South Africa

The creation of a continental university as a centre of innovation and academic excellence was recommended by the Pan African Parliament on Friday, the final day of its fourth ordinary session in Midrand. ”We need to have Africans educated and trained in science and technology and information technology,” MP Miria Matembe said.

The government has noted a ruling by the Constitutional Court on Thursday that same-sex marriages be allowed and will respect the judgement, spokesperson Joel Netshitenze said. ”The Department of Home Affairs will assess what practical steps will be needed to give effect to the change in the law and make appropriate recommendations to the minister,” he said.

The United Nations World Food Programme on Thursday said it had signed an agreement with President Robert Mugabe’s government to deliver food to three million Zimbabweans. This comes after Mugabe last year rejected the possibility of food aid, saying in an interview with Britain’s Sky News: ”We are not hungry. Why foist this food upon us? Do you want us to choke?”

It is unconstitutional to prevent gay people from enjoying the legal benefits of marriage, the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday. It gave Parliament one year to rework laws allowing same-sex unions. If Parliament does not do this in one year, the Marriage Act will be rewritten to include the words ”or spouse” to allow these unions to take place.

As the world commemorates World Aids Day, a new study has found that more and more South Africans are displaying high-risk sexual behaviour and are in denial with regard to HIV/Aids. This is despite considerable public-education efforts about the risks associated with HIV/Aids.

A man who allegedly held a woman hostage for four-and-a-half hours in central Johannesburg on Wednesday, demanding the delivery of his identity document, was marched off to Johannesburg Central police station at 7.45pm and will appear in court on Thursday.

Nearly half of South Africans aged 15 and older find nothing wrong with marrying an HIV-positive person and would not have a problem having sex with them. This is according to the Second South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communications Survey released on Wednesday, on the eve of World Aids Day.

A hostage drama at the Department of Home Affairs in Johannesburg entered a third hour at 5.30pm on Wednesday with a Soweto man holding a woman employee in an office behind closed doors, police said. The man entered the offices this afternoon, took out a handgun and pointed it at the woman.

The Constitutional Court will rule on Thursday on whether gay marriages are legal. Last year, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that two women, Marie Fourie and Cecilia Bonthuys, should be allowed to get married, but the couple later found they were unable to register their church wedding with the Department of Home Affairs.

There is confusion among older South Africans about the link between HIV and Aids, the effectiveness of condoms in curbing infections, and the purpose of anti-retrovirals. This is one of the findings of the Second South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communications Survey released on Wednesday.

Agreeing to a plea bargain in the case of convicted Swiss sex tourist Peter Zimmerman was the best that could be done under the circumstances, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Wednesday. Zimmerman was fined R10 000 and given a one-year suspended sentence for five years.