From South African History Online (SAHO), http://www.sahistory.org.za:

SAHO has initiated the Bonani Africa 2010 Festival of Photography which will provide South African and African documentary photographers with a platform to provide a glimpse of the state of South African and African documentary photography today. The Festival will comprise of a series of exhibitions, a conference, which will be addressed by leading photographers and historians, workshops and public events that will be held at various venues in Cape Town, in August 2010, after which the exhibition will travel to Johannesburg and other centres. The closure date for submissions is 23 April 2010.

From The Archival Platform, http://www.archivalplatform.org:

This month’s Archival Platform blog looks at the furore surrounding the singing of a struggle song, which includes the words, Dubul’ ibhunu (shoot the Boers), and the consequent debates on the heritage of hate speech currently raging in the media.

From SADOCC, Dokumentations- und Kooperationszentrum Südliches Afrika, Vienna, News 4. April 2010, http://www.sadocc.at/index-en.shtml:

Blade Nzimande inteviewed by Walter Sauer, Minister Nzimande calls for an interventionist state in South Africa: Nzimande: "Well, unfortunately we went through a period from about 1996 when there was a government policy orientation which was towards a minimalist role for the state and to allow the private sector to play a greater role. But that has changed now. For instance, we moved away from the whole idea of privatising state-owned companies. Instead we believe that those state-owned companies have got an important role to play in addressing poverty and unemployment in our country. Instead we should be saying for instance in education and training, how do we harness the potential that state-owned companies have in training artisans, for example. Under Apartheid, they played a crucial role in training white artisans but now when we took this role of a minimalist state, we partly destroyed the capacity of the state-owned companies to play a role in training. And that is what we want to resuscitate. But also where necessary the state must take a lead in making investment in the area of education and training..."

From SABC News, www.sabcnews.com:

April 14, Terre Blance murder case postponed. The bail application of the older suspect in the murder of Eugene Terre'Blanche, the former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader, has been postponed until May10.

April 14, The recession may be over, but many consumers are still in the financial doldrums. Statistics South Africa says in January alone, magistrates courts around the country convicted more than 48 000 individuals and small businesses for failing to pay debts totaling almost half a billion rand (R487 million). But, despite this, economists say the economy has truly turned the corner and is now on a firm growth path.

April 14, Learners have torched another classroom at the Naphakade Secondary School at Malmesbury in the Swartland despite a heavy police presence around the school's premises. Primary school learners sharing the building have been sent home for their own safety. The uproar comes as four learners are expected to appear in the local Magistrates Court on charges of arson and public violence. They allegedly burnt two classrooms during protests yesterday.

March 19, A surprise visit by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga at a school in Bela-Bela in Limpopo turned to be a real surprise for her this morning.
Motshekga reacted with shock at what she said was the conduct of some teachers and the school management. It was her second visit at Raeleng secondary school this year. The school is one of the worst performing schools in the country. Last year they got 0% matric pass rate. Motshekga was welcomed by empty chairs and very few teachers.

From Africa Contact (Denmark), http://www.afrika.dk/:

The brutality of the Swazi regime, led by the autocratic King Mswati, has always been evident...The latest example of this brutality is the death in detention of Pudemo activist Sipho Jele. Sipho Jele was in good health when arrested and detained on 1 May for wearing a Pudemo t-shirt but was found dead in his cell the next day. ..Because of the urgency of the situation in Swaziland, Africa Contact has sent letters to the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and Delegation of the European Union to the Kingdom of Swaziland in Mbabane, Swaziland and Lesotho, respectively, urging them to put pressure on the Swazi regime to desist from further human rights violations and start a process of democratization.

From Africa Contact (Denmark):
In May 2009, Catherine Kennedy from South African History Archive (SAHA) visited several Danish archives. As a direct consequence of this visit, the Labour Movement Library and Archive (ABA) and Africa Contact are now discussing a joined project that has the purpose of digitalizing a large number of historical photos from anti-apartheid activities brought in Danish newspapers, mainly the communist paper Land og Folk, and making these available online.

Mid June, Alan Fowler, Professor at the Center of Civil Society, University of KwaZulu Natal, spoke about civic driven change and organizational change processes in NGOs on a meeting at Africa Contact .

