Park Sechaba ka’Nkosi The government’s land reform programme may be challenged in the Constitutional Court by two Northern Province clans. The Mhinga Traditional Authority, acting on behalf of the Maluleke and Vanwanati clans, cannot reclaim lost land under the Restitution of Land Rights Act because they were dispossesed before 1913. The Act confines claims to […]

AN Wilson FAYED: THE UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY by Tom Bower (Macmillan) One of the most richly enjoyable incidents in this extraordinary story occurs in September 1964. Papa Doc, the Haitian tyrant, has engaged a young but illustrious Kuwaiti sheikh to rebuild the harbour in Port-au-Prince. The sheikh tries to persuade some British oil experts that there […]

THE DAVID GLEASON COLUMN My word, some bunk has been written in recent weeks about the so-called sins of insider trading, ever since the new Act (no 135 of 1998) became effective – and by commentators who should know better. It seems everyone is in agreement with the general premise that once the phrase “insider […]

THE United Democratic Movement in Gauteng on Thursday called on all political parties to sign a pre-election peace pact. At a service in Johannesburg for slain UDM KwaZulu-Natal midlands leader Sifiso Nkabinde, Gauteng UDM leader Lulama Mshumpela said: “In order to have a violence-free election in this province I call on all political parties to […]

of UDM official Chiara Carter United Democratic Movement official Michael Matiyase was gunned down in a Cape Town transit camp on Sunday against a backdrop of intrigue about the allocation of housing sites. The bitter animosity between two rival organisations at the Samora Machel camp is yet another chapter in the long history of Byzantine […]

Cameron Duodu:LETTER FROM THE NORTH Nigeria is a country that never ceases to amaze me. Only seven months ago, there was so much tension in the country it could be cut with a knife. General Sani Abacha was still alive and all was on course to transform him from a military dictator to an “elected” […]

Review of the week: Brenda Atkinson The Goodman Gallery’s new year triple billing is headed by Mimmo Paladino’s Carte Siciliane, a set of 12 new works etched on handmade paper. Paladino first came to the attention of Europe’s artworld in the late Seventies with a series of drawings, after which he moved on to painting […]

Motel Jonathan Romney There have been a few changes round the homestead. There’s a new neon sign out front, and the poky old fruit cellar has been refurbished as a place where you could get down to some serious taxidermy. They’ve even replaced the shower curtain in Cabin 1. Otherwise, life is much as it […]

Two weeks ago, having served an 18- month ban for biting a lump out of Evander Holyfield’s ear, Mike Tyson won his comeback fight with a single blow that shattered the hopes of all `right- thinking’ boxing fans. But whatever his crimes, and however unbalanced he may be, there are those who feel he is […]

Stephen Bierley Tennis The last thing Anna Kournikova, the Madonna of the world’s tennis courts, ever seemed likely to suffer from was a crisis of confidence. The 17-year-old Muscovite, who when not on the road lives most of her high- dollar life in the sunshine state of Florida, has been the epitome of audacity and […]