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/ 24 March 2000

Action with too little discussion

Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW We like politicians who act. We do not seem to like working out whether the actions solve our problems. Take Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete. With his enthusiastic support, police are “sorting out” inner Johannesburg amid gung-ho statements on the success of the operation and the number of […]

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/ 24 March 2000

A party, prayers, then suicide

There were signs in the week prior to the mass cult suicide that something unusual was going on Anna Borzello in Kanungu, Uganda A mass of tangled bodies lay sprawled on the floor of the makeshift church. The corrugated tin roof had fallen in from the pressure of the flames, and rain spattered down on […]

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/ 24 March 2000

21 years of Radio Bop

Thebe Mabanga IN YOUR EAR This is the story of Radio Bop (MW540).The station recently celebrated its 21st birthday, marking a milestone in the station’s chequered history. It was established under homeland rule in the old Bophuthatswana and for the better part of its existence was the pride of black media. To measure the extent […]

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/ 24 March 2000

10 merinos in 15 minutes

We may have lost the African Cup of Nations, but South Africa’s sheep shearers rank among the best in the world David Le Page in Bloemfontein Like spindly insectoid arms, the clattering electric clippers descend from red wall-mounted thoraxes to molest the shuddering sheep. It’s the Bloem agricultural show. Walk past the cult of the […]

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/ 24 March 2000

Floods: Now for the good news

Fiona Macleod When tourists in the Letaba rest camp in the northern Kruger National Park saw an animal swimming furiously across the flooded Letaba River last Sunday, they thought it was a hippo. The river had breached the camp’s perimeter fence and the animal headed straight towards them. As it emerged from the water, they […]

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/ 24 March 2000

First lady of the Green Trust

Fiona Macleod Graa Machel, the “first lady” of South Africa and Mozambique, has agreed to be co-patron of the Nedbank/Mail & Guardian Green Trust Awards. She will share patronage of the country’s premier environmental awards with Anton Rupert, founder of the Rembrandt Group and long-time conservationist. The new patrons have been asked to attend this […]

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/ 24 March 2000

Torture victim shot

after trial A victim of police torture was assassinated soon after his attackers were convicted Cheryl Goodenough Hours after a rural KwaZulu-Natal court found that former Impendle resident Mfaniseni Radebe had been viciously assaulted in 1997 – an electric current from a battery had been sent through clamps attached under his arms and on to […]

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/ 24 March 2000

New York crime story

Two men are gunned down and the killer disappears. Thirty years later one cop becomes obsessed with the case and finally tracks him down Philip Gourevitch On November 15 1944, an army deserter named Frank Gilbert Koehler was arrested for burglary in New York City. Frankie, as he liked to be called, was 15, so […]

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/ 24 March 2000

Please sir, can I have no more?

Food’s got to be fun, it’s got to be tasty – but it doesn’t have to be cooked by Jamie Oliver Charlotte Raven Jamie Oliver is a phenomenon. His programme, The Naked Chef, is the unexpected hit of the moment and his status as a Nineties icon has been confirmed by everyone, from the critics […]

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/ 24 March 2000

Goodwin and Flower keep West Indies at bay

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kingston | Friday 9.00pm. MURRAY Goodwin and his captain Andy Flower steered Zimbabwe out of early trouble on the first day of the second Test against West Indies on Friday. Goodwin reached 65 not out and Flower 23 not out as Zimbabwe recovered from a lunch score of 40 for three to 119 […]