Moi Lucy Hannan in Nairobi Dismay at recent political killings overshadowed the opening session of the Kenyan Parliament this week. Both sides of the house stamped, shouted and jeered, and opposition MPs waved placards protesting at “genocide” and “a legacy of killing”. More than 100 people have been killed in Rift Valley province since January […]

Stefaans Brummer Evidence against Gauteng Premier Mathole Motshekga mounted this week when it emerged that the United States embassy in Pretoria had serious reservations about his administration of donor money in 1989. The Mail & Guardian earlier reported that the Irish organisation Trocaire, a conduit for European Union donor money, severed links with Motshekga’s National […]

Robert Kirby : Loose Cannon Now that the media blood pressure is dropping and the Bill Clinton/FW de Klerk/PW Botha emotional and sexual needs have been assessed in all their horrible detail, I think it’s time for a more informed look at these scandalous goings-on in high places. The first major peril of trying to […]

Success story Netscape posted a loss for the first time and axed 400 jobs last month, reports Mark Tran The trophies on display in the reception area of Netscape Communications testify to one of the most meteoric successes in Silicon Valley. Given by trade magazines, the awards cite Jim Clark and Marc Andreessen, who founded […]

Dan Glaister in London All in all, Elton John should be feeling quite pleased. After all, just 250 for some curtains is not bad by any standards. But unfortunately the other items on his 280 050 weekly spending list are causing concern. Accountants have warned of a cashflow crisis for the singer whose Candle in […]

David Shapshak Live in Johannesburg There’s something electric about the way Kaolin Thomson performs. She does very little dancing around — she’s surrounded by a keyboard, flute, saxophone and various percussion instruments, all of which she plays — but still manages to convey an explosiveness. She’s like a panther on stage. After all the hype […]

Clandestine flights carrying arms and supplies to Unita in Angola will be curtailed after disclosures, reports John Grobler The arrest of nine South African men when their DC-4 was forced down by an Angolan Air Force Mig-21 at Menongue, the provincial capital of Cuando Cubango, two weeks ago, appears to have spelled the end — […]

Andy Duffy African National Congress Western Cape leader Dullah Omar will resign this weekend, opening the door to a lively succession race and the possible dissolution of the party’s entire provincial leadership structure. The first public skirmish in the battle to fill Omar’s shoes broke out this week in two of the party’s most powerful […]

Kate Turkington INTO AFRICA: A Journey Through The Ancient Empires by Marq de Villiers and Shiela Hirtle (Jonathan Ball, R89,99) Analysing Africa is a bit like facing the many-headed Hydra. Just as you’ve got one section neatly disposed of, another rears up and puts you back where you started. Similarly, any book that attempts “to […]