Andy Duffy The African National Congress is engaged in frantic lobbying among its Western Cape branches to ensure that Ebrahim Rasool is the only contender to succeed Dullah Omar as the party’s provincial leader. Nominations for the post are open until April 13, but insiders are already spinning the line that Rasool, the provincial caucus […]
Dror Eyal The dust is blowing in from the east. Sand clouds that whip the air, flay my skin, sting in my eyes. Dust in each breath I swallow, grit grating between teeth, sticking in my throat. Dust in my food, dust in my beer. Winds blowing up a storm in front of the main […]
For the time being, war-torn Sierra Leone has no standing army of its own. But Chief Sam Hinka Norman, reappointed as deputy minister of defence, says he has other forces to call on. “If you point your rifle at me, you may believe it, it will not strike me,” he says. “When all this is […]
The editor, Phillip van Niekerk, replies to claims against Mail & Guardian reporter Lizeka Mda: Lizeka Mda’s article was merely pointing to a pattern of perception about the leadership style of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. In politics – despite what Ronald Suresh Roberts says – perception is everything and even hallucinations, if they are genuinely […]
Paul van Woudenberg : Mountain biking Dutch-born athlete Bas de Bever has claimed his greatest downhill mountain biking victory in Stellenbosch, the serene town Afrikaners see as their cultural home. This time last year, he hurtled down the vineyard-clad slopes of Botmaskop, about a kilometre east of Die Moederkerk in the centre of town, to […]
Mungo Soggot The downfall of state oil chief Don Mkhwanazi this week came after the Cabinet blocked an earlier attempt by the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Penuell Maduna, to keep him at the helm of the Central Energy Fund (CEF). Maduna tried to persuade the Cabinet that Mkhwanazi, the fund’s chair, and his board […]
Andy Capostagno : Rugby Des McGahan said: “The Hong Kong Sevens is bulletproof,” and the Irishman who has looked after the international media contingent for years may well be right. The Asian stock markets crashed last year and one of the victims was a loan company which had taken over the title sponsorship for the […]
Hazel Friedman Streetwise, the term used by Saatchi & Saatchi for its “into Africa” marketing strategy, definitely has an edge. It’s got attitude, even if the impoverished communities it targets don’t have income. It conjures up the image of a kid in a baseball cap on backwards, rapping “Yo! Here’s where its happening man, so […]
A broadcasters’ bid. That’s what Midi believes won it the right to run South Africa’s new private television station. Other bids may have been stronger on business plans (Midi’s plans were criticised for changing after the closing date) and legal agreements (other bidders suggest that they still haven’t yet seen a watertight shareholders agreement from […]
Andy Duffy The government is poised to again delay the introduction of the new school curriculum after its launch earlier this year missed at least 20 000 primary schools, one in five of the schools targeted. Provincial report-backs for the first term of the school year show that up to half of the primary schools […]