Yearly Archives: 1998

Wonder Hlongwa South Africa’s branch of the international corruption watchdog Transparency International has accused certain newspapers of feeding public perceptions that corruption increased after the African National Congress took power. In its first report since its inception last year, Transparency International South Africa (Tisa) accuses the newspapers of being influenced by their political agendas. It […]

The investigation into the Mpumalanga Parks Board’s dodgy deals is to be carried out in secret, reports Justin Arenstein from Nelspruit Judge Willem Heath personally took control this week of investigations into a dodgy R340-million offshore loan deal set up by the Mpumalanga Parks Board, and promptly threw a blanket of secrecy over his special […]

John Grobler The first body bags arrived in Namibia from Kinshasa this week as a credibility gap as wide as the Congo started opening up around President Sam Nujoma. After days of obdurate denials, the Ministry of Defence confirmed this week that Namibian Defence Force (NDF) soldier Lazarus Hiskia had been killed in fighting on […]

Charl Blignaut On stage in Johannesburg It seemed like it was never going to happen; the eagerly-awaited moment when Johannesburg’s performance underground would raise itself from latex-clad haunches and step into the mainstream clubland spotlight. The first public suspension in a Johannesburg nightclub; theatre for 2000. Two boys, 40 hooks, a metre off the ground […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi A high-level investigation headed by Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile into allegations that three senior provincial African National Congress members are “ANC members during the day and United Democratic Movement members by night” has run into snags. The people who first made the allegations against the three party members have failed to provide […]

Since the JSE crash, South Africa’s biggest companies are dangerously undervalued, writes Donna Block While the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is going down in flames, its biggest and brightest companies are selling at fire-sale prices, attracting the attention of merchant bankers, multinational companies and international corporate pirates. With the collapse of the world’s financial markets, […]

There’s much more to Swaziland than jackpots and birdies, as Alex Sudheim found at the Siyavuka festival last weekend It really was high time that Swaziland celebrated itself with a national arts festival. The country turns 30 this weekend, and over three centuries as a distinct and separate people preceded their formal recognition as an […]

MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Thursday 6.30pm. The cumulative effect of bad economic news around the world pushed the JSE and other local markets deeper into negative territory today. While in the last few days, the bond and currency markets escaped the carnage and managed to scrape back some precious losses, today all the broader indices […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Thursday 6.30PM. MPUMALANGA’S provincial government is facing yet another corruption scandal following an urgent request for the Heath special investigative unit to probe a suspected R19,3-million salary scam. The request from Mpumalanga’s portfolio committee on public accounts was ratified by the legislature on Thursday after uncooperative officials managed to stall a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 9.50pm. SOUTH Africa’s Amanda Coetzer moved into the third round of the US Open tennis tournament on Thursday beating Romanian Raluca Sandu comfortably 6-0 6-2. The 13th South African seed will meet vastly improved Barbara Schett of Austria, who beat Coetzer in their last meeting in Boston last month, en […]