Nearly 15 years since apartheid ended, millions of black South Africans still live in self-built shacks - without sanitation, adequate water supplies, or electricity.
Yash Tandon (2008) Ending Aid Dependence. 
Dorothy-Grace Guerrero and Firoze Manji (ed) (2008) China’s New Role in Africa and the South: A search for a new perspective. 
Features
Introduction to power, politics and AIDS in Africa
Stephen Lewis & Paula Donovan (2008-12-02)
The invitation to guest-edit a special issue of Pambazuka News wasn't something we pondered at AIDS-Free World; it's something we pounced on. We consider Pambazuka a precious commodity: a consistent source of timely, credible, thought-provoking, expe...
An AIDS-Free World travel diary: On the road to a new UN agency for women
Julia Greenberg (2008-12-02)
In September of this year, UN member states passed a resolution to move swiftly to create a new UN agency for women, a move, packaged with a series of reforms on governance and funding, that they hope will result in renewed public faith in the UN system. Julia Greenberg, AIDS-Free World’s associate director, tells the inside story behind the sudden groundswell in support for the new women’s agency and why the global community of women living with, and affected by HIV/AIDS, should care.
The feminization of violence in Zimbabwe
States in Transition Observatory (2008-12-02)
States in Transition Observatory look at the Zimbabwe’s botched election and the subsequent violence, and how this has specifically affected women. They underscore the fact that in times of crisis and conflict, such as those still being witnessed in Zimbabwe, it is always the women and children who are most victimized. The case of Zimbabwe shows how women suffer, both for perceived direct participation in the political process, but also by proxy, for their husbands’ or family members’ involvement. In Zimbabwe, as in other conflict areas, sexual violence continues to be a tool of war.
Zimbabwe: Towards a government of national impunity?
Sam Kebele (2008-11-26)
With the rejection by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) (Tsvangirai) of the flawed Southern African Development Community (SADC) plan for a government of national unity, there are signs of further economic collapse, increased repression of civil society and opposition and increasing hunger and death for Zimbabweans. The revived ZANU-PF militarised government under the control of Mugabe and the Joint Operations Command (JOC) - which may well call itself a government of national unity (aka impunity) - is interested only in its own survival and has no solution (or even perhaps desire for one) to the problems facing ordinary Zimbabweans. Sam Kebele looks at where there might be focal points for resistance to this multiple crisis.
Canada in Africa: The mining superpower
Denis Tougas (2008-11-20)
On the strength of sustained financial and diplomatic support from their government, Canada’s mining interests now lead the way in natural resource exploitation on the African continent. In an article revealing the extent of the sector’s grip on natural resources and the African countries in which they operate, Denis Tougas presents a comprehensive overview of the murky world of Canadian mining companies’ operations. With the country progressively resembling a veritable superpower driven by powerful industry associations, the author argues that Canada’s erstwhile image as an innocuous partner in African development need be greatly re-considered.
Comment & analysis
Confronting three pandemics
Bafana Khumalo (2008-12-02)
Bafana Khumalo spoke at the recently concluded World Aids Conference held in Mexico, outlining the work that Sonke Gender Justice Network has been doing to educate men on issues of gender awareness and sexual health. The organization takes cognizance of the pivotal role played by men in protecting the rights of women. This article reveals the challenges faced by women in South Africa, where the legacy of Apartheid, and negative cultural attitudes all have an impact on the incidence of gender-based violence. The One Man Can campaign seeks to address the problem of gender-based violence by educating and sensitizing men to the rights of women.
The "One Man Can Campaign"
Dean Peacock (2008-12-02)
In South Africa, as throughout the world, gender inequality continues to undermine democracy, impede development and compromise people's lives in dramatic ways. Just twelve years into its hard won democracy South Africa is faced with twin epidemics o...
Who's normal? Disability, discrimination, and HIV/AIDS
Winstone Zulu (2008-12-02)
Through vivid examples of refused school enrolment, visa denials, and countless negative assumptions in his interactions with other people, Winstone Zulu shares his reflections and experiences of physical disability, discrimination, and the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. Though disability rights may have to compete with a wide range of other issues for adequate recognition, the authors speaks of his optimism around the prospects for genuine equality for people with disabilities.
Equalise it: The visually impaired and HIV/AIDS programmes
Elly Macha (2008-12-02)
Reviewing the experiences of blind people living with HIV/AIDS, Elly Macha discusses the development of the African Union of the Blind (AFUB), an umbrella organisation operating in some 50 African countries that addresses issues facing blind and partially sighted persons in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Aiming to tackle the range of problematic experiences faced by blind individuals, AFUB has undertaken peer education training workshops in ten countries with the aim of empowering visually impaired participants and exploring ways in which HIV programmes and services can be made more accessible for those with impaired vision.
Treatment Action Campaign and the South African state's response to HIV/AIDS
Rebecca Hodes (2008-12-02)
In the last decade, barrels of ink have been spilled on the failure of the South African state to address the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic among its people, writes Rebecca Hodes. In recent months, South Africa has undergone a number of seismic political changes. The controversial, populist Jacob Zuma, was elected the head of the ruling African National Congress to the dismay of many following his acquittal for a rape charge. In September 2008, President Mbeki was deposed by the ANC’s Zuma-dominated leadership, and the subsequent reshuffle saw the appointment of Barbara Hogan. The implications of these changes on health policy, as well as those associated with the potential outcome of next year's elections, are explored.
Dual epidemics in a young Democracy
Rebecca Hodes and Lesley Odendal (2008-12-02)
In this paper, Rebecca Hodes and Lesley Odendal address the double scourge HIV/Aids and tuberculosis facing South Africa’s young democracy. They point to a number of factors that have led to the current situation in the country. A combination of political, economic and social factors has led to a rapid spread of HIV, coupled with a growing prevalence of TB. The Treatment Action Campaign has engaged in a battle to tackle the problem by providing health services as well as advocating for policy changes to enable greater access to treatment, thus providing a model for civil society involvement in fighting the health crisis.
HIV/AIDS and Africa’s military: Are we winning this war?
Azad Essa (2008-12-02)
In this paper, Azad Essa explores the extent to which Africa’s military has been affected by HIV/AIDS. He outlines the varied responses from Africa’s armed forces, with a specific focus on recruitment, care and precarious human rights issues pertaining to HIV-positive personnel. While the scarcity of statistical data forces analysts to continue speculating the challenges, effects and extent of the crisis, it is crucial that African militaries finally assume more responsibility in addressing the pandemic, if not for their own self preservation, then at the very least, towards eliminating the spread of the disease in communities itself.