back to home

2000 - June 2002:

Those who bear the scars of SA mines hail new law [South Africa] - Many who contributed to the wealth of the nation still live in poverty -...Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has used Pondoland and Kimberley, the diamond-mining centre of the Northern Cape, as an example of how the previous laws ignored the development of communities from whom labour and resources were drawn. "Communities that live in close proximity to rich resources should be addressed in a manner that takes them out of poverty," she said. (Sechaba Ka'Nkosi, Sunday Times [South Africa], 30 June 2002)

HIV plan saves lives and cash [South Africa] - Cosatu and the Treatment Action Campaign are to table a national HIV/Aids treatment plan in Nedlac following the first national treatment conference, which concluded in Durban this week. This will allow Cosatu to declare a dispute with government and business should no agreement be reached in the National Economic, Development and Labour Council on implementation of the treatment plan. (Kerry Cullinan, Business Day [South Africa], 30 June 2002)

Fedusa calls on state to help feed the poor [South Africa] - The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) has called on government to enter into a partnership with business, nongovernmental organisations and trade unions to distribute food to poor communities in the country. (Business Day [South Africa], 26 June 2002)

Apartheid victims sue big business -...A team of American and South African lawyers is about to file a $50bn class action suit in New York against Swiss and US banks accused of backing the former apartheid regime [suing Citigroup, Credit Suisse & UBS for allegedly profiting from loans to the white South African government while a UN embargo was in force] (BBC News, 17 June 2002)

• Banks sued for financing apartheid regime -...The banks' loans allegedly allowed the cash-strapped pariah regime to buy arms and continue its oppression of the black majority...Other suits will be filed against other companies and banks in Switzerland, France, Germany, Britain and South Africa that made money from supporting the apartheid government, Mr Fagan said on Monday. (Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 17 June 2002)

• US lawyer to tackle apartheid profiteering (AFP, in Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 17 June 2002)

• Swiss, U.S. Banks Face Huge Apartheid Lawsuits (Reuters, 17 June 2002)

• Apartheid Victims to Sue Banks (Associated Press, 17 June 2002)

Thompsons set to help SA's asbestosis victims [South Africa] - Thompsons Solicitors, the UK's largest personal injury practice specialising in representing claimants who have contracted work-related illnesses, has thrown its weight behind SA workers suffering from asbestos-linked diseases...Ntulinoble & Spoor has already registered a large number of claimants and issued 36 summonses...on behalf of workers who had previously worked at African Crysotile Asbestos and what the attorneys described as controlling companies, including Gencor, Msauli Asbestos (Msauli) and Hanova Mining. (Business Day [South Africa], 10 June 2002)

Cosatu to visit North west mine accident scene [South Africa] - Joe Nkosi, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) deputy president, was scheduled to visit AngloGold's Noligwa Mine (formerly Vaal Reefs) in Klerksdorp today, where two miners were killed in a rockfall on yesterday morning. (South African Broadcasting Corporation, 6 June 2002)

Asbestos firm [Cape] warns of claims risk - A UK-owned building firm, which has agreed to pay £20m to South African miners over asbestos-related claims, has warned it may suffer further payouts if bankers scupper the deal...Any reopening of the legal battle, which involved a landmark judgement by law lords, could escalate Cape's losses related to the claim, the firm warned. (BBC News, 5 June 2002)

conference: National HIV/AIDS Treatment Congress Hosted by the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Treatment Action Campaign: 27--29 June 2002, Durban, South Africa -...This historic Congress aims to unify Trade Unions, NGO's, AIDS service organisations, religious groups, health-care workers, scientists, businesses and government on the need for an emergency treatment plan to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. [posted on this website 5 June 2002]

A Third of Our Children Are Workers [South Africa] - Close to a third of South Africa's estimated 13,4-million children work, mostly on farms and in family businesses, according to a Department of Labour document on child labour. (Marianne Merten, Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 31 May 2002)

Chief executives ignore a mass murderer cutting a swathe through workers and customers [South Africa] - According to the latest survey conducted by Deloitte & Touche and commissioned by the SA Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, South African companies do not have a strategy to deal with the threat of HIV/Aids. But most shocking is that business leaders do not seem to think that HIV/Aids will have an impact on their employees, and therefore their businesses. (Business Report [South Africa], 26 May 2002)

Sactwu Adopts Groundbreaking HIV/Aids Policy [South Africa] - The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers Union has adopted an historic policy and action programme to help combat HIV/AIDS in the clothing, textile and leather sectors specifically, and in South Africa in general. (Congress of South African Trade Unions, 22 May 2002)

Bodies of six mineworkers killed at Orkney recovered [South Africa] (South African Broadcasting Corporation, 22 May 2002)

36 asbestos claims cite Gencor as a defendant [South Africa] - Summonses on behalf of 36 former asbestos workers were issued in the Johannesburg high court yesterday against four mining companies [African Crysotile Asbestos, Msauli Asbes, Gencor and Hanova Mining]...for damages amounting to R25 million for asbestos-related illnesses. (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 22 May 2002)

Cosatu says mining industry still not enforcing safety laws [South Africa] - Trade union federation Cosatu says the recent disaster at the Noligwa Mine in the North West shows the mining industry is still not enforcing safety laws. (702 Talk Radio [South Africa], 21 May 2002)

Investigation launched into mill accident [South Africa] - An investigation was being launched into a fatal accident yesterday at Iscor's Saldanha Steel plant in Western Cape, the company said last night. (Business Day [South Africa], 17 May 2002)

'Control migration of health workers' - [South Africa's] Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministers of Health in Geneva yesterday the recruitment of health workers from developing countries must be controlled by bilateral agreements between such countries and developed nations. (SAPA, in Dispatch [South Africa], 13 May 2002)

Fishermen's plight under spotlight [South Africa] - Western Cape politicians are demanding a probe into working conditions in the fishing industry after 25 fishermen have died in less than a month. (Nashira Davids, Sunday Times [South Africa], 12 May 2002)

Child labour in SA not common, says Mdladlana [South Africa] - Even though SA experienced its first child labour court case a few months ago, child labour here, unlike in most parts of the world, was not commonplace, nor was it necessarily harmful, said Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana. (Business Day [South Africa], 7 May 2002)

Child labour on a high: global report - Sub-Saharan Africa has shown to have the most intense problem with three out of every ten children involved in child labour. Seven out of every 10 children involved in child labour work on farms (South African Broadcasting Corporation, 6 May 2002)

Employees lead the way in fighting Aids - Some South African employees are taking the lead in the fight against HIV/Aids - donating their time, salaries and services to help victims of the disease [refers to Absa and AngloGold]. (Bobby Jordan, Sunday Times [South Africa], 5 May 2002)

LABOUR: South Africa Feeling the Impact of AIDS on Workforce [refers to AngloGold, Gold Fields] (Anthony Stoppard, Inter Press Service, 2 May 2002)

Men and women of steel take up arms in Aids war [ South Africa] [refers to National Union of Mineworkers commitment to addressing workplace AIDS issues; refers to steps taken by employers: Gold Fields, AngloGold, Matla Coal] (Business Report [South Africa], 30 Apr. 2002)

One quarter of AngloGold workers HIV-positive -...Chairman Bobby Godsell said in a statement on Wednesday the company's Aids programme focused on prevention management, care for the infected and health research. (SAPA, in Business Report [South Africa], 24 Apr. 2002)

Ethiopia: FAO Warns Of Nearly 1,000 Chemically Contaminated Sites -...3,500 tons of accumulated obsolete pesticides and contaminated ground soil in the country...Other African countries are also facing similar dilemmas, including Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Mali and Tunisia (UN Wire, 24 Apr. 2002)

DTI to examine impact of Aids in workplace [South Africa] - The department of trade and industry (DTI) will be approaching companies to gain a clearer understanding of the impact Aids is having in the workplace, its Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday. (SAPA, in Business Report [South Africa], 23 Apr. 2002)

Justice sought for workers suffering from asbestosis [South Africa] [regarding trust fund for victims of Cape plc] (Sanchia Temkin, Business Day [South Africa], 23 Apr. 2002)

