THE last of the British tourists injured in the September 27 coach accident on the Long Tom Pass in Mpumalanga was discharged from a Nelspruit hospital on Thursday. Medi-Clinic spokeswoman Elsabee Coetzee confirmed that tour manager Carole Sandover, who is still in a coma, was airlifted from the hospital to Johannesburg by air ambulance on […]

Public works programmes in the Western Cape have proved to be an effective method of poverty relief, reports Barry Streek Public works programmes in the Western Cape have, in general, been successful and more cost-effective in transferring benefits to the poor using direct cash grants. Researchers at the University of Cape Town’s Southern African labour […]

in court Marianne Merten Despite seven successful asset and cash forfeitures across the country recently, the asset forfeiture unit will be in court next Monday to defend its seizure of the homes, businesses, luxury cars, jewellery and cash of alleged Cape Town drug dealer Gavin Carolus. Last week, it seized a Cape Flats tavern operated […]

Dylan Evans ALMOST LIKE A WHALE: THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES UPDATED by Steve Jones (Doubleday) Steve Jones, the lovable professor of genetics at University College, London, has re-written On the Origin of Species. His new book, Almost Like a Whale, has the same format as Darwin’s great work, right down to the chapter titles and […]

Peace moves by international groups are unlikely to save the Congo ceasefire, writes Ivor Powell The international community finally moved this week to shore up the ceasefire agreements among belligerents in the Democratic Republic of Congo – but the action will almost certainly prove far too little and pathetically late. With the Lusaka ceasefire agreement […]

NETWATCH For a taste of network-based applications, go to www.desktop. com, an innovative “graphical Webtop” that lets you launch applications and install links to your favourite websites. Tools include a file manager, a text editor (Deskpad), a to-do list and a calculator. If your name is Scott McNealy (boss of Sun Microsystems, who advocates this […]

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 […]

LOCAL surfer Heather Clark from Port Shepstone has qualified for the 2000 Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT), making her the only South African woman to reach the top echelon of international surfing since Wendy Botha in 1987. Although Clark failed to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Qualifying Series (WQS) Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, […]

out on racism Marianne Merten A Cape soldier is being court-martialled this week on charges dating back to events three years ago when he and a colleague spoke out about racism in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Staff Sergeant Herman Pheiffer is charged with four counts of being absent without leave (Awol) between […]

David Robbins At the last annual general meeting of the South African Universities Vice- Chancellors’ Association (Sauvca), outgoing chair Dr Mamphela Ramphele declared that the various transformations within the association added up to “an amazing achievement”. Ramphele also remarked that CEO Piyushi Kotecha, a driving force behind much of the transformation processes, had inherited a […]