BANKS may face legal action if they continue to discriminate against small back business, Parliament has warned. The Government has been called on to introduce legislation that will encourage the banking sector to grant black business more loans. This comes after the trade and industry portfolio committee approved a report which says that black businesses […]

Underperformance in public education has been blamed for tertiary institutions’ failure to produce enough black professionals Glenda Daniels, David Macfarlane and Thebe Mabanga The number of black professionals graduating in South Africa has remained alarmingly static since the mid-Nineties, with experts identifying the poor level of mathematics and science teaching in schools as a major […]

Jeffrey Ndumo During the Oliver Tambo Memorial Lecture, on August 11 2000, President Thabo Mbeki delivered a fierce speech which had two main themes. The first was to chastise the “black petit bourgeoisie” and native intellectuals for reducing themselves to the status of foot-lickers of white capital at the expense of a contribution to the […]

He was one of the greatest bowlers of all time – maybe even the greatest. So how come most of us have never heard of Bart King? Martin Kettle It was once said of Bart King that he was the best-known American of his time in England. When he went to Britain, people would recognise […]

Ebrahim Harvey LEFTFIELD While some of its research and recommendations are useful, the report on the investigation into racism in the media, released last week by the Human Rights Commission, is in its theoretical, methodological and analytical approach badly flawed. However, the recommendation for legislation to govern the media will be a veritable legal, moral, […]

Duvall Pettway Fashion It’s that time of the year again, when the South African fashion industry comes out to see what the country’s top designers have on offer, for spring and summer. This year the 4th annual South African Fashion Week (SAFW) is accompanied by the first South African Fashion Exhibition. Both are taking place […]

Fiona Macleod Southern Africa’s most newly endangered species on the verge of extinction is the winter impala lily, a plant used by traditional healers to treat stomach ailments. Conservationists warn that agriculture and development have virtually wiped out the plant in the wild and unless drastic steps are taken it will soon be extinct. Mpumalanga […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi Newly elected general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) Slumko Nondwangu this week began an uphill battle to stamp his authority on a union increasingly divided by tensions over ideology. At 36 Nondwangu assumes a difficult task: continuing the legacy of his predecessors that has made Numsa the […]

Khadija Magardie A landmark decision by the Constitutional Court last week endorsing crucial crime-fighting legislation brings to an end a string of legal attacks on the law. The ruling, which stemmed from a raid on controversial tycoon Billy Rautenbach, sets a precedent for similar cases in which targets of criminal investigations might use the constitutionally […]

Justin Arenstein Mpumalanga Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu remained tight-lipped about top-secret corruption investigations into his predecessor Mathews Phosa this week as the province’s latest financial scandal erupted. The new R120-million investment scandal was masterminded during Phosa’s reign but does not appear to be directly linked to the politician, who entered private business after being ousted from […]