Paul Martin in London Golf `Justin Rose is Bloomen Brilliant,” read the hand-written (and misspelled) banner unveiled by 10 English schoolgirls on the sixth tee at the British Open last Sunday. It’s testimony to the way Britain has taken this 17-year-old golfing phenomenon to their hearts. It wasn’t just the astounding closeness to glory achieved […]

Barbara Ludman SA 98-99: SOUTH AFRICA AT A GLANCE (Editors Inc) This slim little volume is a publishing success for its owners – former Star editors Harvey Tyson and Richard Steyn; Rex Gibson, last editor of the Rand Daily Mail; and George Trail, a former United States diplomat. This is its fourth edition; there are […]

Consider comfort as well as cost when you choose an airline, writes Belinda Beresford Legs all the way up to heaven may be considered desirable in some quarters, but they are a definite problem when it comes to flying. Cramped legroom ranks up there with the lousy food and disgusting toilets in economy class. Given […]

Is Donovan Nel, a spy accused of threatening to blow up the president, a blackmailer or the victim of an elaborate conspiracy? Mungo Soggot and David Beresford report A bizarre story about a senior intelligence analyst who allegedly threatened to blow up President Nelson Mandela in an attempt to extort R10- million from the state […]

Andy Capostagno Rugby It is something which the Americans realised early. If you’re going to play games regarded as little more than school-yard pastimes in other countries, best you instil a sense of tradition sooner rather than later. The Superbowl is all of 30 years old, yet it is spoken of with awe, to quote […]

Ferial Haffajee As former law and order minister Adriaan Vlok came clean before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission this week, a smaller act of absolution was happening in Potchefstroom. Willem Boshoff, a destitute 58-year- old, has apologised to journalists Laurence Gandar and Benjamin Pogrund for his role in a trial which chalked up a dark […]

Angella Johnson VIEW FROM A BROAD Let me establish one fact from the outset: I am not an animal-loving person. I possess two beautiful mink coats, adore wearing ivory and my dietary maxim is: if it moves, kill it, cook it and eat it. So why, you might ask, have I opted to partake in […]

Advocates rarely make sensational statements out of court, the Bar being a profession which prides itself on discretion and aloofness. So it was not an impulsive decision on the part of the General Council of the Bar to hit out last week at the appointment of South Africa’s first “super attorney general”, Bulelani Ngcuka. Ngcuka’s […]

For the new ANC chair in KwaZulu-Natal, peace is a priority, writes Swapna Prabhakaran The newly elected African National Congress chair in KwaZulu-Natal has vowed that next year’s elections will happen on non-violent terms – or not at all. S’bu Ndebele, who took over the reins from outgoing provincial party chair Jacob Zuma this week, […]

Wally Mbhele The head of a KwaZulu-Natal prison who was recently suspended after his alleged involvement in the death of a prisoner is back at work. Minister of Correctional Services Sipho Mzimela promised an inquiry into the actions of Sipho Dlamini, head of the Ingwavuma prison. Prisoners claim they were not informed that the inquiry […]