pregnant

Rural health care workers in South Africa are a hardy, dedicated lot. They travel great distances and often have to make do with what they have at hand. But it also gives them a close bond with their patients and an insight into treating the whole person. These challenges make them better doctors, says Rural Doctor of the Year Jenny Nash.

The Department of Health has launched a new mobile phone-based messaging service to provide South Africa's estimated 1.2-million pregnant women with free antenatal health care information.

The memory of poet Ingrid Jonker lives on in South Africa. She inspired Nelson Mandela to quote her poem in his inauguration speech and she posthumously received the Order of Ikhamanga for her contribution to literature and commitment to the struggle for human rights. Her work is loved around the world.

The memory of poet Ingrid Jonker lives on in South Africa. She inspired Nelson Mandela to quote her poem in his inauguration speech and she posthumously received the Order of Ikhamanga for her contribution to literature and commitment to the struggle for human rights. Her work is loved around the world.

On 9 August 1956, 20 000 voices cried out: "You strike a woman, you strike a rock". South Africa's women had spoken, saying they were neither meek nor mild, but the bedrock on which their communities were founded, and they would not let their freedoms be trespassed upon.

The Pebbles Project works with alcohol-affected communities in the Western Cape to help residents and children battle the scourge of alcohol addiction, and the province's high rates of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome.

In its first two decades of freedom, South Africa has have moved closer to its dream of a united, non-racial, democratic and prosperous country - and "we must not deny or downplay these achievements, regardless of our political differences", President Jacob Zuma told the nation on Sunday.

Rwandans living in Johannesburg relived the genocide in their country 20 years ago. They told their stories of horror; but the over-riding emotions at the end of the day were those of reconciliation, hope, healing and forgiveness.

South Africa will make transdermal implant contraceptives freely available in the country's public clinics from next week, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced on Tuesday, saying the new contraceptive offered women greater control over their reproductive lives.

At its facilities in northern Joburg, The Ark Animal Centre rescues and rehabilitates abandoned and vulnerable puppies, as well as maltreated pregnant bitches. The dogs are offered for adoption for good homes, although it is also possible to become an Ark Angel and sponsor a canine.