ACCESS TO INFORMATION - "Mail & Guardian" on July 14 reported that the Law Society of the Transvaal is divided over an unprecedented plan to ask the Minister of Justice for exemptions to key legislation on access to information and fair administrative procedure, to help it carry out a disciplinary action. The Society considered the option after being challenged in court by Johannesburg lawyer and businessperson Tiego Moseneke, whom it is seeking to strike off the roll of attorneys, and has briefed its own lawyers on the matter. Moseneke is challenging the fairness of the way the case against him has been executed and the fact that the society went public about its intention to strike him from the roll before giving him details of the charges. According to the "Mail & Guardian" the charges relate mainly to allegedly sloppy handling of clients' affairs, rather than intentional misappropriation of funds. The exemptions from the legislation were first raised at the society's council meeting in June, during a discussion of the Moseneke matter at which old and new guard members clashed over the merits of the case. Members of the society suggested that it had unfairly denied Moseneke information about the case against him and flouted basic rules of fair administrative procedure. It was then that the council member Danie Oliver argued that the society should seek exemption from provisions of the Administrative Justice and Access to Information Acts. The Acts respectively deal with the basic rules governing fair administrative procedures in disciplinary actions, as well as citizens' basic right to information held by any organ of state or statutory body. The Acts are aimed at transparent governance and making information available to citizens as outlined in the Constitution.

BROADCASTING - The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA said that a sanction imposed on the SA Broadcasting Corporation in January for failing to grant its former head of television news Allister Sparks a chance to respond on the air to racism allegations, came into effect on July 11. According to "Sowetan", this follows a decision by the SABC to withdraw an application to the Independent Broadcasting Authority to review the BCCSA's judgement. The penalty, which had been suspended pending the outcome of the IBA process, involved the SABC in broadcasting the BCCSA's ruling on all its evening news bulletins on July 11, as well as 11am news on its SAfm radio programme on July 12. In its January judgement, the commission reprimanded the national broadcaster for not giving Sparks an opportunity to defend himself against racism allegations levelled at him by Enoch Sithole, the SABC's chief news executive at the time. Sparks laid a complaint with the BCCSA after Sithole suggested in a television interview in November last year that Sparks was reluctant to appoint black people to senior positions. Sithole was responding to comments made by Sparks while being interviewed by the parliamentary portfolio committee for the SABC board. Sparks told the committee that the resignation of board members with knowledge and experience of the media industry had led to bad staff appointments. The BCCSA found that Sithole's comments on Sparks had gone much further than Sparks criticism of the SABC.

CORRUPTION - "The Sunday Independent" on July 9 reported that the Norwegian Agency for Development has lodged an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court for the liquidation of the CF Beyers Naude Development Foundation, a non-governmental organisation based in Alexandra, Johannesburg. Norad claimed that BNDF, which was formed in 1992 in honour of anti-apartheid cleric Beyers Naude, has been unable to account for a grant of three million Norwegian kroner intended for bursaries for the tertiary education of Alexandra's children. Per Grimstad, Norway's ambassador to South Africa, said: "According to the agreement, the funds were to be invested in a bank account and the interest used for bursaries. A limited amount of the interest was allowed for the administration of the fund. BNDF however failed to carry out the project. It is on this basis that Norad is now demanding repayment of the funds". Grimstad said that Naude did not participate in the administration of funds and does not hold any legal responsibilities for the foundations activities. The foundation is run by its founding chairperson, Sam Buti who is an Alexandra community leader. Grimstad said that the Norwegian embassy would pursue the matter should any additional information emerge during the insolvency proceedings that warranted further legal action. "Norway takes a strong stand against mismanagement of funds and does not tolerate any misuse," Grimstad said. Norad claimed that the BNDF had been unable to present satisfactory audited financial statements for the financial year ended in February 1998. Buti said lawyers were analysing the latest developments and had advised him against speaking to the media. Nedbank, which holds the BNDF policy, had since obtained a default judgement against BNDF and had only halted their intention to apply for the NGO's insolvency after learning that Norad was doing the same. BNDF has been given until July 18 to say why Norad should not be granted final judgement.

