Paul Erasmus describes his initiation into ‘dirty=20 tricks’ against the left. This is the first of a=20 series of extracts from his manuscript Not long after I joined the security police (in January=20 1977), I was told by my colleagues and superiors,=20 including section head Major JHL Jordaan and=20 lieutenants At Kellerman (who later became […]

A little-known struggle for independence continues in=20 West Africa — and South Africa has strange links to=20 it. Ann Eveleth reports the presidential inauguration of Nelson Mandela on May=20 10 last year was heralded as the end of colonialism for=20 a beleaguered continent, but nobody seemed to notice=20 that one distinguished guest was celebrating a […]

Jonathan Ancer He attacked policemen in court; he had nine different=20 lawyers; he called Springbok rugby wing James Small as=20 his witness; he made an obscene gesture to the judge,=20 tried to force his recusal and yelled at him ”I’ll see=20 you right”. Now Gary Beuthin is going to the Constitutional Court=20 to continue his […]

Durban’s fledgling centre for the arts is preparing to=20 fly, reports HUMPHREY TYLER MAYBE they should hire lifeguards for the official=20 opening in a few weeks of the Bat Centre beside the=20 water in the harbour in Durban. Vusisizwe Mchunu=20 (mostly known as Vusi), the centre’s project manager=20 and a prize-winning poet, shook his head […]

Lynda Loxton reports on the union-backed research=20 project that has moulded the new government’s=20 industrial policy The South African government should not ape Korea in=20 the 1960s by trying to intervene to help carefully=20 chosen “winning sectors” of the economy. This is one of=20 the conclusions of a detailed study of South African=20 The study, […]

THEATRE: David Le Page LARA FOOT has directed a rather noisy silent movie.=20 It’s called Womb Tide, and is masquerading as theatre=20 in the Laager at the Market, complete with a little=20 boer clown, an alternatively vulgar and sympathetic=20 heroine, and a properly precocious child. The filmic elements abound. Brian Webber plays a=20 congenitally awkward […]

Ann Eveleth The KwaZulu/Natal government has been accused of=20 dragging its heels over the implementation of an=20 intensive land reform programme worth more than R79- million, while tens of thousands of dispossessed rural=20 residents wait helplessly for the assistance promised=20 them by central government last year. The charges come amid the province’s calls for greater=20 […]

Clive Simpkins The communications, marketing and health sectors of=20 countries around the world, particularly in Africa, are=20 failing the most critical test of their expertise. Not=20 simply because it’s a complex one, but because it’s an=20 unpopular one and affects “other people”. That problem=20 is Aids awareness. Latest World Health Organisation statistics indicate=20 that sub-Saharan […]

South Africa’s input at the UN conference on the=20 extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty won=20 wide acclaim, writes Abdul Minty provides some=20 background to the decison THERE has been considerable confusion and=20 misunderstanding about the Nuclear Non-Proliferation=20 Treaty (NPT) Review and Extension Conference which=20 took place at the United Nations headquarters during=20 April and […]

Pat Sidley dissects the profound — and controversial – – changes proposed for South Africa’s health services ‘A caring health service” is the Department of Health’s=20 slogan describing its work. And it’s been a gruelling=20 five months for its committee charged with starting the=20 The Committee of Inquiry into a National Health=20 Insurance System has […]