Gaye Davis DEPUTY President FW de Klerk chaired a routine meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security and Intelligence “as usual” on Thursday as both African National Congress and National Party government sources said ANC attacks on him were simply “electioneering” and discounted any threat to the Government of National Unity. An unfounded rumour that […]

Charles Nupen, ace labour mediator, in The Mark Gevisser Profile When Lili Nupen, a Standard Six pupil at Roedean, had to do a research project into her relatives, she chose two lawyers. The first was her great-uncle, Buster Nupen, a Springbok cricket captain in the 1930s and an illustrious attorney. The second was her father, […]

Rehana Rossouw Human rights groups are furious at delays of more than two years in bringing child-abusers to justice. A former principal of a children’s home in Cape Town, Mike Viveros, has had his trial on charges of sexually abusing seven children postponed 15 times since he first appeared in court in October 1993. Welfare […]

Fine Art: Ruth Sack PAVED with good intentions, the Right to Hope project was perhaps destined to stumble into predictable pitfalls, especially given its ambition and its hopes. Consisting of three separate exhibitions in Johannesburg, one of which will tour the world for two years, and a multifarious educational component, it was set up to […]

Karen Harverson reports on the court verdict against McDonald’s and the burger giant’s preparation for appeal The first round of the David and Goliath trademark battle fought by local businessman George Sombonos against United States hamburger giant McDonald’s is over — with Sombonos emerging the victor. Despite the cries of outrage from the United States […]

Television: Hazel Friedman IT was punted as the show that would transform the face of television, the first magazine programme conceived and created for an all-African audience. But now that the curtain of hype has been lifted, Front Row, M-Net’s bright new brainchild, appears to be little more than a familiar tune played in a […]

Eddie Koch Documents which suggest that a bus-making company used a private security firm — headed by a former Special Branch policeman — to plan a third-force campaign of “deliberately and openly hostile terrorism” against selected targets of the National Union of Metalworkers have been handed to police for investigation. Documents on letterheads of the […]

Karen Harverson The Department of Public Works will set aside an as yet unspecified percentage of contracts for small black emerging businesses. This is part of an initiative by the Public Works and the Department of Finance to reform procurement policies to give small businesses access to the public sector market. A meeting will be […]

Ann Eveleth Deputy President Thabo Mbeki avoided confrontation with French President Jacques Chirac over France’s controversial nuclear testing programme and its handling of the recent Comoros coup during a state visit to Paris this week. Mbeki made the official state visit at Chirac’s invitation to discuss a financial protocol and an agreement on the protection […]

The goings-on at the University of Durban-Westville have all the ingredients of a spy novel, reports Philippa Garson The plot twists and turns in a most confusing way, the players are not what they appear to be, and power struggles and mysterious attacks and subterfuge are the order of the day at the University of […]