Sharon Hammond Dispossessed villagers living near the Kruger National Park’s Numbi Gate may soon become partners in an R85-million Hilton International hotel. If the project is approved by Mpumalanga’s development tribunal and the Department of Environmental Affairs, impoverished members of the Mdluli tribe will be able to cash in on their heritage by having an […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 9.30pm. THIRTY young elephants at the heart of a fierce row about animal cruelty are to stay with trainers accused of inhumane treatment for at least another week, an official said on Friday. The plight of the elephants has divided organisations dedicated to animal welfare, some of whose activists have […]

DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Friday 9.00pm. THE Lesotho government has washed its hands of the issue of 30 Lesotho Defence Force soldiers arrested on charges of mutiny, saying the law must take its course. But the opposition, which has demanded the soldiers’ release, is arguing that the soldiers’ mutiny was a political issue and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Friday 4.15pm. THE Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, a parastatal meant to boost the country’s international tourist business, is to confront President Robert Mugabe on his tendency to commandeer state-owned Air Zimbabwe aircraft at short notice, leaving passengers stranded. A number of industry players, including the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and the Zimbabwe Tourism […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Randburg’s public prosecutor struggled this week to determine whether he could prosecute the managing director of Legacy Merchant Bank, Douglass Fliess, on the bizarre charge of stealing a garden. Charges relating to the theft of plants and malicious damage to property were laid against Fliess by property agents Gary Bruyns Properties on behalf […]

Robert Mugabe is desperately trying to shore up the teetering Laurent Kabila, write Howard Barrell and Iden Wetherell Congolese rebels, flushed by their victory this week over thousands of government and foreign troops in an eight-day battle for the key town of Kindu, are regrouping for a two-pronged assault southwards on the diamond-mining centre of […]

reserve’ land A new land law is set to overturn decades of paternalistic land relations between the state and more than 70 000 people living on former “coloured reserves” in the Western Cape and surrounding provinces. But similar legislation for former black homeland residents is still bogged down in “consultations”. Department of Land Affairs Director […]

Bart Luirink A bronze bust depicting Dutch Nazi collaborator Jacob van Tilburg has been consigned to oblivion in the basement of the University of Pretoria (UP), but controversy is still raging about his art collection on display on the campus. The collection was in all likelihood stolen from Dutch Jews deported from Holland during World […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Soweto police believe their “positive attitude” explains their higher conviction record for rape cases compared to their counterparts in other Johannesburg suburbs. Although statistics indicate a pathetic one out of 400 conviction rate for rape cases, a survey on sexual violence conducted in the southern Johannesburg shows Soweto police stations are streets ahead. […]

Cameron Duodu: LETTER FROM THE NORTH As you read this, many of my Nigerian friends who had gone into exile to escape from the wrath of the brutal dictator, General Sani Abacha, have either returned home, or are about to do so. Among them is Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in […]