Full Coverage: Southern Africa

31.08.2007 A coalition of Botswana Civil society organisations that include the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana , the Ditshwanelo-Centre for Human Rights and the Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO) have expressed disappointment following the refusal of the ruling party members of parliament to grant the opposition members a postponement of the discussion and voting on amendments to the Intelligence and Security Services Bill.

28.08.2007 South Africa's Health Department has recalled 20 million potentially defective condoms approved by an official accused of taking bribes from a manufacturer.
From: Mail and Guardian (South Africa)

23.08.2007 Improved nutrition cannot replace drugs in the treatment of people infected with HIV or tuberculosis, the Academy of Science of South Africa says in a report that effectively rebukes health ministry support for the use of beetroot, lemons and garlic to treat HIV.

22.08.2007 A report comparing the Botswana government's arguments justifying the eviction of the Kalahari Bushmen from their traditional homelands with arguments used to defend the transatlantic slave trade is published today, UN Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

22.08.2007 Although the roll-out date for One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC) low-cost machine has been put back until October 2007, OLPC is using a limited number of trial machines to run pilots to gain experience of how it will work in the local context. The machine is made of tough white and green plastic, has a four-hour battery, a color screen and built-in Wi-Fi.

20.08.2007 the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland was summoned and appeared before a Select Committee of the Parliament of Swaziland which is probing the Editor of the Times of Swaziland Sunday, Mbongeni Mbingo, with a view to sending him to jail for expressing himself.

16.08.2007 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on South African authorities to conduct a thorough and swift investigation into the shooting of Abel Mutsakani an exiled Zimbabwean journalist and news website editor based in South Africa.

13.08.2007 After years of legal wrangling and controversy, the South African authorities finally approved an anti-HIV drug trial. Sharon Davis and Christina Scott report.

12.08.2007 The sacking of South Africa's Deputy Minister of Health "is a dreadful error of judgment" that will harm public health and especially the response to the HIV epidemic, according to campaigners.
From: Treatment Action Campaign

10.08.2007 In 1996 South Africa became the first country to constitutionally bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. But a recent spree of violence targeting lesbians has cast a shadow over the country's celebration of National Women's Day.
From: Human Rights Watch

08.08.2007 South Africa has the largest economy in Africa but the gap between its rich and poor communities is on a par with Brazil. Is this sustainable development? Check out the new OneWorld Country Guide

01.08.2007