State still arguing against nevirapine SUE BLAINE, Johannesburg | Thursday SEVENTY-percent of babies born in the State sector to HIV-positive mothers did not need the antiretroviral nevirapine, the Constitutional Court heard on Thursday. This was because only 30% of these babies were born HIV-positive or became HIV-positive. "You are giving a drug to 70% who do not need it. And you are introducing a drug of which you do not know the long term effects" said Marumo Moerane, SC for the State. Moerane was arguing the government's appeal against a Pretoria High Court judgement ordering the national Health Department to make the drug available to all HIV-positive pregnant women at state hospitals, where medically indicated and where the women have been tested and counselled. He said pilot sites were initially necessary because the long term effects of nevirapine were not known. He agreed that the government's decision not to give it out flew in the face of a World Health Organisation study which concluded that the positive benefits of a range of antiretrovirals, including nevirapine, "greatly outweighed" any possible adverse effects. The study also concluded there was no need to restrict the use of the drug to pilot sites. Moerane said this was because the long term effects of the drug had not been considered by the study. Justice Richard Goldstone replied that one dose was needed for a mother and one for a child, and asked: "What is the relevance of long term toxicity?" There was no answer. Justice Kate O'Regan pointed out that the study did, in fact, refer to one study on the long term effects of nevirapine. Moerane is to argue after lunch on whether the original Pretoria High Court order infringed the principle of separation of power between the government and the judiciary. He said the Treatment Action Campaign's initial application last year had come too soon, while the government was still involved in trying the drug out via test sites. The pilot studies would have shown the potential costs of a full nevirapine program and its potential impact on the other services provided by the national health department. "It is the nature of a pilot programme to exclude those not within (it) and it is acceptable to introduce a new intervention via a pilot program," he said. Moerane also argued earlier in the day that no nevirapine should be provided without a full service to the patient, including testing, monitoring, the provision of milk formula and other services. In December Judge Chris Botha granted an application in this regard by the TAC, the Children's Rights Centre and paediatrician Dr Haroon Saloojee of the Save Our Babies campaign. The judge ordered the government to extend its existing nevirapine programme of two pilot sites per province. He also instructed government to draw up a comprehensive national programme to prevent or reduce MTCT of HIV, including the provision of voluntary counselling and testing, and where appropriate, nevirapine or other medicine, and formula milk for feeding. The government had to report back on its progress with the plan by March 31 this year. After the judgement was delivered, government applied for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court. Botha granted the leave. At the same time he granted an application by the TAC and the two other applicants for an execution order. That meant that pending the Constitutional Court appeal the government had to provide nevirapine for HIV-positive women in state hospitals where it was medically indicated and where testing and counselling could be done. The government also asked the Constitutional Court to overturn the execution order, but was refused. The court said it would give reasons for its ruling after this week's hearing, where the appeal against the original order is to be heard. The government contends that the original order infringes the principle of the separation of powers. It also maintains that its MTCT programme is consistent with its constitutional obligations. The pilot projects are intended to help understand the operational demands of running a successful programme and to research the safety and efficacy of the drug and whether it promotes the development of drug-resistant strains of HIV. As its knowledge expands and resources allow, government will extend the programme to other public hospitals. The TAC opposes the appeal, saying that even without feeding supplements or other interventions, nevirapine reduces the risk of MTCT of HIV. The issues the Constitutional Court will have to decide on, include: whether the original Pretoria High Court orders constitute making policy on behalf of government and if so, whether that violates the separation of powers; whether the government's programme comply with its constitutional obligation to take reasonable measures, within available resources, to progressively realise the right to health care, including reproductive health care; whether the existing programme discriminates against