Emeka Nwandiko Black employees at Gauteng’s Department of Finance have rallied around a white colleague who was dismissed for making a racist remark, saying her sacking was “apartheid in reverse”. Bets Enslin was dismissed last Friday after she was brought before a disciplinary tribunal for an incident last December. It is alleged that Enslin jokingly […]

When I first walk into the Association for Visual Arts, primed to review Medina Morphet’s exhibition of abstract art, it’s disconcerting to first encounter the illustrative drawings of Bongi Bengu. There also seem to be two distinct crowds here tonight, a relatively bourgeois, middle class crowd who are attracted to Bengu’s narrative depiction, and a […]

Howard Barrell The praise heaped on Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel for his budget by the African National Congress and its alliance partners relied upon the government’s determination to delay until after the election a number of politically awkward economic decisions it knows it must take soon. The South African Communist Party and the Congress […]

Wonder Hlongwa The family of Muzikayifani Zingubo say he was repairing the door of his shack when the commandos of Weenen, KwaZulu-Natal, arrived at the squatter camp. Assigned by the farming community to provide security, the armed commandos accused 49-year- old Zingubo of shooting dead Aleta Vanenberg and wounding her husband, Piet, on their Weenen […]

Eliminating unfair discrimination and making class distinctions a punishable offence is the aim of new legislation. Charlene Smith reports Capitalism will stand in the dock if new equality legislation to be presented to Minister of Justice Dullah Omar becomes law. In terms of the Prevention and Prohibition of Unfair Discrimination Bill, the “market economy” which […]

Studies show that forcing children to use computers is creating techno-anxiety and impairing the learning process. Louise MacLeod reports There may be a huge vault of health information on the Internet, but how healthy is using the technology itself? Researchers in the United States have recently reported that people who spend even a few hours […]

Emeka Nwandiko Pape Diaby has a dream – that someday Africa will have a tennis academy that will produce some of the best players in the world. In Meadowlands, Soweto, under the blazing midday sun, the general manager of the Confederation of African Tennis is coaching 75 pre-schoolers from the suburb. As a labourer wearing […]

BRITAIN, Norway, Mali and Togo have offered to host peace talks between rebels and the government in Sierra Leone where fighting this year has claimed up to 5000 lives. Widespread atrocities such as crude amputations and immolation have been attributed to the rebels.Britain, Sierra Leone’s former colonial power, has said the two sides could use […]

Ferial Haffajee Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel again displayed his linguistic dexterity this week. It has become a Trevor trademark to deliver bits of the annual budget in at least three languages. His fluent Xhosa brought the house down and the minister clearly loved playing to the gallery. In his three years in office Manuel […]

The DP has accused Gauteng MEC Jabu Moleketi of bribery. Charlene Smith writes that he is a great administrator, setting an example for other provinces While most provincial governments have struggled to manage their budgets, Gauteng has quietly but efficiently managed to cut back debt and increase revenue, in an environment where provinces have virtually […]