In the third report of his series on transformation, John Matisonn examines changes in the media after 1990 In the SABC’s radio archive, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s first speech on his return to Russia in 1917 survived 46 years of apartheid censorship. Lenin’s speech was still in the files in February 1994 when, after the SABC’s […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The rector of Technikon South Africa (TSA), Adriaan Buitendacht, is paid an annual salary of nearly R1-million. And he is scheduled to get a salary increase next year. Discontent is running high among workers, labour unions and senior staff at TSA about the “purported extravagant” salaries paid to top management, especially […]

Ann Eveleth A white Hartebeespoort landowner staged a hunger strike this week to force the conservative local council to kick-start low-cost housing for about 50 000 black residents of this picturesque getaway outside Pretoria. Broederstroom smallholder Roger Roman launched his lone hunger strike and sit- in in front of the Hartebeespoort council offices on Wednesday. […]

go’ Chiara Carter A damning report on the conflict-ridden University of the Transkei (Unitra) recommends that its principal, Alfred Moleah, take early retirement and the university’s finances be investigated. The report by independent assessor Louis Skweyiya was requested by Minister of Education Sibusiso Bengu. Skweyiya found that the relationship between Moleah and the rest of […]

Maureen Barnes Down the tube David Attenborough seems to spend his working life these days doing voice- overs for the work of other naturalists, which presumably is supposed to lend some sort of intellectual credibility to a production. On a mediocre production this could be said to be misleading to the viewer, and on good […]

Robin McKie It is the Holy Grail of physics, and it has eluded scientists for the past 30 years. Now researchers believe they are on the threshold of detecting the most elusive force in the cosmos: gravity waves. But if they find the waves do not exist, that would still be significant: it would prove […]

readership Johnny Masilela DIPHORORO TSA BOPHELO edited by MV Shai (Heinemann Mamela Afrika Series) In his foreword, the editor and compiler of this Sepedi language collection of short stories, MV Shai, goes to great pains to explain what protest literature is all about. Were contributing authors asked to come up with political stories? The first […]

Five pairs of tickets can be won in the Mail & Guardian’s Bee Gees competition. All you have to do is answer this question: What are the Bee Gees first names? To respond call (011) 726-8098 between 6pm and 7pm on Friday November 27 for your tickets that will be valid for November 28.

Without more aid nearly 300 000 people, now subsisting on leaves and roots, will starve early next year, reports David Gough from Xuddur The threat of famine hangs over war- torn southern Somalia, for the second time in six years. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says as many as 300 000 people are […]

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. […]