WHO ARE . . . JOEL NETSHITENZHE AND YACOOB ABBA OMAR? Ferial Haffajee It’s appropriate that the modest Joel Netshitenzhe is reading Primary Colours. The novel about an obscure southern governor and his election trail to the White House is a testament to spin doctors – the powerful back-room advisers whose job it is to […]

Jack Schofield ‘Think of us as a networking company,” says Intel’s executive vice- president, Frank Gill. Intel is already the world’s largest chip manufacturer: its Pentium processors have about 80% of the desktop computer market, and a growing share of the market for the servers used to run corporate applications. Now it wants to provide […]

Belinda Beresford If you’re one of those people who finds it irritating listening to the ubiquitous ringing of telephones over dinner, on the golf course or – most odious of all – at the movies, you’ll find it hard to resist cheering at the news that cellphone imports are to be hit with customs duties. […]

Janet Smith: Community jazz Trombones are polished to a shimmering golden glow. A beloved saxophone is fingered to tone perfection so smooth it shivers. Drums collect noise in tune with the mischievous guitar. And soon the players are ready. The venue may be charmingly tatty, a tad hot, but they’re going to perform till they […]

Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele: RIGHT TO REPLY Your article, “Whatever happened to the dream of low-cost housing”, February 20 to 26, was sensational and alarmist. My office has been co-operating with the media in making sure that their information needs are met on time. There is nothing sinister about verifying statistics and maintaining their integrity before releasing […]

Ferial Haffajee While sitting around talking advertising with the team responsible for the side-splittingly funny Nando’s campaign, one thing is striking. They’re all spring chickens. The twentysomething team is responsible for multimedia campaigns that have won Nando’s peer approval, solid sales growth for the 10-year-old chicken chain and the trust of Amory Gordon, Nando’s national […]

William Makgoba advocates streamlining government operations by slashing the number of ministries The proposed increase in the executive powers of the presidency, the stripping of two ministries and the assimilation of some functions of 10 other ministries awaiting restructuring (as reported in the Financial Mail, March 6), are welcome small steps in transforming the government […]

Mukoni T Ratshitanga The African National Congress Youth League goes to its 20th national conference in Johannesburg next week amid fears that it is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the youth. Central to the criticisms levelled against the league is that it is only vocal on leadership matters within the ANC […]

Belinda Beresford While there still may be some international scepticism about South Africa’s future, Trevor Manuel has signalled the government’s confidence by a further relaxation of exchange controls. Those unbelievers wanting to leave the country have been given a goodbye present – they can now take up to R1-million of household and personal effects. If […]

Stefaans Br?mmer and Lynda Gledhill Uncertainty surrounds the authenticity of two faxes that Ziggy Visser, husband of Virodene inventor Olga Visser, says he sent to the African National Congress in December which “proved” shares had not been earmarked for the party. This is one of the unresolved issues to be investigated by Public Protector Selby […]