Staff Reporter
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/ 18 August 2000

Gay coalition wants probe into Levin

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality has called for a commission of inquiry to probe allegations of illegal sex- change operations, medical torture and chemical castration performed by the South African Defence Force (SADF) on gay men and lesbians before 1994. The coalition, whose call for an inquiry is […]

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/ 18 August 2000

Sangomas arrested for raping clients

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Northern Province police have arrested at least five sangomas in the past few months for sexually assaulting teenagers and forcing female clients to submit to sex to be cured of their illnesses. The police have raised concerns about the incidents and have also embarked on an awareness campaign to warn women […]

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/ 18 August 2000

The liar and the law of defamation

The Mail & Guardian continues to stagger under the sheer weight of libel actions, ranging from Aubrey Levin to the Inkatha Freedom Party. Although the newspaper’s slender resources are strained (the most ill-founded of writs have to be discussed to some extent with lawyers), just one of them could prove to be a torpedo that […]

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/ 18 August 2000

Aids and the long silence of betrayal

David Beresford Another Country In the final analysis, perhaps, one can only judge oneself and I guess I will just have to remember that voice and make of it what I will. ”Hello,” she would say tentatively, answering the telephone in her room, ”who’s speaking ?” ”Die baas!” I would sometimes declare sternly and wait […]

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/ 18 August 2000

Didiza’s recipe for disaster

Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza is running a vibrant department into the ground Ben Cousins The replacement of senior managers of the Department of Land Affairs (”Hanekom’s appointees shown the door”, August 4 to 10) is the tip of a very large iceberg. Weak leadership by Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs […]

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/ 17 August 2000

HOPE FADES FOR DOOMED RUSSIAN SUB

UNDERWATER rescue capsules fighting to reach 118 seamen trapped on a Russian nuclear submarine have failed again as new evidence suggested a massive explosion shattered large areas of the vessel. Navy officials said there were no signs of life, but some of the crew could still be alive. Rescue capsules trying to link up with […]

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/ 17 August 2000

GLOWING MEAT BAFFLES SCIENTISTS

BACTERIOLOGISTS at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in Pretoria are baffled as to what is causing chunks of meat to glow and frighten rural villagers in Northern Province. Head of the bacteriology division Dr Maryke Henton said it was the first case of its kind that she had investigated, and that she believed it was something […]

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/ 17 August 2000

GANGLANDS BLOODSHED CLAIMS 19TH VICTIM

THE shooting of a 15-year-old boy in an apparent gang-related attack in Factreton brings to 19 the number of people killed in gang-related violence on the Cape Flats since the beginning of August, despite the deployment of extra police and soldiers to the trouble spots. At least eight people were killed in separate incidents of […]

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/ 17 August 2000

END OF LINE FOR CONCORDE?

THE world’s last Concordes stopped flying this week after authorities told British Airways they were about to brand the jet unairworthy, three weeks after an Air France crash killed 113 people. BA, the only other airline to fly the supersonic jet, said it had grounded its entire fleet of seven within minutes of hearing that […]

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/ 17 August 2000

Zim faces fuel crisis

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday ZIMBABWE is facing a critical shortage of fuel because of a debilitating lack of foreign currency, with no immediate solution in sight, a fuel industry source said on Wednesday. He confirmed that the supply of fuel in Harare was critical and said the country’s second city of Bulawayo had “a […]