The same country that officially claims to have discovered unicorn remains has also, despite their crumbling economy and outdated technology, developed a cure for three of the world’s deadliest diseases.

The claim has been widely reported in recent weeks, after a statement from the CEO of the South African National Aids Council. But is it true?

Wits professor of sociology David Dickinson has written for us about the research for his recently published book, A Different Kind of AIDS: Folk and Lay Theories in South African Townships.

South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Correctional Services Thabang Makwetla has said that correctional facilities in South Africa are not the “disease-infested”, poorly serviced centres of public perception. Africa Check investigated the claim.

Hospitals throughout Gauteng ran out of essential medicines in recent weeks, including a life-saving drug for people with AIDS called amphotericin B.

Up from number seven to number three on SA’s list of top killers, this one takes its time and more often than not you don’t even know it’s stalking you.

HIV advocates and researchers admit that many people do not use condoms. Now there are revolutionary new ways of preventing HIV infection including taking a pill day.

In South Africa at least 5,000 people are killed on the country’s roads every year. Or is it closer to 14,000? Or more than those dying of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, as has been claimed?

‘A President in Waiting …’, a new play by Cambridge Creative Master’s student Jan Moran Neil, is set to hit Cape Town theatres this summer

Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has released a new policy framework, which aims to end racism and promote integration at tertiary institutions.

Releasing its latest mid-year population estimates report, Stats South Africa said the country’s population grew by an estimated 1.58% between July 2013 and July 2014 to just over 54 million in total.

A recent survey has shown more must be done to combat spread of the infection. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that the decline in usage might be because “the standard-issued choice condoms just aren’t cool enough.”

Well, it certainly took some searching: under the wreckage of the South African executive’s various setbacks, gaffes, scandals and furores, some good was done. Some government departments are broadly functional; a handful are thriving. We look at 10 isolated examples of the country and government we dream of

Looking to support a UK-based South African cause? Did you realise there are more than 20 South African charities active in Britain? They are all listed here in alphabetical order, for ease of reference.

A major discovery in HIV is good news for South Africa, where about 1 in 10 are HIV-positive. Patients previously believed ‘cured’ of HIV have experienced a viral rebound, marking an important new question: if HIV can remain in the body while undetectable in the blood, where might the ‘deep reservoir’ that harbours the virus be?

World Aids Day is on Sunday 1 December, and SA education charity plans on tackling HIV head on as more people are infected by HIV/AIDs in South Africa than any other country in the world.

With contributions from figures such as Bill Clinton and Desmond Tutu, FIRE IN THE BLOOD is the story of the remarkable coalition that fought Western pharmaceutical companies’ and governments’ blocking of access to Aids drugs. It will be screened on Monday 7 October in London.

Fortified food e’Pap is a finalist for a global social innovation award, acknowledging the benefits that this remarkable, homegrown foodstuff has for nutrition.

My South Africa is not Cuba or China or USA or Europe. My South Africa is not Zimbabwe (yet). My South Africa is a 19-year old teenager on the edge of adulthood and a nation where the rainbow needs urgent re-inventing, says Pieter-Dirk Uys

Charlize Theron is recognised for her grassroots work focusing on social issues, particularly in South Africa, where she founded the Africa Outreach Project. It provides funding for a mobile health and computer clinic that visits high schools in rural communities affected by HIV/Aids.

Despite health risks and widespread complications, one white teenage boy from East London decides to support his Xhosa friend all the way in the controversial rite of passage

A swallow’s eye view of the Ulutsha Horizon Theatre Company blossoming in Masiphumelele, Fish Hoek

Love is All We Need, a UK based charity that supports children affected by the HIV/AIDs pandemic in South Africa, held its fifth annual Friend Raiser in Brighton on Saturday.

Love Is All We Need, a UK charity helping South Africa’s poorest communities is holding a ‘Friend Raiser’ event on 29 June in Brighton.