Fiona Macleod Mpumalanga province declared its first internationally protected wetlands on World Wetlands Day on Wednesday. The Verloren Vallei Nature Reserve, 10km north of Dullstroom, is the province’s first proposed Ramsar site. This means it will be recognised internationally as a wetland system of importance, and will be protected against degradation and development. “We started […]

Andy CapostagnoGolf The local golf tour winds down this week with the Stenham Swazi Open, an amalgam of amateur and professional golf which, rather confusingly, will be held at the Wild Coast Sun, some 700km from Swaziland. The reason for the venue switch is that bane of greenkeepers’ lives, fungus. The greens at the Royal […]

Donna Block SHARE WORLD There are days when I really miss the action on Wall Street, the rush that comes with the execution of a great trade and the hustle and bustle of trying to stay ahead of the market. Then, of course, there are the days when the wild volatility that is characteristic of […]

>From films to soundtracks to piano recitals, Ryuichi Sakamoto has fingers in all sorts of pies – and every one of them seems to taste delicious. Except Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, writes Michael Quinn Pop star, actor, classical musician, opera composer, world music pioneer, techno innovator, Academy Award winner and, yes, mustn’t forget, fashion model […]

CONNIE SELEBOGO, Johannesburg | Thursday 5.00pm. TEMPERS reached boiling point at a news conference in Johannesburg when South African under-23 soccer coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba reacted angrily to what he took to be accusations that the team is being mis-managed. Mashaba openly lashed out at South African Football Association CEO Raymond Hack when he answered […]

Charlene Smith The working class know how to breakfast – no queuing at fashionable restaurants with two hours’ worth of make-up layered on your face, eternally swivelling eyes to check out who’s with who and 60 bucks for muesli and a delicate fan of strawberry. The working class have breakfast when the blood still hasn’t […]

Thousands of crooked police officers escape dismissal from the South African Police Service due to a loophole in police disciplinary measures. Paul Kirk reports Some of South Africa’s most notoriously crooked police members are escaping censure and staying on full pay as they exploit a loophole in the disciplinary regulations of the South African Police […]

Fiona Macleod Controversial wildlife dealer Riccardo Ghiazza was arrested this week on charges of fraud and falsely obtaining South African citizenship. Ghiazza (46), the man at the centre of the Tuli elephant furore, appeared briefly in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for allegedly failing to declare he had a drug conviction in Italy when […]

Rupert Neethling “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.” – The Borg, Star Trek: The Next Generation South Africans who want an Internet dial-up account or who wish to switch to a different Internet service provider (ISP) are discovering that as far as the major ISPs are concerned, they have few choices. Six months ago, […]

Peter Dickson A week after the government unveiled its controversial National Aids Council (NAC), Aids activists around South Africa have united online to form an alternative watchdog body, the Shadow National Aids Council (SNAC). “Every move, statement and omission will be monitored by SNAC,” outspoken Eastern Cape health official Dr Costa Gazi announced this week, […]