Rory Johnston Operators of Earth satellites will be holding their breath on November 17 as Earth sails into the worst meteor storm for 33 years. Particles travelling at 240 000km/h will crash into virtually every satellite, and the damage could be slight or it could be enough to put satellites out of commission entirely. Every […]

The demise of Louis Luyt as president of the South African Rugby Football Union is only the first step towards rugby’s rehabilitation as a national sport. There are many administrators and followers of the sport who, while accepting Luyt’s departure as a necessary expedient to removing an obstacle to the upcoming international tours, resent the […]

Mercedes Sayagues Controversial American entrepreneur James Blanchard has set his sights on including parts of the famed Inhaca island in his huge Mozambican theme park, despite the fact that he has yet to deliver on his grandiose scheme. Blanchard has asked the Maputo municipal council for a 276ha concession in Ponta Torres, the south-eastern peninsula […]

David Cesarani ISRAEL: A HISTORY by Martin Gilbert (Doubleday, R219,95) Israel’s 50th birthday celebrations are in disarray, a muddle produced by fiscal stringency and ideological confusion. Plans for costly, symbolic events have been scrapped amidst popular apathy. According to the Jerusalem Report, “There’s little sense of unity, and not really much agreement on what it […]

Ferial Haffajee One of the biggest problems with solving unemployment in South Africa is that the government does not know the scale of the crisis. Politicians and statisticians bicker about the real picture. Unemployment has not been costed to understand its impact on the bottom line. Neither have calculations been made to assess how people […]

Ferial Haffajee The ruby red BMW roadster races down the main road in Eldorado Park, past rows and rows of grim council houses. At full throttle, the front doors open and close to simulate a bird in flight. The Majimbos are in town – the gang’s symbol is a flying bird and Eldorado Park, south […]

Andy Capostagno Rugby Deja vu. The Springbok captain is involved in negotiations to form a players’ union, Louis Luyt is in the news and euphoria over Springbok success has died down to a hoarse croak. Take yourself back to August 1995, less than two months after South Africa had won the World Cup. Louis Luyt […]

Phillip Kakaza strolled down Yeoville’s Rockey Street and noticed it is ready for reinvigoration Rockey Street, in the heart of Yeoville, is probably South Africa’s most famous jolling street, lined with watering holes and clubs, rocking till dawn. Some say it has gone downhill in recent years, but it still draws the crowds at night. […]

Ferial Haffajee The government will tax private radio and television stations, as well as signal distributors, to fund local-content production. A draft White Paper on broadcasting says a fund will be established to subsidise local producers. It is understood that private owners may have to pay up to 1% of their profits, which translates into […]

Krisjan Lemmer Mrs H Bingham, a resident at a Johannesburg retirement village, would like it to be known that her name is Henrietta, not Hugh. And no – she does not know the whereabouts of that aristocratic desperado, Lord Lucan. Henrietta has been inundated with calls from investigative journalists convinced she is Hugh Bingham, the […]