Yearly Archives: 1997

Amid uproar at South Africa’s universities, evidence of state manipulation emerges Ann Eveleth MINUTES of a secret meeting allegedly between Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu, University of Durban-Westville (UDW)council members and high-flying Durban attorney Linda Zama suggest a clear political agenda lies behind an ongoing probe into campus conflict. Attorneys acting for UDW’s Combined Staff Association […]

Mungo Soggot THE adoption of kidnap victim Timothy Funnell could have breached a key clause of the Child Care Act, laying the grounds for a police investigation. The child’s adoptive parents – Barry and Julia Funnell – who live in Malawi as Baptist missionaries. They registered a Pretoria address when they adopted Timothy in Pretoria […]

Jacquie Golding-Duffy SEVERAL members of the government’s communications task group, Comtask, have accused the Cabinet of endorsing a “stage- managed operation” to ensure the survival of the old-guard South African Communications Service (Sacs). Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, who established Comtask last year to investigate the government’s relationship with the media, last week rejected its recommendation […]

Between the volatile rand and the transformation process, Timothy Thahane has had a busy first year as deputy governor, he tells Madeleine Wackernagel From a personal point of view, Timothy Thahane is very happy to be back in South Africa. Work, on the other hand, has been a bit more hectic, he says with a […]

Several of Zimbabwe’s top politicians – probably including Robert Mugabe – knew that former Zimbabwean president Canaan Banana was repeatedly abusing his aide-de- camp, reports Jan Raath in Harare IN 1981, Zimbabwe passed a law which made it an offence to ridicule Canaan Sodindo Banana, then the president. It ended a rash of jokes, like […]

Three French musketeers are all advocating a return to traditional Gallic flair and ‘le jeu du mouvement’ in the Five Nations battle against England RUGBY: Mick Cleary IT WAS a matchmaker’s dream: England versus France, the clash of two cultures, the collision of opposites. The English, all method, planning, order, sang-froid set against the wide-ranging, […]

ANDRE WIESNER speaks to a wannabe Presley in Graceland, Cape Town By day he’s the owner of the Sea Point Taxi Association, but by night Ernest MacDonald dons a glittering white suit and wraparound shades and takes to the stage of his newly opened rock’n’ roll restaurant, Graceland, as his coffin-dodging idol and alter ego, […]

Stefaans Brmmer THE controversial Church of Scientology has bestowed a ”freedom medal” on Lawrence Anthony, KwaZulu-Natal businessman and confidant of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, shedding new light on the close links between the church and the Inkatha Freedom Party. The Mail & Guardian reported in November 1994 that Anthony and Businesswise Management Consultants, a management consultancy then […]

Maria McCloy IF you’re one of the millions of South Africans who tunes in to any of an ever- growing number of music radio stations each day, it’s unlikely that many of the sexy, soothing, lively or witty DJ voices you hear belong to a woman. Or when you get down in the club of […]

The head of Durban’s port is accused of racist behaviour and using spy tactics against his fired deputy, reports Ann Eveleth THE head of South Africa’s busiest port is bugging the offices of his subordinates, undermining black empowerment and operating behind the backs of senior port management, according to allegations by port employees and suppliers. […]