Solar boost The European Commission is set to boost the use of solar power by setting a target of a hundredfold increase in Europe for early next century, according to the unpublished draft of a paper due to be agreed on by energy ministers this month. The leaked White Paper calls for an investment of […]

Janet Smith No razzmatazz accompanied SABC1’s repositioning this week, and nobody at the channel would say they’d had the decorators in, but new branding has definitely blown away the old Simunye. Gone are the gaudy retro colours of the studio set as glossy imaging spins onto screen. Gone are the cheesy mimes before and after […]

business Cheche Selepe Aspirant Soweto oil tycoon Nhlanhla Masango is a committed socialist. But despite his political beliefs, he is determined to compete with top companies in South Africa. The 22-year-old recently won the best business plan award and prize money of R15 000 in the Shell-sponsored youth entrepreneurship programme called LiveWire – something like […]

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 – […]

Marion Hnsel’s adaptation of Damon Galgut’s The Quarry is being filmed with a precision and organisation that local film- makers could learn from, writes Andrew Worsdale I always have a problem reporting on movie shoots, apart from being envious; everyone keeps telling you good things, you look in vain for some kind of scandal and […]

Mail & Guardian reporters The Minister of Minerals and Energy, Penuell Maduna, this week vowed to resign if the Mail & Guardian could provide details of how he came to know about a $10 000 bribe. Maduna has denied any knowledge of how a leading oil trader gave $10 000 to Liberian Emanuel Shaw II […]

Gustav Thiel South Africa was among international environmental authorities converging on Kyoto, Japan, this week to decide the future regulation of global greenhouse emissions. But while the South African delegation is taking an environmentally conscious stand at the conference, South Africa is described as the most ill- prepared country in the world to face the […]

World Aids Day dawned this week on two different epidemics. Epidemic one, in the developed world, sees an Aids plague that has not spread as fast or as fiercely as first predicted. There are fewer people dying, fewer people catching Aids, fewer reported HIV infections. These reductions should be celebrated. Preventive health campaigns as well […]

Is it true that a black face on the cover of a fashion magazine causes a 20% drop in sales? While many white South African models have made good overseas, we have yet to produce a black model to steal the limelight. But all that could be changing, writes Charl Blignaut You know that fashion […]

Andrew Muchineripi : Boxing South African boxing is on its death bed and the only doctor capable of resuscitating the sick patient is Minister of Sport Steve Tshwete. Matters were brought to the attention of the public, officials and the government with the resignation of the Gauteng Provincial Boxing Commission lawyer Mandla Mbongwe. Mbongwe alleged […]