Today: Friday, March 12, 2010


South Africa

South Africa: Leadership & Development

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:56 | © Metro Éireann

Recession is a test for zuma

read more

Meet the leader: Jacob Zuma

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:53 | © Metro Éireann

On 9 May 2009, Jacob Zuma became South Africa’s President – only the fourth black leader in the country’s history – after his African National Congress won 66 per cent of the vote and 264 parliamentary seats in general elections.

read more

A world within one country

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:52 | By: Charlie Johnson

With three capitals, 11 official languages, and an innumerable number of different cultures, a visit to South Africa for the average traveller is more like a trip around the world.

read more

Aids: South Africa’s biggest challenge

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:50 | By: Katrin Schmidt

The spread of HIV/Aids is an enormous problem in Africa. According to the UN Aids Report 2008, there were approximately 5.7 million people living with HIV in South Africa in 2007, and almost 1,000 people died from HIV-related illnesses.

read more

Who are the Afrikaans people?

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:49 | By: Katrin Schmidt

The Afrikaans people are a significant white indigenous ethnic and cultural group in South Africa, the descendents of mostly Dutch settlers in the Cape of Good Hope from the 17th century. Throughout their 300-plus-year history, the Afrikaans people have been held together by a love for their language, their culture and their church.

read more

Getting a handle on crime

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:48 | By: Charlie Johnson

Taking a glance at the figures, and one might expect South Africa to be more like the Wild West than one of Africa’s most successful nations.

read more

The shadow of xenophobia

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:47 | By: Katrin Schmidt

Last year’s wave of xenophobic attacks against African immigrants in townships across South Africa marked a time when the dark days of discrimination seemed to have caught up with the present.

read more

The Dunnes Stores staff who stood up to apartheid

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:45 | By: Catherine Reilly

IMAGINE THE SCENE today: 11 young retail employees launch a strike in solidarity with oppressed people thousands of miles away, risking their livelihoods in the process.

read more

Going green

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:45 | By: Catherine Reilly

What motivates some migrants to ‘become’ Irish - and does it affect their standing back ‘home’? CATHERINE REILLY speaks to one half of a Dublin-based South African couple, whose citizenship applications are about to be posted

read more

Limpopo benefits from Irish support

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:44 | By: Catherine Reilly

HAPPY holiday snaps and the glittering spectacle of this summer’s Confederations Cup reveal one side of South Africa. But an equally true picture is reflected in inadequate HIV/Aids services and poor sanitation infrastructure in some parts of the country.

read more

The world is watching

Last update: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:44 | By: Charlie Johnson

The world’s biggest sporting event comes to South Africa in 2010. But is the country ready for the World Cup? Charlie Johnson investigates

read more