THE average South African s life expectancy was greater in the 1970s than it is today. According to a damning new report by Unicef, the United Nation s childrens organisation, life expectancy in South Africa in 1970 was 53 years. After reaching a high of 62 in 1990, it dropped dramatically to 47 in 2004. Life expectanc
THE Global Fund - created to finance a dramatic turnaround in the fight against Aids, tuberculosis and malaria - has withdrawn funding to loveLife. Global Fund s money constitutes a third of the operating budget for loveLife, South Africa s national HIV prevention programme for youth. It is understood that the board of
A SURVEY from the South African Business Coalition on HIV/Aids (Sabcoha) conducted by the Bureau for Economic Research, reports that 40% of manufacturers and transport companies and 60% of mines surveyed say that HIV/Aids has led to a loss of experience and vital skills in their organisations. The mining, transport and
SEEING Jacob Mokoena come back to health after almost dying convinced many of his fellow Sasol workers to put their faith in antiretroviral treatment. Mokoena was one of the first people to get help after the group launched its Sasol HIV/Aids Response Programme (Sharp) in May 2003. Since then, most of Sasol s 24000 emp
WHEN Theresa Naidoo s daughter, Andrea, now three years old, was born HIV-positive, doctors were convinced that her chances of survival were slim. But it was Naidoo s cons- tant prayer that gave my baby the strength to pull through all these years . Wearing a thin cotton nightdress, Naidoo, 32, from Bayview, Chatsworth
IT WAS the alarming number of death certificates landing on her desk that moved bank manager Joey Grobler to do something about the Aids epidemic decimating the small northern KwaZulu-Natal town of Paulpietersburg. Sometimes I get 20 death certificates in a day of people who bank with us. I began to think about the chi
OLDER men who have unsafe sex with young women and multiple partners are fuelling the HIV epidemic in South Africa , a new national study proves. South Africa s second household study on HIV by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) also found that 60% of those surveyed are not using condoms - yet two-thirds of the
THE controversy around HIV/Aids statistics is sure to flare up again this week after the release of South Africa s second national household survey on the disease, on the eve of World Aids Day. HIV/Aids statistics are inexact and will always be contested. But the pattern of infections emerging from communities involved
YESTERDAY Stars: Leleti Khumalo, Kenneth Kambule, Lihle Mvelase Director: Darrell James Roodt Certificate: PG Running Time: 96 mins There is a shot in Roodt s film, which was nominated for a foreign-language Oscar, that sums up this country in a matter of seconds. In the background is the great and beautiful amphitheat
THE saucy sex secrets of some of the country s hottest musicians and celebrities are laid bare in a shocking new television documentary. Unzipped, a 48-minute show to be screened on SABC1 later this month, features candid interviews with artists such as Zola, Unathi Nkayi, Arno Carstens, Pam Andrews, Mandoza and Malaik
DAIMLERCHRYSLER SA is doing far more than manufacturing the Mercedes-Benz C-class for world markets at its plant on the banks of the Buffalo River harbour in East London. It is also changing the way big business fights HIV-Aids. The company - the biggest private employer in East London - this week launched a two-year p
ELLEN Ramajela s 11-year-old granddaughter holds her head high at her Soweto school now that she has a new uniform and shoes. For the first time last month Ramajela could afford a uniform and the school fees for Nthabiseng after the family finally received a foster-child grant. Hunched in a chair, 58-year-old Ramajela
BIG business got generous on Monday, as top companies supported Nurturing Orphans of Aids for Humanity (Noah) at a bash at the Sandton Sun, hosted by JSE Securities Exchange chief executive Russell Loubser. Business schlebs galore help Noah, among them Tony Phillips of Barloworld, Tony Trahar, businesswoman Pulane King
-- You might get a few kids who are going to use the opportunity to bunk school, but that is not within our control TEENAGE schoolgirls are bunking school to visit a research centre that offers them R1700 to test an anti-HIV gel whenever they have sex. The North West Education Department has launched an investigation i
BOB Phato has a message for South African men: you can give orphans a better future. Winner of the community careworker category of the Khomanani Excellence Awards this week, the compassionate 53-year-old is helping more than 700 orphans. He started his Ukhamba project in the Eastern Cape s rural Chris Hani District Mu
AS AFRICAN National Congress hopefuls jockey for local government seats in next year s election, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya has berated sitting councillors for their neglect of South Africa s most marginalised community - children orphaned by AIDS. They are not interested, our comrades, completely not,
NINE out of 10 South Africans believe the government is failing people living with Aids, according to results of a survey to be released tomorrow. But they blame Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang more than President Thabo Mbeki. The poll by Research Surveys shows that 90% of blacks and 86% of all 2000 people que
ZACKIE Achmat, whose fight against HIV/Aids won him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, yesterday accused President Thabo Mbeki s office of co-ordinating a sustained attack against the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which he heads. The TAC has been a consistent critic of both the government and Mbeki s response to the HI