Waive tax on Aids drugs, says industry [South Africa] - The government could cut the cost of providing HIV/Aids drugs by simply waiving tax on anti-retrovirals, pharmaceutical companies suggested yesterday. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 19 Apr. 2002)

April 19th 2002 is a bittersweet celebration: AIDS treatment still reaching but a fraction of all those in need (Médecins Sans Frontières, 19 Apr. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: 30 Percent Of South African Work Force To Be Infected By 2005 (UN Wire, 19 Apr. 2002)

Aids shock waves galvanise mining firms: South African mining firms are looking at a unified approach to tackle Aids, one of their biggest unresolved challenges as the infection rates creep higher. (Allan Seccombe, Daily Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 19 Apr. 2002) 

Accord on health and safety signed [South Africa]:...the signing yesterday of a new occupational health and safety accord by representatives of business, labour and government, committing themselves to minimise workplace injury and to securing a healthy and safe workplace. (Business Day [South Africa], 9 Apr. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Highest South African Court Orders Drug Provision - In what the London Independent reports is the end of a long legal battle, the highest court in South Africa last week ordered the government of President Thabo Mbeki to provide the HIV/AIDS drug nevirapine in state hospitals to pregnant women with HIV. (UN Wire, 8 Apr. 2002)

• Mandela attacks Mbeki's failure to recognise nation's Aids crisis [South Africa] -...The latest Tac court victory is a crucial one, because it obliges the government to act on earlier rulings that, among other things, it has a constitutional obligation to try to save children's lives. South Africa's Bill of Rights assures socio-economic as well as legal human rights. (Karen MacGregor, Independent [UK], 5 Apr. 2002)

Bushmen victory over drug firms [South Africa]: They have faced extinction and poverty for hundreds of years, but now the San Bushmen of southern Africa stand to make millions of pounds from a so-called miracle slimming pill being developed by Western drug companies...'It's a lesson to corporations that they can't come in and patent traditional knowledge on plants from local communities and get away with it.' [refers to Pfizer] (Antony Barnett, Observer [UK], 31 Mar. 2002)

• San people demand compensation from pharmaceutical companies: The Mail & Guardian reports that South Africa's Kung tribe are demanding compensation as their ancient knowledge has been "stolen" to produce a slimming miracle drug that is set to take the world by storm. (WildNet Africa, 25 June 2001)

HIV/AIDS: High Court Turns Down South African Appeal Against Nevirapine - South Africa's High Court in Pretoria yesterday turned down the government's latest appeal on a ruling ordering it to provide pregnant women with the anti-AIDS drug nevirapine -- which is estimated to cut mother-to-child HIV infection rates in half -- while its case comes before the Constitutional Court. (UN Wire, 26 Mar. 2002)

Clothing workers down tools [South Africa]: About 500 Fort Jackson clothing factory employees downed tools this week in protest against a myriad of alleged factory floor abuses by management. Alleged abuses by International Clothing Manufacturer (ICM) factory management range from unpaid maternity and sick leave, unpaid overtime, long working hours and failure by management to recognise their union, the South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu). (Zama Feni, Dispatch [South Africa], 20 Mar. 2002)

Cosatu aims to launch campaign in Piketberg [South Africa]: Plan is to stop rights abuses against farm workers in Western Cape...THE Council of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) is set to launch a campaign in Piketberg in Western Cape tomorrow in a bid to stop human rights abuses against farm workers in the province. But the planned campaign has angered organised agriculture in the province. (Business Day [South Africa], 20 Mar. 2002)

SABCOHA [South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS] to provide information base for business in war against HIV/AIDS (South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, 19 Mar. 2002)

Mining expert calls for enviro improvements: Environmentally and socially conscious development is the only way forward for the mining industry. This was said by Anita Roper, deputy secretary-general of the International Council and Mining and Metals, who spoke at an official function of the Chamber of Mines in Windhoek last weekend...Roper acknowledged that mining's poor reputation was, in some cases, well-deserved. [refers to Romania, Spain, Namibia, South Africa] (The Namibian, 19 Mar. 2002)

Mining industry to critically examine treatment of HIV [South Africa] - The mining industry would decide within the next month whether it would embark on a collective feasibility study on the possible provision of anti-retrovirals to miners with HIV/Aids, the Chamber of Mines said yesterday. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 18 Apr. 2002)

Diamonds: Forever or for Good? The Economic Impact of Diamonds in Southern Africa  - Occasional Paper of the Diamonds and Human Security Project investigating the extent to which diamonds contribute to development in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, countries which have been the most vocal champions of "diamonds for development". (Ralph Hazleton, Diamonds and Human Security Project, website of Partnership Africa Canada, 18 Mar. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Court Orders South Africa To Provide Nevirapine During Appeal - South Africa's High Court in Pretoria yesterday ruled that although the government may appeal the court's December ruling calling for the key HIV/AIDS drug nevirapine to be administered at all suitably equipped state hospitals for HIV-positive pregnant women, the drug must be made available in the meantime. (UN Wire, 12 Mar. 2002)

4 Fort Jackson factories found flouting law [South Africa]: The provincial Labour Department is preparing written notices for Fort Jackson factories found to be contravening labour laws during a visit last week. (Mayibongwe Maqhina, Dispatch [South Africa], 11 Mar. 2002)

Workers 'exploited' in Durban sweatshops [South Africa]: A 66-year-old clothing factory worker still bears the scars on his hands of being burnt while working at a pressing machine. The Phoenix father of two, who has devoted his working life to the clothing industry, is among scores of workers who are allegedly being exploited and underpaid by Durban sweatshops. (Prega Govender, Sunday Times [South Africa], 10 Mar. 2002)

Blitz on Durban [apparel] factory sparks an uproar [South Africa]:...Govender was charged with contravening health and safety regulations (Margie Inggs, Business Report [South Africa], 6 Mar. 2002)

Mr Price passes the sweatshop buck [South Africa]: Mr Price, the discount retailer whose products were discovered at a Newcastle sweatshop, has laid the responsibility for policing suspected manufacturers squarely on the shoulders of the union and the department of labour. (Margie Inggs, Business Report [South Africa], 5 Mar. 2002)

Mandela urges free Aids drugs on demand [South Africa] (Lynne Altenroxel, The Star [Johannesburg], 3 Mar. 2002)

South African AIDS Activists Go Back to Court: Armed with fresh evidence, South African AIDS activists go to court Friday for the latest round in a long-standing battle to get the government of President Thabo Mbeki to provide all HIV-positive pregnant women with a drug that significantly reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to new-born babies. (Penny Dale, OneWorld Africa, 1 Mar. 2002) 

SAB provides soul support: HIV is the greatest threat to the health of both staff and profits at South African Breweries (Andrew Clark, Guardian [UK], 1 Mar. 2002)

SA employers urged to help manage Aids: South African employers should actively manage HIV-Aids in the workplace to reduce the effect of the pandemic on business and society, Old Mutual's deputy managing director Peter Moyo said yesterday. (South African Press Association, in Dispatch [South Africa], 27 Feb. 2002)

Maid agency probed after slavery claims [South Africa]: Cape Town police have arrested an Athlone domestic services agent who they believe hit one of her own domestic workers...Police are now investigating allegations that young women from rural areas have been lured to the city with promises of well-paid jobs, but are then placed in households where they claimed they were abused and worked like slaves. (Johan Schronen, Independent [South Africa], 27 Feb. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: South Africa To Boost Drug Research, Not Offer Universal Access - South Africa said today it will expand research on use of Nevirapine to curb mother-to-child HIV transmission instead of providing immediate universal access to the drug as activists and some opposition figures have asked. Boehringer-Ingelheim, the manufacturer, has offered South Africa free Nevirapine for the next five years. (UN Wire, 22 Feb. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Megacities Network Announced At U.N. Meeting To Fight Disease - Representatives from 11 cities around the world [Buenos Aires, Mexico City, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Lagos, Bangkok, Peking & Belo Horizonte] announced yesterday the formation of the Megacities Network, a worldwide network to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS [and support universal access to essential medicines]...Buenos Aires delegate Claudio Bloch said...authorities are now negotiating with drug manufacturers to prevent an increase in costs (UN Wire, 21 Feb. 2002)

