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Africa

Jailed journalist a symbol of a disillusioned Zimbabwe

Hopewell Chin’ono backed President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he succeeded Robert Mugabe. Now he’s in jail

Ranga Mberi - 4 Aug 2020

National

Sisulu axes another water board

Umgeni Water’s board in KwaZulu-Natal was appointed irregularly by her predecessor, the water and sanitation minister claims

Paddy Harper - 4 Aug 2020

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Top Six

Two huge Beirut explosions kill 78, injure thousands

Agence France presse - 5 Aug 2020

The second blast sent an enormous orange fireball into the sky, immediately followed by a tornado-like shockwave that flattened the port and shattered windows across the city

Opinion

Now is the time for true innovation in education and the economy

Helga Jansen Daugbjerg - 5 Aug 2020

Because of the government’s indecisiveness, we have missed the boat on charting new territory for learning

Friday

Cellphones, Covid-19 and zoom calls: The making of ‘Cabin Fever’

Kwanele Sosibo - 5 Aug 2020

‘Cabin Fever’, written, directed and produced by Tim Greene, was filmed on cellphones during the hard lockdown earlier this year. It’s a no-budget triumph

Business

Covid-19 a ‘catalyst for closing the pay gap’

Sarah Smit - 4 Aug 2020

Executive directors earn 66 times the national minimum wage and are overwhelmingly white, a report by assurance, advisory and tax services company PwC has found

Sport

Why Cameroon has slid back since Italia ’90

daniel ekonde - 4 Aug 2020

The Indomitable Lions’ class of 1990 put Africa on the international football map with their showing in Italy, where they stunned the world champions. But they have since gone backwards. Why?

National

Hopefield: Brutal police vs brutalised citizens

charlene roberts - 4 Aug 2020

The small town’s residents, who say they’ve been terrorised by rogue police officers for years, were unsurprised when Reginald Linnerd was found beaten to death in a holding cell

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Special Reports

Position of the African Blood Regulators Forum on the use of Convalescent Plasma in Africa as a potential therapy for Covid-19

special reports - 31 Jul 2020

A potential treatment for Covid-19 is the transfusion of convalescent plasma collected from those who have recovered from into those who are still affected

Africa

After a 55-year struggle, a major victory for press freedom in Sierra Leone

A law used to harass and intimidate journalists has been repealed

abdul s brima - 4 Aug 2020

A salute to an African statesman, Benjamin William Mkapa

Africa Charles R Stith - 29 Jul 2020

Charles R Stith and Benjamin William Mkapa were friends. Stith did not get to say goodbye.

Challenges and opportunities for telemedicine in Africa

Africa fejiro chinye nwoko & utibe effiong & nchiewe ani - 28 Jul 2020

Telemedicine in Africa is currently limited by the availability of basic infrastructure, but, considering the lack of doctors in rural areas, it is a vital component in addressing the continent’s healthcare needs

Business

Tito needs the IMF, South Africa doesn’t

The IMF loan is given with false motivation — to provide political cover for entrenched neoliberalism and deep cuts in the public service

Dick Forslund - 1 Aug 2020

Eskom cancels dodgy R100m tender linked to Mabuza’s niece

Business Sabelo Skiti - 31 Jul 2020

An internal investigation revealed ‘irregularities’ in the process of awarding the contract

OECD urges SA to reform to recover from pandemic effects

Business thando maeko - 31 Jul 2020

The OECD predicts a 7.5% contraction in South Africa’s GDP, with an 8.2% contraction if a second wave of Covid-19 is not avoided

Opinion

Public officials must treat all marriages equally

Religious beliefs are no longer allowed as on objection to solemnising same-sex partnerships and rightly so

ropafadzo maphosa - 4 Aug 2020

Marriage officers should have the right to object on religious grounds

Opinion shaun de freitas - 4 Aug 2020

‘Beliefs and convictions rested on religion should be allowed the freedom awarded by the law to share the public sphere with all the other non-religious beliefs and convictions’

Caring for students goes beyond the teaching project

Coronavirus Ylva Rodny gumede - 2 Aug 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic gives universities an opportunity to find new ways of ensuring the health and well-being of students

Environment

Dumpsite fire that smoked out Pietermaritzburg is finally out

Firefighters have finally extinguished the fire at the New England Road landfill site in Pietermaritzburg, which had engulfed the KwaZulu-Natal capital in thick clouds of toxic smoke since it flared up more than a week ago

Paddy Harper - 1 Aug 2020

Residents raise a stink over landfill

Environment Paddy Harper - 1 Aug 2020

The years-long battle against the EnviroServ waste site at Shongweni has taken a new turn

