staff survived With its staff drawn from such diverse backgrounds, there was as much tension within the TRC as at the public hearings, writes Gaye Davis The three-year life span of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been marked by public sensation throughout the hearings. But behind the public drama of tortured facing the […]

ROB DAVIES, Johannesburg | Friday 9.35am. THE Giants of South African soccer, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, will clash in the first-leg semifinals of the multimillion-rand Rothmans Cup on Saturday, and fans can be sure that the battle will be one of epic proportions. What is certain is that the match will be a tight […]

Things are changing at Nasa. In October it saw the launch of a spacecraft with an engine that thunders with all the force of a small piece of paper resting on your hand. But, according to researchers working on the mission, the almost imperceptible thrust of this ion drive could be the key to the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 10.00am. FORMER All Black coach Laurie Mains, infamous in South Africa for his claims that the New Zealand All Blacks were poisoned by a waitress ahead of their 15-13 loss to the Springboks in the 1995 World Cup final, on Thursday signed a three-year contract to coach the Golden Lions […]

as a 23-year-old French man A 13-year-old boy goes missing in San Antonio, Texas. Three years later, he is found, alive, in Spain, with an appalling tale of kidnap and a paedophile ring. His family is overjoyed to have him home safe. But things are not quite as they seem. Nick Davies reports Just more […]

year David Shapshak Desmond Tutu’s personal story of the time he spent as head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been sold to publishers Random House and is scheduled to be in print by late next year. The deal was confirmed this week by Stephen Johnson, the head of Random House in South […]

David Shapshak Debt relief topped the agenda at the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development between October 19 and 21, when Japan announced a grant bail-out for some African countries. This was perhaps the most significant and concrete achievement of the conference, which adopted an ambitious “agenda for action” to halve the present levels […]

Review of the week Brenda Atkinson The worldly cynicism of student advertising work is wonderful for its predictability and passion, depressing for the inevitable brevity of its life-span. As such, this year’s AAA School of Advertising/Oxygen Award exhibition was a vaguely poignant affair that made me wonder just what happens to youthful irony when it […]

Loose cannon: Robert Kirby It is never quite possible to store up enough cynicism for use as a protective membrane between oneself and advertising. Membrane be damned, these days you need armour-plating to keep the witness of the creative directors, the visualisers and the rest of the snake-oil salesmen from getting through to you. It […]

Angella Johnson: VIEW FROM A BROAD I have found the Rainbow Nation. It has taken more than two years, but yes, I can unequivocally proclaim that President Nelson Mandela’s multiracial dream is alive and kicking under the bustling new Sundome Casino on the outskirts of Johannesburg. You see, in the gambling world all are equal, […]