Marion Edmunds DEPUTY PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki is considering a plan to grant so-called ” professionals” — doctors, prosecutors and accountants — better salaries and a measure of independence from the public service bargaining chamber. The plan was put on the table this week by the Medical Association of South Africa (Masa) in a bid to […]

CHILDREN’S THEATRE: Di Mannie A VISIT to the Johannesburg Youth Theatre is fast becoming=20 synonymous with holiday entertainment, each production having=20 its own blend of humour and surprise. For The Emperor’s=20 Nightingale, the main room (or theatre) in this romantic old=20 house has been “turned sideways”, using the length of the room=20 to present the […]

With imports outpacing exports and a growth rate=20 that’s just not good enough, South Africa has to face real economic challenges, reports Reg Rumney Old Mutual chief economist Dave Mohr injected a note of realism=20 into the economic outlook recently by pointing to the revealing=20 example of South Africa’s share of total exports from developing=20 […]

The parliamentary ethics subcommittee is divided=20 over MPs’ outside financial interests, write=20 Eddie Koch and Marion Edmunds STRONG pressure for South African MPs to continue=20 earning lucrative salaries on top of their pay from=20 Parliament is coming from inside an ethics subcommittee=20 set up to devise rules on the controversial issue. Six of nine MPs […]

Indian economic involvement in South=20 Africa has mushroomed. Reg Rumney reports The purchase by Indian brewery United Breweries=20 Investments (UB) of a 30 percent stake in National=20 Sorghum Breweries — reportedly for R70-million — is=20 the most visible sign of the growing economic co- operation between South Africa and India. UB had previously bought Mabula […]

The products may not be warm or comfortable, but=20 Hardwear is finding a growing market for clothes made=20 of scrap. MALU VAN LEEUWEN reports AFTER four years of obscurity, the curious products of=20 a Cape Town partnership are suddenly getting plenty of=20 attention. Hardwear (real names Michelle Vyncke and=20 Chris du Toit) is a small […]

CINEMA: Stanley Peskin THE OX, which has as its background the severe drought=20 suffered by Sweden in the 1860s, is described as a true=20 story told by director Sven Nykvist. The narrative is=20 presented with the utmost clarity, but not without=20 subtlety. Although the director is self-effacing in the=20 presentation of his ostensibly simple homiletic, […]

FINE ART: Ivor Powell AS a child, I used to play a detective game without any=20 real rules. All you had to do was wander around in the=20 veld examining scraps of paper, .rusted tins, the=20 occasional used condom, crumpled cigarette packets,=20 leaking batteries … all of which became clues to a=20 fictional crime. The […]

JOHN MAJOR took a gamble with his political career=20 because his party was divided. He triumphantly won the=20 gamble — but his party remains divided nevertheless.=20 This continuing paradox will cast a long shadow over=20 what is simply a sun-drenched political achievement: a=20 midsummer campaign launched in a rose garden nearly a=20 fortnight ago, clinched […]

Marion Edmunds POLITICAL parties have launched a massive manhunt for=20 50 000 politicians. Their talent scouts are trawling=20 townships, suburbs and villages this month to find=20 ideal candidates for the local government elections.=20 All the major political parties have started screening=20 potential candidates and all want the best of local=20 talent for themselves. The exact […]