Cameron Duodu : Letter from the North I don’t know whether it’s a blessing or a curse for a journalist to become personally involved in a story. What I do know is that sometimes one has no choice in the matter. Thus it was with me and the Ken Saro-Wiwa story. I first met Saro-Wiwa […]

South Africa needs interest rates of 12% or lower if the country is to avoid an economic slump, argues David Gleason Why hasn’t the Reserve Bank dropped interest rates faster and to a greater extent than its miserable efforts so far? And why, during the period in which the rand has enjoyed an entirely unjustified […]

Andrew Worsdale : Movies of the week `Tis the season for film festivals, and the latest celluloid treat is the Japanese Film Festival. This year’s festival is a tribute to auteur Akira Kurosawa, with five of his films included in the line-up. There are also many contemporary films on show, including the enchanting Village of […]

Howard Barrell : Over a Barrel Nkosazana Zuma, it seems, takes the view that, if you want to bring about far- reaching change, do it early, do it hard and give your opponents no quarter. The way the tobacco companies, health insurers and drug companies are now bleating to the courts for respite suggests the […]

John Stremlau : A Second Look Democratic gains in this month’s congressional elections should enhance South Africa’s leverage in dealing with the United States on issues of importance to Africa. The unexpected defeat of Republican conservatives has given moderates in both political parties a stronger hand in foreign policy. And this new majority is likely […]

David Shapshak The first time I heard daiko (Japanese drums) was at a performance by a group of Kobe elementary school children performing their school’s songs. It sounded like a full-blown adult symphony, not a bunch of 12-year-olds taking turns at the drums because there weren’t enough to go around. Such is the power of […]

friend Mungo Soggot Hlengiwe Mkhize, the truth commissioner tipped to win a major government diamond contract, this week likened her prospective job of assessing the value of rough diamonds to that of compensating torture victims. Mkhize chairs the local arm of a consortium masterminded by a Belgian diamond broker which is the favourite in the […]

Mail & Guardian reporter The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has thrown out a complaint of subliminal racism laid against the Mail & Guardian and Sunday Times newspapers by the Association of Black Accountants and the Black Lawyers Association. The request for an investigation was turned down “because the issue of racism in the media is […]

Donna Block : Share World For the past few weeks, my four-year-old son, an addict of British satellite television stations, has been driving me crazy, jumping off the sofa and the walls singing a jingle from a United Kingdom toy advert. In a loud, off-key voice he proclaims over and over how, “It’s a great […]

Wally Mbhele The former head of the security police, General Krappies Engelbrecht, may be charged for his alleged role in tampering with evidence relating to the plane crash that killed former Mozambican president Samora Machel. Machel and 24 others died on October 19 1986 when their plane crashed near Mbuzini in Komatipoort. Engelbrecht and a […]