From CIPACI, Roskilde University: Department of Society and Globalisation to invites to a lecture with Professor Patrick Bond, Centre for Civil Society, KwaZulu-Natal University, Durban, South Africa Monday the 7th of December 2009 at 13-15 in Building 25.3. Title of the lecture: African civil society during extreme economic and ecological crises.

From Danish Development Research Network http://www.ddrn.dk / maf@ddrn.dk. A debate meeting on food security, climate, and ethics wil be held [in Danish] October 1, 2009, 9:00-16:30 at Landstingssalen, Christiansborg, Copenhagen K.
An Online Scientific Climate Conference will be held November 2-6, 2009.

From AfricaFocus Bulletin
AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at http://www.africafocus.org africafocus@igc.org. Jul 21, 2009 (090721): Editor's Note. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a press summary and excerpts from the latest report on U.S.-Africa trade published by the U.S. International Trade Commission this month. The prominence of oil in shaping these current economic links is a striking contrast with the aspiration for more diversified development expressed in the sole mention of oil in President Barack Obama's speech in Ghana om.

From AfricaFocus Bulletin
AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at http://www.africafocus.org, africafocus@igc.org. Jul 21, 2009 (090721): Editor's Note. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a selection of post-speech commentaries stressing that making space for African initiatives also requires a more critical look at U.S. policy.

From SABC News, www.sabcnews.com, August 22 2009: The head of Land Bank's Agricultural Economic Research and Innovation Services, Dr Nakedi Makhura says the South African government’s decision to focus on rural economic development is a step in the right direction... Yesterday government dismissed a World Bank report suggesting that South Africa is making a mistake by concentrating on rural development. The report said the country should instead focus on urban areas where people are concentrated. Rural Development deputy Minister Joe Phaahla said the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme launched in Limpopo this week will help to reduce the pressure on urban areas, where people flock to for better opportunities. The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme was launched by President Jacob Zuma on Monday as he marked his official 100 days in office. Scores of poor and often neglected residents of a small Muyexe village in Limpopo spent the day with the country's first citizen.

From Swaziland@Newsletter, 9 December 2009. Published by Africa Contact (Denmark):
There’s a lot of puzzlement surrounding the news this week that the Swaziland Constitution has to be suspended because there are too many members of parliament. Chief Gija Dlamini, head of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC), says that Swaziland cannot elect another four women to parliament to meet the requirements of the constitution – because parliament is full up. What he means is that there are already 55 MPs in the House of Assembly and there are no vacancies. Of course, the sensible thing is to increase the number of MPs to 59 to accommodate the women.

Mbongeni Mbingo, the recently-appointed editor of the Times of Swaziland, predicts that once Finance Minister Majozi Sithole starts to cut taxes to pay for the E 4 billion (530 million US dollars) shortfall in the kingdom’s income received from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) the people will ‘begin to revolt’. This week the Royal Swaziland Police announced it was to buy five dogs from Zimbabwe in a package costing 210,000 US dollars.

From Mail & Guardian, http://www.mg.co.za:

15 April, Samwu condems strike violence Samwu has condemned the violence that has been escalating over the last three days of its nationwide strike.

15 April, Constitutional Court sets date for McBride hearing The Constitutional Court will hear an application by the Citizen on whether it's defamatory to refer to Robert McBride's apartheid-era crimes.

15 April, Gordhan warns on taxes if recovery slow The government may consider raising taxes if the economy does not recover enough to boost tax revenue, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says.

December 16 2009, South Africa still had a long way to go toward reconciliation, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Reconciliation Day celebrations at the Amphitheatre in Freedom Park, Pretoria, Zuma said the country still had a long way to go to get rid of racism, xenophobia and other "social ills". Zuma said the government was outraged by the reports of ill-treatment of foreign nationals in some parts of the country. "There needs to be an improved understanding of the plight of refugees in particular, and their reasons for being in our country." He said there needed to be an understanding that not all foreign nationals were in South Africa illegally. "Legal immigrants contribute constructively to the economic and social development of our country," he said. "Let us embrace especially our African brothers and sisters, who usually bear the brunt of ill-treatment more than foreigners from other continents." He said the Department of Home Affairs was formulating a migration policy that will enable foreign nationals to be treated in a more humane manner.

