South Africa wants long-running power sharing negotiations in Zimbabwe to move ahead more quickly, a senior member of South Africa's ruling ANC said. Thandi Modise, deputy secretary-general of the African National Congress, said her country wanted to see a recovery in Zimbabwe that would allow millions of Zimbabweans who have fled economic meltdown in their country to return home.

In a move hailed by South Africa's victims and survivors of apartheid-era gross human rights violations, the South African government has written to the judge presiding over the South Africa Apartheid Litigation claims, Judge Shira Scheindlin, backing the stand that a New York Court is an appropriate forum for the claims. The claims, against General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co., IBM, Rheinmetall Group AG and Daimler AG, are based upon allegations that the corporations aided and abetted apartheid crimes, including, torture, extrajudicial killings and denationalization, all committed in violation of international law.

Debate on the nationalisation of the mining industry was revived in Parliament, with the chairman of the mineral resources portfolio committee saying the only way to avert it was to create a successful state- owned mining company.And a government official told the committee that such a company already existed, and had begun to build up an asset base.

The fourth World Summit on Arts and Culture, a project of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), will take place in Johannesburg from 22-25 September, hosted by the National Arts Council of South Africa. Mike van Graan, Programme Director for the Summit and Head of the Arterial Network’s Secretariat will write this weekly column in the build up to the Summit, raising some of the themes and provocative issues that will be debated at the event.

An emerging description of the South African economy is captured in the words "polarisation paralysis." The term has several renderings and different emphasis across academic disciplines, with important nuance and extensions. Another rendering is that it might provide a metaphor for the first 100 days of the Jacob Zuma Presidency, but also sets the challenge for this term of government. Two features prefigure the shadow boxing over economic policy since the start of the Jacob Zuma Presidency.

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) is pleased to announce its 2009 Fellowship in Transitional Justice: a three-week professional development course on transitional justice based in Cape Town, South Africa. This course will be held from November 2nd to November 20th, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.

This week 23 families living in tin-shanty houses in Motala Heights, Lot 35, were issued with letters, demanding that they pay exorbitant increases in rent - effective immediately - or face eviction. A pensioner, seeking advice about the letters, was told by the Pinetown Legal Aid Board that he would be “in the firing line” if he challenged the so-called landlord. Relatives of the so-called landlord threatened an area coordinator for Abahlali baseMjondolo for assisting the families, warning that they would “come to your home and deal with you.”

Agenda invites contributions for Agenda journal no. 82, "Gendered Violence in Education". At the forefront of feminist publishing in South Africa for 22 years, the Agenda journal raises debate around women's rights and gender issues. The journal encourages critical thinking, debate and social activism and strengthens the capacity of women and men to challenge gender discrimination and injustices. The IBSS/SAPSE accredited and peer reviewed journal will be published in December 2009.

The African Studies Association of India is proud to announce a seminar; South Africa under Globalization: Issues in Foreign Policy and Development, to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, on 11 to 12 November 2009.he proposed seminar seeks to address the issues related to foreign policy and development in South Africa under globalisation.

Thetha – a Nguni word for debate – bring together a wide range of national, regional and international stakeholders on the expected ICT challenges and opportunities that the Southern African region will face in the next ten years are being organised by APC member SANGONeT. Pre-Thetha reports on Zimbabwe and Mozambique make useful contextual reading.

61 families living in the settlement of Tumbleweed, Howick, have been threatened with imminent, unlawful eviction by the municipality and the local Inkosi. Three armed police officers and a representative of the municipality told the community that they had 24 hours to vacate the area, or an eviction team would return tomorrow and on Friday with bulldozers to demolish their homes. All will be left homeless.

South Africa's council workers' union said on Friday it had won a pay increase almost twice the rate of inflation, ending a five-day strike that challenged President Jacob Zuma's economic policies. "The wage agreement has now been signed and this effectively brings to an end the strike which has been raging all week," the SAMWU union said in a statement. The strike left rubbish piled up on streets and licensing offices closed. Workers settled for a 13 percent pay rise after demanding 15 percent. Inflation is running at 6.9 percent.

Three varieties of Monsanto’s genetically modified maize failed to produce crops during the 2008/9 growing season, leaving up to 200 000 hectares of fields barren of cobs and crop losses across several provinces in South Africa. According the GRAIN SA, the varieties are: MON 810, NK 603 and MON 810 x NK 603. These seeds were sold to commercial maize farmers and provided to resource-poor farmers in South Africa.

Following proclamations by the Gauteng premier on national television in support of legalising prostitution, Thelma Tafadzwa Madondo talks to Pambazuka News about the negative impacts such a move might have on child prostitutes.

On 29 to 30 July 2009 Khumbulane Magagula, Johannes Mahlangu and Themba Mvubu will reappear at the Delmas Circuit Court on the charges of robbery with aggravating circumstance, rape and murder of lesbian soccer player Eudy Simelane, whose body was discovered with multiple stab wounds on 28 April 2008 in Kwa-Thema, Ekurhuleni. The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project together with partner organisations plan to have hundreds of activist and supporters from Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Delmas picketing outside and following the proceedings inside the Court.

Although they need each other, the relationship between the media and civil society has not been at its best in post-apartheid South Africa, and both parties would do well to cultivate a more professional and respectful relationship. This was the assertion of Theo Coggin, chief executive of Quo Vadis Communications, during ‘Breakfast on the second floor’, a function held by The South African Institute for Advancement (Inyathelo) in Cape Town. Coggin, who worked as a journalist in the 1970s and 1980s, has extensive experience in both the corporate and NGO sector.

South Africa’s bilateral investment treaties should not be read in a way that conflicts with its human rights obligations under its own constitution or under international treaties that it has signed up to. Four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have joined together in seeking to assist the international arbitration tribunal in interpreting the relevant South African mining legislation in light of the country’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.

Trial to the murder of Eudy Simelane is resuming at Delmas Circuit Court on 29 – 31 July 2009. This time only three of the four accused, who pleaded not guilty, will appear in court as one of the accused who pleaded guilty is already serving a 31 years sentence. The remaining co-accused Khumbulani Magagula, Johannes Mahlangu and Themba Mvubu are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, rape and murder.

South Africa, as a member of the G20 group, is playing an increasingly important role in world affairs, but the xenophobic riots of May 2008 offered a reminder of how explosive the social situation can be. Khulile Nkushubana, general secretary of CONSAWU (1), examines the recent developments in the fight against racism and outlines the strategies for a more harmonious future.

A major decrease in the childhood mortality rate in children under the age of two (U2CMR), observed between 2001 and 2006 in northern rural KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, was associated with the rollout of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in that region, according to a presentation made at IAS 2009 in Cape Town this week. Although some of the benefit may have been due to the introduction of programmes to prevent vertical (mother to child) transmission in 2001, researchers found that it was most strongly associated with maternal access to ART.