Marianne Merten The policeman’s traditional brandy and coke remains a widely acceptable way of combating stress and anxiety, as alcohol misuse is kept hush-hush in a service struggling to transform itself and deal with high levels of violent crime. “It seems to be a socially acceptable norm to drink in the police. It is part […]

bombings Ivor Powell New evidence of police involvement in Cape bombings has come to light in the questioning of police informer Deon Mostert by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD). Top police sources told the Mail & Guardian that Mostert has identified a Cape policeman, who he alleges was involved in planting bombs, as part of […]

DEPUTY Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad will lead a South African delegation to a council of ministers meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional CoOperation, his office said on Thursday. The two-day meeting is scheduled to start on Saturday in Muscat, Oman. The meeting aims to promote cooperation among states bordering on the Indian […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni South Africa’s largest vigilante group, Mapogo a Matamaga, is spreading its influence in and around suburbs of Pretoria and Johannesburg. Last year the group, which has become infamous for its sjambokking and brutal assaults of alleged criminals, formed branches in Alberton, Springs, Vereeniging, Hammanskraal, Centurion and Pretoria. Leaders of Mapogo claim […]

Neil Manthorp Cricket Identifying a defining moment in history becomes easier with every year that passes after that moment. Doing so at the time is an altogether different challenge. A much less precise science. But let’s try anyway. On Tuesday January 18 2000, the game of Test cricket was changed forever, for the better, by […]

CRIMINALS have their eyes on unsuspecting parents and teachers who might be walking around with substantial amounts of cash in the form of school fees. Police are warning principals to encourage parents to pay school fees into a bank account, because of a spate of school robberies in the Eastern Cape. There have been six […]

After narrowly escaping death by disco when a glitter ball fell on him during rehearsal, Boy George tells Libby Brooks why Boyzone’s Stephen Gately isn’t his type of queer But for those benign few inches, it would have been a pop demise to rival Mama Cass and her chicken sandwich. The fates, however, have clearly […]

stifling public voice Peter Dickson African National Congress legislators in the Eastern Cape have been crossing swords with one another over public hearings on the province’s embattled social welfare system. The hearings are due to take place on Monday, but the 46 venues where the hearings will take place will only be announced on Friday. […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 12.30pm. THE Volkswagen plant at Uitenhage ground to a halt on Thursday as workers went on strike protesting the suspension of a group of shop stewards by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa. The strike, affecting about 300 workers, took place after Numsa’s succesful application for a Labour […]