Anew Viking anthology commemorates Nadine Gordimer’s 75th birthday. She spoke to Peter Godwin With the tentative tread of the dancer she once wanted to be, Nadine Gordimer steps noiselessly down the stairs from her afternoon nap. Dressed in black, she sits, taut as a sparrow, elbows on knees, chin on fists. She is quick to […]

teacher Swapna Prabhakaran Durban maths teacher Busi Mzimela is paid her salary every month, despite the fact that she has not set foot inside a classroom for more than 18 months. Mzimela says she stopped teaching last April after a disagreement about her post at Ntwenhle High School. With several degrees behind her name, Mzimela […]

Despite the pretty lights and bells, there’ll be little Christmas cheer and ho ho ho-ing in the retail sector this year, writes Ferial Haffajee At Edgars, Christmas comes in July. The manager of the city store in Johannesburg begins planning for the summer high season in mid-winter. “The atmosphere, the look, the gift- wrapping corners. […]

The David Gleason Column The great conundrum for all South Africans as the year winds down is what will happen to interest rates and why are they still so incredibly high. Before May this year, international investors saw South Africa as one of the more reliable and stable of the emerging markets. They invested heavily, […]

Andy Capostagno Golf The finest tribute that anyone could hand to the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge is that since South Africa emerged from international isolation, it has got better. That is no small feat. Consider the crowds who used to flock to Newlands for the traditional festive season Currie Cup cricket match between Western Province […]

`snub’ Mungo Soggot The Bar and the Bench were awash with speculation this week that Judge John Myburgh is to resign as president of the Labour Court and quit the judiciary after being snubbed for promotion by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). It is understood that Judge Myburgh, one of South Africa’s most respected judges, […]

Mail & Guardian reporters The South African Police Service (SAPS) has 1 500 policemen on its staff who were convicted of criminal offences in the past 17 months. More than 50 serving policemen have been convicted of assault in the first half of this year. And the SAPS believes attempted sodomy by one of its […]

Jardine Howard Barrell There is growing concern in government circles over the extraordinary public attack this week by the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Lionel Mtshali, on his Director General, Roger Jardine, who recently announced his resignation. In a statement from abroad on Wednesday, where he is on a visit, Mtshali implied that […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 7.15pm. COURTNEY WALSH swept past Malcolm Marshall’s record for most Test wickets by a West Indian when he produced a superb display of fast bowling on the second day of the first Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Friday. Walsh took four for 48 as South Africa reached 217/6 […]

Former Zimbabwean president Canaan Banana skipped bail and fled to Botswana, days before the Harare High Court found him guilty on 11 sex charges. Banana was found guilty in absentia on Thursday on two charges of sodomy, seven of indecent assault and two of committing unnatural acts. Sentencing will take place on December 10, and […]