Robert Kirby: Loose Cannon At present in its committee stage is a draft Bill designed to hoist South Africa even higher on the international booby scale. Having been diagnosed, if this newest legislative psychosis is allowed to develop untreated, it could well become terminal and develop into an genuine pathological law. Under this law, South […]

Wally Mbhele A former African National Congress member who was convicted in 1988 of the gruesome murder of four women considers himself abandoned by his party. Of the six people convicted in the case, four – including the ringleader – were given political amnesty in 1991. Another, Absalom Kobela, was released on parole last year. […]

Alex Sudheim Live in Durban For the aspirant rock band on the quest for gold and glory, the struggle to emerge from the Dread Swamp Of Indifference – aka Durban – is one of the most daunting challenges it must face. Yet the aptly-named Mud Puppies approach the task with heroic resolve, despite having to […]

Province Tangeni Amupadhi Northern Province Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi is to call a meeting with community leaders to address increasing racial tensions between blacks and whites. Ramatlhodi’s peace efforts come in the wake of a spate of attacks on farmers and what appear to be revenge strikes on blacks in the province. ”People should never take […]

A strong political initiative rather than an external military intervention is the solution to the Congo crisis, argues Mahmood Mamdani When Rwanda decided to provide foot soldiers to spearhead the anti-Mobutu rebellion in October 1996, the main objection came not from Mobutu Sese Seko’s erstwhile patrons, but from Rwanda’s own staunch ally, President Yoweri Museveni […]

Stuart Hess A British couple are attempting to declare a section of the South African Child Care Act unconstitutional because it prohibits them from adopting a South African child. Sarah and Benedict Fitzpatrick have been supported by the Child Welfare Society of South Africa in their challenge to Section 18 (f) of the Act. The […]

corruption probe Wonder Hlongwa KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Health says it is close to making a breakthrough in its investigation into an allegedly fraudulent scheme to siphon money from provincial coffers to the Inkatha Freedom Party. The department’s corruption unit investigator, Leon Wolmarans, says it has been interviewing Durban businessman Sateesh Isseri for two years. Last […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lusaka | Thursday 10.00pm. UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan will hold a special meeting of southern African states on the Angolan crisis at this month’s Non-Aligned Movement summit in Durban, South African officials said on Thursday. Annan’s special envoy to Angola, Lakdar Brahimi outlined plans for the meeting when he briefed South Africa’s Deputy […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Goma | Thursday 11.00PM. REBELS in the Democratic Republic of Congo claim to have seized a dam at Inga, 250km south-west of Kinshasa, which supplies the capital with electrical power. At the same time a power blackout in Kinshasa itself has sparked panic that the rebels are within reach of the capital. Jean-Pierre […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 11.30AM. PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela’s testimony in the Pretoria High Court application by the SA Rugby Football Union to overturn a presidential inquiry into its affairs was criticised by the judge in his judgment, finally released on Wednesday. In his 1159-page judgment giving his reasons for ruling in favour of Sarfu, […]