“Betrayed” is a harsh word to describe the government’s failings. So it was not a casual decision when we chose to use it on our cover on May 9 when the plight of seven-year-old rape victim Mamokgethi Malebane first came to light. We were angered by the fact that she had disappeared after her alleged […]
Mamokgethi Malebane was one of numerous rape victims who have been betrayed by the system, writes Gustav Thiel ON the day of the school memorial service this week for seven-year-old rape and murder victim Mamo-kgethi Malebane, the agency which first raised the alarm about her unveiled a string of similar cases – young children, raped, […]
* Walter will not get a letter this week due to the unfortunate disappearance of Nelson’s briefcase in Smal Street, Johannesburg. We present this occasional column instead FOLLOWING is a cautionary tale for those seeking a modest weekend getaway in the Magaliesberg. There is a farm on the R24, in the shadow of cliffs where […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: SEVEN foreigners were lynched in Dakar, Senegal on Thursday, following hysteria over “penis shrinkers”. Locals believe that foreigners who make brief physical contact with them on the street have the power to shrink their penises. Bystanders then go after the alleged “sex stealers” and mercilessly beat them. One of the murder victims had […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: PSYCHOLOGIST Dr Micky Pistorius has provided police with a preliminary description of the Phoenix serial killer, wanted for at least 18 murders. The murderer is a Zulu man aged between 30 and 40 who is able to gain the confidence of women by offering them employment. He is probably not a wanted criminal. […]
THE ANGELLA JOHNSON INTERVIEW YOU must remember Ian Smith. Ian who? I hear you ask. Who could forget the obdurate, dour leader of the Rhodesian government, with his skein of black hair parted perilously close to the right ear? The man who tried to hold up the march of history by leading his country through […]
FRIDAY, 4.30PM A TEENAGER was mauled by Kruger National Park lions on Wednesday night, the fifth person to be killed by lions in the park in the past week. Adam Chauke, 18, was one of 11 Mozambicans who attempted to enter South Africa illegally by walking through the park. They were scattered by a herd […]
The bottle of brown sludge handed to Dr Linda Makwatini, the adviser to Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs Penuell Maduna, in Parliament earlier this month went almost unnoticed. It came from a mining town and was brought to the centre of power by a range of environmental organisations. The contents were highly contaminated and […]
Chris Gordon WITH two weeks to go before the United Nations slaps crippling sanctions on Jonas Savimbi’s Unita movement, UN peace monitors, Savimbi and the Angolan government are openly warning the country should prepare for war. Diplomats in Luanda said in the last week that the peace process is on the edge and war is […]
Mukoni T Ratshitanga A ZIMBABWEAN woman was arrested three times within an hour in Johannesburg this week as an illegal immigrant – even though she was legally in the country. Roseanna T (39), who works in a hotel shop in Mutare, eastern Zimbabwe, says the first two times she was released after bribing the police; […]