Njongonkulu Ndungane: UBUNTU When liberation came to South Africa in 1994, people rejoiced that at last there was freedom. Indeed, in the years just prior to the 1994 elections, we saw a surfeit of freedoms of expression that we had previously only known to exist in democracies like the United States. Not all these were […]

Jack Schofield Plastic television and computer screens could be printed out by the yard using technology from Cambridge University and its development partner Seiko-Epson, a large Japanese manufacturer of computer printers. And because plastic screens can be flexible, TV sets could be hung on the wall and rolled up afterwards. The new screens are based […]

Chris Gordon The Angolan ambassador to the United Nations, Franca van Dunem, has accused Unita of preparing for war. The crisis, occasioned by the rebel movement’s repeated failure to meet UN deadlines for completing peace protocols, came to a head this week with the government warning of a major increase in hostilities. A meeting between […]

Krisjan Lemmer Krisjan Lemmer has decided to introduce an annual “Zuma Award” for the public official making the most innovative appeal to racism to cover up government incompetence. The prize is an all-expenses-paid weekend in George with the Groot Krokodil as host. The award is named after the Minister of Health in tribute to her […]

Ann Eveleth Last year the National Land Committee fought tooth and nail to deepen the rights of rural dwellers enshrined in the Extension of Security of Tenure Act. This year it is poised to become a key implementer of the compromise legislation which came into effect on November 28. The committee, an umbrella of 10 […]

Timothy Ryan: A SECOND LOOK The Minister of Welfare and Population Development has asked the Drug Advisory Board to formulate a drug masterplan for South Africa. This masterplan will ultimately direct the government’s response to the use, distribution, manufacture and cultivation of illicit drugs. The decriminalisation of dagga is one of the controversial issues facing […]

Ferial Haffajee The Green Paper on broadcasting will start a shake-up of the industry which will change it fundamentally. We summarise the comments from lobbyists who have suggested everything from the scrapping of an SABC Channel and television licences to the total rejection of the Green Paper. Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI): The FXI says […]

The NGO sector moves poverty back to centre stage with a daring pre-election roadshow, reports Ferial Haffajee In Bloemfontein, the heart of South Africa, on March 17, the nation’s poor will begin to speak out. They will continue to do so for more than two months, speaking about overcrowded schools, cardboard homes and dwindling social […]

or new Randlords? Pallo Jordan: CROSSFIRE The commencement of the 20th century came at the height of what historians call the Age of Imperialism and in the midst of the Anglo-Boer War, a war between two colonising power structures to determine which of them would design modern South Africa. Sixteen years earlier, in 1884, Africa […]

FRIDAY, 5.00PM: Cape Town housing chief Billy Cobbett has decided to stay on in his post in spite of death threats from Cape Flats gangsters. Cobbett returned Cape Town on Friday after spending two weeks in London with his wife and four children, visiting his ill mother-in-law. He fled there a fortnight ago after threats […]