Yearly Archives: 2001

Bongani Majola “Condoms! Condoms!” shouts Vusi Fahla (28) as he distributes condoms to the passing taxis. Words such as HIV/Aids, condoms and AZT are an inseparable part of his life. He is the project manager for Friends for Life, an NGO that provides life skills to HIV-infected people, home-based care for patients and pre-test, post-test […]

spirit level Cedric Mayson A coven of Western witches exists in South Africa, complete with white pancake make-up, straggly hair and bangles. We have entranced people who walk through fire; men who dress in the vestments of the European middle ages, others in skins and beads, women who wear hats or dance on beaches, and […]

Simon Kuper Apparently baffling events, such as England beating Germany 5-1 away, often turn out to be part of a logical pattern. What made the result seem particularly curious was that Germany had lost only one World Cup qualifying match before. However, so had Brazil before 2000. This time they lost six, and the Dutch […]

Minister of Education Kader Asmal’s dramatic intervention this week in the alarming governance fiasco at South Africa’s largest university, Unisa, has come not a moment too soon. For more than a year the head of Unisa’s council, advocate McCaps Motimele, has been running the university like a tinpot dictator, creating factions and conflict in an […]

Having bagged a 1-2 in the Summer Cup, the richest race on the continent with Ingleside and Badger’s Coast, and the Dingaans with stardom-bound Flight Alert, Mike de Kock has shot into a R2-million lead over reigning champion David Ferraris in the drive for this season’s trainers’ title. There’s a long way to go before […]

>From a virus point of view, HIV is a great survivor. Even the scientists trying to combat the Aids epidemic admire their mutant enemy. HIV is not particularly infectious, it’s not very hardy outside its host and it is susceptible to sterilising treatment like bleach. But it has a lengthy, hidden incubation period, and its […]

David Hopps in Jaipur England’s tour of India looked in real danger of cancellation after Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Indian cricket board, angrily refused to recognise the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) deadline of noon on Friday, Calcutta time, for confirmation that India’s suspended batsman Virender Sehwag will not play in next week’s first Test […]

Paul Kirk President Thabo Mbeki’s ministerial committee that oversaw the Government’s R66-billion arms acquisition intervened to set conditions for the arms investigation after Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota initially gave investigators carte blanche. The Mail & Guardian reported earlier that the executive invoked sections of the apartheid-era Special Defence Account Act to give the government […]

The Airports Company is reeling from several security-related controversies Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The chair of the Airports Company of South Africa, prominent businessman Mashudu Ramano, was briefly held this week for questioning on suspicion of having fake citizenship documents. His arrest is the latest in a series of debilitating events to strike the South […]

Judith February The report by the joint investigative team into the arms deal somewhat overshadowed the rising of Parliament last Friday. Seven of the parliamentary committees will scrutinise the report during recess. The parliamentary year has, however, been anything but dull and some key pieces of legislation have been passed to the president. In addition, […]