Ann Eveleth A WOODEN ladder fashioned from tree branches leans across the trunk of the old gum tree where the lifeless bodies of Vitalis Mthembu and Muzikawubanga Sitholi dangled until the police arrived on Wednesday last The branch above bears no scars from the ordeal, but three rivulets of dried blood down a rock shaded […]

Justin Pearce THE Department of Foreign Affairs insists that South Africa this week became a world leader in the move away from the use of landmines — but human rights activists are outraged at the government’s failure to support an outright ban on these weapons. South Africa’s position came as a surprise to many who […]

Itumeleng oa Mahabane MeMBERS of the small community of Kagiso will no longer have to taxi-hop if they want some entertainment. They have just had Hollywood delivered to their doorstep, courtesy of Amos Zwane, and the Right Reverend Joseph Mabuela. Zwane (48) and Mabuela (42) are the owners of a Maxi Movies franchise, in Kagiso […]

The teams who have had the most Currie Cup success this season have been playing Buurman van Zyl’s way with forward domination to the fore RUGBY: Jon Swift IT is perhaps a trite observation, but this has been a long, hard rugby season. No team typifies this more fully than Transvaal. Champions of virtually all […]

One of the more refreshing aspects of the new South Africa is the sight of government bureaucrats being called to account. Johnny de Lange’s justice committee this week gave a particularly vivid demonstration of the contribution parliamentary oversight can make to good governance with its hearings on the offices of the The highlight of the […]

Parliamentarians may soon be governed by a code of ethics, reports Gaye Davis A CODE of ethics could be awaiting parliamentarians when they return for the new session in February, following agreement this week by a majority of parties that members’ financial and other interests should be But the code will initially be governed not […]

ATHLETICS: Jon Swift THERE are times in South African sport when you wonder whether the word “development” does not have the Orwellian connotation of separate but equal. The All African Invitational athletic meeting to open the magnificently appointed new Johannesburg Stad-ium last weekend was just such an occasion. A surprisingly sparse crowd had come on […]

CINEMA: Stanley Peskin LADYBIRDS are conventionally associated with children, fire and loss and it is these associations which are brought to bear upon the female protagonist in Ken Loach’s Ladybird Ladybird. The rhyming title does not in any way soothe the audience’s feelings. Rather it is submitted to a harrowing account, based on a true […]

>From the birth of the idea at a council bosberaad to the frantic finishing touches, the Johannesburg Stadium has been clouded in controversy ATHLETICS: Julian Drew THE meeting which launched Johannesburg’s new R97- million athletics stadium last weekend can be pronounced a success judging by the response of the world’s media. Linford Christie’s 9.97 seconds […]

Communities are taking justice into their own hands as attorneys-general admit they cannot prosecute major cases. David Beresford and Rehana Rossouw report SOUTH AFRICANS expect instant justice — if a spate of burnings, stonings, shootings, whippings and vicious assaults perpetrated by communities against alleged criminals is anything to go by. And while vigilantes and communities […]