Alet van Rensburg The new civilian caretakers of Vlakplaas – former base of the notorious police C-10 hit squad – are interested in buying the farm from the government and turning it into a rehabilitation centre for “lost souls”. The old farmhouse on Vlakplaas is now filled with Louis and Lucia Smit’s furniture. They’ve turned […]

Shaun de Waal: International tour What does it all mean? Besides the obvious live band footage (treated or untreated), the series of images flashing past on the giant video screen that is arguably the most essential part of U2’s PopMart concert is an almost bewildering cornucopia of pop/ art iconicity. Perhaps it is unfair to […]

Lower interest rates and a consumer-friendly budget are sure to put extra money into the pockets of consumers – which should bring smiles to the country’s retailers and value to their shares. While some of the bigger South African stores have had a difficult time in the last year with low levels of consumer spending […]

FRIDAY, 6.00PM: THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange ended down on Friday, pressured by futures trade and profit taking. The all gold index wound down 6,4 points to 679,9, the industrial index 51,7 points to 8515,2, and the financial index 122,9 points to 13234,1. The all share index finished down 64,8 points at 7179,7. Around 130,328-million shares […]

Marion Edmunds One of the world’s most respected human rights watchdogs has accused the South African government of committing serious human rights abuses against illegal immigrants, in a damning report that draws parallels with the apartheid regime’s treatment of blac ks. The Human Rights Watch report is the first significant attack from an international agency […]

‘Ma’am,” said John Edas with a dramatic pause, “motor racing is lily white. At Motor Sport South Africa there is only one person of colour – and that’s me.” The members of the parliamentary committee on sport and recreation looked on grimly as they pondered the difficulties of making motor racing a sport befitting the […]

Andy CapostagnoCricket If this is the beginning of a new age, then it’s particularly appropriate that South Africa will go into the Newlands Test against opponents who are, in the best sense of the word, old fashioned. Sri Lanka may be the world champions in one-day cricket, b ut their approach to Test cricket, if […]

Robert Kirby: LOOSE CANNON I see The Great Professor Jay Naidoo is up to his Indian rope tricks again. Should racist-bashers bulge to the previous sentence, let rest. I use the term, Indian rope trick, in its flattering sense. As a part-time magician, I have only praise for illusi ons that both delight and confuse. […]

Who is . . . ‘Suiker’ Britz? Stefaans Brummer Assistant Commissioner Karel “Suiker” Britz wears grey shoes. Or if he doesn’t he should, for he fits snugly into that category of old-guard cops with nicknames like “Snor” and “Balletjies”. But while Britz does sport an impressive moustache, and presumably has the other attribute as well, […]

Alan HenryMotor racing Ferrari are poised to offer Michael Schumacher a virtual blank cheque to prevent him defecting to the McLaren-Mercedes team in 1999, a year before the end of his contract. Fiat’s president Gianni Agnelli is said to have sanctioned a o52-million package to ensure Schumacher stays at Ferrari to the end of the […]