Mark Rozzo THE SURGEON OF CROWTHORNE by Simon Winchester (Viking) In 1879, James Murray, an expert on the dialects of his native Scotland and the recently appointed editor of The New Dictionary on Historical Principles, called for volunteers from Britain, the United States and the colonies to help create the first complete dictionary of the […]

… Can the Internet be chartered like the London Underground? Leander Kahney investigates mapping cyberspace A three-dimensional map of the Internet, showing the geographical location of machines on the network and the ways in which they relate to each other, is promised by the Silicon Valley firm Invisible Worlds next year. The announcement has been […]

eM&G reporter Aggressive turf wars are being fought in cyberspace as companies attempt to grab more of the electronic marketplace. A new twist is Vodacom’s move to become an Internet service provider (ISP). The communications company will be offering three Internet access packages, including a prepaid option. Vodacom aims to be the largest ISP by […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Tzaneen farm workers Jonas Maluleke (26) and Daniel Sono (28) have been waiting behind bars for a year to get their day in court in the Northern Province. Since they first appeared in court in October 1997, their trial on charges of rape and assault of a 25-year-old woman has been […]

Adam Mars-Jones FREEDOM SONG by Amit Chaudhuri (Picador) Amit Chaudhuri’s writing comes as a mild therapeutic shock to those who visualise India as either benightedly rural or bustlingly urban: his characters may live in Calcutta, but they live at a private angle to their city. The cast of Freedom Song is large and tenuously related. […]

Wally Mbhele Plans for the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report were almost ambushed this week when the African National Congress attempted to use its power to prevent its publication. This followed the ANC’s blistering opposition to some aspects of the commission’s findings on the party’s activities during the armed struggle. The […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni An independent mediator is to be appointed to intervene in the ongoing conflict at the troubled University of the Western Cape (UWC), amid fears that final examinations may not take place. Final examinations have already been postponed for two weeks, and the administration has not yet set a new date for […]

Alan Gray has spilled the beans on Mpumalanga’s elaborate network of shady empowerment companies. Justin Arenstein reports Political infighting in Mpumalanga has revealed a shadowy network of black empowerment companies set up in 1996 to channel funds into the African National Congress’s election coffers. The “empowerment” network includes casino ventures, security, aviation, medical rescue, travel, […]

A new film on Cape Town’s homeless people takes the viewer on ‘a moral obstacle race’. Lauren Shantal reports ‘My name is Yvonne and I drink wine. And I like to smoke dagga.” When the mic is wrested from the compere and the evening begins with an assertion like this, you know that decorum and […]

Mike Metelits ING Barings analyst Phumzile Mamjezi identifies the major black chip groups in terms of market capitalisation as the Theta Group, Metropolitan Life (Metlife), New Africa Investments Limited (Nail), Real Africa Investments Limited (Rail) and the African Merchant Bank (AMB). These groups are often interconnected with cross holdings. Nail is owned 54,7% by Corporate […]