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To: sea_urchin who wrote (36002)	6/28/1999 6:21:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116836

South Africa's rape shock Johannesburg: Gaining a reputation as the world's "rape capital" A new survey carried out in the South African city of Johannesburg has uncovered an alarming picture of sexual violence. One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by CIET Africa, non-governmental organisation, said they had been raped in the past year. CIET researchers trying to find ways of arresting the alarming growth in sexual violence in South Africa said they were shocked by the finding. Gang rape 'fun' In a related survey conducted among 1,500 schoolchildren in the Soweto township, a quarter of all the boys interviewed said that 'jackrolling' - a South African term for recreational gang rape - was fun. More than half the interviewees insisted that when a girl says no to sex she really means yes. Many of those interviewed also expressed little knowledge about the need to use condoms and to practise safe sex. 'Intolerable' The boys' opinions differed markedly from those expressed by schoolgirls, many of whom suggested that they were living in an intolerable sexual environment. Levels of sexual violence differ across the country. But BBC Correspondent Greg Barrow, in Johannesburg, says the city - South Africa's largest and its industrial hub - is rapidly emerging as the rape capital of the world. He says the CIET survey will only serve to reinforce that unwelcome title. CIET says it will be recommending a new approach to the problem in schools, and among the police and community leaders. It also hopes to focus on the majority of men who do not rape and establish ways of raising their profile as community role models. As recently as last week, South Africa's first black test cricketer, Makhaya Ntini, appeared in court on rape charges - to the dismay of those who saw him as a potential role model for young sportspeople. Car hijackings up The survey was released at the same time as the government's latest crime statistics, which reveal that the rates of murder and rape in South Africa had declined slightly during 1998. The murder rate nevertheless remains at 52 per 100,000 - eight times as high as in the United States. Car hijackings last year were up by nearly 9% on the previous year's figure, and the statistics also show an increase in the rate of burglary and mugging. news.bbc.co.uk

To: sea_urchin who wrote (36002)	6/29/1999 6:39:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116836

Aids virus hits South African mothers Despite education programmes, HIV infection is spreading fast More than one in five young South African mothers are infected with HIV - the virus that can lead to Aids - according to new figures compiled by the country's Medical Research Council. Infection rates among young mothers have jumped from less than 1% in 1990 to over 20% - with girls and women under 20 years of age most at risk. The research shows that some 3.5 million South Africans are now HIV-positive. The paper's author, Mrs Quarraisha Abdool Karim, says a number of factors contribute to the especially high infection rates among young women. Firstly, she says, older men are seeking out younger women for relationships, in the hope that these women will be free from infection. There is also evidence, she says, that many young women become infected with HIV as a result of rape. Another factor is the migration of workers from rural villages into towns and cities, where they might be based for weeks or even months. Being separated from home and family, Mrs Karim argues, leads both men and women to form short-term relationships near their place of work, increasing their risk of infection. Mrs Karim welcomes steps taken by the new government of President Thabo Mbeki to make Aids prevention and treatment programmes a national priority, and to fast-track Aids vaccine research. But she says the issue must be treated with even greater urgency if the epidemic is to be brought under control. news.bbc.co.uk

To: sea_urchin who wrote (36002)	7/1/1999 8:21:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116836

S.Africa gold talks unfold amid threat to jobs 12:17 p.m. Jul 01, 1999 Eastern By Darren Schuettler JOHANNESBURG, July 1 (Reuters) - South Africa's gold companies delivered a modestly improved wage offer to unionised workers on Thursday as the threat of further job losses hung over the embattled industry. Union leaders said their members would likely reject what the industry says is their best offer in a dismal gold market. ''This is our ultimate offer and we have indicated if the union is not able to accept these offers then we will be withdrawing them,'' Frans Barker, head of industrial relations for the Chamber of Mines, told Reuters. The Chamber represents most of the gold and coal companies involved in talks to replace the current two-year deal which expired on Thursday. About 200,000 unionised workers are represented by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and three other smaller unions. The Chamber is offering gold miners wage increases of between seven and nine percent per year in a two-year agreement. Coal miners would receive between 6.50 and 7.25 percent in the first year and an inflation-linked increase in the second year. Barker said both industries are suffering from poor commodity prices but the situation is more acute in coal where the industry is sitting on huge stockpiles. ''The position on coal is extremely difficult. On gold they are at least still selling their product, but on coal they are not even selling their product,'' Barker said. The Chamber had previously offered wage increases of between five and seven percent. The NUM opened the bargaining in May with demands for a 25 percent wage hike, but has since trimmed that to 18 percent. NUM spokesman George Molebatsi said the Chamber's offer was ''ridiculous,'' but union negotiators would consult their members before delivering a formal response. ''It's time to report back to our members, but you must remember we have come from 25 percent to 18 percent and they are talking eight percent. That is ridiculous,'' Molebatsi said. Since the labour talks began, bullion has lost about $30 an ounce on the back of bearish announcements from the UK central bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). London gold was trading around $263 per ounce on Thursday. The gold slump has fuelled fears of further mine retrenchments in South Africa, the world's biggest gold producer, where the gold workforce has dropped to around 300,000 from a peak of over 500,000 in the 1980s. South Africa's Gold Crisis Committee on Thursday confirmed that five gold mines had applied for permission to retrench about 8,000 mineworkers. ''The committee will sit and look at the procedures and alternative means of saving jobs,'' Thibedi Ramontja, a senior committee official, told Reuters. The committee was set up by gold companies, labour unions and government last year to review retrenchments and seek alternatives to job losses. The Chamber and NUM have warned that more than a quarter of the mining workforce could lose their jobs if gold held below $260. At those levels, about 40 percent of the country's gold output is unprofitable, threatening more than 80,000 jobs. The committee is also pondering the fate of East Rand Proprietary Mines (ERPM) which is struggling to survive in the current gold environment. ERPM, which warned last month that its future was in doubt, said on Thursday the situation had not improved and called for an urgent meeting of the committee. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited