ITALIAN Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said in Cairo Wednesday that the first Euro-African summit will be a chance for his country to look into alleviating the debts of Africa’s poorest countries. However, “executive decisions (on debt cancellation) are not on the agenda of the summit,” scheduled for April 3-4 in Cairo, he said. Dini said […]

South African soccer is trying to clean up its image just weeks before a delegation from world governing body Fifa arrives to assess South Africa’s bid to host the 2006 World Cup Evidence wa ka Ngobeni, Jubie Matlou and Connie Selebogo South African soccer is set for a major shake-up as the government moves to […]

Rhoda Kadalie A SECOND LOOK I call on the editors of the selected media to defy the subpoenas served on them by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) en bloc. By appearing before the HRC, they will give credence to a discredited organisation that has failed to carry out its mandate effectively since its inception in […]

Gavin Foster MOTOCROSS Two KwaZulu-Natal teenagers have swapped the calmness of the classroom for the hurly-burly of world championship motocross racing. Grant Langston (17) goes into his third year of grand prix (GP) competition with a very good chance of winning fame and fortune, while 15- year-old Jarrett de Jager leaves for Europe next week […]

Residents of a remote rural area hope a state-of-the-art school will be the first step in the region’s developent Barry Streek The construction of a R3,7-million high school, donated by Shell at the request of former president Nelson Mandela, in an area that could not even be reached by car this week – unless it’s […]

Peter Dickson The Eastern Cape provincial government has announced plans to close 700 of the province’s farm schools just days after its education MEC promised the Human Rights Commission (HRC) he would bail out the schools with a R14-million subsidy. Premier Makhenkesi Stofile told last Thursday’s opening of the provincial legislature that the farm schools, […]

South Africa’s free antenatal care is delivering – literally Khadija Magardie It’s 4.15pm in the labour ward at Johannesburg hospital, fondly known as “the Gen”, and staff have just delivered their eighth baby for the day. At the front desk, midwife sister Pretty Dubazana is talking to a patient. Her shift should have ended in […]

A critic gets paid $10E000 a day to tell designers not to be too clever Jack Schofield For only $10E000 a day, usability expert Jakob Nielsen will tell you why your website is rubbish. Surprisingly, what you get for the money isn’t a high-powered marketing executive, or even an expert in Web programming. He’s just […]

Ivor Powell The Pretoria High Court will next week consider a case that could result in the removal of Judge Willem Heath from his embattled special investigating unit and the reversal of all the unit’s state asset retrievals. This could mean that the state would have to return the millions of rand it has reclaimed […]

Thebe Mabanga Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe is a man clearly peaking in his career as a dancer and choreographer. The 28-year-old associate artistic director of Moving into Dance exudes an air of quiet confidence that belies his stature as one of South Africa’s leading dance practitioners. He has come a long way from his Diepkloof upbringing […]