South Africa
Arms corruption scandal erupts in South Africa
By Barbara Slaughter, March 20, 2001
A series of major corruption scandals have rocked the South African government in the past few months. High-ranking members of the ANC government are accused of taking "kick-backs" and of funnelling l...
South African provinces gripped by cholera epidemic
By Barbara Slaughter, January 9, 2001
The cholera epidemic that has been raging in the rural areas of eastern KwaZulu-Natal for nearly six months threatens to spread to other South African provinces. Since August 2000, 57 people have died...
South Africa: Setback for ANC in local elections
By Barbara Slaughter, December 8, 2000
Although the African National Congress (ANC) has won a majority of the popular vote in this week's local elections, the result represents a considerable setback for the government of President Mbeki. ...
Government cover-up over South African factory fire
By Barbara Slaughter, December 1, 2000
The South African Labour Department is trying to refute allegations of government negligence; after it emerged it had been alerted to the dangerous conditions at the Esschem factory in Lenasia. The fl...
South Africa: Eleven die in factory fire
By Barbara Slaughter, November 23, 2000
Eleven workers were burnt to death last Friday night in a factory fire in South Africa. The blaze was at the ESS chemicals factory in Lenasia, a suburb of Johannesburg. The whole of the nightshift&mda...
South Africa's ANC government faces growing opposition
By Barbara Slaughter, November 14, 2000
At a three-day meeting held in Pretoria last weekend, the South African government's economic strategy received endorsement from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. IMF Deputy Managing...
Continuing racism in South Africa: White employer drags black worker to death
By Barry Mason, September 8, 2000
Police in the town of Sasolburg, south of Pretoria, have charged building contractor Pieter Odendaal with murdering his black employee John Mosoko Rampuru. The murder took place in the late evening of...
South Africa: AIDS conference accepts limited agenda
By Chris Talbot, July 29, 2000
The grim conclusion to be drawn from the 13th International Conference on AIDS is that most of the world's 34 million people currently infected with HIV/AIDS will be left to their fate. This is despit...
South Africa: The ANC government and the AIDS crisis
By Barry Mason, July 5, 2000
South Africa currently has four million HIV/AIDS cases and the figure is projected to rise to 7.5 million by the year 2010. Yet the ANC government of President Thabo Mbeki has no effective programme t...
Two student protesters killed by police in Durban, South Africa
By Trevor Johnson, May 24, 2000
Last Tuesday, May 16, two students were killed at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW), when police opened fire on a group of protesting students at the campus. Michael Makhabane, a 23-year-old st...
Police clampdown on South African VW strikers
By our correspondent, March 9, 2000
A systematic campaign of intimidation has been launched against striking Volkswagen (VW) auto workers. This follows South African President Thabo Mbeki's denunciation of their action as illegal. Out o...
Sacked South African Volkswagen workers appeal for international support
By our correspondent, February 17, 2000
In his recent State of the Nation speech, South African President Thabo Mbeki attacked the 1,300 striking Volkswagen (VW) autoworkers. The strikers, employed at the company's factory in Uitenhage, nea...