those pregnant women and their babies who are dependent on public health care and are unable to go to an existing access point for treatment as opposed to those who are able to do so; whether it results in discrimination against the poor, and indirectly against black women, given that private doctors may generally prescribe nevirapine where medically appropriate, but doctors at state hospitals outside the pilot sites may not do so; whether it is a breach of the constitutional rights of the child, including the child's right to life and basic health care; and whether the programme violates certain other constitutional rights, such as the rights to life and dignity and the right to make decisions concerning reproduction. - Sapa Court sentences rugby players to 18 years Pretoria | Thursday TWO Pietersburg rugby players convicted of murdering Northern Province teenager Tshepo Matloha received 18-year jail sentences in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday. Judge Bernard Ngoepe recommended that Riaan Botha and Ben Korff serve at least two-thirds of their sentences before being considered for parole. Botha, along with another rugby team mate Kobus Joubert, also received a four-year sentence for attempting to defeat the ends of justice by throwing Matloha's body into a dam. Botha's two sentences are to run concurrently. Joubert's sentence could be altered to correctional supervision after serving an unspecified minimum period in jail. Meanwhile, a group of youths demonstrated outside the court on Thursday in protest against the sentences. They protestors shouted that they wanted (Zimbabwean President Robert) Mugabe, and threatened to take over white-owned farms in the Dendron area in the Northern Province. Outside the court Matloha's father, Michael Kgokolo, said: "They should have got life sentences." Botha's mother Chummy maintained her son's innocence. "They have taken his life from him. I hope the guy outside there who did this will have a guilty conscience." There were 11 Noordelikes rugby club members on the farm on March 25 last year, the day of the murder. Two of them, Francois Velloen and Corne Kloppers, were acquitted of all charges during the trial. The State withdrew all charges against four more at the start of the trial. Another acted as State witness and the 11th man, who would have been State witness as well, was never used as such and testified in Velloen's defence instead. - Sapa Eleven-year-old is SA's latest crime fatality Johannesburg | Thursday AN 11-year-old boy was killed in a shootout between robbers and a resident on Wednesday morning in Hlongwane Section, Katlehong, on the East Rand, police said. Police representative Annaline Prinsloo said in a media statement on Wednesday that two armed men entered a house in the area, and held a man — identified only as "Thomas" — and his girlfriend at gunpoint. The robbers stole R100 from the house, money apparently owed to them. The robbers fled, and Thomas ran after them and opened fire. It was in the crossfire that Sifisiso Banda (11) was killed by a stray bullet which hit him in the chest. Banda and his 35-year-old cousin were walking in the street, selling household products door-to-door. Banda died on the scene. No one else was injured, and the robbers and the owner of the house all fled. A case of murder is being investigated. - Sapa Briton to try and smash land speed record in SA STUART GRAHAM, Johannesburg | Wednesday A BRITISH engineer is planning to ride a streamlined rocket powered motorcycle faster than 650km/h in the Northern Cape in June 2003 in an attempt to set a new World Land Speed Record for two-wheeled machines. Ray Wakefield, a Port Elizabeth engineer representing Team Maximum Impulse in South Africa, said if all went to plan, the eight-metre long streamliner, powered by three hybrid rocket motors, would carry its designer Richard Brown to a speed well in excess of the current record of 322,101 m.p.h. (515,7km/h). This was set on the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in 1990 by American Dave Campos. "Brown's machine weighs approximately the same as a grand prix car (570kg), but with all three rockets in operation it will produce seven to eight times the power," Wakefield said. Formal consent to stage the attempt has been obtained from the Northern Cape government, and the areas which are under consideration are to be assessed by the team in June to determine whether the machine's solid aluminium wheels will be able to run safely on the surface. Wakefield said the bike would need between eight and nine kilometres of flat level land to reach the necessary speed and brake again to a standstill. The Northern Cape with its many pans would be perfect for the attempt. British speed legend Sir Malcolm Campbell driving the Blue Bird attempted to break the record landspeed record at Verneuk Pan, south of Upington, in 1929. The speed he had to beat was 231,56mph, set by the fellow Britain, Henry Segrave. Campbell failed