Guarani Indian leader and film-star Ambrósio Vilhalva was murdered on Sunday night, after decades of campaigning for his tribe’s right to live on...

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Taking part in a three day stage trail run as part of a two member team might be considered a challenge in itself to most trail running enthusiasts, but imagine meeting your team mate for the first time the night before the start of Stage One.Â* Although this was the case for Al Leslie and [...]Friendships forged at Run is a post from: Trail Running South Africa


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Kampala – Ugandan health officials have announced two major developments that will dramatically turn around the HIV/Aids epidemic. According to...

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Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has urged all motorists, especially those in Gauteng, to use the remaining few hours to register for electronic tolling, which goes live tomorrow.

Minister Peters has commended those who have already registered and are in possession of their e-tags for doing the right thing.

More than 21 000 people have registered since the minister announced the commencement date of the e-tolling system a week ago.

Peters said in the midst of anti-tolling campaigns, motorists have still gone out in their numbers to prove that they are law abiding citizens.

The South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) indicates that in excess of 735 000 tags have been sold up to now.

“It’s in your best interests that you get tagged. This will enable you to gain access to discounts offered to tag holders by SANRAL.

“We are aware of campaigns discouraging people from registering and we wish to encourage motorists not to pay attention to such,” said Peters.

Motorists, who drive on the tolled road network without registering, would be expected to pay almost double of what registered users would pay.

A driver of a light-motor vehicle who’s not registered would be expected to pay 59 cents per kilometre as compared to 30 cents per kilometre paid by their registered peers.

While it’s not a legal requirement to register, the minister said it’s in the motorists’ best economic interests to register for e-tolling.

“The department is encouraged by reports of long queues at e-toll outlets and retail partner stores across Gauteng today (1 November 2013). We urge everyone to visit their nearest outlets and get registered.

“All you need is R49.95 to obtain your tag. This amount will be credited back to your e-toll account once you are registered,” she said.

Motorists can visit one of SANRAL’s e-toll outlets located in some shopping centres and off-ramps across Gauteng and get registered or simply buy a tag at Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Spar and CAN and call 0800 SANRAL (726 725) to get registered.

All the information is available on SANRAL’s website sanral.co.za - SAnews.gov.za

North West Premier Thandi Modise says knowing your HIV status is the key to conquering the virus in the province.

“Knowing your status is key to conquering HIV and Aids and achieving zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths,” said Modise on World Aids Day on Sunday.

The North West province provides Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to close to 190 000 HIV positive persons and was this week declared the best performing province in availability of ARV and Tuberculosis drugs by the Stop Stocks Out survey.

The Premier hosted a provincial World Aids Day commemoration in the Moshana village near Zeerust, under the theme: “Get Wise, Get Tested, Get Circumcised”.

World Aids Day is held each year as an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show their support for people living with HIV and to reflect back on the strides taken in the multi-sectoral HIV, Aids and TB response.

Currently, South Africa has one of the largest HIV and Aids treatment programmes with 2.4 million people on treatment. In the North West, 18.9% of the entire population is estimated to be HIV-infected while 30.2% of pregnant women live with the virus.

On Thursday, the province opened its third medical male circumcision clinic at the Bafokeng Community Health Centre in Phokeng near Rustenburg as part of a provincial campaign to reduce the risk of HIV infection amongst men.

The clinic will run in conjunction with the Centre for HIV and Aids Prevention Studies (CHAPS) and it will be able to perform over 200 circumcisions per week. – SAnews.gov.za

President Jacob Zuma has described struggle stalwart Reginald September, who died last weekend, as a formidable leader who left behind a legacy of continually striving for a united and non-racial society.

“In his memory, let us also continue to advance democracy and a better life for all especially the poor and the working class. These are the ideals that we fought for, for so many years … in his memory, let us continue to defend the rights of the poor and the vulnerable.”

Zuma was speaking in Johannesburg on Saturday at the special provincial official funeral of September. The 90-year-old died in Cape Town last weekend.

He said many of South Africa’s fallen heroes and heroines had sacrificed to achieve an inclusive society in which every man, woman and child, regardless of race, colour or creed, felt a sense of belonging to this beautiful country.

“We must build a society in which each one of us, is our neighbours' keeper, in the spirit of Ubuntu. We must build a caring society, and prevent ills such as violence against women and children, not only during the 16 Days of Activism against this scourge, but every other day,” he said.

The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children is an international campaign which takes place every year from 25 November to 10 December. During this time, communities are made aware of the negative impact of violence on women and children and to act against abuse.

Zuma said a society in which a six-week old baby was raped was not the type of society struggle stalwarts like September had died for.

The nation was outraged at reports of a newborn baby being raped in the Northern Cape earlier this week.

The President said work was needed to promote stronger family structures and stronger cohesive communities that can prevent such “abhorrent incidents”.

Using the National Development Plan as a guide, Zuma said, South Africa must build a society in which young people have more jobs and more economic generating opportunities. – SAnews.gov.za

Piet Rietief – Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe says government will over the next year strive to medically circumcise one million men through its Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) campaign.

Launching the campaign on World Aids Day in Piet Retief on Sunday, Motlanthe said medical male circumcision had proven to be an effective component of government’s HIV prevention package.