The eminent satirist, who recently turned 60, has penned a new memoir, writes Celean Jacobson I have got the excitement of a 13-year-old discovering that life is full of wonderful things and because I am 60 I don t have to ask permission to go and find those things PIETER-Dirk Uys wasn t telling us that it was his 60th
NOLUTHANDO Kraai discovered she was HIV-positive after being gang-raped two years ago. She thought her life was over - but then she became a symbol of hope, teaching her community about HIV/Aids. Kraai, 37, from Mareetsane Village outside Mafikeng in North West, was one of more than 500 people who attended the launch o
FORMER Eurythmics singer and now celebrity activist Annie Lennox has described South Africa s Aids pandemic as a virtual genocide largely ignored by the world - and, it would seem, the ANC government. The star, who continues to perform as a solo artist, made her comments after attending the launch in London of the UK-b
A FORMER US ambassador to the UN has slammed Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang at an HIV/Aids briefing at Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Richard Holbrooke, now head of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, said on Wednesday that South Africa and India were worst affected by the pandemic.
THE scientific community is largely ignoring the Aids pandemic in Africa, according to a special edition of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) out this week. Among those who do research on the disease that kills more than two million Africans a year, some could be dodging ethical obligations that apply elsewhere in the
FREEZING and struggling to breathe, two HIV-positive South Africans made it to the top of Africa s highest mountain this week while other climbers were being carried down on stretchers. Paddy Nhlapo, 35, and Richard Yell, 45, were determined to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to show that people living with HIV c
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki s decision to fire his former deputy, Jacob Zuma, from the Cabinet has received widespread support from urban South Africans. This is according to Research Surveys, a market research company, which conducted a telephonic survey of 300 metropolitan adults in June to determine whether they supported
ZACKIE Achmat, whose fight against HIV/Aids won him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, yesterday accused President Thabo Mbeki s office of co-ordinating a sustained attack against the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which he heads. The TAC has been a consistent critic of both the government and Mbeki s response to the HI
CHILDREN have taken centre stage in the battle against HIV in a farming community in the Western Cape. Pupils at Pineview Primary School in Grabouw are putting on plays at schools and farms to teach adults and children how to protect their bodies against the virus and living with HIV. Red two-litre bottles placed in th
This week 22 teachers in KwaZulu-Natal - some of whom have openly disclosed their HIV status - became the first to qualify as master trainers MORE than 200 private doctors will provide antiretroviral treatment to 1650 HIV-positive teachers and their spouses from November. The two-year pilot project aimed at teachers i
TOP Brands research confirms what we all instinctively know - Coke is it. The brand dominates every category in which it was researched. In the eyes of South Africans, it is the favourite brand, the best soft drink brand, the coolest brand and the company that does the most for the community. You might ask if Coca-Cola
JET Stores won the clothing category ahead of Edgars last year for the first time. This year it entrenches its position in the rural areas and overall, although Edgars remains the top brand in metropolitan areas. Both chains are in the Edcon group, which made a decision several years ago to position the two brands firm
THERE were some positive signs this week that the police are winning the battle against crime. Although figures presented by Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula are still disconcerting, it is remarkable that there has been a significant decrease in violent crimes like assault, murder and attempted murder. Stra
YOU can help to turn the tide against HIV/Aids and TB by taking part in the Khomanani pledge campaign. The smallest action can make a big difference to someone s life - and to your own. The campaign wants every South African to pledge to take action in the face of HIV and Aids. Make your pledge by October 9, which is K
-- We used to see abandoned, hungry children with their skin not shiny; now they are fed and going to school When 12-year-old Thieho Mariti got his first pay cheque for R100, he bought meat for the uncle who takes care of him. The income he earns by making bead jewellery is paid directly into his own bank account, alth
Two HIV-positive men who rarely bother climbing stairs are to scale Africa s highest mountain in a bid to fight preconceptions about living with the virus. Despite having no mountaineering experience, former television presenter Paddy Nhlapo, 35, and Karoo entrepreneur Richard Yell, 45, plan to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro
Vincent Mathebula s only certain meal of the week is a few slices of brown bread and a plate of vegetable soup on Wednesdays. Mathebula, 19, is among 380 orphans living on the doorstep of South Africa s top game reserve, Kruger National Park. Although the park attracts millions of rands in foreign revenue annually, it
