Barry Streek The HIV/Aids epidemic which has so far infected five million South Africans – about 11,1% of the entire population – has serious economic dangers as it would in future decrease labour productivity while increasing unit labour costs, the Department of Finance has warned. “The economic and social impact of HIV/Aids is hard to […]

Michelle Matthews If you’re reading this on Friday morning, call in sick, grab your sunscreen and a sleeping bag, and get down to the Breede River for a weekend of music and wallowing. The Savanna Up the Creek Music Festival will give you three days of hot bands, warm cider and chilled vibes. Tan, splash, […]

Hazel Southam In a British survey last year, almost one million children claimed to have been “upset” by something they had found on the Internet. Forty per cent said that they had found something “rude”. Another poll showed that 56% of British Internet users are concerned about pornography and 75% will not let their children […]

David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY It was at 6.30am that Barney awoke, to the cock-o-doodle-doo of a hahdedah playing silly-buggers in the garden. He stifled the impulse to hurl the Tea’sMade out the window. To cure him of the habit Leonora the maid had attached a rubber band. The last time he had done himself a […]

Scotch Tagwireyi and Heather Hogan The University of the Orange Free State (UOFS) has reintroduced apartheid-style rules in its male residences, by endorsing student demands to divide them according to race. The extraordinary decision followed several incidents of violence on campus, which were attributed to racial tensions between students. The problems mostly occurred in under-graduate […]

Donna Block SHAREWORLD I remember my first year at University and my first class, Finance 101. The professor, a wizened old curmudgeon, told us that if we learned nothing else in his class, rule one about finance was that the stock market was a crap-shoot. “You place your bets and you take your chances.” He […]

CONTROVERSY over the radical revamp of New Africa Investments Limited took a new twist on Wednesday when co-founder Jonty Sandler denounced the group’s planned restructuring. In a full page advertisement in South Africa’s leading business daily, Sandler said the unbundling of Nail, which has been held up as a model of black advancement, will undermine […]

Budget 2000 has something for everyone: Tax cuts for the hard-working populace, incentives for job creation, a boost for our credit rating – and fiscal discipline for state departments Belinda Beresford Trevor Manuel walked to his budget briefing with a huge smile on his face, secure in the knowledge that he was about to become […]

Jean Spear It seems trendy to criticise backpackers and their guidebooks these days. With the proliferation of mostly generic guides on the market that cater for the backpacker crowd and an established backpacker circuit, travelling is no longer reserved for the elite. But is it such a bad thing? Sure, it is amusing that guidebooks […]

State More than half-a-million rand has failed to find its way to the country’s controlling body of professional golf Michael Vlismas GOLF The Southern Africa Tour instituted court action against the Free State’s provincial government this week in an attempt to recover more than half-a- million rand it believes it is owed. Somewhere between Cape […]