Andy Colquhoun Rugby Let us pause before the dogs of war are loosed at Twickenham on Saturday to consider the game’s most important personality. A person who won’t even be on the field. If South Africa were to miss out on their bid for a rare Grand Slam – and for all the bullish talk […]

answered Jann Turner Friday: After a month, I have a whole day off. I’m ready for a day paying off bills. I’m feeling strong, so I start with the post office. Eventually I get to the service-with-a-scowl teller and I pay my phone bill. I’m two-and-a-half weeks late, but hell, that’s not long – is […]

Etienne van Heerden’s most recent novel has been translated into English. He spoke to Shaun de Waal With the translation, one by one, of Etienne van Heerden’s novels (and a volume of stories) into English, his status as a major South African writer is becoming clearer to a larger audience. His multi-prize-winning Toorberg, translated as […]

Cameron Duodu: LETTER FROM THE NORTH Reader, if you missed last week’s “penalty shoot-out” in, of all places, the red-leather sumptuousness of Britain’s ancient House of Lords – where the Law Lords decided by a three to two majority that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has no “immunity” and must be sent to Spain to […]

The CSIR has developed a unique system to prevent prison escapes, reports David Shapshak An innovative, low-cost motion detector system could be the solution to preventing the hundreds of escapes each year from police cells, say the police and its developers, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The new system consists of two […]

When structuring a salary package, negotiate on your net salary, writes Belinda Beresford It’s great getting a new job. But just because you and your employer have signed your sides of the contract, things may not be quite as straightforward as they seem. One cloud about to rain on your parade could be the taxman. […]

Friday night: Nashen Moodley Being a Durbanite recently arrived in Johannesburg somehow necessitates being constantly regaled with tales of malicious muggings and wanton violence. The locals seem to take to this (supposedly educative) task with much glee and I was told, quite matter-of- factly, that I would be attacked before the weekend was out. The […]

us) Douglas Rushkoff: ONLINE As millions in America sat down to their Thanksgiving turkey dinners last week, we celebrated a shamelessly mythologised reconstruction of our continent’s history. According to the well-ingrained but now-disputed legend, the pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving was communal in spirit, a demonstration of the debt they owed the native Americans who taught them […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Police in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, including Alexandra, may have found the right ointment for their Achilles heel – carjacking. The men in blue have cut by half hijacking incidents in the past three months with an innovative crime- fighting initiative. The new plan circumvents the usual excuses about lack of manpower and resources. […]

Loose cannon: Robert Kirby Following a hot tip-off, last week I wangled permission to visit the maximum security dungeon of a well-known South African prison. I went there to interview a leading activist in jail factions, a man currently serving 243 years for a variety of hideous outrages, particularly against several octogenarian blind nuns in […]