From 11 September, every person in South Africa will be challenged to play a part in turning the tide against HIV, Aids and TB. The smallest action can make a big difference to someone s life. Local celebrities are supporting the Khomanani pledge campaign - and so can you. The campaign wants every South African to pled
Khomanani is calling for nominations for its 2005 Excellence Awards. Khomanani, which means caring together in Tsonga, is the government s communication campaign aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/Aids and improving care and treatment for people affected by HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections
WHEN 12-year-old Thieho Mariti got his first pay cheque for R100, he bought meat for the uncle who takes care of him. The income he earns by making bead jewellery is paid directly into his own bank account, although adults advise him on how to manage his finances. Thieho is one of five orphans in the Jewels of Hope pr
FROM this week, every person in South Africa will be challenged to play a part in turning the tide against HIV, Aids and TB. The smallest action can make a big difference to someone s life. Local celebrities are supporting the Khomanani pledge campaign - and so can you. The campaign wants every South African to pledge
Employers rate costs as the most significant issue they face As for providing affordable healthcare to employees, rising healthcare costs mean many individuals are buying down into cheaper options, deregistering some of their dependants or discontinuing their cover THE healthcare industry - both public and private - i
Connie and Shona Ferguson (Generations actress and Muvhango actor) We pledge to always protect each other by having our HIV tests done together as a couple. Krijay Govender (actress/ director/ comedienne) For Khomanani Day, I pledge to speak to girl children about issues around HIV/Aids and sexuality. Thornton Oaks
--Fana Khabzela Khaba, the YFM DJ who died of Aids in January last year, would have turned 37 tomorrow. In this extract from her book, Khabzela, Liz McGregor tells the tale of the life and times of this controversial and much-loved man Khabzela made tragic choices He looked for a miracle solution - one that would chang
THIS country is in denial about a serious crisis. President Thabo Mbeki - who has been noncommittal at best, and confusing at worst, about his stance on the HIV pandemic - has opened the floodgates for opportunists who are feasting on the death of our people. Firstly, Nkosazana Zuma, the then Minister of Health introdu
CHRIS Hani Baragwanath Hospital is set to become one of the world s top HIV vaccine trial sites in the next year. The Wits Perinatal HIV Research Unit based at the hospital in Soweto has won grants for five new human HIV vaccine trials. The success of the unit at Bara comes as another site, set up at the same time in 2
A GROUP of 75 men have volunteered for a vaccine trial at Chris Hani Baragwanath in the fight against a female cancer. The vaccine is designed to block the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes genital warts and is proven to be a cause of cervical cancer. It is also a sexually transmitted disease which increases a
JOBURG S HIV-positive singles are among a growing number of lonely hearts looking for love in cyber space. The city has the greater percentage of members on Positive Connection, the country s first online-dating service for HIV-positive singles. Ben Sassman, founder of the site, said he was thrilled that HIV-positive s
THE country s health officials were depicted as apes during scathing presentations on South Africa s antiretroviral (ARV) programme at the International Surgical Week conference in Durban this week. Foreign and local surgeons sat in stunned silence as Treatment Action Campaign leader Zachie Achmat and a Durban doctor h
TWO HIV-positive men who rarely bother climbing stairs are to scale Africa s highest mountain in a bid to fight preconceptions about living with the virus. Despite having no mountaineering experience, former television presenter Paddy Nhlapo, 35, and Karoo entrepreneur Richard Yell, 45, plan to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro
Five teachers were found guilty of murder by the High Court, including two who had killed their wives A TOTAL of 269 teachers were fired by the government for committing serious offences - including 49 for rape and sexual abuse - in a period of just over one year. A further 187 teachers are on the brink of being sacked
SEKUTU Mochadi is saving every last cent to visit a 10-year-old Indonesian boy who touched her heart during last year s tsunami rescue mission. The 46-year-old Limpopo mother of two was among 13 South Africans attached to humanitarian relief organisation Global Relief, which provided medical and psychological help to t
A DURBAN company is making shoes to support women and children affected by HIV/Aids. Soul of Africa sells the comfortable Khulani leather moccasins to raise funds to build houses and improve the living conditions of Aids orphans. The moccasins are hand stitched by unemployed women from informal settlements. They are a
OLD Mutual Healthcare has selected as its empowerment partner one of the most experienced hands in the business of providing medical cover to lower-income earners. Dr Sam Tshabangu, chief executive of medical aid administrator Kwacha and chairman of Sizwe Medical Services, has been in the healthcare environment for mor
KHOMANANI is calling for nominations for its 2005 Excellence Awards. Khomanani, which means caring together in Tsonga, is the government s communication campaign aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/Aids and improving care and treatment for people affected by HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections
