentences for animal abusers and that animal abuse be taken seriously. ”Punishment for the most horrendous acts of violence against animals rarely exceeds a miniscule fine,” read their press statement.

The Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust has lambasted former University of South Africa principal Barney Pityana over remarks he made about Zuma’s supporters, dismissing his comments as ”reckless and lies”. During an address at King College in London recently, Pityana is said to have told his audience that Zuma supporters are mainly criminals.

South Africa, which has the world’s second-heaviest caseload of HIV/Aids, has seen average life expectancy fall by 13 years since 1990 to 51, a new study has revealed. A survey by the Medical Research Council and Actuarial Society of South Africa said life expectancy this year was ”estimated to be 49 years for males and 53 years for females”, or an average of 51.