the attempt, but was successful at Daytona Beach in the US in February 1931 when he travelled at 246,08mph. Brown has already exceeded the current two wheel record speed twice at Bonneville in the United States, but because this was not done successively in opposite directions, the record accolade could not be awarded by motorcycling's international body, the FIM (Fédération Internationale Motocycliste). Wakefield said that the salt flats at Bonneville were not 100% safe for the bike, and that the team could not exploit the full potential of the machine there. "The team were broke when they went back to the United Kingdom after the record attempt," he said. "But their hopes of breaking the record were aroused again when they heard that suitable land might be available in South Africa." The machine Brown used in his attempt is currently on exhibition at the National Motorcycle Museum near Coventry in the United Kingdom. The first stage of the project, which Wakefield is currently involved in at a workshop near Port Elizabeth, is to produce a test machine that is a replica of the actual record contender. This will be powered by a conventional motorcycle engine and will be used to assess whether the surfaces of the Northern Cape pans are compatible with the bike's wheels. Wakefield said he and his partner were currently having to pay for the construction of the test vehicle out of their own pockets. "The team are devoid of cash and we need to attract sponsorship of about R25000 to get through this first phase." He said if all went according to plan, the team would attempt the record in June 2003, as weather wise, this would be the best time to attempt the record. - Sapa Hout Bay fishing firm fined R40-million Cape Town | Tuesday THE Hout Bay Fishing Company - under investigation by the Scorpions, the SA Revenue Services and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, among others, has been hit with a massive fine after it admitted to contravening the Marine Living Resources Act. The company, represented by chairman Arnold Maurice Bengis, pleaded guilty in the Wynberg Regional Court on Tuesday to 28 charges of contravening the Act. Bengis admitted that between 1999 and 2001 the company knowingly and intentionally participated in the over-fishing of south coast rock lobster, west coast rock lobster and hake. A director of the company, Colin van Schalkwyk, pleaded guilty to 301 charges of corruption relating to the bribing of fishery inspectors. In terms of a plea bargain, Hout Bay Fishing Industries will forfeit the fishing vessel, Sandalene — estimated to be worth R3-million — to the department. The contents of a refrigerated container, worth an estimated R8-million, will also be forfeited to the department. The discovery of the container in Cape Town harbour by officials from the department in June last year, led to the intensification of investigations into the company's activities. The container, which was to be shipped to the United States by the company, was found to contain 1 661kg of west coast rock lobster tails, 16 189kg of south coast rock lobster tails and 2 844kg of Patagonian toothfish. As a further compensation, R750 000 is to be paid by Hout Bay Fishing Industries to the department for the legal costs it incurred in various high court matters relating to the case. The total penalty imposed on the company, in terms of the plea bargain, amounts to R40-million. Van Schalkwyk received a sentence of R1-million or five years imprisonment, and a five-year-suspended sentence. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa praised the efforts of the Scorpions unit which led to the successful prosecution of the company. The investigation into the activities of Hout Bat Fishing Industries lasted 10 months. Moosa said the successful prosecution of the company represented "a breakthrough" in the department's efforts to clamp down on illegal fishing. "It is the first time that the extensive powers contained in the Marine Living Resources Act have been invoked to full effect," Moosa said. "The Scorpion's success sends out a clear message to everyone in the fishing industry that the department will not tolerate individuals and companies that plunder our country's national resources for the purpose of self enrichment." He said the probe into the company had been conducted by officials from the Scorpions, his department, the SA Revenue Services and the Asset Forfeiture Unit. - Sapa Work on cross-border park lumbers forward Johannesburg | Tuesday WORK to get South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe's Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park ready for animals and tourists is moving ahead steadily, Environmental Affairs said on Tuesday. In a statement on Tuesday, Environmental Affairs Minister Valli Moosa's office said: "The Minister would like to assure everyone concerned that the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park project is moving ahead steadily. "He is