Raymond Parsons The highways of economic policy matter greatly, especially for a developing country like South Africa. So it is right that stakeholders and analysts have been lavish in their praise of the president’s review of successes in the economic field and of his government’s objectives regarding the future of its economic programmes. These have […]

Paul Kirk The owner of The Ranch this week claimed that top policemen had frequented his establishment for free sex before last week’s raid on Johannesburg’s premier high- class brothel. The Ranch’s owner, Andrew Phillips, who has been released on R10E000 bail, said that in addition to using the facilities for free, senior officers struck […]

Ivor Powell and Heather Hogan It is all systems go for apocalypse now according to the Seventh Day Adventist Church as it surveys the devastation of upcountry floods and, before them, the coastal fires that ravaged South Africa. “There is great truth in these things. We are living in prophetic times,” church representative Eddie Harris […]

David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY One day, no doubt, my grandson will ask me: “Where were you when Nelson Mandela was released?” I will reply: “I was there, my boy! I was there.” And he will say: “Don’t cry, grandpa. He did live an awfully long time!” “It’s not that,” I will say, irritably brushing away […]

Dan Atkinson and John Cassy SHARE WORLD The Internet’s huge, hyperactive gossip and rumour machine looks almost certain to come under scrutiny from the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) amid rising concern about its power to move share prices and even to distort markets. Scams such as “pumping and dumping” – in which Internet noticeboards […]

SATURDAY’S triangular one-day series final betweeen South African and England has been moved back a day to Sunday, with Monday as the reserve day, after week long rains in Johannesburg. Both captains agreed that the rain-sogged Wanderers grounds would not be ready for the scheduled Saturday match. England are in the final after Wednesday’s match […]

Being the kind of person who doesn’t walk under ladders with a whole stack of ease, I’ve got a big problem with the outcomes- based extremity of chain letters. To me they’re generally just an unwanted dose of bad ju-ju. By deleting or ripping the thing into tiny shreds on receipt, I always preclude myself […]

Jubie Matlou If the newly built Rockey Street Market in Yeoville is anything to go by, then the face of informal and street trading is set to undergo an unprecedented fundamental change. Informal and street trading in Johannesburg has a rich history that is interlinked with the country’s migratory labour system just before the turn […]

Neil Manthorp Cricket Will out-of-form Hansie Cronje drop himself for tomorrow’s final of the Standard Bank triangular series? The answer, of course, is no. The captain might be struggling badly with the bat but he will as surely lead his team out at the Wanderers on Saturday as the sun will come up. Mind you, […]

Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW Our politics now is a little like a Hollywood western; if you want to be taken seriously, you have to talk tough. The most obvious examples are Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete and his colleague in education, Kader Asmal. Tshwete is given to denouncing criminals and human rights […]