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 […]
Glenda Daniels The Johannesburg Bar, one of the city’s oldest institutions, is on the verge of moving its permanent headquarters to Sandton following a steady exodus of advocates from the city centre. A circular drafted by the Bar council is doing the rounds asking advocates to indicate whether they’re staying or leaving, with most lawyers […]
Nedlac is a statutory body that was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1995 for labour, business, government and community to reach consensus on issues related to socio- economic policy. Nedlac is funded by the Department of Labour and gets R6,7-million a year, about four times less than the Gender Commission and the […]
Barry Streek The government has saved R45- million in rationalising and reducing the use of energy in some government buildings in Pretoria and Cape Town, says Deputy Minister of Public Works Buyi Nzimande. In some buildings savings of more than 25% of energy costs had been achieved, she said in Parliament during the discussions of […]
PETER CUNLIFFE-JONES, Freetown | Friday 9.40am. GOVERNMENT forces in Sierra Leone have sent reinforcements to the strategic town of Lunsar, near Freetown, reclaimed earlier in the week by rebels, as fighting resumed ahead of a pull-out by 800 British troops. The rebel Revolutionary United Front lost control of Lunsar on Monday but regained the town […]