in constant consultation with his counterparts in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. In the nature of a project of this magnitude, it is to be expected that concerns will be raised by stakeholders and the general public. The minister will not take these lightly." The statement follows a call on by the Democratic Alliance on Monday for Moosa to establish a commission of inquiry to probe reports that the future of the park was under threat. A report in the Mail&Guardian; newspaper last week stated that "political grandstanding and greed" were threatening the park, which straddles the borders of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. According to the report, "political pressure by Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Valli Moosa, coupled with apparent corruption by consultants and a failure to consult communities, may derail the dream". The 35 000 square kilometre park is a cross-border game reserve between South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. It will include land adjacent to South Africa's Kruger National Park, other national parks, private game reserves, hunting concession areas and community managed natural resource areas. DA environmental affairs representative Errol Moorcroft on Monday said Moosa should urgently appoint a commission of inquiry "to ascertain whether there are valid grounds for the reports". He said the DA fully supported the concept of the park. "This park, which is scheduled to become the largest conservation area in the world, promises immense benefits for the three participating countries," he said. The DA was even more alarmed at the prospect of hasty or ill-advised actions by Moosa's ministry harming the Kruger National Park, "the flagship-park of our entire eco-tourist industry". Moosa said there was no need to take hasty or precipitative action at this stage. "One of the guiding principles in anything that has been done up to now has been to ensure that the environmental integrity of the Kruger National Park, which is the pride of the South African people, and indeed the people of the world, is maintained," Moosa said. - Sapa Tshwete to be buried on Saturday Johannesburg | Monday DECEASED Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete will be buried at his hometown Peelton in the Eastern Cape on Saturday, the African National Congress said on Sunday. He would be laid to rest next to the graves of his parents, ANC Secretary General Kgalema Motlanthe told reporters in Pretoria. Tshwete would be accorded an official funeral. He died at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Friday where he was being treated for a back ache since April 9. Motlanthe said Tshwete's burial would be preceded by a funeral service at Bisho Stadium near King Williams Town. President Thabo Mbeki would be the main speaker at this event. A send-off service would be held at Tshwete's ministerial residence in Pretoria on Monday from 9.30am to 10am. His family would leave for King Williams Town in the afternoon. On Thursday, Tshwete's body would be flown from 1 Military Hospital to King Williams Town. On the same day, memorial services would be held at noon in Pretoria, Cape Town and King Williams Town. "In all others provinces, structures of the ANC have been directed to hold memorial services," Motlanthe said. On Saturday morning, a small family service would be held at the Tshwete's family home in King Williams Town. The family would by 9am move to Bisho Stadium where the main funeral service would take place. Tshwete's body would then be taken to Peelton cemetery about a kilometre from the stadium to be laid to rest. Members of the public could sign condolence books through the week at the Union Buildings and police headquarters in Pretoria. ANC offices would make similar books available. In terms of a Cabinet decision, Motlanthe said, state funerals were reserved for the president and his deputy. Ministers were accorded an official funeral. State funerals included a 21-gun salute carried out by the SA National Defence Force, explained National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi. "Essentially they are the same, but in an official funeral you won't have a 21-gun salute." The state carried the funeral expenses in both categories and ensured that the ceremony took place in terms of set protocols, selebi said. - Sapa ZA*NOW: SA police 'lose' 1 448 case dockets April 2, 2002 Selebi holds fire on police gun law March 15, 2002 Orderly arrests law to be implemented February 12, 2002 Ciskei brass 'didn't give orders to open fire' January 31, 2002 Don't worry, crime is under 'control' says Tshwete December 16, 2001 Tshwete apology: No police probe into plot claims December 7, 2001 Security minister sneaks out of sentence August 16, 2001 Dodgy crime stats released to SA June 1, 2001 Inside the ANC’s spy unit May 4, 2001 Sexwale rubbishes Mbeki plot claim April 25, 2001 Crime rings wrap tentacles around SA February 13, 2001 You’ll never buy a loaf of bread again February 12, 2001 Features: Tshwete's plan to boost force 'wouldn't impact on violence' February 21, 2002 Law will change this year November 14, 2001 Police must reveal their financial interests in future September 19, 2001 Farm workers ‘snubbed’ September 7, 2001 State fails farm workers August 30, 2001 Nkambule quits the ANC August 22, 2001 'Save us from hell on earth' July 13, 2001 Govt to spend R35m on improving justice system June 13, 2001 Tshwete was 'wrong' to name plotters, says Mbeki June 1, 2001 Tshwete needs a stopper May 9, 2001 Evidence against Tokyo and Cyril is 'hearsay' May 4, 2001 The man behind the Mbeki plot allegations April 26, 2001 Moratorium impedes women's research April 26, 2001

