Ferial Haffajee A senior SABC radio executive has resigned from a strategic elections committee amid staff fears of African National Congress interference at the broadcaster. Franz Kruger, the national news and current affairs editor, quit the elections team when a story he wrote which painted a picture of dwindling ANC support provoked a heated response […]

Ferial Haffajee : A Second Look I wrote this while bound in leg braces – so steadfast was the determination not to be knee-jerk. It is, therefore, a much considered and chewed-upon view that the Human Rights Commission’s proposed inquiry into the media is the worst news possible. It is a view not coloured by […]

diamond The managerial heirs to Tiny Rowland have inherited something of his fighting spirit, as they battle to maintain board control of the conglomerate’s newly demerged division, reports Laurie Laird The late Tiny Rowland was never a man to shy away from a battle – his feud with Mohamed al-Fayed, owner of Harrods, over control […]

Benjamin Pogrund Laurence Gandar, who died in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, on November 14, was an unlikely South African hero. Appointed editor of the Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg in October 1957, nothing out of the ordinary was expected of him. Yet he transformed the newspaper into a vehement opponent of apartheid and gave hope of change […]

Sutracide Cameron Duodu : Letter from the North Nigeria’s political lexicography is one of the most colourful in the world. This is because Nigerian politicians delight in showing off during public speeches what they consider to be the English “grammar” they learned at school. But since this grammar was taught to them by people who […]

Mungo Soggot and Sechaba ka ‘Nkosi The Public Protector, Selby Baqwa, has tried to silence the Mail & Guardian, warning that it broke the law by writing about his role in the affairs of the Vaal Technikon. Baqwa has reported the M&G to the press ombudsman for the article and has referred the newspaper to […]

Andy Capostagno Cricket The South African selectors must be breathing a sigh of relief. First Adam Bacher stuck his hand up and said, “Pick me”, by scoring a century and two 50s in successive SuperSport Series matches, then both Gary Kirsten and Mark Boucher made the three figure mark and finally Shaun Pollock got 30 […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Thursday 5.45pm. THURSDAY brought a pleasant change to the directionless few days on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with all indices ending in positive territory. Dealers said the market responded well on news of a 0,1 percentage point drop in the Consumer Price Index to 9%, pleasantly surprising the market which had […]

Kelwyn Sole It is unfashionable these days to admit to any intention in one’s poetry. Yet, as a critic and teacher as well as a poet, I find it impossible to imagine my poems without thinking about their generation in the broader context of South African literature and its history. They grow out of this […]

Sibusiso Bengu : Right to Reply The article in the Mail & Guardian (November 13 to 19 1998) by Mungo Soggot and Sechaba ka ‘Nkosi with the headline “Baqwa protected dirty professor” contained some factual mistakes leading to wrong conclusions and insinuations. The tone of the article creates the further impression that both myself and […]