Covid-19 puts green energy in a coma

Coronavirus Sarah Smit - 31 Jul 2020

The pandemic has disrupted governments’ plans to flatline the upward trajectory of global warming

Arts & Culture

Friday

The list: Athi-Patra Ruga’s constant reinvention

Characters have been a central part to Athi-Patra Ruga’s practice since the early days of his artistic career. Here he lets us in on their backstories

athi patra ruga - 1 Aug 2020

Review: ‘Ikhaya Likamoya’ by Sethembiso Zulu — Ties that bind us all

Friday Robyn Sassen - 1 Aug 2020

Multimedia journalist and healer Sethembiso Zulu’s debut solo show embraces a fierce, raw and broken timelessness that encapsulates what it means to be human

Athi-Patra Ruga’s new exhibition: The stain at the end of rainbow

Friday Kwanele Sosibo - 31 Jul 2020

Athi-Patra Ruga’s latest exhibition, ‘Interior/Exterior/ Dramatis Personae’, takes his characters on transformative journeys

Education

Coronavirus

There are useful lessons to learn from the generation of the 1986 emergency

The parents of the 2020 crisis have little say about their children’s education

Bongekile Macupe - 2 Aug 2020

Miss Rona’s teaching the 4IR lessons

Coronavirus colleen millar - 2 Aug 2020

Schooling is stuck in the 1950s, but technology must be blended with the basics of education

Teachers trying to catch up, ‘ticking boxes’, overloading learners

Coronavirus Bongekile Macupe - 2 Aug 2020

Teachers who spoke to the Mail & Guardian this week are not confident that any effective teaching and learning will take place during this academic year, even if it is extended

Accounting special

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Special Reports

Accounting technician beats the odds to obtain a professional qualification

'Being an AT(SA) offers lifelong learning and professional development opportunities because you never get to stop learning'

special reports - 5 Aug 2020

Special Reports

Associate general accountant reveals why she chose to work in the public sector –...

Rakshika Danilala is part of the team tasked with auditing the R500-billion fiscal package allocated by government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic

special reports - 4 Aug 2020

Special Reports

Accounting for sustainability: A South African case study

The accountancy profession has been recognised and seen its models replicated as successful models for projects that contribute towards the SDGs

special reports - 4 Aug 2020

Politics

Comrade Andrew Mlangeni was the embodiment of service

Kgalema Motlanthe paid tribute to ANC struggle stalwart Andrew Mlangeni, who died on Tuesday, at his 95th birthday celebrations last month

kgalema motlanthe - 25 Jul 2020

1962, China: The day Mao met Mlangeni

Politics mandla mathebula - 25 Jul 2020

In this edited extract from The Backroom Boy, an autobiography of the late Andrew Mokete Mlangeni by Mandla Mathebula, the ANC struggle stalwart meets Mao Tse-Tung while in military training in China

Political interference mounts over SABC retrenchments

Politics Thanduxolo Jika - 25 Jul 2020

The SABC says it needs to cut R700-million to survive. But senior politicians have allegedly interfered to stop retrenchments from proceeding

Sport

Lampard vs Arteta: Managers of a forgotten generation

Two of football’s youngest coaches are competing for one of its highest honours. This tells us something about how the Premier League appoints manager

Luke Feltham - 29 Jul 2020

Africa, tune in: The NBA is back on your screens

Sport Refiloe Seiboko - 28 Jul 2020

The NBA’s been on pause since March but will be back in full effect on Thursday. What’s happened since the stoppage and what’s about to happen?

Lala kahle Kaunda Ntunja

Sport Lungani Zama - 21 Jul 2020

South African rugby has lost a gentle giant in Kaunda Ntunja. His commentary in isiXhosa poetically ushered in the Springboks’ first black captain and ‘popped champagne’ after Mapimpi’s magic

World

Top Six

Trump gives TikTok 6 weeks to sell itself to US company

China's foreign ministry pushed back, calling Washington hypocritical for demanding TikTok be sold

Paul Handley - 4 Aug 2020

How McKinsey is making $100m and counting) advising the US government’s coronavirus response

World ian macdougall & propublica - 20 Jul 2020

For the world’s best-known corporate-management consultants, helping tackle the pandemic has been a bonanza. It’s not clear what the US government has gotten in return

The orchestrators of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen

World cameron joseph - 12 Jul 2020

As the crisis continues to unfold, the biggest threat may be the vested interest in maintaining the civil war Therefore, with no end in sight to the conflict plaguing the nation, the question worth asking is: who benefits from a Yemen at war?