Aides of Jacob Zuma have drawn up contingency plans to try to force his rival President Thabo Mbeki out of office early, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Friday. If Zuma was elected party leader at the African National Congress's five-yearly conference in a fortnight, he would insist on being privy to big government decisions, according to a close adviser, the influential daily said.

In little more than a week South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), will elect new leaders - a choice likely to decide who becomes the country's next president. After provincial nominations earlier this week, ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma - acquitted in a controversial rape trial last year - is well ahead of his rival, President Thabo Mbeki. Zuma also won the support of the ANC Women's League (ANCWL) - a decision that has staggered most gender activists.

The basis of this policy-paper is a combination of qualitative analysis of interviews with stakeholders in 2004-2005 completed with a critical review and analysis of available literature on human trafficking, especially of women and children in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is intended to serve as a tool for advocacy and awareness-raising to fight human trafficking in South Africa, with concrete recommendations to be implemented by a wide range of actors working to fight human trafficking in South Africa (including the government, international and local organizations).

Inadequacies in HIV testing and treatment of pregnant women in South Africa means mother-to-child transmission is largely going unchecked in local clinics and hospitals, new research has found. The study was published in Aids Research and Therapy last month (November). Prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes (PMTCT) are a standard protocol in South Africa. HIV-positive women take a dose of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine before delivery and the baby is given a dose within 72 hours of birth.

Since the 2005 Land Summit, new approaches to land reform have been on the agenda, yet there remains little clarity on the way forward. The main focus has been on means of accelerating the redistribution of land through new modes of acquiring land. In this policy brief, Lionel Cliffe cautions that acquisition is an important matter, but if treated in isolation risks mis-specifying the core problems evident in land reform in South Africa.

South Africa will not include maize in the initial stages of the country's biofuels policy in order to keep a lid on high food prices, the Department of Minerals and Energy said on Thursday. The decision followed the South African cabinet's approval of a long-awaited biofuels plan, which officials hope will revive the ailing agriculture industry. Maize farmers, who have in the past struggled to stay profitable as bumper harvests pushed maize prices to multi-year lows, have also pinned their hopes on biofuels. But critics fear using maize as a source of alternative energy could drive up prices of the staple food.

The Constitutional Court has reserved judgment in the case of a woman hoping to be the first female chief of a tribe in Limpopo. ANC MP Tinyiko Shilubana launched the Constitutional Court bid to wrest the chieftaincy of the Valoyi tribe from her cousin Sidwell Nwamitwa after unsuccessful appeals to the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal .

Owner of a guesthouse, Villa Vita Nouva, may soon face Equality Court for discriminating against gay guests. Marion Botha cancelled a gay couple’s booking a week ago after finding out that they were gay claiming that her guesthouse in Vredenburg, Cape Town, doesn’t accommodate homosexuals. In her refusal outlined in the email she sent one of the guests, Botha emphasised that her four star guesthouse is “certainly not gay friendly.” She further indicated that the guesthouse was a Christian household.

With the development of technology such as the 3G card - the mobile success story of 2007 - providing consumers with increasing access to online, banking and other services, mobile communications is at a tipping point similar to that of the Internet a few years ago. This is according to the findings of the Mobility 2007 study released on Tuesday, 20 November 2007.

The South African Government has committed itself to announcing a new protocol for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programme within the next two weeks. The announcement followed a meeting of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) which was chaired by the Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

CIVICUS is recruiting a Membership Communications Coordinator to take the lead on the Membership Department’s main communication functions such as the production of the Membership Quarterly newsletter and the updating the Membership Lounge (section of the CIVICUS website for Members’ only). Working with the Membership Manager, the Communications Coordinator will also be responsible for developing a strategy for the increase in CIVICUS’ Membership representation especially in countries/regions of low membership representation including North Africa and French speaking countries, and the Middle East.

From November 14-17, 2008, up to 1,500 women's rights activists from around the world will gather in Cape Town, South Africa to debate and strategize about how to build stronger women's movements globally. We invite you to contribute to this urgent discussion by submitting a proposal to organize a session at the 11th AWID forum: The Power of Movements.

The Tshepang Clinic in Pretoria is fully booked. The 26 people who enrolled here in November for HIV treatment will have to wait until March for the first of three counselling sessions. Completing these sessions is mandatory for anyone who wants antiretroviral drugs.

The purpose of this panel discussion, to be held on Wednesday, 5 December, 2007 is to raise awareness about human trafficking as an issue relevant to gender, gender violence and human rights within the National 16 Days of Activism Campaign. This panel brings together a panel of experts and opinion makers to highlight the problem of human trafficking as a gender, human rights and policy issue, to share experiences of how such problems are being addressed, and to stimulate public discussion and media coverage on this issue during the 16 Days of Activism Campaign.