THE erratic supply of powdered baby milk to state clinics for infants born to HIV-positive mothers has become a crisis. Staff at Gauteng clinics fear they will have to send mothers home empty-handed next week if Nestle, which makes the formula Nan Pelargon, does not replenish their shelves tomorrow. Nestle has a massiv
HE S better known as the man who defied Doctor No - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang - and as the HIV/Aids sufferer who refused to take antiretrovirals until they were made available through the public health system. But the 7th Annual Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival reveals ano
PHILLIP Ndou is the only man to have fought both Cassius Baloyi and Isaac Hlatshwayo. And he has no trouble picking the winner when the pair clash at Carnival City on August 31. Cass is too slick, says Ndou, who beat Baloyi on points in 2001. He lost over 12 rounds to Hlatshwayo in 2004. Ndou doesn t believe Hlatshwayo
THREE loose cigarettes, Khanyisile commands the shopkeeper at Protea South Mall in Soweto. I m smoking about five a day. Do you think that s too many? she asks, lighting up. Khanyi, 33, understands the risks of smoking, but her life is full of risks much more immediate than the dangers of lung cancer. Looking at her,
The move has been slammed by critics as an inappropriate attempt by government to centralise power THE minister of health plans to take control of the registration of medicines and medical trials to be carried out in the country. The Sunday Times has established that the department has outlined changes that will drasti
Searching for lady with financial security. I am polite, pleasant, promising, prudent, painstaking, perfect, and a peaceful personage NOSINE is a 72-year-old woman who has a boyfriend of 34 called Penha for whom she has bought a house and car. He is from the middle of Africa. She lives in a smart part of Langa, owns a
SOUTH Africans are still living in the shadow of apartheid, with most rarely interacting or socialising with other race groups. Apartheid may be officially dead, but divisions between race groups still exist, the SA Reconciliation Baro-meter has found in research conduc- ted for the Institute for Justice and Reconcilia
MINER DISPUTE: The NUM wants to see retirement benefits insulated so that the cost of the risk does not eat into the retirement fund THE Mineworkers Pension Fund (MPF) is dwindling at such a rate that in two years members retirement payments could be severely reduced. MPF manages the pensions of hundreds of thousands o
THE South African companies in the ring against HIV/Aids are the heavyweights like Anglo American, De Beers and Eskom - but their tactics are as appropriate for small and medium enterprises wanting to obliterate the disease and protect their workforce. This week during a visit to Johannesburg Richard Holbrooke, CEO and
MISS Universe, Natalie Glebova, movie star Brad Pitt, billionaires Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson have all had a common destination during their visits to South Africa - Hillbrow. The celebrities have visited the Esselen Street Clinic, a leading HIV/Aids prevention and treatment clinic on the edge of the rundown fl
Meanwhile, Zwelithini has also vowed to go ahead with his plans to start virginity testing for men. ZULU King Goodwill Zwelithini is hopping mad over a new law that bans virginity testing. The monarch has lashed out at the government for failing to consult him on the Children s Bill, which was recently passed by the Na
-- The new chief of the Human Sciences Research Council is obsessed with Africa s key issues, writes Rowan Philp OLIVE Shisana was raising her own school fees by ploughing a mealie field near Polokwane when a passenger jet flew overhead. About 12 years old, the girl pointed to it and told her brother: One good day, I w
-- Theories of an Mbeki-led plot against Zuma abound, writes Wally Mbhele Mbeki knew that the Scorpions investigation into Zuma was finally going to give him the ammunition to deal with the man who d become his political nemesis THEY won t say it in public, but supporters of former Deputy President Jacob Zuma are secre
-- Rich and poor lavish their spare cash on their houses as cocooning takes hold SOUTH African home owners are splashing out on their homes - then raising the drawbridge and staying put. From humble shacks to mansions, people are ploughing time, energy and cash into their homes as cocooning and burrowing trends take ho
UMBRELLA funds may get their day in the sun as the government moves to encourage saving for retirement and thereby lessen dependence on state pensions, according to Liberty Life Corporate Benefits MD Ian Maron. Umbrella funds that are managed by independent, professional trustees could become attractive options for bus
A course for church leaders is aimed at bolstering their profile, especially among the youth The African Independent Churches leaders are going to play a pivotal role in moral regeneration. One must take that seriously DWINDLING numbers of people who go to church and the challenge of HIV/Aids have sent clerics back to
--In the run-up to the G8 Summit at Gleneagles, some have questioned US commitment to Africa. The US Ambassador to South Africa , Jendayi Frazer, argues that it s time for Africans to help themselves, if they need further help from the US THE G8 Africa Action Plan adopted at Kananaskis in 2002 should continue to be the
IT HAS been about 20 years since we first heard of people dying from Aids. The good news is that 20 years later we know a lot more about the disease. And the most important thing we know is that it s possible to live with Aids. Unfortunately there is more bad news than good. Very few live long after being diagnosed.
