“During the apartheid era there was no channel for negotiation. Now that there is such a channel, students don’t have to protest immediately, when something is wrong” — Benedict Radebe, 19, BSc first year “A lot of the protesting isn’t justified. Here at Wits, it hasn’t been about genuine student grievances, but more about a […]

Bronwyn Jones EVERY year the Sahara Desert expands its arid boundaries and the population of Africa grows. And while big plans are afoot to tap the waters of Zambia and Lesotho to quench South Africa’s industrial thirst, none of it will prove enough unless tied with long-term protection of water sources and a sharp curb […]

The Mark Gevisser Profile Since the Market Theatre opened in 1976, Janet Suzman has come home to do a play three times — almost exactly once a decade. And that, says theatre boss John Kani, is just about as much of her as they can take: “She’s a monster! An absolute monster! She presents a […]

Patrick Donovan in London The mysterious Yasuo Hamanaka, the disgraced chief copper dealer at Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, has found himself cast in the sinister role of “Mr Big” in what appears to have been a worldwide attempt to rig the global commodities markets. For more than 10 years, he has apparently carried out more than […]

Prospects of a large church congress in Zimbabwe has given impetus to the gay rights movement, writes Iden Wetherell in Harare ZIMBABWE’s embattled gay community, the target of an abusive campaign last year by President Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwean church leaders, is bracing for another confrontation with the same opponents. A proposal by international Protestant […]

Andrew Wilson WOZA ALBERT 15 years on? If it was Brecht, there would be no question: the German’s works had sufficient form and structure to carry them decades into the future — something the loose, informal construction of Woza Albert doesn’t have. Brecht is offered to students as an example of didactic, political theatre; commentary […]

Mountaineers question whether the South African Everest team ever really reached the summit. Justin Pearce and Gaye Davis report A row is brewing over who owns the still-unpublised photos of the South African Everest team at the summit. Everest expedition leader Ian Woodall says he is holding on to the photos of the South African […]

Eddie Koch The young bull elephant that charged a group of tourists in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve last week and killed the professional hunter who went to shoot it the next day are the latest victims of a new set of economic and political problems troubling the managers of South Africa’s burgeoning game reserve industry. […]

Julian Drew At the colourful and emotional send-off for the South African Olympic team last Sunday, the Olympic oath was read on behalf of the team by modern pentathlete Claud Cloete. While it is true that Cloete is only in the team courtesy of a wild card granted to athletes from developing countries to ensure […]

Rehana Rossouw TRADITIONS steeped in centuries of British history will change next week when Queen Elizabeth II pulls out all the stops to honour her guest for a week, President Nelson Mandela. Even Oxford University’s ceremonial pomp will have to travel to Buckingham Palace to join seven other universities in the garden next Wednesday to […]