Durban's usually bustling street child colonies have all but disappeared from the city after what is believed to be a major police crackdown ahead of this week's Fifa preliminary draw. City officials remain at odds over the fate of dozens of children, who are believed to have been rounded up by SAPS and Metro Police units before being taken to Westville Prison.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has strongly criticised the Anglican Church for its stance on homosexuals. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, the Archbishop accused the Church of being “obsessed” with the issue of gay priests, while ignoring pressing global needs such as poverty and HIV. "Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.

Why do poor South Africans have a hard time accessing urban land? This report published by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network analyses the perspectives and experiences of civil society organisations (CSOs) whose aims are to increase the poor’s access to urban land.

Africa’s largest nations are trying to block the signing of the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, has claimed. Speaking to members of the European Parliament, Mandelson strongly criticised the positions taken by Nigeria and South Africa in the EPA negotiations between the EU and nearly 80 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

Delphine Serumaga writes that despite the impressive policy framework that state has set in place for the protection of the women's rights, South African women and the girl-child remain marginalized with regards to access to basic human rights such as justice, safety and security, housing and health.

South Africa signed, ratified, and deposited the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the African protocol) by 14th January 2005 The commitment is with reservations on article 4, specifically referring to the protection of pregnant women from execution until their child is born, and a provision that exists in South African law.

This commitment adds to numerous agreements, protocols, and legislation for the protection of human rights in South Africa. The policy framework labyrinth that exists within South Africa can be perceived as laudable.

Looking from the outside, one would assume that with numerous considerations for human rights by the State, the social environment is ideal for the enjoyment of at least one’s fundamental human rights, making South Africa’s response to human rights a model to follow.

In fact, within the SADC region, on occasion, civil society organisations look at the South African framework and advocacy approaches for law reform as possible best practices to adopt.

The general trend of South Africa’s role on the continent is that this nation can play a significant role as an arbitrator or a peace negotiator. Thus implying, to an extent, that the national situation is well cared for and managed.

It is true that South Africa has a good and comprehensive constitution, well-planned legislative framework and impressive record of regional and international commitments.

Since the State participates greatly on a wide scale in human rights discourse and commits to the protection of human rights in various arenas such as the United Nations Security Council and the DRC peace agreements, one must look closer to see if what looks good on paper or on record is a true reflection of the internal state of affairs.

From a women’s rights organisation perspective, it is clear that despite the expansive human rights acknowledgements the State makes, the condition for women’s rights remain wanting. Women and the girl-child remain marginalised with regards to access to basic human rights such as justice, safety and security, housing and health. All social aspects that impact on a woman’s vulnerability to violence, a core matter of the African Protocol

The State’s commitments and engagements in human rights promotion are widely acknowledged therefore, the inevitable questions are, why sign another protocol? What internal value does the protocol bring to the people? Is the State or even civil society taking the full opportunity of the protocol that they have ratified?

The African Protocol has limited popularity as a human rights instrument in South Africa; currently there are only 8 civil society organisations that have observer status in South Africa. Out of the 8 organisations, only 2 actively participate in the deliberations of the African Commission. One could safely deduce that the African Protocol is not widely engaged with at the civil society level and possibly within the judicial system at this juncture.

The articulation and domestication of the African Protocol has not been fully realised as with other regional and international policies due to civil society and the judicial system only working with a 13 year old progressive legislation and judicial framework that has been and is still in development since the birth of the new dispensation.

Reference to the provisions of the African Protocol in court judgements is not common place, advocacy campaigns focusing on benefits of the protocol by both government or civil society are non-existent, rights education does not include reference to the African protocol at this stage.

The irony therefore, would be that government could hold civil society accountable for not engaging with a tool they have provided in order to actively pursue the rights for our target groups

The responsibility of drawing down the relevant aspects of the African Protocol to local levels is twofold. The State should make budgetary considerations for the domestication of the protocol. Equally important, the state should ensure that the judicial framework is aware of the commitments and state responsibilities that exist within the protocol.

The second aspect of promoting the protocol is the responsibility of civil society. Mobilisation through joint ventures of interest groups to campaign and advocate for the accountability of government is an untapped priority.

The current climate civil society is operating under is the provision of community-strengthening initiatives that include rights education based on the South African constitution and legislation responding to the reduction of poverty and vulnerability to violence.

At the continental level, we as civil society should take the responsibility of promoting a collective African human rights response to the violations that are rampant in countries such as Sudan and the DRC as a parallel process to South Africa’s role in the deliberations. This would promote the utilisation of the African Protocol in substantive ways.

South African civil society has to critically challenge itself on the current levels of engagement and lack of mobilisation in the national and regional arenas.

We rightfully sight lack of sufficient funding or human capacity to participate fully. However, the true irony is that South African civil society’s failure to effectively engage with the African Protocol highlights that the State has played it’s role in setting up the arena for the fight for human rights and we can be accused of letting ourselves down in our fight for human rights.

* Delphine Serumaga is the executive director of People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), South Africa

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

A South African court has upheld an appeal by prosecutors against a lower court ruling that prevented them from using documents seized in a raid against Jacob Zuma, a former deputy president accused of bribery and fraud. The ruling by the supreme court of appeal on Thursday could allow the revival of corruption charges against him.