NEWS, IN BRIEF Thursday May 2, 2002 CAPE LAND CLAIMANTS RECEIVE COMPENSATION THE Commission of Restitution of Land Rights is to hand over R805 000 on Sunday to 46 former tenants who were removed from Bishops Court Estate after the area was proclaimed "white" in terms of a proclamation in 1957. The tenants, who accepted the Standard Settlement Offer of R17 500 each for tenancy rights lost at the time of dispossession, were living in Stegman Cottages in an area called Protea Village. Many of the tenants of the cottages tried to spare themselves the trauma of a sudden forced removal under apartheid laws and moved to Lansdowne, Steenberg or Retreat between 1960 and 1964. - Sapa Wednesday May 1, 2002 MEN ON THE SIDE OF ROAD HIGHLIGHT ABUSE MORE than 100 job seekers from an organisation known as Men on the Side of the Road marched to Parliament on Tuesday to highlight the abuse and harassment they experience from the police and people employing them for casual work. The protesters handed over a memorandum to an official from the Department of Labour, which demanded an end to police harassment and for job seekers from the organisation to be included the department's Job Creation Skills Training projects. The group consisted mainly of unemployed men from areas, such as Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Philippi and Milnerton who sought work by standing alongside main roads in Bellville, Epping, Mitchells Plain, Bellville and Table View. They claim they are discriminated against when applying for jobs at city companies, arguing that Cape Town companies mostly employed coloureds. When they were employed they were often not paid, or were chased away after work. - Sapa SEARCH FOR FISHERMAN ENTERS 3RD DAY RESCUE workers resumed their search on Wednesday for the six fishermen who went missing off the coast near Cape Town, but said this third day of search efforts would be their last. The six men, all employed by a crayfish factory near Kommetjie, were sailing in a fishing trawler that was due to return to Hout Bay on Monday afternoon. When the Millie, their 9-metre trawler failed to dock on Monday, a large-scale air and sea search was launched involving the SA National Defence Force and the NSRI. Last week 10 fishermen drowned when their fishing boats capsized in two incidents off Stilbaai and Hangklip near Kleinmond. - Sapa HOME AFFAIRS EXPLAINS COSTS OF ALIENS THE Democratic Alliance (DA) should know better than to criticise Home Affairs about the costs of repatriating illegal immigrants, the department said on Tuesday. Representative Leslie Mashokwe was reacting to a DA statement over the weekend that taxpayers had spent more than R16-million the past two years to send aliens back to their home countries. The most common destinations were Malawi followed by Tanzania. Of the 142 flights chartered, 102 went to Malawi and 28 to Tanzania. Mashokwe said the DA should try to understand the department's position. "We are not allowed to put more than two illegal immigrants on a flight — the airlines do not want more because these people are associated with crime and are not welcome on board. He said the department had to send escorts with the illegal immigrants to make sure that they arrived in their country and that also increased costs. "The question is, how much is it going to cost the taxpayer to keep these people in the country? The DA has been fully briefed and should have an understanding for our situation," Mashokwe said. - Sapa Tuesday April 30, 2002 POLICEMEN KILLED IN HILLBROW A 33-YEAR-old off-duty policeman was shot dead and robbed of his service pistol by four men in the early hours of Monday morning in Hillbrow, Johannesburg police said. Sergeant Amanda Roestoff said Detective Sergeant Kgaapu Calvin Mphahlele was walking in Claim Street, Hillbrow when he was shot. The four assailants fled in an easterly direction down Pretoria Street. They are still at large. - Sapa SIX FISHERMEN MISSING OFF CAPE COAST A SEARCH for six missing fishermen was underway off the coast near Cape Town on Monday night, the SA National Defence Force said. SANDF representative Colonel Piet Paxton said the search — under the auspices of the National Sea Rescue Institute was looking for the crew of the