Many financial institutions offer a range of products for the small people, writes Belinda Beresford Slipped furtively into appreciative little hands or neatly tucked away in a Christmas card, gifts of money to children are one of the traditions of the festive season. An unexpected bonus to pocket money and the grind of begging from […]

AUTHORITIES in Botswana have signed execution warrants for two convicted killers expected to be hanged on Saturday, the country’s deputy attorney-general said on Thursday. The hangings will bring to 34 the executions carried out in Botswana since its independence from Britain in 1966. The last executions took place in 1995 when five convicted murderers were […]

SOUTH Africans tuned in to watch the launch of South Africa’s first satellite from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA, were disappointed on Friday when controllers ruled the launch a “no-go” at the last minute. This was the second attempt to launch the satellite named Sunsat, which was built by the engineering faculty […]

Reflecting the changing face of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz is an economist who is a hero in some left- wing circles. Ferial Haffajee reports World Bank leaders have traditionally been whipping boys. In the ranks of the international left wing, there is no type of banker more maligned or caricatured as the cold-hearted architects […]

The David Gleason Column Last week I addressed some of the issues surrounding the putative takeover by Driefontein of Gold Fields, a stratagem devised to get around the problems posed by minority shareholders who want to be paid more than is likely to be put on the table. Since then a lot of hot air […]

Alex Dodd It is Tuesday midday. We are driving along the N1, returning to Johannesburg after taking in Jo Ractliffe’s End of Time show in Nieu Bethesda. It’s hot and the road seems to go on forever. Attention is anaesthetised by an immensity of nothingness – nothing but the blank Karoo landscape and the road […]

CD of the week: Dave Chislett The recent vast successes of the Springbok Nude Girls, best exemplified by the track Blue Eyes, has tended to overshadow the roots of the band, and the fact that, without a doubt, they are really an alternative act. At Nude Girls shows at the moment, you will find trendies, […]

JOHANNESBURG youth radio station YFM was hit by robbers late on Thursday night, who assaulted staffers and stole their possessions. Ten armed men stormed the station’s studio in Troyeville at about 11.30pm, forcing late-night presenter Msizi Shembe and his producer Desmond Mashaba to open the station’s safe. When they discovered there was no cash stored […]

force Chris Gordon Details are beginning to emerge of a vast resupply operation carried out by Unita, as the rebels strike at the north-west of Angola. Jonas Savimbi’s rebels are now better armed than in 1992, the Angolan government claims. It is a claim borne out by Unita’s new tactics and reports of the type […]

David Shapshak The Cabinet has discussed the possibility of deploying the army at the end of the year in anticipation of possible chaos stemming from the year 2000 computer problem (Y2K), says Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo. “I have discussed with the Cabinet the possibility of mobilising the security services in terms […]