Bryan Rostron A SECOND LOOK ‘Those who stand in the middle of the road,” observed British socialist Aneurin Bevan, “get run over.” South Africa and Zimbabwe share the same lane on the great globalised highway of the 21st century: after driving on the left for many years, both Zanu-PF and the African National Congress opted […]

Andy Capostagno RUGBY A new Springbok squad with a new captain and a Super 12 dream final in the same week. It’s almost enough to make you forget that, once again, the lone South African team got eliminated in the semifinals. Almost enough to make you forget that, once again, South Africa’s Super 12 franchises […]

Barry Streek The government has underspent on its land reform and land restitution budgets by a whopping R1,4-billion over the past four financial years. This disclosure – given by Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza in Parliament this week – comes amid widespread concern that the government has been too conservative in applying […]

SASOL is to construct a R1-billion detergent alcohol plant at Secunda, according to the Business Report. Sasol said the plant, due to be commissioned in March 2002, will add considerable value to its fuel from coal operations and become a major export earner. It will have an annual capacity of 120000 tons. Output will go […]

MUSLIM rebels holding 21 mostly foreign hostages, including two South Africans, for more than a month on Friday cancelled the planned start of formal talks with Philippine government negotiators. Manila’s chief negotiator, Roberto Aventajado, said the guerrillas called off Friday’s talks because they have moved the hostages. He now expects the talks to start on […]

NICOLE MORDANT, Johannesburg | Friday 12.30pm. PRE-election turmoil in Zimbabwe continued to weigh on sub-Saharan Africa’s two biggest bourses this week, and analysts expect market confidence to remain shaky until beyond next month’s poll. Analysts said that against a backdrop of waning offshore interest in African markets, activity across the bourses will remain subdued and […]

Martina Hingis returns to the French Open next week desperate to atone for last year’s irrational performance Stephen Bierley Martina Hingis is still at a loss to explain exactly what happened and why. ”I think I lost my mind. There was so much pressure and I really wanted to beat her and win the title.” […]

Mandy Collins Ensuring that your children will have the best possible education is no longer a simple matter. While many state schools continue to provide an excellent grounding, it cannot be guaranteed that one of these schools will be near you. Nor is financial preparation for such contingencies necessarily a simple matter. A little hard […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Windhoek | Friday 11.00am. ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe has urged landless Namibians to follow his country’s example and forcibly reclaim their land if white farmers refuse to share it. ”If the other neighbouring countries have problems similar to the ones we have encountered, why not apply the same solution as Zimbabwe. It is […]

THE government is to spend about R100-million over the next 10 to 15 years to clean up abandoned asbestos mines and dumps in the Northern Province, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, according to the Business Report. R45-million has already been spent over the past 13 years rehabilitating the dumps and mines. The budget this year is […]