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/ 23 May 1997

No escape from history

IT is now three weeks since the Mail & Guardian disclosed the horrific details of the report compiled by Zimbabwe’s Truth and Justice Commission on the atrocities in Matabeleland. The only response has come from Robert Mugabe, who denounced those responsible for the report as “mischief- makers” and declared: “If we dig up history then […]

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/ 23 May 1997

The Vartys’ truly happy camp

Fiona Macleod I SPEAK OF AFRICA: THE STORY OF LONDOLOZI GAME RESERVE by Shan Varty and Molly Buchanan (Londolozi Publishers, R300) THE ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING GUIDE by Jill Ritchie (Papillon Press, R100) WHY would anyone want to pay R300 for the eulogy to the Varty dynasty in I Speak of Africa? Firstly, because the Vartys have […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Delay in fuel fund probe

Mungo Soggot THE probe into the state’s oil trading arm, the Strategic Fuel Fund, is now expected to be finished by the middle of next month after hitting some delays. The investigation’s preliminary findings in late March led to the suspension of the fund’s boss, Kobus van Zyl. Don Mkhwanazi, chairman of the Central Energy […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Call to delay new schools curriculum

Ann Eveleth PRESSURE is mounting in educational circles for a re-think on timeframes for implementing the new school curriculum as funding shortages, training backlogs and staff vacancies pile up. Gauteng and Eastern Cape education officials this week called on the national government to scale down plans to put the new outcomes-based education system into effect […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Kabila’s victory brings a new stability

to Africa South Africa’s attempts at diplomacy failed, but the rebels succeeded and Zaire became Congo. Africa will benefit from these developments but the West is alarmed Despite jitters in the West, Laurent Kabila’s victory is potentially the most stabilising development in Central Africa in many years. Chris McGreal reports from Kinshasa ZAIRE disappeared at […]

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/ 23 May 1997

M-Net title-fight

It is once more time for South Africa’s most lavish fiction award – but now it’s adults only, writes SHAUN DE WAAL IN the absence of the CNA Literary Award, which was discontinued earlier this year, the M-Net Book Prize for a South African novel takes on a new importance. It always was the most […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Union investment pays off

Sactwu has shown that capitalist investment can work not only for workers, but for their children too. Ferial Haffajee reports SCORES of clothing workers’ children graced this week’s launch of a clothing union’s bursary fund: among them was one who has done particularly well. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel introduced himself as “the son of a […]

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/ 23 May 1997

The anguish of Andre, loser of the mind

games Jon Henderson feels the Sampras factor rather than marriage is behind the decline of a moody genius PETE SAMPRAS’S favourite line from literature is from The Catcher In The Rye: “Don’t ever tell anybody anything.” Andre Agassi, Sampras’s great rival on the tennis court, is from the opposing, let-it-all- hang-out corner. The silent approach […]

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/ 23 May 1997

A bit of a lemon

LIVE MUSIC: Sam Taylor IRISH band U2’s PopMart world tour kicked off in Las Vegas last week with a stage set as spectacularly kitsch as any of the giant theme hotels that adorn the Vegas Strip. Dominated by the world’s biggest LED screen and a golden arch, like half of a McDonald’s “M”, the set […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Stealing beauty from Africa

Gary Younge NIGERIAN art treasures are being looted from museums to supply an underground network of dealers, most of them based in London and New York. The multi-million pound trade, which contravenes a United Nations convention on the sale and smuggling of stolen artwork, has left some museums in the country virtually empty. The looting […]