As blame for the poor matric results is bandied about, schools are set to reopen with no hint of a resolution. Andy Duffy reports State schools open their doors next week on the eve of a potentially bruising and bloody battle between the government, the provinces and their union allies over the floundering education system. […]

The transistor was invented 50 years ago. Joanna Bawa reports on the significance of the device There were only nine days to go to Christmas but the two physicists had other things on their minds. Huddled secretively in a corner of their laboratory, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain were building a primitive device whose impact […]

balance Now that the elections are over, Kenyans are waiting to see if their country will prosper or slide into internecine violence. Eddie Koch reports There is a place at sea, about two nautical miles from the coastal town of Shimoni and a little north of Kenya’s border with Tanzania, that echoes Ernest Hemingway’s depiction […]

Mark Atkinson in Seoul Been to the January sales yet? Picked up any bargains? Britain’s Procter & Gamble has; so too has Germany’s Robert Bosch. Not in the big department stores of London, New York or Paris, of course. This sale is taking place in South Korea, and on offer is more than a new […]

Mahluli Mngadi : In your ear Is Fine Music Radio (FMR) just a cosy club for white classical musical lovers masquerading as a community radio station? Station manager Leslie McKenzie vehemently disagrees. He tells me about the ”more handsome, genuine, less automatic sound” that FMR has been striving for. He quotes the station’s mission statement […]

THURSDAY, 12.30PM: LANCE KLUSENER may face the first ball in Friday’s one-day match against New Zealand in Brisbane after Adam Bacher’s poor performance recently as opening bat. Klusener will probably open in place of Bacher, who will again be overlooked for the shortened game. Captain Hansie Cronje has indicated that the changes might be made […]

THURSDAY, 12.30PM: WAYNE FERREIRA and Amanda Coetzer came a step closer to reaching the finals of the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, on Wednesday. The third-seeded South Africans defeated Germany 2-1 at Burswood Dome Coetzer and Ferreira trampled Anke Huber and Tommy Haas 6-2 6-2 after the singles honours had been shared. Huber, who is […]

IN BRIEF PUPIL DEMOS OVER MATRIC The Congress of South African Students (Cosas) plans to picket businesses, private schools and government offices at the end of the month in protest at the poor matric results. The protests will support a Cosas demand that businesses help to sponsor schools, and to object to the continued government […]

THURSDAY, 12.30PM: MAMELODI Sundowns can consider themselves unlucky after their goalless draw against Kaizer Chiefs in a premier league match at Odi stadium on Wednesday evening. Sundowns outplayed the Amakhosi in difficult conditions after rain had threatened to ruin the game. Downs were hoping to avenge their their 2-3 penalty defeat by Chiefs in the […]

THURSDAY, 6.00PM: IT has emerged that President Nelson Mandela overruled truth commission legislation guidelines to ensure that apartheid president PW Botha’s legal team was paid almost double the going rate for representing a potential witness. Justifying the decision this week, Justice Minister Dullah Omar said: “Mr Botha is a former head of state of South […]