• {···português} São Paulo, Rio e Belo Horizonte integram rede mundial contra aids: Grupo de 11 cidades fará pressão política para auxiliar o combate à doença (Lígia Formenti, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 21 fevereiro 2002)

• {···português} Como Johannesburgo combate a aids: Seminário sobre a doença em megacidades mostrou a estratégia na África (Lígia Formenti, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 20 fevereiro 2002)

Mdladlana out to get bad employers [South Africa]: Membathisi Mdladlana, the labour minister, yesterday had a blunt message for employers: stop mistreating workers...Mdladlana said his department would launch a "national inspection blitz" in April, focusing on the security, construction and farm sectors, which were among the worst offenders when it came to poor working conditions and employing child labour. This follows his crackdown on clothing firms late last year (Lynda Loxton, Business Report [South Africa], 20 Feb. 2002)

Labour abuse worries centre [South Africa]: Masonwabisane Women's Support Centre in Butterworth has expressed concern about the increased incidence of labour abuse in the area...Solwandle said small businesses and factory owners did not adhere to the labour laws. She said her organisation had managed to settle about 24 cases involving non-payment of domestic, contractor and general workers who were mostly women, with their employers. (Madoda Dyonana, Dispatch [South Africa], 19 Feb. 2002)

Farmer fined for child labour [South Africa]: In a precedent-setting case, the owners of a farm at Ceres in the Western Cape have been fined R25 000 for employing a child under the age of 15. (South African Press Association, 5 Feb. 2002)

SA's [South Africa's] first child labour case in Ceres today: Eleven-year-old girl loses her leg after falling off trailer transporting workers [fruit pickers at farm] - SA's first child labour court case will be heard in the Ceres Magistrate's court in Western Cape today after an 11-year-old girl lost her leg in a work-related accident  (Business Day [South Africa], 5 Feb. 2002)

Earth Summit Must Focus On Environ Rights: Olver - The agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) must focus on the environmental rights of the poor, [South Africa's] Environment and Tourism director general Crispian Olver said on Friday. (South African Press Association, 2 Feb. 2002)

Will Minister Bend Or Break? [South Africa] The government looks set to buckle under remorseless internal and external pressures and allow pregnant women country-wide access to the drug that could save their children from HIV/Aids (Belinda Beresford & Jaspreet Kindra, Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 1 Feb. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Groups Import Generic Drugs Into South Africa, Flouting Patent Laws - Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres and the South African AIDS activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said yesterday they have imported much less expensive generic versions of three anti-retroviral AIDS drugs into South Africa from Brazil, despite local patent protection laws. "Today we have decided to openly break the patent right of the pharmaceutical companies ... because we have decided that the life of a patient cannot be put under the patent right" (UN Wire, 30 Jan. 2002)

TAC, Cosatu bring in cheap Aids drugs [South Africa]: The Treatment Action Campaign and Cosatu are set for another showdown with government - this time because they have brought generic anti-retroviral drugs into the country...Achmat said they had defied the act to force the government to either ask the drug companies for voluntary licences or to apply for compulsory licences, moves that would make the drugs more affordable. (Anso Thom, Star [South Africa], 29 Jan. 2002)

Asbestos victim sues Everite [South Africa]: A 52-year-old cancer victim and his wife have instigated a legal claim for R7 million against Everite, a company that manufactures asbestos products (South African Press Association, 28 Jan. 2002)

Union seeks an audit of mine safety [South Africa]: The MWU-Solidarity union called on Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka yesterday to conduct a national audit of mining safety...He [MWU-Solidarity spokesman Dirk Hermann] said that currently, an average of one mineworker died in the industry every day, and about 16 were injured in mine- related accidents. (South African Press Association, in Business Day [South Africa], 24 Jan. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: KwaZulu-Natal To Provide Nevirapine Despite Federal Policy [South Africa] (UN Wire, 23 Jan. 2002)

Numsa Threatens to Boycott South Korean Products [South Africa]: The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) on Tuesday threatened to boycott all South Korean exports to South Africa to end what it described as the repression of unionists in that country. (South African Press Association, 22 Jan. 2002)

Activists to oppose govt Aids ruling appeal [South Africa]: Aids activists are planning a series of new lawsuits aimed at widening access to treatment for HIV and Aids patients...The TAC also plans to support a bid by Indian drug company Cipla to secure a licence enabling it to sell in South Africa copies of patented drugs made by international pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and GlaxoSmithKlein. (SAPA/AP, in Dispatch [South Africa], 21 Jan. 2002)

British Workers Shocked By Water Access in Nelspruit [South Africa]: British trade unionists expressed shock and dismay yesterday at the misery suffered by thousands of South Africans through grossly insufficient access to water in Nelspruit where international corporation Bi-Water took control of services two years ago. (Congress of South African Trade Unions, 15 Jan. 2002)

• company website: Biwater (Biwater Plc)

Asbestosis victims take Gefco to court in quest for justice [South Africa] (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 15 Jan. 2002)

• Gefco faces potential lawsuit landslide: The first of possibly several hundred summonses for damages against Griqualand Exploration and Finance Company (Gefco), a Gencor subsidiary, for asbestos-related illnesses was issued by the high court in Johannesburg last week. (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 14 Jan. 2002)

Strikes Claim Kids Employed As Scab Labour [South Africa]: Tensions are running high in Faure where farm workers on strike for better wages have accused the farm management of employing children as scab labour. (Helen Bamford, Cape Argus [Cape Town], 14 Jan. 2002)

Another Chinese firm [Universe Safety Glass, operating in South Africa] flaunts labour laws [South Africa]:...Total disregard of industrial safety regulations, working hours beyond the maximum allowed under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the payment of starvation wages (Frank Nxumalo, Business Report [South Africa], 13 Jan. 2002)

UK payout for asbestosis victims: British-based multinational Cape plc is expected to pay a first tranche of £21-million (about R336-million) in June to a trust set up to aid sufferers from asbestos-related diseases in South Africa. (Brendan Seery, Independent [South Africa], 12 Jan. 2002)

South African Asbestos Victims Settle With Cape: British-based multinational to pay €33.8m/$30.2m (ICEM - International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 8 Jan. 2002)

• Asbestosis victims to get first of £21m compensation cash by June (Jacquie Motsoatsoe, Business Report [South Africa], 8 Jan. 2002)

2001:

Cape to compensate South Africa asbestos miners: Building materials firm Cape Plc reached a conditional deal last week to pay 21 million pounds ($30 million) to South African miners who blame it for asbestos-related diseases they contracted in the 1970s. (Rex Merrifield, Reuters, 24 Dec. 2001)

• Victory for South African asbestos claimants: Cape plc, who mined asbestos in South Africa for several decades, has today finally agreed to a compensation settlement of £21 million for the thousands of South African asbestos victims. (ACTSA [Action for Southern Africa], 21 Dec. 2001)

Govt to appeal Aids ruling [South Africa]: The health department announced on Wednesday that it would appeal a court ruling compelling the government to provide the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women. (South African Press Association, on News24.com, 19 Dec. 2001)

Virodene crew peddles new 'Aids drug': South African scientists struck a secret deal with the makers of the banned Aids "cure" Virodene to use an unregistered herbal tablet on HIV-positive patients in 12 African countries. This revelation comes only three months after Virodene researchers were kicked out of Tanzania for illegally importing and testing their discredited anti-Aids drug on civilians and soldiers there. (Jessica Bezuidenhout, Sunday Times [South Africa], in Business Day [South Africa], 16 Dec. 2001)

Workers' Safety Must Be The Top Priority: Cosatu [South Africa] - The Congress of SA Trade Unions said on Sunday that the safety of workers should be top priority. Reacting to an underground earthquake at the Deelkraal gold mine near Carletonville in which at least three people died, Cosatu said it would recommit itself to a campaign to improve the safety at work. (South African Press Association, 16 Dec. 2001)

