About Us
Mission In the Media
2009
Articles and editorials selected from South African and other media sources.
Where full text is not available online or available only to subscribers, the article may be requested from the Embassy's American Library.
Obama's make-a-plan man in SA
Sunday Independent, October 4, 2009
[US Ambassador to South Africa] Gips believes South Africa is at a point where he and his country, spurred on by Obama's good wishes for Africa, might be able to help "make a difference". Gips is an enthusiast, yet he knows he must tread humbly, that there is healing to be done in the US-South Africa relationship after the damage done during the Bush years.
A most effective operator everywhere he has been, from the refugee camps of Sri Lanka to the wood-panelled corridors of the White House, it would be a surprise if he were not up to the task.
Americans answer a call to help
Washington Times, April 7, 2009
I volunteered at Living Hope, in Fish Hoek, South Africa, a faith-based organization that leads several programs for people affected by all aspects of HIV and AIDS. Fifty-two percent of Living Hope's funding comes from the American taxpayer as part of the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief started under Mr. Bush. After seeing the program in action, I can attest the money is well spent.
U.S. AIDS Program Saved Million African Lives
New York Times (Reuters), April 6, 2009
A U.S. program launched during the Bush administration has cut AIDS deaths by 10 percent in targeted African nations compared to their neighbors and saved more than a million lives, U.S. researchers said on Monday. The study tracked AIDS deaths and HIV infections in 12 African countries getting aid under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, during the four years after it was launched in 2003 as a five-year, $15 billion effort.
Dancing to fight HIV-Aids
The Sowetan. 19 March 2009
American actress Jurnee Smollet met with children from six schools at Indwedwe, KwaZulu-Natal, during the Dance4life initiative. The initiative encourages youngsters to stop the spread of Aids by using dance.
US star to raise HIV awareness
The Sowetan. 17 March 2009
American actress Jurnee Smollett is in South Africa to share information on HIV-Aids awareness as part of an international exchange programme with the US state department. Yesterday she was a guest of honour at the Durban University of Technology. Smollet, who campaigned extensively for President Barack Obama, met with staff and students involved in HIV- Aids peer education projects.
Youngsters see football bringing the world to us
The Star, March 17, 2009
U.S. Consul General Andrew Passen visited Redibone Middle School as part of "My 2010 School Adventure: Adopt a School", an initiative by the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) in partnership with the Departments of Education and Sport and Recreation to generate awareness about the Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup.Redibone - the only school in the country with two teams that have qualified for the Schools Confederations Cup (boys and girls in the under-14 categories) - has adopted the US.
USS Robert G. Bradley visits South Africa
SA Navy News Archive
On Friday, 29 January 2009 the USS ROBERT G. BRADLEY arrived at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. This frigate, an Oliver Hazard Perry Class Frigate of the United States Navy, was deployed in November 2008 to circumnavigate the African continent and South Africa was one of her ports of call.
State Department Program Pairs Foreign Students With Community Colleges
The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 16, 2009 [USA]
Growing up poor in Pretoria, South Africa, Lesego Ellis Makhubela watched with frustration as foreign aid flowed into his continent. His fellow Africans didn't need a handout, he believed, but rather higher education to help advance their economies. So when he spotted a notice at a library operated by the U.S. Embassy there about a new State Department scholarship program to provide foreign students practical training at American community colleges, he leapt at the chance.
Fulbright Scholar grant awarded to conduct educational research in South Africa
Roanoke Times, Tuesday, January 13, 2009 [USA]
A Virginia Tech professor was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct educational research in South Africa this semester. Mary Alice Barksdale, a professor in Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, left for South Africa on Sunday. She will conduct her research in a primary school in Port Elizabeth. Children there will write, illustrate and publish stories as part of a literacy program Barksdale plans to establish at the school.
AIDS battle burnishes Bush's legacy in Africa
Associated Press, Jan 9, 2009 [USA],
South Africa is also the biggest single recipient of PEPFAR money - $590 million last year, more than it received during the entire eight-year Clinton administration, according to U.S. ambassador Eric Bost.
After years of denial about the AIDS crisis by former President Thabo Mbeki, the new government is finally serious about tackling the epidemic.
Francois Venter, an outspoken doctor who heads a PEPFAR-funded program at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, says because of its emphasis on measurable targets, "PEPFAR is different."
College welcomes exchange students
Record 2 (5) Jan 2009. Moithuti Scholar supplement [SA]
Tshwane South College for FET hosted a breakfast to welcome back their exchange students that completed their first year stint in America at various institutions. [The students are participating in a US Mission Community College program]