It was one of those steamy, Graham Greene-ish days in a nameless West African country. The conference was winding down, and six of the delegates, including myself, had been invited to pay a courtesy call on the president.
My unbridled admiration for the <i>Sunday Independent</i> took a giant leap sideways last weekend. This was not only because I couldn’t find John Battersby’s byline anywhere in last Sunday’s edition.
Patent busting: Zimbabwe has declared a six-month national emergency and suspended import restrictions on drugs to treat HIV/Aids. The move, published on Monday by the Ministry of Justice, will allow cheaper generic drugs to be imported without being submitted to the normal testing and registration regime. It is estimated that a quarter of Zimbabwean adults are infected and that 7 000 new infections occur every day. Life expectancy has fallen to 40 from 60 over the past decade.
Something is wrong. The disruption of schools by the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), and its defiance of authorities, should not be happening. Cosas is, after all, a junior partner of the ruling party, and it enjoys support from the ANC.
Over the course of this weekend the general council of the United Cricket Board (UCB) will turn a magnifying glass on the management of the South African team during the past summer. It might help the council members, not to mention the national side, if a mirror is also employed during these deliberations.
South African cricket coach Graham Ford may be axed from his position when the general council of the United Cricket Board meets to discuss recommendations made by the National Cricket Council.
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago the only thing the world knew about Kim Clijsters was that she went out with another up and coming player, Lleyton Hewitt, and that some shrewd judges thought she might one day be rather good. Two weeks after starting the French Open as this unheralded teenager she was still giving her all, against Jennifer Capriati in one of the longest and most competitive women’s grand slam finals ever seen.
The history of panties observed from a male perspective does not inspire confidence, especially since men have been known to play a rather unsavoury and unwelcome part in making sure women wore as hideous a style of underwear as possible.
White starts first in chess, but in South Africa black is king. The highest-ranked chess player in the country is Watu Kobese. He is also the only chess professional in the country, eschewing a more secure career for battle on the chequered board.
United States Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and rock singer Bono this week arrived in Addis Ababa on the last leg of their 11-day tour of four sub-Saharan African countries. They had already seen some of the best and worst of the continent.