AT THE end of 2003, Joburg audiences had the pleasure of seeing soap star hunks such as Egoli s Darren Kelfkens and Deon Coetzee flexing their acting muscles in a play about gay men. Performed in two languages * the English version and an Afrikaans adaptation * My Night With Reg explored the secrets that surface when a
ONE of the unhealthiest parts of Joburg is being developed into a world-class health precinct. Gauteng province, the Joburg council and Wits University have joined forces to spend R326-million on a health precinct in Hillbrow. This will not only make Hillbrow safer and cleaner, but also means a world-class HIV/Aids tre
AIDS is so prevalent in Mozambique that it has lopped more than a full percentage point off the country s growth rate. The economy is growing at a rate of between 7% and 8% a year, but the World Bank reckons this figure could be as much as one percentage point higher if almost one in seven Mozambicans were not HIV-posi
A new survey shows it s not that unusual for married men in SA to indulge in secret sex - with other men FORGET about the other woman - a fair number of married men in South Africa are getting their kicks in secret with other men. Jay Matlou does not date married men but, as an openly gay man, is often approached by th
They re a study sample known as Mandela s Children. Born in 1990, they now provide some insights into the new SA, writes Bobby Jordan This group of children is still incredibly optimistic about the future. They see their lives as better than their parents lives IT S A narrow cul-de-sac for such a big gang.
Criticised local business schools point out that a lack of funding is hampering this vital aspect of their degrees, writes Ciaran Ryan ONE of the criticisms levelled at SA business schools is the lack of local research. MBA programmes require students to carry out projects at their places of work, and while this adds t
A COMIC strip is helping parents in KwaZulu-Natal broach the sticky -- and often taboo -- subject of the birds and the bees with their children. The project is a collaboration between the Human Sciences Research Council and the University of KwaZulu-Natal s School of Psychology. It has parents using a cartoon-based sto
The AIDS virus is forcing infected men to rethink their behaviour and look to one another for help in living with the disease. Philippa Garson sat in on a male support group When you re drunk you have this positive mentality. You feel so confident, but in the morning, when you wake up, you start wondering what you did
SOUTH Africa s Indian population is sitting on an HIV/Aids time bomb, experts and community workers have warned. Research carried out by Athmanundh Dilraj, a senior specialist at the Medical Research Council in Durban, estimates that in two years the incidence of HIV/Aids among pregnant Indian women will have increased
We will never get everything right. Not even if you re marketing soap will you get everything right Yvonne Johnston International Marketing Council CEO YVONNE Johnston, chief executive of the International Marketing Council of South Africa and Businesswoman of the Year finalist, says that whatever the fate of Deputy
OPRAH Winfrey says South Africans have more spirit and hope than any other people she has met. The talk-show supremo, who was in Johannesburg to present a motivational seminar yesterday, said she was particularly impressed by South African children. I ve never met a child here who doesn t understand that education is t
HUNDREDS of pupils at a Chatsworth school are hard at work making a giant card to mark former president Nelson Mandela s 87th birthday next month. The 3.6-metre card may never reach Madiba - who celebrates his birthday on July 18 - but that has not discouraged the pupils of Elora Primary School from proceeding with the
Female suicide in particular is increasing. In the last five years it has increased at least threefold A CHANGING South Africa has exacted a heavy toll on black South Africans. The past decade has seen a 48% increase in suicides among black people as more South Africans than ever before take their own lives to escape
TYRONE Arthur, an award-winning photographer at a daily newspaper in Johannesburg, was married for four years and is heterosexual. He has never injected drugs. But he has Aids. I just slept with too many women, he says. I don t know who I got HIV from. An occasional model, he was attractive to women and he lived it up.
