MONDAY, 1.00PM: ZIMBABWEAN president Robert Mugabe announced on Saturday he will not allow the courts to judge his decision to reclaim white-owned farms. Speaking at a political rally for his ruling party Zanu (PF), Mugabe announced that the move to confiscate nearly 1 500 farms is a “political issue” and not a matter for the […]

MONDAY, 4.00PM: FORMER security policeman Gideon Nieuwoudt has won the right to a new panel to hear his application for amnesty for the 1977 death in detention of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko. Nieuwoudt — already convicted of four murders — has been named repeatedly in Eastern Cape torture cases. He argued on Monday that […]

Mail & Guardian reporter This week Telkom went to court to try to win control over the provision of infrastructure for the Internet, a move that could put some Internet service providers out of business. Telkom currently rents bandwidth to service providers, who – in terms of Telkom’s claimed monopoly of Internet service provision – […]

FRIDAY, 11.30AM: IT was all smiles on Thursday night after the announcement of Bafana Bafana’s opponents in next year’s World Cup finals. South Africa were drawn against Group C leaders and hosts France, Denmark and Saudi Arabia. South Africa will play their opening game against France at Stade Municipal in Marseilles on June 12, Denmark […]

Times In his book, Ascent and Dissent, Ken Vernon asks the unanswerable question: why did the country’s top newspaper never check on the credentials of team leader Ian Woodall? In a review last week, Brian Pottinger, editor of the Sunday Times, fired off a series of missiles at the reporter he assigned to cover the […]

FRIDAY, 5.00PM: The ongoing bearish sentiment on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, compounded by the continuing crash of the gold price and disappointing economic data, saw 2% wiped off the all share index on Friday, while the gold index followed bullion’s woe’s to lose 3%. At the close the all gold index had fallen 20,7 points […]

Mukoni T Ratshitanga During December 1993, I was one of a dozen students at Liivha School in the Northern Province town of Thohoyandou who built a classroom with materials donated by local businessman Omar Ahmed. There was excitement when the idea of building the classroom was first mooted and our enthusiasm didn’t wane as we […]

Japan operated for decades with a social covenant similar to those of many other Asian countries – accepting wealth in exchange for tolerating political iniquities. As a result, Japan, one of the world’s most honest societies, had one of the most corrupt political systems. That social contract became frayed when Japan’s economic “bubble” came under […]

Neil Manthorp : Cricket South Africa’s coach Bob Woolmer is getting closer and closer to achieving his “dream team”. “If I could I would have all the all-rounders in the one-day side. Why not? Ten bowlers and 11 batsmen able to adapt to different requirements. The more options the better. The more bowling depth the […]

Alex Bellos The Prodigy’s video for their single, Firestarter, was of singer Keith Flint grimacing in a tunnel – and holds the record of Britain’s Top of the Pops televison programme for number of complaints. For the band’s latest offering, the single Smack My Bitch Up, out went Flint and his frightening green-fins haircut and […]