Comment: AIDS ruling a victory for ordinary citizens [South Africa] (editorial, City Press [South Africa], 15 Dec. 2001)

Cheers for Aids drug ruling [South Africa]: Pretoria High Court Judge Chris Botha's verdict that the government is obliged to provide the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to all HIV-positive pregnant women, was received with jubilation in many quarters on Friday. (News24.com [South Africa], 14 Dec. 2001)

• SA [South Africa] ordered to provide Aids drugs (BBC News, 14 Dec. 2001)

• Pregnant South Africans Win AIDS Help (Dina Kraft, Associated Press, 14 Dec. 2001)

• "A countrywide MTCT [mother-to-child-transmission] prevention programme is an ineluctable obligation of the state" [South Africa] - Pretoria High Court: TAC, Children's Rights Centre and Dr. Haroon Saloojee win court battle against government (Treatment Action Centre [TAC], 14 Dec. 2001)

• Excerpt from judgment TAC and others v Minister of Health and others [South Africa] (High Court of South Africa, Transvaal Provincial Division, 14 Dec. 2001, posted on website of Treatment Action Centre [TAC])

• Full MTCT [mother-to-child-transmission] court case judgement [South Africa] (High Court of South Africa, Transvaal Provincial Division, 14 Dec. 2001, posted on website of Treatment Action Centre [TAC])

Wising up to the business implications of HIV/Aids: South African companies are missing out on lucrative returns by failing to see that money spent on HIV/Aids is an investment, rather than a cost, according to a new study into major Southern African companies. (Belinda Beresford, Weekly Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 14 Dec. 2001)

Exploitation of Workers Rife in Eastern Cape [South Africa]: The exploitation of workers is rife in the Eastern Cape, especially in the security and textile industries said provincial Labour Department deputy director of inspections and enforcements Mlungisi Matiwane yesterday...He said: "It is especially the small businesses where workers are vulnerable that are guilty of disregarding labour laws and discriminating against workers." (Dumile Meintjies, East Cape News [South Africa], 14 Dec. 2001) 

Blow to asbestos claimants: Britain's Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday that people suffering from asbestos-related diseases will not receive compensation if they were exposed to the mineral fibres by more than one employer. But the ruling does not affect the claims by South Africans against Cape PLC. (News24.com [South Africa], 13 Dec. 2001)

Gold Fields, unions in watershed Aids deal [South Africa]: A landmark agreement aimed at curbing the spread of HIV/Aids in the mining industry was signed yesterday by Gold Fields, the country's second-largest gold producer, and three unions (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 13 Dec. 2001)

Guard takes firm to court over sex claim [South Africa]: A Cape Town security guard has become the first person to take an employer to court for sexual discrimination under the Employment Equity Act. She alleged in the Cape Town Labour Court that Real Security, of Mitchell's Plain, failed to act when she complained about being sexually harassed at work. (Lynnette Johns, Independent [South Africa], 11 Dec. 2001)

Trench deaths 'unacceptable' [South Africa]: The employer of two construction workers who died when a trench in Akasia, north of Pretoria, collapsed on Sunday, could face culpable homicide charges, Labour Department director-general Rams Ramashia said on Monday. (News24 [South Africa], 10 Dec. 2001)

Sweatshops threaten to relocate [South Africa]: The owners of 20 Newcastle textile factories are threatening to abandon up to 8 000 workers and relocate to Lesotho after being ordered to pay minimum wages and to eliminate dangerous working conditions. (Frank Nxumalo, Business Report [South Africa], 9 Dec. 2001)

• Newcastle workers put up with sweatshops for fear of losing their jobs [South Africa]:...The mainly Taiwanese owners of these factories have fed into this desperation and added to the general feeling of insecurity and powerlessness by summarily dismissing those workers who dare join a trade union (Frank Nxumalo, Business Report [South Africa], 9 Dec. 2001) 

Factory closed after twins' deaths [South Africa]: Workers 'were locked inside Newcastle factory all night' - The Department of Labour has shut down a textile company in Newcastle following the death of twin infants born inside the factory, which was locked at the time. (SAPA, Natal Witness News [South Africa], 3 Dec. 2001)

Miners killed at Savuka [South Africa]: Four mineworkers were killed and four others injured following a "seismic event" at Savuka mine near Carletonville on Saturday, according to owners AngloGold. (Lloyd Coutts, Business Report [South Africa], 3 Dec. 2001)

99% of disabled unemployed [South Africa]: Ninety-nine percent of the 4.8 million disabled people in South Africa are unemployed, Disability Resource Solutions said on Sunday. (News24.com [South Africa], 2 Dec. 2001)

State is defending the indefensible' [South Africa]: Health department justifies unequal access to Nevirapine by saying that some provinces lack the resources needed [regarding lawsuit to compel South African Government to make anti-AIDS drug Nevirapine more widely available] (Louise Cook, Business Day [South Africa], 28 Nov. 2001)

South African Miners March For Anti-AIDS Drugs: South African miners will be on the march this afternoon - to demand medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The marches show how HIV/AIDS has become a major industrial issue in South Africa, which has the world's highest known infection rates. (ICEM - the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 28 Nov. 2001)

Hand out Aids drug says SA [South Africa] judge: The judge hearing an action brought by Aids campaigners against the South African Government has said he thinks an anti-HIV drug should be made available all over the country as soon as possible. (BBC News, 27 Nov. 2001)

• HIV/AIDS: South African Activists Take Government To Court On Drug Access [concerning policy on availability of the drug nevirapine, which helps prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child] (UN Wire, 26 Nov. 2001)

• ANC faces court fight over Aids drugs (Michael Dynes, The Times [London], 26 Nov. 2001)

• South Africa taken to court for HIV drug (Claire Keeton, Agence France-Presse, in Washington Times, 26 Nov. 2001)

• Bredell Consensus Statement on the Imperative to Expand Access to Anti-Retroviral (ART) Medicines for Adults and Children with HIV/AIDS in South Africa (Treatment Action Campaign, 19 Nov. 2001)

Union Fears Inquiry Into Mass Poisoning Will Be a Mockery [South Africa]: The US$25 million mine owned by Swiss company Xstrata is accused of overexposing miners to vanadium pentoxide and other dangerous chemicals that have caused asthma, cancer and chemical bronchitis. (Sizwe Samayende, African Eye News Service [South Africa], 26 Nov. 2001)

Asbestos victims widen quest for compensation [South Africa/UK]: THE victims in SA's biggest asbestos claim have shown SA mining company Gefco and insurance firm General Accident SA that they intend to widen their focus in their quest for compensation. Although talks are continuing to settle the matter with Cape plc, the victims are looking to the two companies to acknowledge responsibility for the past and offer compensation. (Business Day [South Africa], 23 Nov. 2001)

Bredell Consensus Statement on the Imperative to Expand Access to Anti-Retroviral (ART) Medicines for Adults and Children with HIV/AIDS in South Africa (Treatment Action Campaign, 19 Nov. 2001)

Vaal residents claim Iscor poisoned them [South Africa]: Residents of two tiny agricultural plots in Vanderbijlpark, an industrial town in the Vaal Triangle, will square up to iron and steel giant Iscor in the Johannesburg High Court early next week. (Khadija Magardie, Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 16 Nov. 2001)

Cheaper AIDS drugs only half the solution, question is who gets them: IMF says scope for alleviating effect of disease through financial aid is limited - As the price of antiretroviral drugs falls, the question being asked increasingly is how affordable these treatments are for sub-Saharan public health services. The bottom line of a study the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released this week is that even if the cost of the drugs was substantially cut access to "highly active antiretroviral therapies" through public health systems is out of the question. Most of these are simply not up to providing the treatment. The study says that Botswana and SA are possible exceptions to this, but only to a limited extent. (Jonathan Katzenellenbogen, Business Day [South Africa], 16 Nov. 2001)

Odendaal gets 7 years for killing worker [South Africa]: A Sasolburg businessman who assaulted an employee and dragged him behind his bakkie for more than 5km was yesterday sentenced to an effective seven years' jail. (Dispatch [South Africa], 13 Nov. 2001)

