Fraud and corruption are widespread in the local medical industry, involving doctors, medical administrators and pharmaceutical companies Belinda Beresford South Africans are paying an estimated extra R8-billion a year in medical costs because of fraud, corruption and perverse incentives spread throughout the country’s Alice in Wonderland health care system. The private sector spends approximately R30-billion […]

SOUTH African Monique Strydom, held by Muslim rebels in the Philippines for more than two weeks along with 20 other people, is pregnant, according to a Filipino abducted by the same group. Strydom, whose husband Carel is also being held by members of the Abu Sayyaf group, is two months pregnant, the Filipino hostage, Andy […]

spiritual Martin Thorpe Football may be a religion but it does not appeal to the pope in its present incarnation. God’s assistant manager has laid down the law to some of the European game’s movers and shakers about the dangers of Mammon. During a 45-minute audience with a high- powered Uefa delegation at the Vatican […]

Peter Dickson Port Elizabeth, gateway to one of South Africa’s most impoverished regions, is gearing up for an economic miracle that could ironically put immense pressure on the city as the homeless and jobless compete for living space. A decade ago 30 000 people poured into Saldanha and set up informal settlements, built on the […]

GHANAIAN mining company Ashanti Goldfields has reported a 68% fall in first quarter profits on Thursday, reflecting a lower realised gold price than a year ago.Earnings fell to $6,9-million, or six cents a share, from $21,5-million, or 20 cents, a year earlier as the average gold price obtained by the firm slid to $345 an […]

Jane Martinson AUnited States judge has dealt a blow to Napster by ruling that the upstart song- swapping company should stand trial for alleged copyright infringement. If found liable, the firm, which employs only 18 people, could be liable for millions of dollars in damages. The decision against Napster, in a case brought by the […]

Donna Block The rand was slaughtered this week as local investors fled the markets amid fears that the political and economic chaos playing itself out in Zimbabwe will spread into South Africa. The currency started to recover on Wednesday when President Thabo Mbeki, taking questions from MPs in Parliament, promised that the government would make […]

Jubie Matlou Moutse Community Radio is a station in transition. Serving the sprawling rural villages of Dennilton in Mpumalanga, it started out as the modest operation of a group of rural women, but has become a political football as others jostle for a share in its success. The station, ordered to broaden its appeal, has […]

Chris McGreal in Jui The pretence of peace dissolved in Sierra Leone this week as Foday Sankoh’s rebels fought their way to within 40km of Freetown and advanced along the main road into the capital. The assault sent United Nations peacekeepers fleeing again, with thousands of refugees. But the government’s newly rearmed forces claimed to […]