OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kinshasa | Friday 11.30pm. FIGHTING is on in earnest between Democratic Republic of Congo troops and rebels in the south-eastern province of Katanga. President Laurent Kabila’s troops and their allies launched an attack with heavy weapons on rebel forces in the region of Kabalo and Nyunzu in the north of the province, according […]

Niki Barker It was the most unusual setting for a miracle. A dusty school hall, with pitted concrete floor, scattered desks and scrawled chalk on the blackboard. A small group of expectant German tourists sat sideways in the small school chairs in the damp heat of a Zululand afternoon. And then the sound came from […]

In his new book, Gareth Patterson describes for the first time the sting operation that blew the lid off the ‘canned’ lion hunting industry in South Africa In order to expose the illegal trophy hunting of endangered species and canned lion hunting, the Cook Report team had established a bogus trophy hunting outfitting company called […]

Mungo Soggot The Cabinet has given Minister of Public Service and Administration Zola Skweyiya an extra R300-million to pay civil servants and fund the transformation of the public service. The increase is about 10% of the government’s R3,4-billion budget for what the public service department terms “the improvement of conditions of service”. The increase was […]

Anthony Orliange Manga and Sori are youngsters about to finish school. In the evening they meet, “to revise for exams”, as they tell their parents. Actually, they share amorous moments of tenderness in Sori’s car, or outside cafs. Tired of concealing their relationship, they try to come out. But under such dire circumstances they are […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT and AFP, Freetown | Friday 7.30pm. FODAY Sankoh, the rebel leader who waged war against four Sierra Leonean governments and described himself as a “man of peace”, was sentenced to death on treason and murder charges in Freetown High Court on Friday. The leader of the Revolutionary United Front launched his rebellion in […]

David Gleason : A SECOND LOOK Anglo American Corporation chair Julian Ogilvie-Thompson’s announcement last week that it is to become a United Kingdom registered company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange poses as many questions as it does answers. The decision to shift Anglo’s head office to Britain follows the path blazed […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Bujumbura | Friday 9.00pm. BURUNDI’S government, opposition and rebels on Thursday wrapped up a third round of talks aimed at ending six years of civil war with an agreement to meet again in January, but with few concrete decisions. The next round is set for January 18 to continue a peace process begun […]

CD of the week: Shaun de Waal Bob Dylan sure started something when he allowed previously unreleased material and outtakes to be released as The Bootleg Series in 1991. The huge success of that collection encouraged the likes of The Beatles, who, once they’d finally wound up their legal wranglings, released all their leftover bits […]

Renowned cultural writer Mark Gevisser talks to Matthew Krouse about his journey to the essence of one of Johannesburg’s unique forgotten heroes In the city of Johannesburg, overrun with live chickens and minibus taxis, Anstey’s building retains its stark majesty. Not only because it’s a well maintained survivor of the city’s New York age, but […]