Ben Maclennan
Guest Author
No image available
/ 8 June 2004

Boland skywatcher all set for Venus

When he turns his telescopes towards the sun on Tuesday, Boland skywatcher Willie Koorts will be at least partly fulfilling the wishes of a long-dead astronomer. He will be observing the transit of Venus, an event so rare that no person alive today has witnessed it, and doing so from almost the same spot in his home town Wellington as an American scientific expedition in 1882.

No image available
/ 6 June 2004

Astronomer had no luck with Venus

As Venus tracks slowly across the face of the Sun on Tuesday, it may be fitting to remember one of the most unlucky astronomers in the history of the science. The Frenchman Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Le Gentil de la Galaisiere risked death in the 18th century to travel half way across the world to observe a pair of transits of Venus.

No image available
/ 1 June 2004

Pharmacies close in protest of new laws

Dozens of pharmacies in Johannesburg and Cape Town closed their doors for three hours on Tuesday as pharmacists took part in a staged protested against new medicine legislation. Meanwhile, the laws were contested in courts in Pretoria and the Mother City.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=67187">Manto ‘acted beyond her powers'</a>

No image available
/ 19 May 2004

‘Why take animal lives when you can save them?’

The International Wildlife Trust which offered to help pay for the relocation of Table Mountain’s Himalayan tahrs says the decision to shoot them is ”an absolute disgrace”. The Marchig Animal Welfare Trust said some time ago it would help fund the animals’ removal to a private game reserve if a permit for their relocation was obtained.

No image available
/ 18 May 2004

Tahrs may be headed back to court

The thorny issue of the Table Mountain tahrs may be headed for court again following a threat by the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) to seek an urgent interdict. NSPCA executive director Marcelle Meredith labelled South African National Parks’ decision to cull the goat-like creatures "maverick slaughter".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=66496">Tahrs to die a ‘slow death'</a>

No image available
/ 7 May 2004

Minister’s case against M&G tests defamation law

The Supreme Court of Appeal reserved judgement on Thursday in a defamation case lodged by African National Congress deputy secretary-general Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele against the Mail & Guardian newspaper. At issue is whether Cabinet ministers can sue for damages in a defamation claim where it relates to their performance as Cabinet ministers.

  • Surprise, surprise, M&G wins case