Ferial Haffajee The chiefs in fatigues from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) jetted into Luanda this week to talk war. They could send soldiers to provide military assistance in Angola as the SADC did in the Democratic Republic of Congo last month and in Lesotho last week. The SADC’s new role is a triumph […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni and Swapna Prabhakaran The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) this week faced the difficult task of finding the families of nine South African soldiers killed in action in Lesotho. The SANDF statement on the deaths listed the names, ages and home towns of the soldiers and included a brief message […]

Richard Nelsson Spending It During the Eighties a bulging Filofax was the symbol of the successful and upwardly mobile; for the Nineties the “must have” is an electronic organiser. But these “personal digital assistants” (PDAs) are much more than just hi-tech versions of their leather-bound antecedents. The latest models have not only the capacity to […]

A pioneering operation has given new hope to accident victims, writes Sarah Boseley The world’s first arm transplant has been carried out by a multinational team, giving hope to those who have lost limbs in accidents and disasters all over the world. Clint Hallam (48), a New Zealand-born businessman, woke up on the morning of […]

Howard Barrell Over a Barrel When good intentions land you belt- high in excrement with nothing firm underfoot, it is probably best to delay wondering what persuaded you to walk into it. Self-flaggelation can come later. Now is the time to plan a way out – so that you emerge as dry as possible, preferably […]

There is an easy way to combat the burgeoning business of cellphone theft, write Belinda Beresford and David Shapshak Cellphones are particularly enticing to the brotherhood of thieves, whether acquired in muggings, hijackings or straightforward burglaries. Cancelling the SIM card will stop anyone else running up your telephone account with calls to friends and acquaintances […]

Maureen Barnes Down the tube It’s probably age, but I got competely confused last week between the shots of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) invasion of Bophuthatswana and those of the South African National Defence Force marching into Lesotho. Scenes of the AWB fiasco were screened on TV in the wake of the truth commission hearing […]

Peter Makurube There is no better way to suss out where a country is at than through its music. There has never been any doubt about the quality of music this country can produce, the problem has been a chronic case of arrested development. Now that the old is out and the new is in […]

Several investigations are under way into NIA operatives allegedly involved in money laundering schemes, writes Justin Arenstein Police are preparing to arrest at least two members of a shadowy National Intelligence Agency (NIA) unit next week after they allegedly tried to cash stolen share certificates worth more than R180- million. The operatives have also been […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 7.45pm. A SPOKESMAN for Angolan separatists said on Friday that government troops supported by attack helicopters are advancing on an unknown number of Front for the Liberation Of Cabinda (FLEC) separatists in the country’s oil-rich enclave of Cabinda. Carlos Puna said that a battalion of 400 Angolan soldiers began an […]