Bongani Siqoko Drunken men and women’s voices rise from the beer hall in Monyakeng township, Wesselbron, about 45km from Kroonstad in the Free State. Life seems normal, but the truth is the exact opposite. This community is grief-stricken and angry over the death of Lethusang Mohloane – whose only sin was to shoot birds on […]

Tangeni Amupadhi A high court decision to extend the bail of three Afrikaner youths found guilty last week of murdering and assaulting black people has increased racial tension in the divided Upington community. Blacks in the town have criticised the bail extension as further proof of the judiciary’s lenience towards whites. The court heard the […]

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 […]

South Africa’s 15-million illiterate people were left in the lurch when the National Literacy Co-operation had to close because of financial irregularities, writes Mungo Soggot The long-awaited forensic probe into the financial scandal that shut South Africa’s biggest literacy organisation reveals expense-account abuse on the part of its national director and mismanagement. The national director […]

These are the key women’s investment companies in South Africa: n Women’s Investment Portfolio This company is the mother of female-led investment companies. Last year it started a holding company to offer preferential shares to the female public. It expects to turn a profit by 2000. It has investments in financial services, the Bidvest group […]

Krisjan Lemmer The former head of the police forensic laboratory, General Lothar Neethling – whose dubious achievements include shutting down Max du Preez’s glorious rag, Vrye Weekblad, by suing them for libel over the suggestion he was a poisoner – was among those whom the Truth and Reconciliation Commission wanted to question this week about […]

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 […]

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, 6.30PM: 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 […]