-- Conference calls for creation of database on nation s sexual habits -- Not much is known about what goes on between the sheets or behind the school sheds - SA needs sex survey to wage war on Aids TO HELP in the fight against Aids in South Africa , the country needs a sex survey to provide information about what goes
THE state has settled a lawsuit brought by a Durban man who contracted HIV/Aids after he was sodomised in jail. This week the Department of Correctional Services reached an out-of-court settlement with the 30-year-old Chatsworth man who became infected with the virus while being held in Westville Prison. Manelisi Wolel
WHEN Judge Hilary Squires this week found that Deputy President Jacob Zuma used his political office to promote and protect Schabir Shaik s business interests in return for money, he did far more than directly link him to acts of corruption. His scathing 184-page judgment is the death knell for one of the most illustri
THEMBA Mkhize was on the verge of committing suicide when he walked into the Imbizo Men s Health Centre in Kliptown earlier this year. Weighed down by unemployment and depression, and abandoned by his family, the 47-year-old from Dlamini, Soweto, felt he had nothing to live for. But all this changed after his visit to
SOUTH African men are rushing to the psychologist s couch, threatened by the rise of empowered women. A University of KwaZulu-Natal study into masculinity has found that growing numbers of men are questioning their roles in society. Professor Graham Lindegger of the university s school of psychology said men had tradit
WHEN I phoned my brother-in-law to tell him that my youngest brother, Thabo, had died, his sharp and immediate reaction was: They shot him dead? He sighed in relief when I assured him that the young man had died peacefully, unexpectedly. Then we proceeded to talk about funeral arrangements. On Saturday, we buried Thabo
We can make people aware they are highly infectious and that they must use condoms at the very least WITS scientists have succeeded in identifying people in the most contagious stage of HIV in a study at a clinic in Hillbrow. The groundbreaking study, which uses a new testing strategy, highlights the importance of ea
LAWYERS for the three women with HIV named in politician Patricia de Lille s autobiography are to appeal against a Johannesburg High Court judgment which found De Lille and author Charlene Smith not liable for damages. The women were also objecting to the court s view that they suffered less damage to their dignity and
LAWYERS for the three women with HIV named in politician Patricia de Lille s autobiography are to appeal against a Johannesburg High Court judgment which found De Lille and author Charlene Smith not liable for damages. The women were also objecting to the court s view that they suffered less damage to their dignity and
HEALTH Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (First Leningrad Medical Institute, USSR 1962 - 1969) has been trying so hard not to put her foot in it that she has been silent on antiretroviral drugs over the last three months. But the truth will out. Asked why she endorsed the views of Aids dissident Matthias Rath, the m
HEALTH Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang s complaint this week that she did not know whether Aids patients on antiretrovirals were dying or had stopped taking drugs has provoked paediatricians in Soweto into releasing their numbers. The children s clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital has more than 500 children on
SLEEPING with someone within three weeks of their being infected with the HIV virus increases your risk of contracting the virus from roughly one in 1000 to one in 50. A major study published in the May Journal of Infectious Disease provides the first evidence of sharply increased transmission risk during the first sta
AIDS activist Zackie Achmat s health has emerged as a key exhibit in a looming courtroom battle between the Treatment Action Campaign and antiretroviral critic Dr Matthias Rath. Cape Town advocate Anthony Brink, a campaigner against antiretroviral drug treatment, said Achmat s clinical case history was proof that the d
THE government took a very important step in November 2003 when it announced a massive roll-out of antiretroviral treatment. It was, as government ministers and spokesmen keep reminding us, one the most comprehensive treatment plans in the world. By doing so the government put behind us the ugly recriminations that had
HOLLYWOOD heart-throb Brad Pitt was reduced to tears at a Durban hospital this week after seeing an Aids orphan lying helplessly in bed. The 41-year-old actor, who sneaked into South Africa this week on an Aids awareness mission, visited Durban s St Mary s Catholic Mission Hospital and the Centre for Aids Programme of
In his published memoir, Judge Edwin Cameron s clear authoritative voice cuts a path between the silence and panic of the Aids pandemic, writes Loren Anthony I emphasised that I had been able to choose to make my statement because I am not dying of Aids. I am living with Aids. The phrase caught on THERE are ways of tal
THE birth of a child is usually a cause for celebration. Even more so if the birth takes place within a royal family. But the news that King Goodwill Zwelithini s teenage bride-to-be, Zola Mafu, has a two-week-old baby should leave a bitter taste in the mouth. It is good that mother and baby are both healthy but, apart
SOUTH Africa s public health system takes care of more than 80% of the population, but the quality of care falls far short of patients needs. Across the country, people with Aids must wait for months to go on vital antiretroviral treatment, and pensioners queue for days to collect chronic medication. Such delays, the s
-- Former President Nelson Mandela has spoken for the first time of how he has been personally affected by the Aids pandemic, losing close relatives to the disease This week, Mandela confirmed to the Sunday Times that three young members of his family had succumbed to Aids in the Eastern Cape and that he had visited on
-- Nelson Mandela has urged heads of government to lead the fight against Aids and to follow the example of the presidents of Uganda , Senegal and Botswana Speaking at an Aids Day function in Crossroads, Cape Town, yesterday, he said: One of the most important things .
