FINANCE: Profitable Year for South Africa

By all accounts, South Africa will end its financial year with the government having collected more money than it spent over the last 12 months.

RIGHTS-NAMIBIA: Black Farmers Feel the Pinch of New Minimum Wage

Paulus Kalipi is a worried man. He is worried that the new minimum wage, set by government, will weigh heavily on black farmers who have just entered the white-dominated industry.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Mandela Loses Patience with Bush over Iraq

Former South African president, Nelson Mandela has lost patience with diplomacy and launched a scathing personal attack on U.S. president, George W. Bush for his apparent determination to take military action against Iraq, if the middle-eastern country does not prove it has no weapons of mass destruction to the satisfaction of the United States.

HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Experts Predict a Surge in Malaria Incidence

When summer rains returned to Southern Africa in 2003, following a year of drought, malaria experts predicted incidences of the disease would surge.

LABOUR-SOUTH AFRICA: Unscrupulous Trade Unions Face De-Registration.

The South African department of labour is clamping down on employer organisations and trade unions that are not effectively protecting and representing workers.

POLITICS: South Africa Urges Majority UN Members to Try to Prevent War in Iraq

South Africa is marshalling developing countries in the United Nations to try and prevent war between Iraq and the United States rather than letting the US ride roughshod over the will of the majority of members of the international organisation.

ECONOMY-MOZAMBIQUE: South Africa’s Top African Trading Partner

Mozambique is strengthening its neighbourly ties with South Africa, while the other country has found in Mozambique its top African trading partner, a spot held until a few months ago by Zimbabwe.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Renewed Calls to Tighten Private Party Funding

Another corruption scandal involving company donations to political parties in South Africa has led to renewed calls for the regulation of the private funding of parties.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: The Axes of Global Plenty and Global Need

Two major world meetings now underway, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, represent the axes of global plenty and global need.

ECONOMY: Strong Public Interest in South Africa’s Telcom

It may not have been a referendum on South Africa's economic policy, but the government is taking surprisingly strong public interest in its plans to sell part of the state-owned telecommunications company, Telkom, as an endorsement of its plans to restructure and privatise state companies.

RIGHTS-NAMIBIA: Orphans to Benefit from New Tax

From April, the government will introduce a new tax to cater for the growing needs of orphans in Namibia.

HEALTH-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Poverty Leaves 14m Hungry, Vulnerable to AIDS

Poverty and famine have left an estimated 14 million people across Southern Africa hungry, and hunger leaves people weak and vulnerable to disease, including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

POPULATION: Unskilled Illegal Immigrants Cross into South Africa

Sipho Mahlalela, a primary school teacher, left his home in Swaziland, where unemployment had reached 45 percent of the adult workforce, and crossed the border into neighbour South Africa, the regional economic giant.

POLITICS: Small Arms Flood Southern Africa

The 14 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have a mutual security pact as the centerpiece of their organisation, and if for no other reason than the tide of destabilising illegal arms that passes through their countries.

RIGHTS-NAMIBIA: Parliament to Revive Domestic Violence Bill in February

Namibians are anxiously waiting for the opening of parliament in February to revive the ‘Combating of Domestic Violence Bill' which was put on hold late last year.

POLITICS: ‘Rule of Law’ Crisis in Swaziland

This week, the United States government put the tiny Southern African kingdom of Swaziland on notice that it is on probation with regards to the African Growth and Opportunities Act.

POLITICS-BRITAIN: Govt Steps Back from Cricket in Zimbabwe

British ministers have expressed disapproval for England playing a match in Zimbabwe during the World Cup cricket next month, but say the cricket board can take its own decision.

2002-2003/ECONOMY: Mixed Prospects for Southern Africa

While the economic prospects for some Southern African countries, in the new year, are relatively good - the outlook for much of the region is clouded by the food shortages and famine that is threatening the lives of about 14 million people, across the sub-continent.

2002-2003/ECONOMY: Mixed Prospects for Southern Africa

While the economic prospects for some Southern African countries, in the new year, are relatively good - the outlook for much of the region is clouded by the food shortages and famine that is threatening the lives of about 14 million people, across the sub-continent.

2002-2003/POLITICS: Peace Takes Hold Across Southern Africa

With a little bit of trust and goodwill on the part of Southern Africa's leaders, 2003 could see peace take hold across the region.

2002-2003/POLITICS: Peace Takes Hold Across Southern Africa

With a little bit of trust and goodwill on the part of Southern Africa's leaders, 2003 could see peace take hold across the region.