Millie, a 9-metre fishing trawler. The Millie was supposed to dock in Hout Bay at 1pm on Monday, but failed to arrive. The skipper's wife informed coastal authorities of the missing boat shortly before 5pm. Paxton said a large-scale search involving helicopters would be launched at first light. Two NSRI boats were meanwhile patrolling the coast between Robben Island and Cape Point in the hope of spotting the missing vessel. "Conditions are difficult... the NSRI boats are searching in swells of up to four metres, but the moment the sun comes up this operation will commence in full force." - Sapa MAGALIESBURG FARMER FOUND DEAD A 78-year-old woman was found dead by her gardener at her farmhouse in Magaliesburg near Krugersdorp on Monday, West Rand police said. Superintendent Milica Bezuidenhout said Andrietta Sawyer was murdered around 1pm on Monday at her home on the farm. The gardener found her lying in a pool of blood about a metre away from the house's back door. Bezuidenhout said it seemed the woman's attackers approached her, and asked for some bread. She was then overpowered and stabbed to death, and the bread was found next to her body. The motive for the attack was not yet known, said Bezuidenhout, adding that nothing was taken from the house. - Sapa FATHER ARRESTED ON RAPE CHARGES A 51-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping and assaulting his two stepdaughters at Lephepane near Tzaneen on Monday, Northern Province police said. Captain Moatshe Ngoepe said the 51-year-old man was arrested at his house for allegedly abusing the two girls, aged nine and five, over a period of at least two months. He said marks on the girls' bodies indicated that they had been severely beaten with a hard object. The nine-year-old girl had been crippled as a result of the abuse and was confined to a wheelchair. The police found pornographic pictures on the walls of the bedroom where the two sisters were allegedly raped. The man is expected to appear in the Ritavi Magistrate's Court on Thursday. - Sapa TWO CHINESE MEN ARRESTED FOR ABALONE TWO Chinese nationals were arrested and 1,75 tons of dry and wet abalone worth about R1.5-million seized after a gas explosion in a house at a smallholding near De Deur on Monday, Vereeniging police said. Police representative Melanie Britz said the discovery of the abalone was made shortly after an explosion at a house at which abalone was being processed. "According to a preliminary investigation, the explosion was caused by a leak in a gas cylinder kept in the house, while three people were busy drying out abalone." Britz said one unknown man was injured in the blast and apparently taken to hospital before the other two suspects were arrested. "About R89 000 was also seized. The money was offered to a police officer investigating the explosion, to allow the suspects to clear out the abalone before police investigated the blast," Britz said. - Sapa 66 IN THOHOYANDOU COURT FOR KILLING UP to 66 people are expected to appear in the Thohoyandou Regional Court on Thursday in connection with the killing of a youth leader on April 18, a Northern Province (Limpopo) government official said. Emmanuel Matidze, representative for provincial safety and security MEC Bikeledi Magadzi, said the group was arrested in the aftermath of a series of running battles between residents of Ha-Tshivashe village near the former Venda capital. Violence broke out on April 18 after youth leader Tendani Lukhwareni was shot while walking home. Two men, aged 19 and 60, were shot dead the following weekend in apparent revenge attacks. Villagers also went on the rampage, burning and destroying property and blocking people from attending work and school. Lukhwareni was regarded as a youth leader in the area after he led a march demanding the arrests of those responsible for the beheading of a woman in the village in September last year. Matidze said some among the crowd faced a charge of murder, while others faced charges ranging from arson and public violence to malicious damage to property. - Sapa MAN ARRESTED FOR CHILD RAPE A 20-year-old man was arrested on Sunday in connection with the rape of an eight-year-old girl at an informal settlement in Smasherbloch, Northern Province police said on Monday. Captain Malesela Ledwaba said the suspect will appear in the Northam Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment. - Sapa THEY SAID IT, from Sapa "Cabinet noted that (antiretroviral drugs) could help improve the conditions of people living with Aids if administered at certain stages in the progression of the condition." - Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, announcing Cabinet's about-turn in its Aids policy which will include providing antiretrovirals to rape victims if they want them. "It is clear that some reason is beginning to prevail... This is a victory for civil society and the Department of Health, and it creates an area of consensus for us to move forward." - Treatment Action Campaign