-- British collectors spend thousands on prints of the ex-President s right hand, which show an image of Africa on his palm A London art gallery was inundated with visitors, e-mails and phone calls this week after the Times newspaper published a front-page picture of a lithograph showing the hand print of former Presid
-- Mandela tells Mbeki s government to halt debates and fight the war Former president Nelson Mandela has called for an end to the debate on HIV/Aids, saying the government and South Africans should focus on fighting the war against the disease. In an interview with the Sunday Times this week, Mandela issued his strong
Cameron, a High Court judge who is living with HIV, has just launched his book, Edwin Cameron: Witness to Aids. Chris Barron asked him... Why did you decide to reveal that you had Aids? I think it was necessary because this is such an epidemic of silence. So much silence, so much fear. It needed voices to speak out and
There are similarities between the motives behind the family murders by white Afrikaans men in the 1980s and the family murders recently reported in the black community MUSI Soni and Sipho Khumalo lived in two different worlds - Sono had a house in Edenvale and a promising career in government, while Khumalo was a conv
The deputy minister urged South Africans to start a revolution from below to stop needless deaths BLOOD is flowing in the Health Department s Pretoria headquarters - although this time it s not being spilt in futile battles. Instead, it has been infused into key positions. In January, Thamsanqa Mseleku took control of
Labourers defy stigma and superstition to participate in HIV-testing programme Print friendly Send to a friend After I found out I had to speak to him but I could not do it straight away. It was hard to tell him. I waited until he wanted us to sleep together LIVING WITH THE DISEASE: Andries divulged his HIV-positive st
WHEN Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge releases her strategic plan soon, HIV/Aids will be integrated into her areas of responsibility. She told the Sunday Times: From the departmental briefings I have received, I have put together a strategic plan on how to tackle these areas. More and more I see the lin
The University of Cape Town s Virology Department, in collaboration with Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda , and the New York Blood Centre, will conduct tests on Ugandan children. UCT s head of virology, Professor Girish Kotwal, said the trials were expected to last three to six months. Like the antiretrovira
-- Up until now South African films have been looked upon with suspicion, so this nomination brings a lot of credibility SOUTH Africa s new Oscar hopefuls - the stars and producers of hit film Yesterday - are riding a roller coaster of glamour and excitement this weekend before tomorrow s Academy of Motion Picture Arts
FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel has increased social spending steadily since he shifted from stabilisation to expansion in his 2001 Budget. With its provision for R74.4-billion more for social spending over the coming three years, Wednesday s Budget continued the trend. The biggest increase is to social grants, up R22.3
THE first time I met him in 1997, my friend Spencer Chirambo told me a risque joke. He said: A number of guys are sitting at a bar, drinking, when one of them, a Mozambican, gulps his beer in a hurry and smashes his glass on the floor. Everyone in the bar is shocked. They want to know why he s smashing his glass on the
THE world today, more than ever, is confronted by disasters like the tsunami; epidemics like HIV/Aids and phenomena like global warming. Invariably, citizens of the world turn to their scientists for solutions. The forefathers of science, when they laid the foundations of the discipline, never intended to have descenda
-- New channel pumps kwaito, hip-life, mbalax and zouk into airwaves, writes Adele Shevel SOME brands define a generation. MTV represents the youth of the global village. And this week the international music channel launched MTV Base Africa, in Johannesburg. The channel -- created specially for an African audience --
TODDLER Sam van Houten nearly landed up as an Aids orphan with little hope of a real chance in life. He was abandoned at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital shortly after his birth in 2003 and was later incorrectly diagnosed as HIV-positive. When staff moved him to a hospice, he was tested again, using an alternative Aids
GLOBAL unemployment declined to 6.1% (184.7million people) in 2004 from 6.3% (185.2million) the year before, according to the International Labour Office s (ILO s) annual Global Employment Trends report. This is the first time since 2000 that year-on-year unemployment decreased and only the second decline since 1994, t
The figures show that the country s daily death rate soared by 57% in the six years to 2002 DEATH among young adults more than doubled between 1997 and 2002 but the government s official statistics agency is cautious about blaming HIV/Aids for this soaring trend among the sexually active. According to a long-awaited re
