SOUTH Africa’s Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin on Wednesday denied he was considering applying for the vacant position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation. The trade body’s 134 members are deadlocked over whether to appoint former New Zealand premier Mike Moore or Thailand deputy premier Supachai Panitchpakdi, the two remaining candidates in line […]

Howard Barrell The row over the Financial Mail’s endorsement last week of the United Democratic Movement in the forthcoming election has brought into sharp relief the relationship between editorial independence and media ownership in South Africa. This week’s Financial Mail carries a lengthy rebuttal of the endorsement by one of the publication’s co-owners, former African […]

Howard Barrell Over a Barrel Could we be headed for an exceptionally high voter turnout in the elections in three weeks time? Until recently, there seems to have been a fairly general assumption that there would be a moderate to low turnout. Observers were suggesting that only about seven out of 10 of those of […]

Chris McGreal It is a surprisingly well-kept secret for Nigeria. Only a few army officers know for certain what is in the country’s new Constitution. Once passed into law, it will, in theory, end 15 years of rule by military decree. Even Nigeria’s president-elect, Olusegun Obasanjo, who takes office this month, has not been told […]

Review of the week Alex Dodd There’s this theory – a kind of conspiracy for chemically inspired dreamers. What would happen if some lateral guerrilla managed to put massive doses of Ecstasy in Johannesburg’s water supply. Would the murder and rape rates flatten out for one dizzy day? Would hijackers be disarmed by a strange […]

THE four-year ownership saga surrounding the beleaguered Rosh Pinah zinc mine will end on Thursday with the official launch of a new holding company for the mine. Today’s launch will also pave the way for the listing of the new company on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) before the end of the year. Rosh Pinah […]

THURSDAY, 1.15PM: DEVELOPING nations are expected to ask the World Trade Organisation for technical assistance in meeting their trade obligations, at the 50th anniversary of the organisation next week. President Nelson Mandela is joining United States President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, European Commission head Jacques Santer, and Switzerland’s Flavio Cotti, to celebrate […]

CABINET decisions on Wednesday included the approval of a notice exempting money-lending transactions up to R10000 from the provisions of the Usury Act, if they had a loan term of less than 36 months. This could be bad news for borrowers at the low end of the credit scale, who may face upnitive interest rates […]

Aids is now the main killer disease in Africa which is also the continent where malaria is most prevalent, according to UN agencies engaged in combatting disease. “Aids has been with us for just 20 years and it has already killed more people than any other infectious disease,” said Dr. Peter Piot, the executive director […]

On Monday the government’s security of tenure legislation will be put to the test in Ceres, the fruit-growing valley between the mountains known for its soft fruit and juice industries in the Western Cape. It’s the first time in the area that farm workers are fighting their eviction. Martha Goliath is sitting in a tiny […]