Zackie Achmat about the Cabinet decision. "I cannot help but being a bit sceptical about the announcement... I don't want to praise them now and then it turns out differently later." - Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille on the Aids policy announcement. "It is a shame that Cabinet had to be forced to implement issues affecting the lives of innocent people." - United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa. "One of his (President Thabo Mbeki's) excuses, which makes me really furious, is that condoms are a Western plot to make Africa's population extinct." - Former American president Jimmy Carter, blaming Mbeki for rejecting standard treatment in favour of the search for an African solution, according to The Washington Post. Mbeki's office has denied that he ever said something like that. "More than a decade after the official end of apartheid, we wonder how some of our colleagues became involved in atrocities. Was it cowardice or complicity? Over and over we say 'never again'." - A group of doctors who described the refusal of some of their colleagues to administer antiretroviral drugs as "atrocities". "I am not sure what the population needs more — medication or some kind of retribution." - Apartheid era chemical and biological warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson, stating it would be a waste of money for the State to appeal against his acquittal on 46 criminal charges including murder, fraud and drug possession. "I feel like a 16-year-old with a new car. But I don't have a driver's licence yet. I know something good is going to happen." - Basson about his future. "Blacks and Indians will be told to leave the country. As long as they are en route to black states north of South Africa or to Natal, they will be left alone." - A document outlining how a group of rightwingers allegedly wanted to overthrow the government. It was handed to the Pretoria Regional Court in the bail application of three men charged with treason and under the Internal Security Act. "One of the artists may have been looking for a picture of a happy mayor meeting people." - Cape Town unicity representative Peter Sorrell about the picture of mayor Gerald Morkel with German fugitive millionaire Jurgen Harksen that was used on a programme for the start of the mayoral "meet the people" tour. This came in the wake of allegations that Morkel and his party, the Democratic Alliance, received donations from Harksen, who is to be extradited to Germany on fraud and tax evasion charges. "At the end of the day Parliament and the media need one other." - Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference with the theme "Parliament and the Media -- building an ethical relationship". The South African parliamentary press gallery was not invited to the conference. "I visit a teachers' college immediately after lunch every day. I pretend I am collecting leftover food for my dogs. I choose for my children pieces of meat and mealie rice that look fresh so that they can have something in the evening. I used to lie to them because I was afraid they would be angry that I was giving them leftovers. But one day I plucked up my courage and told them -- and they appreciated the effort I was making to give them something to eat." - Tencwela Simelane, one of more than 150 000 Swazi people facing starvation. "This job is better than selling tomatoes. This business is very good. People are dying every day because of the many diseases that are developing in our country." - Anna Svovera, a hawker who sells funeral flowers in Zimbabwe. "An inexplicable cacophony in the hierarchy of tasks." - What the South African peace plan for the Democratic Republic of Congo was, according to DRC government negotiators' representative Vital Kamerke. "And Robert Mugabe. There you go, put him down." - Singer Elton John, asked who his likely victims were when he played a fantasy game, called Culling, in which people are "shot dead". He also named a few tabloid journalists, whom he said did not deserve to live. "Unlike you young people, we take instructions." - Free State Premier Winkie Direko on why she accepted her appointment despite her initial reluctance to do so and her age. "Barbie is an aspiration to external perfection in a feminine, sexy and sensual way." - Lawyer Cezanne Prinsloo, who had her breasts enlarged from a size 34B to DD, who refers to herself as "Advocate Barbie". "(I'm) Going to the mountains." - A man who ran naked through Schoeman Street in Pretoria, to onlookers. "C'mon boys. We must keep our heads up. The Super 12 is not over yet." - Cats stand-in captain Jannes Labuschagne after their 12-24 defeat by the Blues — their sixth out of seven games in the series. "The UCBSA must say once and for all what its business is: cricket or transformation." - Batsman Darryll Cullinan, who recently cut his ties with the United Cricket Board of SA. TALK BACK: What kind of threat do you think the right-wing pose to South Africa?