RIGHTS: Relocation of San an Immediate Talking Point at CIVICUS Conference

The World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) has begun its biennial World Assembly with strong words from Botswana President Festus Mogae about the relocation of members of his country's San community. The assembly is being held in Botswana's capital, Gaborone.

ENERGY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: The Challenges of Getting Malawi Wired

It's a tale of delays, missed deadlines and the grinding problems that can dog large-scale infrastructure projects. Work to connect electricity lines between Malawi and neighbouring Mozambique was scheduled to have been completed by 2002. The deadline has now been shifted to 2005, however - and officials aren't ruling out 2006.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: A Former President Looks Back

"For many black South Africans very little has changed: the same people still own the big houses, they still hold down the best jobs, they still drive the fancy cars that speed - unseeing - past the black informal settlements that line our first-world highways," says F.W. de Klerk, the country’s last apartheid-era president.

HEALTH-AFRICA: A Church Group Makes Strides in Supplying ARVs

The case for providing anti-retroviral drugs to as many HIV-positive Africans as possible was made again this week in South Africa, by the Community of Sant' Egidio, a Catholic organisation.

ECONOMY-ZIMBABWE: Tussle Over Coal Prices Threatens Crucial Tobacco Sales

Hopes that Zimbabwe's enfeebled economy will benefit from tobacco sales have been thrown into doubt because of a shortage of coal, needed to cure the tobacco. With the sector already reeling under the controversial land reform programme, this could have severe implications for the import of food and other essential items.

ECONOMY-SWAZILAND: Loosening the Reins on Mineral Resources

The exploitation of Swazi mineral resources has long been a sensitive area of debate, as the colonial era saw a considerable portion of these resources being depleted by foreigners. However, the overtures of a South African businessman might be about to change all that.

HEALTH-ZAMBIA: Anger at Move to Declare Schools Condom-Free Zones

One step forward, three steps backwards: that's how various AIDS activists, parents and teachers in Zambia are describing government's decision to ban the distribution of condoms in schools on the grounds that it promotes promiscuity.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Dogs of War to Nip at Heels of Continental Parliament

When the new Pan-African Parliament is inaugurated in Ethiopia next week, it will confront a host of challenging issues - not least the role of mercenaries in Africa.

ENVIRONMENT: A Third of Bird Species At Risk

The plight of birdlife in Africa and other parts of the world is being highlighted at a meeting that is currently underway in the South African port city of Durban.

CULTURE-ZIMBABWE: Bulawayo’s Old Men of Jazz

A white-suited quartet slides onto a small stage in Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. There’s a flash of a smile before the grey-haired men step forward, their songs matching the rhythm of their feet. The Cool Crooners are on their way to charming another audience.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Isolated Violence, Poverty Focus of Election Campaign

Campaigning for South Africa's general elections, to be held next month, has moved into top gear - with politicians scrambling for an endorsement from the country's 20.7 million registered voters.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Reproductive Care a Work in Progress

With the world marking International Women's Day this week, women in South Africa might find themselves asking what benefits 10 years of democracy have brought them - especially in the important area of reproductive health.

HEALTH-ZAMBIA: NGOs in the Hot Seat

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has had an uneasy relationship with civil society from the beginning of his term in office. However, matters worsened recently when he accused AIDS activists of monopolising the funds provided by donors to fight the pandemic.

RIGHTS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: AIDS the Focus of Int’l Women’s Day

"As a woman, I can't bring a condom home. If I do, then I'm not a wife - I'm a prostitute. My husband will ask me whether I have a secret lover. If I say I don't, he will want to know where I had learnt how to use a condom," says Siphiwe Hlophe.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: The Relentless March of the Military Men

A silent revolution, with far-reaching political and social implications, is underway in Zimbabwe. In many divisions of the public service including the judiciary, and state-run companies, military men are on the ascendant.

ECONOMY-SOUTH AFRICA: Financial Gains Elusive for Black Majority

Ten years after the demise of apartheid, South African blacks are still waiting for a slice of the economic pie they were denied in the past.

POLITICS-MALAWI: Allegations of Media Bias Plague Election Campaign

Accusations of political bias are piling up against Malawi's state broadcaster in the run-up to general elections scheduled for May 18. In the latest salvo to be fired, a group of religious leaders has asked the courts to ensure equal air time for all political parties.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Haitian Leader’s Plight Fails to Move Opposition

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who fled a rebel onslaught Sunday, is searching for a new home – and it appears that he may take up exile in South Africa.

POLITICS-NAMIBIA: Clear Criteria Needed For Expropriations – Farmers

An umbrella group for Namibian commercial farmers, the Namibia Agricultural Union, says the announcement that farm expropriations will take place in the country has sent has sent shock waves through its agricultural community.

ENVIRONMENT-MALAWI: Villagers Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

A group of villagers in Malawi is taking on the management of a quarry near the commercial centre of Blantyre, because of alleged noise and dust pollution from the quarry.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: "The Situation is Very Grim"

"We are the only country in the world not at war whose economy is shrinking at an alarming rate. Inflation is running at 620 percent. Eighty percent of our people live in poverty," says Tendai Biti of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change.