A strange case has been under way this week in the Kempton Park magistrate’s court — an application for the extradition of a British spy, Paul Grecian, to the United States. Grecian, the man credited with blowing the cover on Saddam Hussein’s project to build a “super-gun”, was arrested on December 15 while on a […]

co-operate with truth body Mungo Soggot JOHN Lloyd, the former activist who gave evidence which led to the hanging of the 1964 station bomber John Harris and which prompted the British Labour Party to scupper his political career, has apologised “unreservedly” and agreed to co-operate with the truth commission. Fellow Armed Resistance Movement (ARM) member […]

The truth commission hearings in the Western Cape might have missed the full picture of human rights abuses committed there, Rehana Rossouw reports UNITED Democratic Front (UDF) activists, who bore the brunt of the state’s iron fist in the Western Cape, did not show up at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s hearings in Cape Town […]

peace A new optimism has arisen out of arrests in politically related crimes on the South Coast, reports Ann Eveleth The work of the police Special Investigation Team probing political violence on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast has brought relative peace to a region once soaked by the blood of internecine strife. Hailed as a “breakthrough” […]

shafts The mining industry is about to introduce a state-of-the-art health and safety sytem, reports Eddie Koch A revolutionary health and safety Bill for the mining industry — along with last week’s dramatic findings of the inquiry into the Vaal Reefs disaster — will give thousands of workers who experience some of the worst safety […]

to more violence’ Ann Eveleth KwaZulu-Natal human rights groups delivered a stiff blow this week to the African National Congress’s bid to stall local government elections in the province, warning a postponement would escalate tensions. In a submission tabled to the task group investigating the feasibility of the May 29 poll date, the Human Rights […]

Ann Eveleth Rural voters in 22 KwaZulu-Natal communities have threatened to boycott next month’s elections if democratic reforms are not introduced in their areas, the Association for Rural Advancement (Afra) said this week,. The communities — representing about 20 000 voters in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and north-west regions — called on Local Government MEC Peter […]

South Africa continues to support the manufacture of ‘smart mines’ despite foreign opposition, writes Justin Pearce South Africa has again refused to support an outright ban on landmines, in defiance of the wishes of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs This week South Africa went to the Review Conference on the United Nations Convention on […]

Attorneys general in two provinces are on the verge of pressing charges in two celebrated cases of murder of anti-apartheid activists, writes Eddie Koch Suspects in two of South Africa’s most publicised murder mysteries — the slaying of the Pebco Three and the gruesome assassination of Pretoria doctors Fabian Ribeiro and his wife Florence — […]

THEATRE: David Le Page BESSIE HEAD’S novel Maru is a stark dissection of racial prejudice, all the more compelling for looking at the relationship of black Batswana and the Bushmen. It is not a perfect novel, but there is enough insight, and unexpected writing, to make it memorable. Walter Chakela’s adaptation for the stage, now […]