Merry X-mas and a happy new year!

Dear all,

Have a nice and pleasant Christmas. In addition, I wish you all the best for 2008! Take care. I look forward to meeting you healthy and well again next year.

Best,

TJK

Add to 2nd challenge

Nelson Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, is back and is struggling for power in the ANC (BBC News, 21/12/2007). In addition, Jacob Zuma may be charged of corruption in the near future (BBC News 20/12/2007), so that the race for the leading position of the powerful ANC will be open again.

3rd challenge - World Cup 2010

The world will look at South Africa in 2010 when the rainbow nation is hosting the next soccer world championship. An event of that dimension entails a lot of problems but it offers several opportunities, too. Find out about what the World Cup 2010 implicates for South Africa, and what South Africa should do to make the championship a full success such as this TV commercial ("2010 World Cup TV Commercial"; 1:00 Min.) tells us?



Find out about the importance of the 2010 World Cup for South Africa not only as far as sports are concerned but for its social, cultural, political, and economical future. You may wish to start with BBC's coverage (BBC News Online) and then find your own way through the Internet. But be alert: there are some pages that look official (and claim to be FIFA sites) but are actually commercial.

Assignment:
Write a comment (150-200 words) in which you prove your background knowlegde, evaluate the data (problems and opportunities), and come to a logical conclusion.

2nd challenge - political stability and peace

Left-wing politician Jacob Zuma is going to be the next ANC leader and consequently the man who might be the third elected president of South Africa after Mandela and Mbeki. Will Mbeki's business-friendly policy be changed by Zuma? Is freedom and stability endangered? What are the future prospects for the rainbow nation.
* Read here the recent BBC News coverage (BBC News Online).
* Click on the relevant links in the sidebar under the heading "South Africa".
* Be prepared to answer the questions asked above in a brief but convincing speech in class.

1st challenge - AIDS/HIV

Check this out: South Africa has to face an adverse challenge now and in the future - AIDS, in other words the HIV, is threatening South Africa's future as it has already destroyed generations of South Africans and left another generation as orphans. Read here about the situation and what South African authorities do to cope with this challenge: HIV & AIDS in South Africa on the pages of Avert (Avert is an AIDS charity).

Watch this emotional, shocking, and depressing documentation by CNN ("Inside South Africa", 8:57 Min.):



Read here about the death of Nelson Mandela's son caused by AIDS at Reuters.

ASSIGNMENT:
Note down and be able to present the relevant pieces of information with the help of
(a) a systematic graphical representation on the blackboard,
(b) an outline on a transparency,
(c) a poster, or
(d) a computer-based presentation.
Key issues: situation, specific problems, reasons, strategies to deal with the problem, future prospect - situation in Africa in general and in some countries in particular (Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Lesotho).

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENT:
Be alert and be concerned: The fight against AIDS & HIV of dieing Nkosi Johnson, his speech at the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, and the coverage in Time Magazine (you may use other reliable pages with impressive images and statements).