Eddie Koch RITUAL murder and witchcraft cases are on the increase in rural and urban townships of the Transvaal. In the latest incident, a local radio station reports that a young woman was abducted by a gang of ”cannibals”, kept as a sex-slave in an underground cavern near Katlehong and forced to eat the body […]

THE “Deeble” option for a national health insurance policy — the one favoured by the Ministry of Health –may be the best of the three currently under consideration. That has yet to be proven. In fact, a number of highly-respected health policy experts have suggested that it is flawed and the government is allowing itself […]

Jan Taljaard in Pretoria THE new chief of the army has encountered a serious problem since moving to Pretoria to take up his new post: the gymnasiums in Pretoria only open at 5.30am. “No man, that’s much too late,” says Lieutenant-General Reg Otto. Gesturing towards the rather forbidding facade of Army HQ, he remarks: “We […]

General Johan van der Merwe’s alleged meddling in Third force investigations is the real reason behind his resignation, reports Stefaans Brummer POLICE Commissioner General Johan van der Merwe’s announcement last week that he would retire at the end of March was the result of pressure by Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi, well-placed sources say. […]

Sankie Mthembi-Nkondo is a poet and writer and, more recently, minister of housing. Mark Gevisser met and read her `DEAR Comrade Wife,” wrote ANC poet and diplomat Zinjiva Nkondo to his wife, Sankie, during their years of separation in exile, “I know you are not afraid/ of spears/ your thighs and breasts of humanhood/ have […]

Steuart Wright in East London EASTERN Cape health officials, battling to form a unified administration, are being distracted by constant firefighting as the health system crumbles around them. But they are coming up with some innovative ways to cope with the situation. In recent weeks senior health officials have been forced to run from one […]

The CP is hoping to use the local government elections to win back supremacy of the rightwing, writes Jan Taljaard NOT shouting it out too loud, the Conservative Party is hoping to once again enter the race for rightwing supremacy after being virtually sidelined from mainstream politics. And it hopes to achieve this by gathering […]

Morne du Plessis is a popular choice as manager of the South African rugby team, but we haven’t heard the last of Jannie Engelbrecht RUGBY: Jon Swift THERE is one fact Morne du Plessis cannot have failed to arrive at: the managership of the South African rugby side can be either a sudden springboard or […]

FORMER Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock, who faces 106 charges ranging from fraud to eight counts of murder when his trial starts next month, allegedly tried to discredit Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi by portraying him as an erstwhile police informer. Sources close to the investigation into De Kock and police Third Force activities […]