At trade talks, generic-drug issue key:...Accused of hypocrisy by AIDS groups and developing nations, the US is now backing off on its hard-line stance on drug patents, offering new hope for AIDS-ravaged countries such as South Africa. (Nicole Itano, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Nov. 2001)

Cape plc Opens Talks With South African Asbestos Victims: First breakthrough in compensation campaign? - Cape mined asbestos in South Africa for almost a century. "Children were employed, unprotected, in the most hazardous tasks of sorting asbestos with their bare hands and trampling it with their bare feet," recalled ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in letters last month to Montpellier and other major shareholders. "Due to the atrocious conditions at the mines and mills, thousands of South Africans developed the fatal asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, and the debilitating disease of asbestosis." (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions [ICEM],  6 Nov. 2001)

South African asbestos settlement talks begin: At a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice this morning, it was agreed that lawyers from both parties will now have fourteen days to “engage in constructive dialogue”, while the case is suspended. (ACTSA [Action for Southern Africa], 5 Nov. 2001)

• Cape asbestos case turns critical: Cape plc’s new management is now under pressure to deliver as ACTSA’s 1 campaign for justice for thousands of South African asbestos victims enters a critical stage. (ACTSA [Action for Southern Africa], 2 Nov. 2001)

Compensate South African Victims, Cape plc Told: Multinational should settle now with asbestos claimants, world union says -...Cape closed its British asbestos factory in 1968, due to the high incidence of asbestos-related diseases. But it kept its South African operation running for another decade after that, and lobbied the apartheid regime to suppress information about the health risks. (ICEM, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 24 Oct. 2001)

South Africa Hits Out at Firms on AIDS Drugs: South Africa said on Monday AIDS Drugs were ineffective and produced side effects almost as bad as the disease itself. The African National Congress (ANC) government accused an alliance led by the pharmaceutical industry, and including AIDS activists and churches, of trying to force it into dispensing harmful antiretroviral drugs. "Government is resisting pressure to provide to all and sundry highly toxic drugs that offer no hope of eradicating the virus," ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said in a letter sent to the country's leading Business Day newspaper. (Steven Swindells, Reuters, in San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2001)

• text of letter from ANC spokesperson: Government's caution on AIDS drugs is vindicated: In your list of those opposed to government in last week's editorial on HIV/AIDS, you fail to mention an important member of that united front: the pharmaceutical companies that work to expand the market for antiretrovirals. (letter to editor from Smuts Ngonyama, in Business Day [South Africa], 22 Oct. 2001

• response to that letter from Treatment Action Campaign: Ngonyama's letter gave a false picture: The letter Smuts Ngonyama submitted (October 22), is packed with misinformation. Ngonyama misrepresents the members of the US panel he cites in support of denying people lifesaving treatment, all of whom recommend antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. Ngonyama tries to discredit the Treatment Action Campaign, implying we are in the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry. The TAC has never taken or used money from pharmaceutical firms as, like government, this industry is one of the main barriers to access to treatment. (letter to editor from Zackie Achmat, TAC [Treatment Action Campaign] Chairman, Muizenberg, Cape Town, in Business Day [South Africa], 25 Oct. 2001)

Diamond industry still funding Angolan civil war - What is it good for? The latest and possibly most damning report to date by the United Nations Monitoring Mechanism of Sanctions against Unita has reported that it is business as usual in the diamond trading capitals of the world when it comes to the trade in conflict and illicit diamonds. The report states that sixteen companies based in Belgium, Israel and South Africa and traders from Cyprus, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia are still involved in the trade of conflict and illicit diamonds from Unita and Angola - worth an estimated $420 million dollars or five percent of the world's rough diamond trade. If the evidence that is presented to the United Nations is genuine then these companies must be publicly named, banned from the diamond industry for ever and prosecuted by the relevant authorities. (Global Witness, 18 Oct. 2001)

ANGOLA: Diamonds Worth $1 Million Smuggled Daily, U.N. Says - A U.N. panel monitoring Security Council sanctions against Angola's UNITA rebels yesterday issued a report claiming that $1 million worth of diamonds are smuggled out of the war-torn country every day, with the rebel group responsible for a quarter to a third of the total (Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, Oct. 16). "It appears that the Antwerp and South African markets are two key points of sale or transit for embargoed diamonds, Israel being used as a laundering route for some imports," said the monitoring group, which is headed by Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations Juan Larrain (U.N. Newservice, Oct. 15). The Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Republic of the Congo were also mentioned as "vitally important routes for smugglers."...The Security Council imposed a ban on rebel diamond exports in 1998 in an attempt to halt UNITA's proceeds from diamonds, which have fueled the country's 25-year civil war. (UN Wire, 16 Oct. 2001)

Union takes Anglo to task [South Africa]: The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) this week threatened strike action if the Anglo American corporation does not reverse its policy against providing anti-retroviral drugs to its workers. The multinational corporation earlier this year made headline-grabbing news when it announced that it would provide anti-retroviral treatment for its HIV-positive workers. Now the union says Anglo American is reneging on its promise. The corporation is denying that it made any promise either unconditionally or by implication. (Glenda Daniels, Weekly Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 12 Oct. 2001) 

• company website: AIDS/HIV - FAQ: Anglo American

Business wants legacy on sustainable development, but that will take money: World business leaders attending the Business Strategy Meeting said that they will focus on leaving a lasting legacy benefiting Johannesburg and South Africa, the hosts of the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, consisting of infrastructure development, inward investment, and social programs...The idea behind the meeting was to look at the good examples over the last 10 years where business has actually made a contribution to sustainable development and to examine the industries where there are plans in place for a sustainable future. This would provide governments with concrete examples on both what has worked and what has failed in the past. (Sacha Shivdasani, Earth Times News Service, 11 Oct. 2001)

Anglo American Called Racist After AIDS Drug "Betrayal": Mining giant could face South African strike over anti-retrovirals - Mining giant Anglo American stands accused of reneging on a commitment to make anti-retroviral drugs available to all its South African workers. Instead, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says, Anglo now plans to give preferential treatment to "senior employees" - apparently because the company thinks that providing anti-retrovirals throughout its workforce would be too expensive. The NUM finds this policy "inherently racist and discriminatory, with beneficiaries of the scheme being, in the main, white workers and the black elite. The foot soldiers who generate wealth in the bowels of the earth are excluded." (ICEM [International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions], 11 Oct. 2001)

• company website: AIDS/HIV - FAQ: Anglo American

RIO+10: Pay For Summit Yourselves, Business Group Tells Governments - At the close of a two-day Paris meeting, Business Action for Sustainable Development yesterday rejected South Africa's appeal for private sector funding for next year's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, calling on governments to pay for the summit instead..."If business were to provide core funding, this would feed all the suspicions about business, inevitably leading to charges that it was exerting undue influence," Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman of the business association coalition, said. (UN Wire, 11 Oct. 2001)

Business tells governments to pay up for Jo'burg Summit: Business Action for Sustainable Development, a coalition of business associations, today called on governments to provide funding for next year's World Summit on Sustainable Development and relieve South Africa as host country of an unacceptable financial burden that was imperiling the event. (Business Action for Sustainable Development, 10 Oct. 2001)

Generic AIDS Drug in South Africa: Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC has granted a generic drug manufacturer a license to produce and market three key AIDS medicines in South Africa, a Glaxo official told The Associated Press Sunday. Under the deal, to be officially announced Monday, the South African company Aspen Pharmacare will be allowed to sell its versions of the widely used AIDS drugs AZT, 3TC and Combivir to the public health system and to nonprofit groups in South Africa, the official said on condition of anonymity...Before the agreement with Aspen, Glaxo was already offering its AIDS drugs to South Africa's public health system at cost for about $2 a day for Combivir, a combination of 3TC and AZT. However, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that even at that price providing the AIDS drugs through the public health system would bankrupt the health department. (Ravi Nessman, Associated Press, 7 Oct. 2001)