From Africa Contact (Denmark), http://www.afrika.dk/: AC has adopted a new improved strategy plan for the organisation and its work at its newly general meeting. It is available from: morten@afrika.dk. New aid/solidarity projects are in the pipeline: Zambia Land Alliance - face two; organisational support for National Constitutional Assembly, Zimbabwe; Trust for Community

From Danish Development Research Network http://www.ddrn.dk / maf@ddrn.dk. A debate meeting on food security, climate, and ethics wil be held [in Danish] October 1, 2009, 9:00-16:30 at Landstingssalen, Christiansborg, Copenhagen K.
An Online Scientific Climate Conference will be held November 2-6, 2009.

From AfricaFocus Bulletin
AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at http://www.africafocus.org africafocus@igc.org. Jul 21, 2009 (090721): Editor's Note. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a press summary and excerpts from the latest report on U.S.-Africa trade published by the U.S. International Trade Commission this month. The prominence of oil in shaping these current economic links is a striking contrast with the aspiration for more diversified development expressed in the sole mention of oil in President Barack Obama's speech in Ghana om.

From AfricaFocus Bulletin
AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at http://www.africafocus.org, africafocus@igc.org. Jul 21, 2009 (090721): Editor's Note. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a selection of post-speech commentaries stressing that making space for African initiatives also requires a more critical look at U.S. policy.

From Africa Contact (Denmark): Mid-May 2009, Catherine Kennedy from South African History Archive (SAHA) will visit Copenhagen to profile the two key programmes at SAHA; the Struggles for Justice Programme - that is involved in collection sourcing archive to fill in the massive gaps in South African recent history, with a special focus on oral history, photographic archives, and efforts to engage former security force members to the development of 'heritage' related products which includes products to facilitate the oral history projects at school, the utilization fo SAHA's extensive (5000) struggle poster collection, and a follow on work from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This relates directly to the other programme, the Freedom of Information Programme, which since 2002 has worked with difficult topics relating to security, intelligence, policing, arms sales, environment, etc. SAHA's objective is to test the parameters of this new legislation and to make records secured through this process available to a broader public. Catherine Kennedy also focus on the freedom of information side of SAHA's work, profiling of SAHA's work around heritage and community outreach (particularly using our struggle art collection. She is looking for options for preparing joint exhibitions with Danish museums, galleries relating to resistance art, as well as learning more about outreach initiatives being undertaken by Danish archives aimed at bringing archives out of the archive and into communities. Her interest is also n advocacy work around the role archives can play in promoting and defending human rights and in making contact with archival practioners and students.

From Swaziland@Newsletter 84. Published by Africa Contact (Denmark). Earlier issues can be read at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/SAK-Swazinewsletter.
Anti-Terrorism Law an Excuse to Suppress Freedom of Expression.
The constricting environment the government of Swaziland is imposing on freedom of expression. Under a controversial Suppression of Terrorism Act that has been passed by the Parliament in May 2008.
Swazi journalists, political activists and human rights defenders have apparently become persona non-grata, battered and/or arrested. THE Swaziland Positive Living (SWAPOL) members, who live with HIV and AIDS, say the existence of the Anti Terrorism Act of 2008 dropped their CD4 count immensely. As a result, they have decided to march to Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini to deliver a petition against this piece of legislation.

From Mail & Guardian, http://www.mg.co.za:

Aug 22 2009, An apartheid-era police hit squad member, who in 1987 escaped the gallows after confessing to killing eight ANC members, is being considered for parole. http://www.mg.co.za/section/national.

A nationwide taxi industry strike will go ahead on Tuesday September 1 when the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is implemented, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said on Friday.

Health: Zille calls for debate on health spending. The time is ripe for a public debate on the rights and responsibilities of people who turn to the state for medical care, DA leader Helen Zille says.

Media: 'Harassment' forces SABC3 boss to quit. The SABC's Pearl Luthuli has quit the corporation, saying she was subjected to “continual plotting and harassment”

Foreign Affair:s Zuma visits anti-apartheid base in Angola 0 comment(s) | SA President Jacob Zuma made an emotional pilgrimage on Friday to a former anti-apartheid guerrilla camp in Angola.

From SABC News, www.sabcnews.com, December 15 2009: President Jacob Zuma will today commemorate the 48th anniversary of the inception of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) in Ingwavuma in northern KwaZulu-Natal. MK, the former military wing of the African National Congress (ANC) was formed on December 16, 1961, after the ANC realised that passive resistance against the apartheid government was not working.

