Within the SARO region, the top priority for this is to provide assistance to the South Africa HIV/AIDS Program Office, which is responsible for the countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.

A four-year project between the Finnish and South African governments aims to provide information and communication technologies to 20 pilot schools in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.

In a strikingly frank internal document, South Africa's health department has admitted that it has neglected large numbers of people infected with HIV because it lacks resources.

Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils - South Africa's former deputy defence minister - this week instituted defamation action against four newspapers for their coverage of the arms deal.

Official South African mortality figures for 1997 through 2000, which could lend support to a new report labeling Aids the nation's leading killer, will be released by the end of the year, according to Statistician-General Pali Lehohla, the country's Business Day reports.