South Africa's Winning Tobacco Control Strategy: A notable victory has been scored in the battle against tobacco in South Africa where smoking has been rated the second highest health concern, after HIV/AIDS. Thanks to some of the strictest tobacco control measures ever adopted by the government of a developing country, cigarette consumption has fallen for eight consecutive years while the percentage of adult smokers in the country has dropped from 32 to 28 percent. The main weapon in the government’s arsenal was a steep rise in tobacco taxes (John Eberlee, Reports: Science from the Developing World, International Development Research Centre, 21 Sep. 2001)

• {···français} La lutte antitabac en Afrique du Sud : une stratégie gagnante

Change in the air for SA pollution laws: South Africa's outdated air pollution laws, last examined over 35 years ago, are to be overhauled next year, according to Environmental Affairs Minister Valli Moosa. (Independent [South Africa], 21 Sep. 2001)

Paying the Price [the fight for affordable AIDS drugs in Africa] (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 20 Sep. 2001)

• full transcript of "Paying the Price"

Drugs Remain Unaffordable - Health Minister [South Africa]: Although pharmaceutical companies cut the price of HIV/AIDS medication, South Africa still could not afford to provide the drugs through the public health system, Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 15 Sep. 2001)

Health Minister to Defend Court Challenge [South Africa]: Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang would defend legal action instituted by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) aimed at ensuring state provision of the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to pregnant HIV positive women countrywide, Health-e News reported on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 14 Sep. 2001)

Programs Tackle Economic Effects of Apartheid: Best Practice / Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu - DTT has set up two ongoing initiatives, the MultiCultural Development Program (MCDP), directed at internal transformation, and the Business Equity Initiative (BEI), an external economic-empowerment strategy for blacks. (sponsored section, International Herald Tribune and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 13 Sep. 2001)

Forest Peoples Seek Compensation: Forest dwellers from seven African countries this week appealed for compensation for livelihoods compromised by government activities, and for vindication of their human rights, AFP news agency reported. Meeting in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, from 3-6 September, representatives of the Twa of Rwanda, the DRC and Uganda; the Ogieks of Kenya, the Maasai of Tanzania; the Bushmen of South Africa; and the Baka Bagyeli of Cameroon, paid particular attention to the plight of indigenous peoples living in, or displaced from, protected areas in their countries. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 8 Sep. 2001)

Black Media Staff Still At Disadvantage: Racism in the South African media refuses to go away and its impact on workers needs special attention, says the Media Workers' Association of South Africa (Mwasa). (Ndivhuwo Khangale, The Sowetan [Johannesburg], 5 Sep. 2001)

HIV positive: Mark Heywood has been involved in the liberation struggle in South Africa all his "conscious" life. Now he has turned his attention to the fight against HIV/AIDS - "TAC [Treatment Action Campaign] is building a network among communities, seeking to transform the South African health service, and campaigning against patent abuse, whereby prices set by drugs companies are too high for most people to afford."  (Mark Heywood, National Secretary of Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, in Oxfam Campaigner, Sep. 2001)

'Blacks Suffer Worst Under Globalisation'- Mbeki: The negative effects of globalisation were felt most sharply by black people, President Thabo Mbeki told a forum of non-governmental organisations gathered in Durban yesterday before the World Conference against Racism (WCAR) due to start on Friday..."Even as it marches triumphantly throughout the globe like an invincible army, the process of globalisation contains within it the makings of an insoluble crisis that will affect even its greatest beneficiaries, unless its inherent tendency to marginalise many is halted and reversed." (Ido Lekota, The Sowetan [Johannesburg], 29 Aug. 2001)

Department Stalls On Deal for Free Anti-Aids Drug [South Africa]: The government is offering free nevirapine to pregnant HIV-positive women in at least two health facilities in all nine provinces in an attempt to reduce the transmission of HIV to their babies. The government is paying for the drug though Boehringer Ingelheim offered to supply it free more than a year ago. Health Department spokeswoman Ms Jo-Anne Collinge said there had been talks between Boehringer Ingelheim and her department. She expected an agreement soon. (The Sowetan [Johannesburg], 29 Aug. 2001)

South Africa: Durban residents victims of environmental racism - The pollution hits your lungs and nostrils as soon as you enter Wentworth, a mixed-race community and apartheid-era dumping ground south of the Indian Ocean port city of Durban. Towering above "Noddy-town" as its known locally because of the small, box-like houses, are two huge oil refineries and a host of other industries. Between them they spew out a noxious cocktail of sulphur dioxide and other dangerous chemicals and local people say they've had enough. (Integrated Regional Information Networks, 28 Aug. 2001)

Companies Consider Financial Implications of HIV/AIDS: At a conference held in Cape Town on Friday to discuss the financial implications of HIV/AIDS, South Africa's leading mining companies said they were offering treatment packages as an incentive for employees to go for testing. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 27 Aug. 2001)

Race, Gender Equity a Formidable Undertaking [South Africa]: Employment equity commission reports most top jobs are held by men. The legacy of apartheid and gender inequality is proving difficult to overcome as the labour department's employment equity report released yesterday shows. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 24 Aug. 2001)

Doctors Join Suit Against Minister [South Africa]: About 250 doctors, many of whom are employed by the state, have joined the Treatment Action Campaign in its lawsuit against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and her provincial health MECs. The campaign, doctors and other health professionals want the court to force the health ministry to provide Nevirapine widely in the public health service to reduce the risk of HIV-positive pregnant women from passing the virus on to their babies. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 22 Aug. 2001)

South Africa: Racism Plagues Response to Rural Crime - The South African government is failing to adequately protect residents of commercial farming areas from violent crime, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released today.  "Attacks against farm owners have gotten most of the attention, but attacks against other farm residents are a much bigger problem. Farmworkers and other rural dwellers are more vulnerable to violence, including from their employers, and less likely to get help from the police and courts." (press release, Human Rights Watch, 22 Aug. 2001)

• full report: Unequal Protection: The State Response to Violent Crime on South African Farms (Human Rights Watch, Aug. 2001)

State Now Says 'No Problem' to AIDS Drug [South Africa]: As the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) prepares to launch its court case aimed at forcing government to supply an antiAIDS drug for pregnant mothers more widely, the health department appears to have accepted the drug company's long-standing offer of free drugs. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 21 Aug. 2001)

Solar Power Lights Up Lives [public/private partnership aiming to solar-electrify 50,000 households in South Africa]: "There's nothing new in the technology, but what we're doing is unique, we're offering a complete solar utility service to isolated and scattered communities," Elize Gothard of Shell Solar Southern Africa told IRIN. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 21 Aug. 2001)

SA [South Africa] race trial begins: A white South African employer charged with dragging his black employee to death behind his pickup truck on 25 August 2000 has pleaded not guilty to murder. (Carolyn Dempster, BBC News, 21 Aug. 2001)

Treatment Action Campaign Takes Government to Court On AIDS Drug [South Africa]: The South African AIDS activist group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), announced last week that it would take the government to court for denying HIV-positive pregnant women drugs that reduce the risk of transmitting the disease to their babies, Reuters reported on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 Aug. 2001)

Challenge to Bring Health Care to All: SA [South Africa] employers could collectively be facing a potential R30bn medical aid bill if they are to meet employment-equity requirements and to satisfy growing pressure from labour unions for medical-aid cover across the workforce. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 15 Aug. 2001)

Anglo [AngloGold] in the Dark On AIDS Deaths: CEO says HIV positivity is a subterranean syndrome' and not easy to track among miners [South Africa] (Pat Sidley, Business Day [Johannesburg], 1 Aug. 2001)

Gold Fields Counts the Costs of AIDS: Gold Fields has released a report on the extent of the HIV/Aids pandemic among its South African workforce that manages quite literally to count the cost of the killer disease: it affects one in four of its 48000-strong labour complement.  The study reveals a wealth of facts and figures about the disease and also cuts to the quick of the issue for business -- what the effect will be on the bottom line.  (Stewart Bailey, Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 27 July 2001)

