GAUTENG Democratic Party leader Peter Leon has resigned from his position as leader of the official opposition in Gauteng. He told a media briefing on Friday that he plans to increase his legal responsibilities as senior partner at the law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens. However he will remain a member of the legislature “for the […]

ANDY CAPOSTAGNO, Sun City | Saturday 6.00pm. ERNIE Els equalled the course record and all but ensured himself of the Million Dollar Challenge first prize with a display of breathtaking golf at Sun City. Els’ third round 64, eight under par, put him at 19 under par for the tournament, fully six strokes ahead of […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 2.00pm. WORLD rugby’s elite coaches gave line-outs the thumbs-up on Thursday but will continue the debate over scrummaging problems following the first day of an International Rugby Board conference on the playing of the game. Set pieces were the major topic scrutinised by a brains trust of national coaches including […]

MICHAEL FINCH, Durban | Saturday 6.00pm. CAPTAIN Nasser Hussain finally found some form with a half-century as England got in valuable match practice on the second day of their four-day tour game against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins on Saturday. England bowled the province side out for 310 just after lunch and then reached 163 for two […]

Peter Dickson The Eastern Cape legislature’s minority of women members have established the first women’s caucus in a provincial legislature, in a determined bid to tackle gender imbalances and influence government policy over the next five years. Eastern Cape legislature deputy speaker and former welfare MEC Mandisa Marasha commented on the new body that comprises […]

Barry Streek The number of regular farm workers in South Africa decreased by 2% a year over the past five financial years, but the number of seasonal workers increased slightly, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza has disclosed. She warned that there are difficulties in obtaining reliable statistics on farms, including commercial farms. […]

Stephen Bierley Tennis In a few days men’s professional tennis will officially and triumphantly announce, in an attempt to enter the next millennium with something approaching a bang, that it has re-invented itself. Its top nine tournaments will be re- branded as a cohesive unit and its end-of- season tournament re-titled, while the ranking system […]

A new villain, spectacular chases, suave as ever and heavily armed with double entendres – Bond is back, says Philip French Pierce Brosnan, the screen’s fifth 007, makes his third appearance as the playboy hero of the Western world in The World Is Not Enough. He was two years old when James Bond sprang from […]

CD of the week The Artist’s name was Prince, and he was funky. And then, due to a combination of legal problems and indiscriminate releases, he wasn’t. Since his dispute with former label WEA over the rights to album masters, his funkiness diminished even as his output increased. A new LP seemed to appear every […]

Howard Barrell and Barry Streek The decision by top government leaders at an all-day meeting in Pretoria on November 29 to accelerate privatisation of state- owned enterprises is of great political and economic importance, according to officials who were present. The meeting represented a commitment by the government to economic restructuring – whatever the potential […]