News stories by Stephanie Nieuwoudt, page 2

After a protracted court battle of seven years, a small South African environmental organisation won a major constitutional victory against the multinational agri-chemical and seed giant Monsanto.

South Africa is slowly moving towards exploring renewable energy sources, having set itself a target of three percent of energy being generated from renewable sources by 2013.

Bathed in sunlight on a crisp autumn morning, the Welgemeen farm in the Ceres district in the Western Cape province is a shining example in the otherwise patchy track record of land reform in South Africa.

The global economic crisis makes it even more imperative that investors ascertain the economic and legal conditions in foreign countries.

Despite the challenges that the global economic crisis poses to Africa and other developing regions in the southern hemisphere, South-South trade still offers huge opportunities as there is room for growth beyond the current levels.

According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, the average annual return on investment in Africa is between 65 and 70 percent higher than in any other country, including China.

Countries in the Gulf and in Africa can form mutually beneficial partnerships, with Africa supplying fertile arable land and the Gulf investing in technology, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs.

A powerful coalition of civic organisations is calling for a complete overhaul of the legal framework of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to force it to fulfil its public broadcasting mandate.

Jurisprudence in Africa has improved a lot since the early 1990s, but a lot of work still has to be done to improve justice structures across the continent.