South African Oil Firm Says "No Plans for Sudan": The South African oil parastatal Soekor has issued a statement saying that, contrary to reports in some leading South African newspapers, the company is not about to enter into any agreement with the Sudanese government that would allow it to conduct oil prospecting in the southern parts of that country. "Reports to this effect are inaccurate," said Acting Chief Executive Kevin Stallbom. To put the record straight, Stallbom said Soekor shared the concerns of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) "that an insensitive pursuit of oil interests in the Sudan might contribute to the escalation of the civil war in that country". (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 25 July 2001)

Racism Rife On Mpumalanga Farms, Says Premier: Attacks on farmers and the abuse of farm workers is putting Mpumalanga's agricultural sector at risk, warned provincial premier Ndaweni Mahlangu on Tuesday....A provincial government committee had conducted its own study into conflict on farms, he said, and recommended that workers be made aware of labour rights and that they be registered for workman's compensation [South Africa]. (Sharon Hammond, African Eye News Service [Nelspruit, South Africa], 24 July 2001)

Soekor's Sudanese excursion upsets SA bishops: The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) on Friday said it was "gravely concerned" that Soekor, South Africa's oil parastatal, is in the advanced stages of negotiating expansion activities in Sudan. "Oil is key to the war in Sudan. During our visits to Sudan, we saw for ourselves the results of the forced removal and displacement of tens of thousands of southern Sudanese to make the oilfields and pipeline safe from attack," said Cardinal Wilfred Napier, President of the SACBC, in a press statement. "We are convinced that oil is at once a major cause of the war and a means used by Khartoum to increase its military capacity," he added. (Integrated Regional Information Networks [IRIN], in ZA Now/Daily Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 24 July 2001)

Planning a Thorough Revamp of Green Laws [South Africa]: The environmental affairs and tourism department is embarking on a comprehensive law reform programme which will bring SA's environmental law in line with the constitution and international environmental law. The new laws will force businesses to clean their act when it comes to complying with environmental standards such as air and noise pollution. The reforms will also tighten loopholes businesses have used to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. (Sanchia Temkin, Business Day [Johannesburg], 17 July 2001)

DIGITAL DIVIDE: UN To Test Pilot Project In Four Countries - Poor countries can raise their living standards by building communications infrastructures, training workers to use the Internet and adopting business-friendly laws, according to a report issued yesterday by the Digital Opportunity Initiative, a consortium comprised of the UN Development Program, Accenture and the Markle Foundation.  The consortium plans to send consultants to Tanzania, South Africa, Romania and Bolivia this summer to test programs on expanding access to the Internet and other communications networks. (UN Wire, 17 July 2001)

Gold Fields Counts Cost of AIDS: Gold Fields, the country's second largest gold producer, revealed that the HIV/AIDS epidemic could cost the company more than US $10 an ounce, a year unless it took significant action, 'The Star' newspaper reported on Thursday. Chris Thompson, chief executive, said that intervention programmes supported by government and the industry could halve these projected costs. [South Africa] (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 13 July 2001)

Campaign Knocks Neo-Racism: White trade union the Mineworkers' Union Solidarity launched a campaign yesterday in Pretoria to fight what it referred to as the "neo-racist tendencies" of policies such as affirmative action. [South Africa] (Sanchia Temkin, Business Day [Johannesburg], 13 July 2001)

Rhodes Ichthyology Head Warns That International Fishing Fleets Are Stripping African Oceans: The discovery in Port Elizabeth that a Taiwanese trawler has been plundering our oceans has highlighted the problem of a lack of policing of international fishing, especially off the African coastline. Rhodes Ichthyology head Dr Peter Britz said in a wide-ranging interview Thursday that there was a widespread problem of territorial and international waters being plundered by foreign fishing fleets. (Mike Loewe, East Cape News [Grahamstown, South Africa], 5 July 2001)

Daimler Provides AIDS Help To Employees in South Africa: German-American car maker DaimlerChrysler AG's South African subsidiary has launched perhaps the country's most far-reaching corporate program to manage AIDS among employees and dependents, including providing free antiretroviral drugs to infected workers and their families. (Robert Block, Wall Street Journal, 19 June 2001)

In Africa the Hoodia cactus keeps men alive. Now its secret is 'stolen' to make us thin - Pharmaceutical firms stand accused of once again plundering native lore to make fortunes from natural remedies (Antony Barnett, The Observer [UK], 17 June 2001)

Pharmaceuticals rights under threat: DRUG PATENTS: International agreements allowing access to patented medicines have faced their first test (Stephen Ward, Financial Times, 11 June 2001)

South African hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with crisis [AIDS crisis] (Charlene Smith, Daily Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 29 May 2001)

Trial date set, as Cape [British asbestos company Cape PLC] hints at settlement (ACTSA [Action for South Africa], 22 May 2001)

HIV/AIDS: S. African Drug Maker Requests Right To Copy Drugs (UN Wire, 18 May 2001)

SAfrica-health-AIDS: S.Africa's AIDS activists turn to private sector as state dithers (Emsie Ferreira, Agence France-Presse, 13 May 2001) 

SACOB [South African Chamber of Business] HIV/AIDS initiative (South African Chamber of Business, 11 May 2001)

Cape [British asbestos company Cape PLC] shamed at AGM [annual general meeting] (ACTSA [Action for South Africa], 10 May 2001)

HIV/AIDS: South African Businesses Propose Funding Treatment (UN Wire, 7 May 2001)

Anglo to give Aids drugs to workers [South Africa] (Bobby Jordan, Sunday Times [South Africa], 6 May 2001)

People before profits: The international pharmaceutical industry has lost its legal battle to bar South Africa from importing cheap generic drugs.  Poor people the world over can rejoice, writes Gamal Nkrumah. (Gamal Nkrumah, Al-Ahram Weekly [Cairo], 26 Apr. - 2 May 2001)

HIV/AIDS: UN Panel Deems Medication Access A Human Right (UN Wire, 24 Apr. 2001)

UN rights body backs Brazil on Aids drugs (news24 [South Africa], 24 Apr. 2001)

CGNU [Norwich Union] AGM [annual general meeting] targeted by asbestos protestors (ACTSA [Action for South Africa], 24 Apr. 2001)

AIDS Gaffes in Africa Come Back To Haunt Drug Industry in the U.S. (Gardiner Harris, Wall Street Journal, 23 Apr. 2001)

{···português} ONU declara: acesso a remédio é direito humano (Jamil Chade, Estadao.com [Brazil], 23 abril 2001)

Commission on Human Rights adopts six resolutions...[UN Commission on Human Rights adopts resolution recognising that access to medication in the context of pandemics such as HIV/AIDS is a fundamental element for achieving enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health; adopted by vote of 52 in favour, none opposed, one abstention] (United Nations, 23 Apr. 2001)

Drugs: Round One to Africa: Nick Mathiason explains why the pharmas gave way, and why South Africa's joy may be short-lived (Nick Mathiason, Observer [UK], 22 Apr. 2001)

Drug settlement heralds new relationship, says SANAC [South African National Aids Council] (SAPA [South African Press Association], in Woza [South Africa], 22 Apr. 2001)

SOUTH AFRICA: Chevron and Texaco Accused of Polluting City [ Cape Town] (Danielle Knight, Inter Press Service, in The Black World Today [USA], 22 Apr. 2001)

Editorial: A country's right to heal its people (Bangkok Post, 21 Apr. 2001)

Legal roadshow rolls on to Brazil [after the collapse of the drug companies' case against the South African Government] (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 20 Apr. 2001)

A war yet to be won [access to affordable anti-AIDS drugs in South Africa] (Business Day [Johannesburg], 20 Apr. 2001)

{···français} Après Pretoria, quelle politique contre le sida? Recul des multinationales pharmaceutiques (Philippe Rivière, Le Monde diplomatique, 20 Apr. 2001)

Drug giants back down (Belinda Beresford, Daily Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 20 Apr. 2001)

Drugs industry has a bitter bill to swallow (telegraph.co.uk [Daily Telegraph, UK], 20 Apr. 2001)

ANC urged to deliver Aids drugs: As pharmaceutical firms cave in, South Africans call on the state to exploit the victory and distribute medicines (Chris McGreal, Guardian [UK], 20 Apr. 2001)

