Barry Streek The Minister of Education, Kader Asmal, has lodged a formal complaint with the Public Protector, Selby Baqwa, about endemic inertia in the government and suggested “massive tutoring” of state officials to make them more efficient. “Generally, my feeling is that there is a pervasive culture of delay in the government, largely inherited from […]

FOURTEEN people were killed and 11 were injured when a lorry packed with people and produce plunged off a bridge into a river near Calulo in Angola’s Cuanza-Sul province, LUSA news agency reported on Thursday. Most of the casualties in the Luime river accident were travelling traders on their way to the town of Dondo […]

Stefaans Brmmer The Mmakau villagers first knew there was trouble 18 months ago when the baboons came down from the hills. Little could they have known that the primates were harbingers of a saga that would split the community and draw in controversial granite magnate Fred Keeley, relatives of Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe […]

Web Watch At www.dogdoo.com you can send, anonymously of course, a box of dog turds to your worst enemy. It’s worth visiting just to read the thank-you letters and recommendations. Fan clubs, theatre troupes, football teams and similar groups can get organised on the Web using the free service at www.SmartGroups.com. Features include a message […]

flashpoints Jubie Matlou A: Eastern Cape/KZN cross-border district council Resistance to the demarcation border proposal has triggered some of the bloodiest conflicts since the 1960 Pondo peasant revolt. At least seven people have been killed in the Lusikisiki area, alongside the provincial border with KwaZulu-Natal. The cross-border proposal seeks to bring together the Eastern Cape […]

Jubie Matlou Who are … Tumi Makgabo, Charles Mogale and Jeremy Maggs? For a woman who earns her living by talking, current affairs presenter Tumi Makgabo was surprisingly cagey about her prospects of joining Ted Turner’s Cable News Network (CNN). For Makgabo (25), Atlanta beckons with not just the promise of life captured by Coca- […]

The ordinary citizen will soon have the right of access to information held by public or private bodies, writes Barry Streek A massive breakthrough for human rights and accountability to the public was achieved in Parliament this week with the adoption of four Bills, which in terms of the Constitution must be signed by President […]

The ever shifting sands of the Namib desert have provided infinite inspiration for a Swiss photographer, writes Valentine Cascarino Eboh In the Namib desert there are forces constantly at war, some of them constructive and others destructive. The more dominant ones have the capability to change the nature of the place, transforming it randomly into […]

THE cash-strapped government of Lesotho on Wednesday finalised the sale of 80% of its government vehicle pool to a South African company in the kingdom’s latest privatisation venture. The government’s R80-million deal with Imperial Fleet Services was signed in the kingdom’s capital Maseru. The sale includes the transfer of about 1200 vehicles which will now […]

Andrew Muchineripi Soccer The first round of the African Cup of Nations delivered 21 goals, seven enjoyable matches, more highs and lows than normally found on a weather chart, and further proof that the only certainty in football is uncertainty. Ghana and Cameroon set a lively pace in the opening match and it has barely […]