Paul Kirk The ease with which a child molester can escape prosecution came into sharp focus this week when a lowly suspected car thief was caught red-handed with a sensitive and stolen police investigation docket into the rape of a teenage girl. Had the docket not been recovered the rapist may well have escaped scot-free […]
bitter past Andrew Feinstein On January 22 1943 my mother and her parents received, at their home in Nazi- occupied Vienna, a letter from her 84- year-old grandfather. It read in part: “My dearest children. I have received your letter and thank you for your best wishes on my journey, to which I am not […]
Can Tolkien’s classic be read as an allegory about the dark forces of globalisation? Larry Elliot It’s what a generation of superannuated hippies have been waiting for – the big- screen version of The Lord of the Rings. With Sir Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf, JRR Tolkien’s epic is being filmed in some of […]
The third annual Pietersburg-Polokwane Book and Film Fair was a sell-out Stephen Gray The recent Pietersburg-Polokwane Book and Film Fair was enjoyable beyond the sheer pleasure of its buzz of success. Crocodiles of children scuttling for seats … crowds bursting through glass doors … elbows at the lavish catering … book sales being made. Peaceful […]
The major world city of Amsterdam offers visitors more than just its renowned red- light district, it also the home of jenever and the tulip Angus Begg St Annen Straat, Amsterdam. A moment’s eye contact with the dark, flabby and scantily-clad woman in the window makes me feel like the small boy who was caught […]
Stefaans Brmmer When asked about his daughter’s death, Captain Ntlele produces a map depicting each smallholding in the area west of Iscor’s Vanderbijlpark steel plant. His own plot is marked blue, which carries the legend: “Exceeds standard. Possible Iscor source.” His wife, Tina Ntlele, takes up the story: “Brenda got sick in May 1997. She […]
Ivor Powell With Parliament gearing up to act and the auditor general questioning the probity of the process, the lid could finally be coming off South Africa’s controversial R32-billion weapons procurement programme after a report in the Mail & Guardian last week (“Nepotism in R32bn arms deal”) showing irregularities in the awarding of contracts. Both […]
Philippa Garson The radical findings of the curriculum review committee, set up to investigate the workability of Curriculum 2005, signal the long-overdue arrival of some clarity and reason on the issue. The Department of Education has for years doggedly pushed ahead with the implementation of an essentially flawed and jargon-laden curriculum, despite cries of confusion […]
Connie Selebogo The youth development club in Moutse, Mpumalanga, has developed a new literacy campaign consisting of a computer project on maths and science called Computer Aided Maths Instructions (Cami). However, the project is stalled for a while for lack of computer equipment. A pilot Cami project has been implemented in one of the local […]
David Le Paige Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni and Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel seemed to be at odds with each other last weekend, making apparently contradictory pronouncements about inflation targeting. “I’m very serious and determined to make my mark in bringing inflation rates down. It’s absolutely critical,” said Mboweni. He said the inflation target […]