Timothy Trengove-Jones crossfire In the rather tautologous words of the famous song, the times they are a-changing. It was reported last weekend that President Thabo Mbeki has told the African National Congress’s national executive committee that he is to withdrawEfrom public debate over the science of HIV/Aids. His contributions, he repeated, have “caused confusion”. In […]

David Le Page AFRICANFRONTIERS The downside is, South Africa is one of the world’s top 20 polluters. At least 93,5% of South African electricity is coal-fired. Eskom is the world’s single largest producer of carbon dioxide. Acid rain created by power stations causes fences near Bethel to disintegrate in just three years. The upside? Southern […]

Two years after taking to the stage in his first one-man show, Marc Lottering is the most popular performer on Cape Town’s burgeoning stand-up comedyscene RyanFortune It’s an unseasonably cool Thursday evening in Cape Town, but On Broadway in Green Point is packed to capacity for Marc Lottering, the lank-limbed, bushy-haired comedian who seems unstoppable […]

Paul Kirk Pension officials in KwaZulu- Natal are in hot water after an ageing pensioner was called a baboon while waiting in a pension queue and the official representative for Prince Gideon Zulu, Mike Gumede, claimed that pensioners enjoyed queuing in the hot sun as it gave them a chance to gossip with their friends. […]

up Evidence wa ka Ngobeni A principal at a North West school has admitted to beating students for failing to contribute towards the salary of another teacher at the school. LS Thwane, headmaster at Montshioa Memorial Middle School near Mmabatho, made his startling admission to the Mail & Guardian this week after students and teachers […]

A who’s who of mayoral candidates in the forthcoming local government elections. Howard Barrel and Jaspreet Kindra report Johannesburg The political heavyweight in the African National Congress’s list of mayoral candidates, Amos Masondo, stands to become the first citizen of the country’s chief industrial and financial centre , with a gross domestic product that stands […]

transformation’ There seems to be a lack of trust in the abilities of black people in the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, claim staff Fiona Macleod One of South Africa’s favourite politicians, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mohammed Valli Moosa, faces a revolt in his department amid accusations from disgruntled staff that he […]

A Bill before Congress aims to increase United States trade with Africa, but it seems to benefit multinationals more than developing countries David Le Page An elephant dancing around to avoid a mouse. That’s the impression the United States gives in its efforts to substitute more trade for aid in its relations with Africa while […]

poachers James Hall Swazis’ cultural antipathy toward snakes has prompted the Swaziland Senate to rally to the defence of three poachers who were arrested for killing a 3m-long python. Senator Simeon Simelane raised a motion last week calling for the minister of justice to release the suspects. Other senators in their submissions depicted the poachers […]

Barry Streek The government’s ability to deliver on its local government election promise of 6E000 litres of free water to poor people every month is being questioned by the Rural Development Services Network (RDSN). RDSN has been researching the provision of 50 litres a person a day for two years. It says: “About 40E000 children […]