Joan Smith:BODY LANGUAGE Spinster, old maid, maiden aunt: the single woman has never had a good press. Whether she is perceived to be in search of a man, or too late to find one, the single woman’s state has long been regarded as a misfortune or a threat. Yet any woman who has been single […]
Samu Zulu Zimbabwean women have no rights in their country and should be considered virtual sex slaves. That is the effect of two recent court rulings. Last month the Zimbabwe Supreme Court ruled unanimously that “the nature of African society” dictated that women are not equal to men. According to cultural norms, the court said, […]
Howard Barrell:OVER A BARREL I see I am not alone in considering democracy an inconvenience. The president of the African National Congress, Thabo Mbeki, and a few of his allies at the top of the organisation find it so, too. For there they are concluding that the good members of the ANC in the Free […]
Charlene Smith talks to a teen rape victim who is battling to rebuild her life Alexandra smiles and clasps her fine-boned hands tightly. “This week is a very bad one, things are building up, I argued with my principal, I feel as though I’m not matching up, my hockey is not my best, I’m getting […]
South Africa’s gold producers are pooh- poohing the effects of the IMF’s proposed gold sale, but such a sale would set a dangerous precedent. Donna Block reports The proposed sale of 10% of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF)gold reserves to fund debt relief for poor developing countries is by no means a foregone conclusion. In […]
The David Gleason Column The recent furore over the attempt by four New Africa Investments Limited executive directors to enrich themselves to the tune of R136-million is simply the last in what’s become a long line of bad news. So what’s really happening in the unofficial black economic empowerment programme and why does so much […]
Cameron Duodu:LETTER FROM THE NORTH The Kosovo crisis continues to cause great human suffering. But apart from the human casualties caused by Nato’s saturation bombing of Yugoslavia, there is another seriously injured party. Its name is the United Nations. The countries which are bombing Yugoslavia were almost all involved in drawing up the UN Charter […]
THE Receiver of Revenue’s employees will, subject to approval of the Auditor General, be given almost six months (48%) salary as a bonus this year, as a reward for their success in collecting tax for the treasury. Christo Henning, national spokesperson of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), said on Tuesday that the AG is […]
plastic surgeon The November 20 to 26 edition of the Mail & Guardian carried a column by Angella Johnson headlined “An about-face on plastic surgery”. Plastic surgeon Dr Siegmund Johannes, who was featured in the article, laid a complaint with the Press Ombudsman, Ed Linington. This is his judgment. Angella Johnson, who writes a column […]
CD of the week Caroline Sullivan Until Catatonia came along – or until their breakthrough second album, International Velvet, did – few realised British rock had a niche shaped just like them. Now that they’ve filled it, the question seems obvious: how did pop get by without a Cerys Matthews? Catatonia’s singer and co-lyricist is […]