We have a deal: A drug company boss explains the climbdown in South Africa (Jean-Pierre Garnier, Chief Executive, GlaxoSmithKline, Guardian [UK], 20 Apr. 2001)

A victory for the poor: Drug giants forced to bow to people power (leader/editorial, Guardian [UK], 20 Apr. 2001)

Business sings the philanthropy blues [South Africa] (Business Day [Johannesburg], 20 Apr. 2001)

Drug giants made to swallow bitter pill: Global opinion won in South Africa, but will it triumph when the US fights Brazil's cheap Aids medicine? (Charlotte Denny and James Meek, Guardian, 19 Apr. 2001)

Drug companies in South Africa capitulate under barrage of public pressure: Powerful precedent set for other developing countries (Médecins Sans Frontières, 19 Apr. 2001)

Drug giants throw in the towel [South Africa] (Oxfam, 19 Apr. 2001)

Shamed and humiliated - the drug firms back down (Chris McGreal, Guardian [UK], 19 Apr. 2001)

Drugs firms drop lawsuit challenge against cheap AIDS treatment (Independent [UK], 19 Apr. 2001)

Pharmacists appeal for solution to drugs battle (Business Day [Johannesburg], 19 Apr. 2001)

Firms split over deal in cheap drugs lawsuit: Big companies break ranks in bid to reach South African settlement (Chris McGreal, Guardian [UK], 18 Apr. 2001)

Drug price wars: Helping the poor will help the industry (leader/editorial, Guardian [UK], 18 Apr. 2001)

Aids charity has drug makers on the run: Climax near in South African case for cheaper medicines (Chris McGreal, Guardian [UK], 18 Apr. 2001)

Mandela slams drug makers, chides S. African govt (Brendan Boyle, Reuters, 15 Apr. 2001)

WHO Urges Pharmaceutical Firms to Cut Prices for Poor (Reuters, 11 Apr. 2001)

Drug giants set to cause violation of human rights: Oxfam calls for urgent UN investigation (Oxfam, 11 Apr. 2001)

AIDS Group Files Papers Against Drug Firms (Steven Swindells, Reuters, 11 Apr. 2001)

Medicines Act Court Case Affidavit filed by TAC [Treatment Action Campaign] on 10 Apr. 2001 [concerning the South African anti-AIDS drugs court case by 39 pharmaceutical companies] (Treatment Action Center, 10 Apr. 2001), and supporting affidavits:

• Analysis of R&D in the Pharmaceutical Industry (James Love)
• Lack of Medicines in Hospitals (Sue Roberts)
• Generic Substitution (Andy Gray)
• Parallel Imports (Carmen Perez)

Experts Mull Cheap Drugs for Poor at Norway Talks (Alister Doyle, Reuters, 9 Apr. 2001)

{···français} La propriété intellectuelle, c'est le vol (Daniel Cohen, Le Monde, 7 Apr. 2001)

South Africa Says Key AIDS Drugs Still Too Costly (Steven Swindells, Reuters, 6 Apr. 2001)

Drug firms say S. Africa fails to take up AIDS offers (Steven Swindells, Reuters, 4 Apr. 2001)

Patents and Development: What Role for the World Community? (Dr. Christopher Stevens, Institute of Development Studies, 4 Apr. 2001)

Apartheid's Killer Legacy [regarding the conduct of British asbestos company Cape PLC in South Africa] (ACTSA [Action for South Africa], Apr. 2001)

South Africa vs. the drug giants: Oxfam update on South African court case (Oxfam, Apr. 2001)

Implausible Denial: Why the Drug Giants' Arguments on Patents Don't Stack Up (Oxfam, Apr. 2001)

South Africa: Quo vadis FSC? Certification of monoculture timber plantations as "sustainably managed forests" by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) makes an absolute mockery of the concept of sustainable environment and ecosystem management. (Wally Menne, Timberwatch Coalition, in World Rainforest Movement Bulletin, Apr. 2001)

'State spurned Aids-drug offers' (Jeremy Gordin, The Sunday Independent [South Africa], 31 Mar. 2001)

Blair sides with drug giants (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 31 Mar. 2001)

Hundreds picket drug firm about patent battle (Ishani Bechoo, Daily News [South Africa], 30 Mar. 2001)

SOUTH AFRICA-AIDS: Drugs alone no panacea (Integrated Regional Information Network, 26 Mar. 2001)

Long-term commitment to fight AIDS in southern Africa (M.F. Borel, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 26 Mar. 2001)

Mining in Paradise? Caught Between a Rock and Heavy Minerals on the Wild Coast, South Africa (Ralph Hamann, in Cultural Survival Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 1, spring 2001)

AIDS Data Put South Africa at the Epicenter of Epidemic (Rachel L. Swarns, International Herald Tribune, 21 Mar. 2001)

South African refusal of free HIV kits 'ludicrous' (Alex Duval Smith, Independent [UK], 20 Mar. 2001)

Denmark calls on drug firms to end South Africa court battle (Agence France-Presse, 19 Mar. 2001)

European Parliament demands that drug companies drop case against South African Medicines Law: MSF and Oxfam welcome unprecedented call for access to medicines (Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières, 17 Mar. 2001)

Euro Parliament wants to get cheap AIDS drugs to South Africa (Agence France-Presse, 15 Mar. 2001)

Developing Peace: The South African Experience Of The Role Of Civil Society In Facilitation And Mediation (Theuns Eloff, Chief Executive, National Business Initiative, South Africa, for The Art of Mediation workshop, INCORE [Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity, Northern Ireland])

Cheaper drugs help Aids war in South Africa (Karen Macgregor, Independent [UK], 11 Mar. 2001)

Questions and Answers: On The AIDS Front Line - A South African HIV expert discusses his country's fight for affordable drugs (Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2001)

Big Drug Firms Defend Right to Patents On AIDS Drugs in South African Court (Robert Block, Wall Street Journal, 6 Mar. 2001)

Trial in AIDS Drug Lawsuit Opens in Pretoria (Henri E. Cauvin, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2001)

State takes on world's pharmaceutical giants (Zelda Venter and Clive Sawyer, The Star [South Africa], 4 Mar. 2001)

Replying Affidavit Submitted to Pretoria High Court [concerning the South African anti-AIDS drugs court case by 39 pharmaceutical companies] (TAC [Treatment Action Campaign, Mar. 2001)

Global Strategies for People's Health: Fighting medical apartheid (Philippe Demenet, Le Monde diplomatique, Mar. 2001)

• {···français: Stratégies mondiales pour la santé populaire: Contre l'apartheid médical}

A Harsh Campaign to Prevent Affordable AIDS Treatment (Kevin Watkins, Senior Policy Adviser of Oxfam, in Interntational Herald Tribune, 12 Feb. 2001)

The Great South African Smokeout (Anna White, Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2001)

DaimlerChrysler Fights Back as AIDS Damages Productivity in South African Plants (EuropaWorld, 12 Jan. 2001)

Tripping Over Patents: AIDS, Access to Treatment and the Manufacturing of Scarcity [includes extensive material on South Africa] (Jonathan Michael Berger, 2001)

2000:

South Africa - A Question of Principle: Arms Trade and Human Rights (Human Rights Watch, Oct. 2000)

Promoting Socially Responsible Business in Developing Countries [conference: 23-24 October 2000, Geneva] (UNRISD News [U.N. Research Institute for Social Development Bulletin], no. 23, autumn/winter 2000)

• {···español: Promover empresas socialmente responsables en los países en desarrollo}

• {···français: Pour une responsabilisation sociale des entreprises dans les pays en développement}

Human Development and Human Rights - South African Country Study (Sandra Liebenberg, UNDP Human Development Report 2000: Human Rights and Human Development Background Paper, U.N. Development Programme, 2000)

Collective Corporate Action: South Africa, in The Business of Peace: The Private Sector as a Partner in Conflict Prevention and Resolution (Jane Nelson/Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum [now International Business Leaders Forum], International Alert, Council on Economic Priorities, 2000)