WEDNESDAY 8.30AM: THE school year began in four provinces on Tuesday, with primary schools turning away Grade 1 pupils who failed to register on time, or whose parents were attempting to register them in schools outside their home districts. But while schools in mainly white suburbs were overcrowded, principals of township schools reported a large […]

TUESDAY, 11.00AM: THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa has begun a restructuring programme that will see several of its divisions merged, to leave the body with four divisions. The four divisions to remain will be: trade, customs and monetary affairs; investment promotion and private sector development; infrastructure development; and information. Comesa acting secretary-general […]

TUESDAY, 11.45AM: THE price of white maize futures on the SA Futures Exchange last week continued the slide that began in December following the late start of summer rains. Safex agricultural markets GM Rod Gravel-Blondin said on Monday that maize futures contract prices fell a further R50 last week and, with the exception of December […]

TUESDAY, 3.30PM: JONATHAN OPPENHEIMER will captain the Nicky Oppenheimer XI to face Pakistan in their opening tour match of South Africa, starting January 29. Pakistan’s tour of more than a month will include three Tests against the South African national squad. The opening match of the tour will be played at Oppenheimer’s Randjesfontein Oval, where […]

TUESDAY, 5.30PM: WITHIN seven minutes of opening on Tuesday, the JSE all share index had gained almost 120 points, but subsided somewhat as investors sold into the rally. At the day’s close the financial index was up 208,3 points at 9 550,9 and the industrial index was 142,4 points higher at 6 857,5. The all […]

MONDAY, 11.30AM: AFTER playing well during their follow-on innings in the first Test against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe were decisively beaten on the final day in Asgiriya on Sunday Zimbabwe started the day at 289/7, still needing 40 runs to make Sri Lanka bat again. Paul Strang ensured that Sri Lanka bat again after he cut […]

Stephen Gray : Unspoilt places All roads into Warmbaths lead to the Elephant Springs Hotel. This is the resort’s old bed-and-brandy joint, the Bronnehof, reclad for all modern travellers wishing to arrive in the Waterberg district. For an introduction try the wooden deck over the main drag, where a menu of genius rejuvenates the weary […]

Mungo Soggot The panel appointed to investigate Emanuel Shaw II’s top state oil job finished its probe this week after hearing testimony from Gordon Sibiya, the senior government official leading the charge against Shaw’s R3-million appointment. The acting director general of the Department of Minerals and Energy, Dick Bakker, said this week that after hearing […]

Julian Drew : Swimming Eighteen months is a long time in swimming. At the 1994 world swimming championships in Rome Penny Heyns placed sixth in the 100m breastroke final in a time of 1:10.46 and fifth in the B final over 200m in 2:33.57. Those performances received barely a mention in the nation’s sports pages […]

Tom Quoin : Architecture Our deurmekaar country is filled with maddening contrasts. None more stomach- churning than the bald differences between the spacious settings in which planners and politicians live and the crushed layouts they’ve dumped on most of their fellow citizens. Though each rises on the same scattered suburban pattern — single plots for […]