He said that once 80 percent of men had been medically circumcised, half a million new HIV infections would be prevented and 100 000 deaths over the course of the next decade.

“Our target is to circumcise one million men over the next 12 months and cumulatively four million men by 2016. The re-launch of the HCT [HIV, Counselling and Testing] and the launch of the MMC campaigns will enhance the medical interventions to strengthen our country’s massive prevention effort,” said Motlanthe.

He added, however, that bio-medical interventions were only one prong of the efforts to fight HIV and Aids.

“We also need to ramp up our efforts to address the social determinants that fuel the HIV and Aids epidemic. These include disempowered women and children, who are often the targets of violence, poverty, the migrant labour system, intergenerational sex, transactional sex and many other structural issues,” Motlanthe told a packed marquee.

World Aids Day was also used to relaunch the HIV, Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign which is a step further in ensuring that the country meets its National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2012-2016 for every South African to get tested at least once annually.

Motlanthe said the starting point for preventing HIV and Aids was to always know one’s status. “You may have tested in 2010 or 2011, test again this year, and every year,” he said.

The HCT campaign was first launched in 2010 by President Jacob Zuma, and since then, 20 million South Africans have tested for HIV and know their status and are thus empowered to take appropriate steps to maintain their health.

“In South Africa, the epidemic has matured and the acceleration of our response since 2009 has moved us beyond the ‘tipping point’, where the number of patients being enrolled onto treatment each year, now exceeds the number of those who are newly infected.

“However, the number of new infections still remains unacceptably high, hence the importance of maintaining our focus on prevention … our response will not succeed unless we turn off the tap of new infections,” Motlanthe highlighted.

He added that the MMC and HCT campaign and the effort to address the social determinants that fuel the dual epidemic, will only succeed with the all-round participation of all stakeholders.

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said the HCT campaign had helped upscale the country’s HIV and Aids treatment programme, which was now the biggest in the world.

“We want the campaign to restart so that we meet the NSP 2012-2016 target for every South African being tested at least once per annum,” he said.

The World Aids Day event was held in the Gert Sibande District, which has one of the highest HIV prevalence figures in the country.

Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza assured the Deputy President that the province had heard the message - as it was the second time the event was held in the province.

“In partnership with civic society, we now have the Mpumalanga Aids Council and all the municipalities have local Aids Councils. We’ve set up a programme to work on and we’ve made a difference. We are doing everything in our power to close the gap.”

He urged traditional leaders to work with the provincial Aids Council to encourage men in communities to get medically circumcised.

Earlier in the day, the Deputy President and a delegation visited the Uzwelo Child and Youth Care Centre. - SAnews.gov.za

With more people now receiving antiretroviral treatment, the North West Department of Health has trained more nurses to get HIV positive patients started on treatment.

About 1 500 nurses are attending the Nurse Initiation and Maintenance of Antiretroviral Therapy (NIMART) training, with a total of 100 so far having completed training.

During training, nurses are mentored by District Clinical Specialist Teams and District Family Physicians. Doctors now initiate high risk HIV positive people on antiretroviral therapy, while competent nurses are able to initiate low risk patients.

Initially, the process was doctor driven. However, following bold and life changing HIV and Aids policies by President Jacob Zuma in 2009, more nurses had to be trained as more people qualified to be put on treatment.

The new policy stipulates that people infected with TB and HIV and Aids receive ARV treatment when their CD4 count is at 350 or less. Prior to HIV policy change, treatment was only available when one's CD4 count was less than 200.

The Provincial Health Department said that eight months following the introduction of new Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) antiretroviral, the department is now ready to switch patients on old treatment to FDC.

“However, patients will only be switched to one ARV pill a day after they have been assessed by a clinician, as some of HIV persons may not be able to take the one ARV pill due to their medical condition,” the department noted.

The new pill is a combination of all three antiretroviral pills - emtricitabine, efavirenz and tenofovir. It is being administered to all newly diagnosed patients that are eligible to be put on ARV treatment, pregnant women and HIV positive breastfeeding mothers.

The pill is easy to take, highly effective with fewer or no side effects and it is in no way inferior to taking three individual drugs.

The North West province is currently providing antiretroviral treatment to close to 190 000 HIV positive persons. All health facilities in the North West provide antiretroviral treatment.

Health MEC Dr Magome Masike will today present competency certificates to 100 nurses who have completed NIMART training during a ceremony at Mmabatho Convention Centre. – SAnews.gov.za

Today the European Triathlon Union (ETU) and Challenge Family announced Challenge Almere-Amsterdam will host the 2014 ETU European Championship Long… Time-to-Run – TRI Pre-event Challenge Almere-Amsterdam to host 2014 ETU Long Distance is a post from: Time-to-TriChallenge Almere-Amsterdam to host 2014 ETU Long Distance is a post from: Time-to-Tri


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Athletics South Africa has taken note of the attempt by Boland Athletics to usurp the role of the national federation and call a general meeting of ASA. Their attempt is a blatant attempt to undermine the Constitution of ASA, especially since an official annual general meeting of ASA is due to be held the next [...]Suspension of 5 Boards of ASA is a post from: Time-to-Run South Africa


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