communist Dale McKinley Crossfire I have been expelled from the South African Communist Party for being a committed, critical communist. That is really the gist behind the SACP central committee’s decision to throw me out of the ranks of the organisation, no matter the cleverly argued rationalisations presented by Jeremy Cronin (“Setting the ‘free thinker’ […]
Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION Recently BBC World ran a documentary that I sincerely wish someone would shove down the throats of Mr Ronnie Kasrils, Mr Jeremy Cronin and any other latter-day commies they can find. Called Mission to Moldova, the documentary told the story of a voluntary United Kingdom charity aid convoy bringing three large pantechnicons […]
Websites offering medical advice are appearing all over the Net. But can they benefit patients and practitioners? Patrick Barkham You can hardly take a train or visit your favourite website these days without tender inquiries into your health from intrusive adverts. Embarrassing itch? Sexual impotence? Are you a healthy eater? There is a rash of […]
Roshila Pillay There’s a sizeable black pac-man figure bearing down with razor-sharp teeth on a teeny-weeny helpless white pacman. The white pacman is seriously disadvantaged with no teeth in sight to take on the formidable enemy. “It’s a black-versus-white campaign. If you read between the lines it can be seen as a bit racist, but […]
Julie Burchill Body Language Until very recently, no matter how liberal he was, a man could argue himself blue in the face that he was in favour of all possible equalities between men and women, and then at the last moment slip the stiletto between the ribs: “Ah, but nature, you see – nature’s different. […]
The Springboks finally got their game plan right against the All Blacks – now they face the world champion Wallabies Andy Capostagno ‘Is the sword still hanging over your head?” came the question in the media conference. “What sword would that be?” came the answer from Springbok coach Nick Mallett. If Damocles had indeed escaped […]
A fight for the mineral-rich Richtersveld is pitting a small community against the state and its diamond mine Alexkor Barry Streek Three high-powered legal teams are squaring up the in the remote Northern Cape town of Kubus for one of the country’s most significant land claims battles. Communities in the Richtersveld are seeking to have […]
Andrew Muchineripi soccer Think carefully about the question I am about to pose before you answer it: what are the most common words on the lips of football fans ahead of any cup final? A clue. It is so obvious that it may not be obvious. Without fear of contradiction I declare that “Who will […]
users M&G reporter Internet news service News24 has taken steps to track down and penalise three people who have posted abusive messages on its chat forums. Complaints have been submitted to the administrators of the abusers’ Internet Service Providers or domains, who may choose what actions – warnings, blacklisting or criminal charges – to take. […]
South African Music Week: A CDreview special African Jazz Pioneers: Afrika Vukani (Gallo) The Pioneers haul out their old-style South African jazz stuff one more time, but it really is all wearing a bit thin now. Leader Ntemi Piliso, probably the last remaining member of the original Pioneers, groans his way through a song or […]