DEFAMATION - "Mail & Guardian" on July 14 reported that the SA Human Rights Commission has given the Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe three weeks to explain his attack on the newspaper at the media and racism hearings. The SAHRC said that the Minister's accusations constituted a prima facie violation of the Bill of Rights. The Minister, on behalf of the ANC accused "M&G" editor Phillip van Niekerk of having written an article critical of the government in the name of one of the newspaper's black journalists, Lizeka Mda. Both Mda and Van Niekerk have denied the allegation and have submitted affidavits to the commission slamming Radebe's statement. They called the statements made by Radebe "false and defamatory".They have since instituted civil action against the ANC and Radebe, who also faces the possibility criminal charges. In terms of the SAHRC Act, giving false evidence is a criminal offence and carries a maximum penalty of six months. "M&G" said in a letter, the commission informed the minister of its intentions to report the matter to the director of public prosecutions, who will decide whether to pursue a criminal prosecution. The letter said: "On receipt of the complaint (by "M&G"), the legal department of the SAHRC is of the view that the statement made by yourself, if true, constitutes a prima facie violation to dignity provided for in the Bill of Rights". The newspaper said that Radebe and the ANC have refused to respond to its requests to retract and apologise, saying that the ruling party stood by its attack on the newspaper and its editor. The SAHRC has also ordered Radebe to respond to the newspaper's complaint byAugust 4.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS - South African Press Agency on July 12 reported that the Pretoria High Court will on July 14 hear legal argument in Nextcom's application for an interdict to delay the announcement of the successful bidder for South Africa's third cellular licence. Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri's office said that the parties concerned had agreed that the hearing be postponed to July 1. But Nextcom and its rival, Cell C, gave conflicting versions of what happened, Nextcom said that it was granted an interdict preventing the minister from announcing the winner, but Cell C denied that.

PROTESTS - "Sowetan" on July 10 reported that thousands of South African and international Aids activists united in a peaceful march through the streets of Durban on July 9 at the start of the International Aids Conference, to demand affordable treatment for people living with HIV/Aids. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang accepted a memorandum from the marchers. The memorandum contained specific requests to the South Africa, United States and European Union governments, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations and conference chairperson Jerry Coovadia. The organisers, the Treatment Action Campaign and the Health Global Access Project Coalition, particularly demanded the right to health care and life-sustaining medicines for all. The marchers, who represented all race and religious groups in South Africa and from 34 other countries, started from the Durban City Hall. Banners belonging to trade unions and NGOs were held aloft and hundreds of people wore T-shirts with the message "HIV positive". The marchers also demanded an immediate plan to reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission and an immediate price reduction for the drug Fluconazole, which is licenced by Pfizer. Tshabalala-Msimang praised the marchers for their commitment and activism. She said that it enhanced democracy and strengthened her hand in ongoing negotiations with Pfizer. Accepting the memorandum, executive director of Unaids Peter Piot said that facilitating access to care was a top priority for UN General Secretary Kofi Annan. Copies of the 34 million person manifesto were handed to Tshabalala-Msimang and Jerry Coodavia.

Meanwhile, Neville Hodgkinson, formerly medical and science correspondent of the "London Sunday Times" wrote in "The Sunday Independent" that observers who are critical of HIV theory have a right to be heard. "Some of the scientists contributing to President Thabo Mbeki's Aids Advisory Panel have been trying for more than a decade to demonstrate flaws in the HIV theory to the scientific community. No one would listen. None of the mainstream journals would publish their work," Hodgkinson said. The flaws, according to Hodgkinson, go deeper than questions over the extent to which HIV causes Aids, or the toxity or effectiveness of drugs directed against the virus. He added that there had been an information blackout by scientific journals such as Nature, which helped organise a pro HIV Durban Declaration, signed by doctors and scientists.