sting Heather Hogan Juan Uys, leader of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, was arrested by the child protection unit (CPU) in Pretoria last week after a man made a statement claiming Uys was dealing in child pornography and prostituting under-aged boys. Uys registered as a candidate in 1999 election but failed to pay the registration […]

Stefaans Brmmer South African and Italian police documents in the Mail &Guardian’s possession reveal shocking details of “mafia kingpin” Vito Palazzolo’s chequered career. Palazzolo, arrested last week for “lying” in his 1994 South African citizenship application, has been branded one of seven top Sicilian mafia leaders worldwide by the United States FBI. He is wanted […]

courts be merged? SERGEANT AT THE BAR This column raised the issue of relationship between the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal during the watch of Dullah Omar over the Ministry of Justice. Now, as appeared from a report in last week’s Mail & Guardian, the new minister, Penuell Maduna is treating the […]

still warm Neil Manthorp Cricket In ancient Muslim culture a man was required to marry his brother’s widow, in the event of his death, of course, within a month. Not much time for grieving, let alone getting to know each other. To those outside the culture, the practice might even seem a little crude. There […]

Ann Eveleth Minister of Education Kader Asmal is considering expanding his planned national literacy campaign to include a focus on the lack of reading by South Africans – and plans to ask Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel for more money for learning support materials. Asmal’s adviser, Allan Taylor, told a reading sector meeting this week […]

EDITOR of the Durban-based Daily News Kaizer Nyatsumba is suing a security company for R1-million after security guards allegedy assaulted him at Gauteng’s Eastgate shopping centre on Thursday. The guards who work for Baron Security apparently accused Nyatsumba of stealing an old Ford and abandoning it in the parking area. The guards allegedly tried to […]

Bob Woolmer FROM THE PAVILION Mark Boucher’s recent world record batting as a night watchman for South Africa in Zimbabwe last weekend got me thinking. Well done Mark, here was a man taking his opportunity. It was an opportunity granted by the state of the game and by a captain and or coach who decided […]

As the euro reaches its first birthday, it’s clear it has freed European capital to move smart and fast, writes Giles Keating For its detractors, the creation of the euro was the forced linkage of disparate economies, storing up trouble ahead. For its proponents, it was just one building block in a broader reconstruction of […]

David Gough in Nairobi Sweeping a stray dreadlock under his cap, Nyaga wa Muhika sprinkled the herbs on the red-hot metal plate and placed a funnel over it to catch the smoke. The patient pressed his mouth against the nozzle and inhaled as many deep breaths of the acrid smoke as he could bear. When […]