THE good news for those living with Aids is that not only has taking antiretroviral medication become relatively simple, but medical schemes are now compelled to cover the costs of treatment. Antiretroviral medication can be as straightforward as taking one pill in the morning and two pills at night, says Anglo America
ONE of Durban s largest churches has gone to court against a former pastor and his wife, claiming they stripped the church s HIV/Aids clinic of equipment and medicines to start their own facil- ity. The 7000-strong congregation of the Durban Christian Centre (DCC) has been deeply divided by the public denunciation of i
HEADS of state, finance ministers and big-hearted international celebrities have called for a renewed focus on the troubles of Africa. Specifically, they talk of a significant increase in development aid in order to meet the United Nation s millennium development goals. In fact, the talk could amount to an additional $
TWO reports published this week will reopen the acrimonious row over the HIV/Aids epidemic, which has raised South Africa s death rate by 43% in the five years up to 2001. The first, sponsored by the SA Medical Research Council and published in the journal AIDS this weekend, anticipates that official statistics will co
For how long are we going to carry this stigma when everybody is dying from Aids? ALARMING numbers of people dying of HIV/Aids, are seeking help under cover of darkness, deeply ashamed of their plight. Despite 20 years of awareness programmes, the stigma associated with the disease is still so prevalent that scores of
-- Bosses from the local motor industry have landed top jobs, writes Don Robertson SENIOR managers in the South African motor industry are flexible and adaptable and this has made them highly sought after by international groups. Last month, four chief executives and a general manager from BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, N
-- Shabalala s brutal approach shaped the contemporary political landscape of KwaZulu-Natal, writes Paddy Harper He was the most feared warlord in a province where political thugs were as common as fleas on a mongrel IN ZULU culture, it is poor form to speak ill of the dead. But it is impossible to write about Thomas M
A DURBAN student has become the youngest person in the world to be honoured with a Bharat Gaurav Award from the India International Friendship Society. Rivaaj Ramdas, 28, a post-graduate law student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, received the award at a ceremony in Mumbai this month. He is the longest-standing
HOLLYWOOD actress Ashley Judd will visit South Africa next month to raise awareness about HIV/Aids. Judd is busy touring Kenya and Madagascar as global representative of YouthAIDS, a Washington-based, non-profit organisation involved in health programmes in more than 70 countries.
THE ANC s spat with the judiciary is yet another example of how badly it needs extra lessons in political spin. When you threaten like a bully, you blur the issues and force people to take sides. The sight of Big Brother wagging an accusatory finger always throws up a blur of emotive public response. Perhaps the ANC sh
-- Chris Barron says Makgatho Mandela s death could become a milestone in the South African struggle against the denial and discrimination around Aids Here is the most revered public figure in the world saying, My son has died of Aids Print Send to a friend HISTORY may look back at the day Nelson Mandela s son died thi
-- A number of trailblazers are walking the corridors of power but much more needs to be done to groom others, writes Cornia Pretorius WOMEN continue to be under-represented in top jobs at South African universities, presently occupying a meagre 26% of managerial and executive positions. Academic positions reflect a si
-- Women are making their mark, writes Craig Canavan MORE and more women are making their mark as world-renowned researchers in fields from linguistics to chemistry. Keeping track of these strides is the National Research Foundation, a governmental agency tasked with supporting research, which rates researchers in vari
ON THE eve of a second star-studded bash to help the Nelson Mandela Foundation combat HIV/Aids, it has emerged that South Africa s first 46664 concert has not yet raised enough cash to cover costs. The chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, John Samuel, said this week that the first concert, held in Cape Tow
FORMER President Nelson Mandela has once again proved himself to be a courageous leader who leads by example. His disclosure to the world media at his home on Thursday that his 54-year old son, Makgatho, had died of Aids earlier that morning, will go a long way in removing the stigma that is still associated with HIV/A
He said his health condition was private and felt it should be kept that way FORMER President Nelson Mandela was told about his son Makgatho s HIV status just seven months ago. A member of the Mandela family revealed this week that Makgatho s condition, which became known to some family members two years ago, had been
SOUTH Africa s opposition leaders have varied agendas for the new political year, but all agree that Parliament is losing its teeth and the focus for MPs in 2005 should be on stopping the decay. In interviews this week, they accused the ANC of blurring the boundary between the legislature and the executive and said rul
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