Ferial Haffajee The controversy surrounding the top job in South African broadcasting continued this week, with indications that the SABC board could face charges of unfair labour practice. SABC deputy chief executive Govin Reddy, who did not get the position of chief executive, has levelled allegations of racism against the board. This week the board’s […]
No one can dispute the fact that the past has a lot to do with the mess our education system is in today. But when four years of democratic governance have gone by and conditions in most schools are as bad as ever, if not worse, it’s time to acknowledge that mistakes have been made […]
Two men who may be able to help the police investigation into the Bloemfontein arms heist have vanished. Marius Lamprecht, a member of the South African National Defence Force, and Drikus Haasbroek, both from Bloemfontein, were last seen in a white Ford Escort at Witpoortjie. The car has since been found abandoned. A cache of […]
MONDAY, 6.00PM: PRESIDENT Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso on Monday called for discussion rather than war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Compaore made his call in opening the summit meeting of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). He will assume chairmanship of the OAU at the end of the summit, the body’s 34th. Compaore also complimented […]
MONDAY, 6.30PM: THE strategic Somali town of Baidoa was on Monday once again in the hands of the militias of Hussein Mohamed Aidid, following a weekend of fighting. But the militias’ opponents, the Rahanwein Resistance Army, claim still to control the town’s airport. Baidoa is 150km north of Mogadishu and was the proposed venue for […]
TUESDAY, 8.30AM: TALKS over the looming teacher strike (see below) continued until late night, but indications on Tuesday morning are that the strike will go ahead as planned. Teachers belonging to the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union will attend school each day until 10.00AM before withdrawing. But talks, mediated by negotiator Brian Currin, will continue. […]
Charl Blignaut On stage in Johannesburg From the parking lot already, it is obvious that this is not going to be a regular evening at the theatre. There are large, mounted candles burning outside on the lawn of the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereenigings’s Trap der Jeugd national monument building in Cottlesloe, Johannesburg, and there are […]
Suzy Bell Should South African fashion be fun, or should it reflect urban decline? Debbie Reynolds, producer of the glamorous annual fashion event, the Durban Designer Collection (DDC) and lifestyle editor of the Independent on Saturday said of this year’s contest: “The brief to the designers and the judges was directional fashion. They were looking […]
Andy Duffy The Ministry of Education wants to spend R200-million this year to boost leadership skills in the provinces – a plan that will also give national officials far greater control over the often chaotic management of provincial education. The plans include setting up a rapid response unit to defuse provincial crises in areas such […]
Jacques Pauw, who implicated Ferdi Barnard in the murder of David Webster, reflects on the failure of the law to put away those who sent him to kill It was in the autumn of 1992 that I came face to face with Ferdinand Barnard for the first time. I had stood outside his Roodepoort home, […]