From H-NET Distribution List for News and Announcements [H-ANNOUNCE@H-NET.MSU.EDU]:

Calling all historians, anthropologists, and archive / heritage practitioners! The Archival Platform has now launched our website at www.archivalplatform.org. The Platform was recently established to promote networking, advocacy and research on archives, museums and heritage issues in South Africa, linking to broader debates in Africa. We are particularly interested in improving communication and collaboration between government, practitioners and academics in the sector. We also seek to promote public engagement on these issues. Please feel free to contact us or sign up for our newsletter from the website!

From AfricaFiles, Toronto, http://www.africafiles.org:

A new issue of the online magazine, At Issue Ezine, are available; Vol. 12, No. 1, May 2010: Southern Africa: The Liberation Struggle Continues, by John S. Saul. Fifty years on from the beginnings of liberation in Africa, John Saul finds there is still much work to be done, especially in southern Africa where the final triumph over colonial and racial domination occurred. In each of the the five sites of the overt struggle against domination – Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa – there are clear signs of recolonization. This time by capital.

From Danish Development Research Network, http://www.ddrn.dk / maf@ddrn.dk:

Konference om dansk uddannelsesforskning rettet mod udviklingslande [in Danish]. May 27, 2010, 10:00-17:00 - The Danish School of Education, (DPU), Tuborgvej 164, 2400 København NV.

Udviklingscafé om den nye strategi for dansk udviklingspolitik [in Danish]. April 15, 2010, 12:00-13:30 - Basalt-Salen, Nordatlantens Brygge, Strandgade 91, Copenhagen K.

Academia and Foreign Policy Making: Bridging the Gap. April 26, 2010, 13:30-16:00 - Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) DIIS, Main Auditorium, Strandgade 71, Copenhagen K.

MDG Summit - Informal Interactive Hearings of the General Assembly of the United Nations with NGOs, civil society organisations and the private sector. June 14-15, 2010 - UN Headquarters in New York . Application deadline: April 16, 2010.

Danida Travel Grants for Master Students. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Closing Date for Application: Monday May 3, 2010, at 12:00

From AfricaFocus Bulletin
AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at http://www.africafocus.org /
africafocus@igc.org:

Mar 5, 2010 Editor's Note "Between 1985 and 2004, inequality in Nigeria worsened from 0.43 to 0.49, placing the country among those with the highest inequality levels in the world. Many studies have shown that despite its vast resources, Nigeria ranks among the most unequal countries in the world. The poverty problem in the country is partly a feature of high inequality which manifests in highly unequal income distribution and differential access to basic infrastructure, education, training and job opportunities." - UNDP Human Development Report, 2008-2009.

Mar 5, 2010 Editor's Note At last month's Oil & Gas Conference in Nigeria, outgoing Regional Executive Vice President, Shell Exploration and Production, Africa, Ann Pickard, forecast declining willingness to invest in Nigeria should Nigerian legislators insist on passing a new Petroleum Industry Bill intended to reform the industry and insure a higher proportion of revenue for Nigeria. Her statement was widely taken as a threat. (see http:// www.africafocus.org/docs10/nig1003b.php).

From Mail & Guardian, http://www.mg.co.za:

May 09, Gauteng ANC to crack down on ill-discipline by Natasha Marrian: Newly elected Gauteng ANC chairperson Paul Mashatile made it clear on Saturday that the ANC was the only centre of power in the province. "Our position is that there is only one centre ... the ANC," he said at a media briefing on the final day of the province's eleventh elective conference at the Tshwane Events Centre. Mashatile was pitted against Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane to lead the ANC in the province. He out-stripped Mokonyane with 513 votes to 356. His comments come amid reports that his winning the position of chairperson in the province would render Mokonyane powerless in her position as premier. "Government is not a centre, government is a place where people are deployed to do ANC work." He added that the provincial leadership of the ruling party had to support the government, "because it is our government". The government's responsibility was to implement the decisions and the policies of the ANC. He warned that if this did not happen "there will be consequences". "Those deployed must report, they must account." No longer 'business as usual' Provincial secretary David Makhura, who also retained his position in the election, said it was no longer "business as usual" when it came to ill-discipline in the party and a lack of service delivery by the government. " ... It cannot be as if there's no impatience among our people. There are consequences for failure to deliver.