A small group of activists picketed outside the Johannesburg offices of the Qatari news network, Al Jazeera, this week to demand the reinstatement of a South African journalist who was dismissed solely because of his HIV-positive status.
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While anti-tobacco legislation and campaigns have increased globally, there is still much that needs to be done to stop the six million people from dying due to smoking cigarettes or second-hand smoke every year.
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Work-place peer educators are a unique invaluable resource that the country has in its response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, but their role is not sufficiently exploited. This is according to a book, titled “Changing the course of AIDS”.
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Years of digging for gold at Anglo-American mines have left Zonesele Blom with an incurable lung disease, called silicosis. His health has deteriorated to such a degree that he is no longer fit to work.
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Twenty-four ex-miners are seeking compensation from Anglo-American after contracting silicosis, an incurable and fatal lung disease.
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Many women become sex workers because they are unable to find work and face a life of poverty. However, some of the women wish to leave the industry and a project in Johannesburg is helping the women to do exactly that.
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Infection control experts at Johns Hopkins and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that a contentious debate in the medical community over what type of protective masks health workers should wear to prevent the spread of H1N1 and other flu viruses is dangerously distracting the health care community from focusing on simple prevention measures that are clearly known to work.
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Panic over the outbreak of Swine flu in the country has seen levels of absenteeism rise in the workplace. This is according to Kaelo Consulting, a company specialising in wellness and occupational health.
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The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has heard that mental health is an overlooked priority. This was said at the Commission’s recent public hearings focusing on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the realisation of economic and social rights in South Africa.
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This week the South African National Defence Force’s labour policies on HIV/AIDS came under scrutiny in the Pretoria High Court. Three HIV-positive military members together with the security forces union, SASFU, have instituted a case to challenge their constitutionality, alleging that the policies are discriminatory.
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There are no services in Nqileni Village in the Eastern Cape and kids are dying from drinking contaminated water. But a conditional grant for the district was returned untouched to the Treasury
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Bulungula Lodge offers a sustainable way of life within a tight community.
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Four weeks ago, we reported that Defence union, SASFU is taking the South African National Defence Force to court over what it calls “discriminatory policies” on HIV/AIDS. This week, we hear how the union argues in court papers that the SANDF has made HIV a career-limiting factor for positive members and recruits alike.
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The South African Security Forces Union filed court papers against its employer, the South African National Defence Force, this week. The union seeks to challenge five SANDF policies which it says discriminate against HIV-positive soldiers.
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Four brief case studies illustrating the human rights principles underpinning HIV/AIDS issues in South African law.
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Migration is taking its toll on health services in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic powerhouse.
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A nurse should be a caring and loving person with good listening and communication skills say student nurses at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Gauteng. It also takes hard work and dedication. Thandeka Teyise joined the first year students on their rounds at Chris Hani Baragwanath and found out what motivated them in their chosen profession.
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South Africa has the highest rate of mesothelioma in the world, as we were one of a handful of countries that extensively mined the most dangerous "blue asbestos".
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A man who was exposed to asbestos fibres as a nine-year old is suing a leading asbestos manufacturer for R7-million for a rare form of cancer which he believes was caused by the exposure.
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Magalane Moela is 72-years old. She was born in the south-eastern region of the Northern Province and began working on an asbestos mine when she was in her early twenties, much older than many of the other widows in the area, some of whom started working for the mines from as young as six. She is one of many former asbestos mine employees trying to get compensation for the debilitating disease of asbestosis.
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The Cape plc court case has captured world headlines, but workers at other, now defunct, asbestos mines in the Northern Province are struggling to gain compensation for the work that has crushed their health.
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"There was no such thing as non-risk work on an asbestos mine". These are the words of Professor Tony Davies, former director of the National Centre for Occupational Health who is now retired but works with volunteer groups in the Northern Province to help former asbestos mine employees gain compensation for the various asbestos-related diseases that are ravaging their destitute communities.
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Don’t rely on the workers’ compensation system to provide for you if you get injured at work; the system may only add insult to injury. This is according to a submission to the Public Protector requesting a formal inquiry into the Office of the Compensation Commissioner.
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The Compensation Commissioner’s Office has been strongly criticised for the time it takes to settle workers’ occupational health claims. Some say this is the fault of companies that obstruct the commission’s work, but regardless of where the blame lies, it is workers like Derick Wolfaardt who suffer the consequences. Jo Stein reports.
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The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Pretoria has taken the workers' compensation commissioner to court twice in the last year - and won. The commissioner was found guilty of unreasonable delay and received a penalty in the form of interest payments. The LRC is now considering taking the commissioner to court again, this time concerning delays in the objection process whereby rejected claims can be disputed.
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