John Grobler In what amounts to an inquest into an inquest, the second judicial investigation into the Anton Lubowski assassination opens on Monday in the Windhoek High Court with what appears to be very little new evidence, a lack of political will to solve the murder and a vote of no confidence from the Lubowski […]

FRIDAY, 8.00AM: PRETORIA Judge William De Villers on Thursday issued a summons to President Nelson Mandela to appear in court to explain his decision to appoint a commission of inquiry into rugby. The decision has alarmed the government, and Mandela’s legal adviser Nicholas Haysom said it will set a precedent, allowing anyone to challenge the […]

Steve Morris : Rugby The acid test for South Africa’s new regionalised Super 12 system does not come on Friday February 27, when the southern hemisphere’s provincial championship kicks off in Cape Town where the Western Stormers face Wellington at Newlands. Neither will it really come should one of the local composite teams make the […]

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 […]

Several million people and their families will be affected by the listings of South Africa’s two largest life insurance groups on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) within the next 18 months. For more than a year market observers have been expecting Sanlam and Old Mutual to announce their plans to demutualise and list on the […]

Wonder Hlongwa Thandeka Shabalala (16) lies on a stretcher at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, with a heavy brown blanket thrown over her body despite the heat. She has travelled all the way from Pietermaritzburg. She is one of hundreds of patients who come for treatment at King Edward and instead either sleep on […]

Charl Blignaut On stage in Johannesburg Three-quarters of the way through Kere Nyawo’s gritty prison comedy Hola Majita, a young male prisoner is forced to don a frock and perform the duties of a whore. Where is all this leading, I wonder. Another quaint, stereotypical comic device pretending to be something more than a handy […]

Wally Lambert As stock markets across the globe continue to react with no apparent logic to troubles in the East, there are few investors who haven’t considered cashing in their unit trusts for a holiday destination where nobody’s heard of “Asian flu”. Others will be looking to their “friendly” financial advisers while scouring the economic […]

Philippa Garson Etienne Marais, a director in the Safety and Security Secretariat found guilty last week of sexually abusing two girls, will face a disciplinary hearing or be dismissed, unless he resigns first. Marais, chief director of liaison and communication, was found guilty of masturbating in front of two girls, aged seven and 12 at […]

John Seiler Reading three recently-published collections of taped conversations and phone calls authorised by United States presidents John F Kennedy, Lyndon B Johnson and Richard Nixon (and bearing in mind the current storm around Bill Clinton) raises some questions about what similar studies might contribute to our understanding of how South African government works and, […]