bark The silence surrounding last week’s appointments by the Judicial Services Commission is deafening. The Bench and academia are seething with indignation over the appointments of the two judges president and one deputy. Yet there is not a bleat of public protest other than the resignation of Judge Piet van der Walt from the Office […]

Renowned cultural writer Mark Gevisser talks to Matthew Krouse about his journey to the essence of one of Johannesburg’s unique forgotten heroes In the city of Johannesburg, overrun with live chickens and minibus taxis, Anstey’s building retains its stark majesty. Not only because it’s a well maintained survivor of the city’s New York age, but […]

Bill Ann Eveleth : IN THE ACT Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma has the tobacco industry huffing and puffing over the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill, which aims to discourage young people from taking up smoking. Anti-smokers and a curious array of pro- tobacco lobbyists – including the Congress of South African Trade Union’s affiliated […]

LEWIS MACHIPISA, Harare | Friday 7.30pm. PICKETING Harare city council workers on Friday burnt the Zimbabwean national flag and assaulted the deputy mayor as they vetted their anger over the non-payment of their October salaries. The workers have vowed not to return to work unless they get their wages. They also are calling for the […]

This could be one of those rare concerts that goes down in history like the Amnesty International Concert in Harare in 1988. So if you’ve got some wheels and you’re in need of a restorative African musical adventure, then put that cabbie into first and head for lush Mpumalanga. About 30 minutes past Nelspruit off […]

Anthony Browne: SHARE WORLD As the financial whirlwind that started in Thailand 15 months ago engulfs the rest of the world, it is difficult not to be pessimistic. A quarter of the world is in recession, the United States and the United Kingdom may well follow, Brazil and China are struggling, while the Indonesian economy […]

Mark Rozzo THE SURGEON OF CROWTHORNE by Simon Winchester (Viking) In 1879, James Murray, an expert on the dialects of his native Scotland and the recently appointed editor of The New Dictionary on Historical Principles, called for volunteers from Britain, the United States and the colonies to help create the first complete dictionary of the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 11.50pm. SOUTH African tennis star Wayne Ferreira trounced world number three and US Open champion Pat Rafter in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 at the Lyon Grand Prix tennis tournament on Friday. Ferreira will play fourth seeded Spaniard Alex Corretja in the semifinals on Saturday. The South African has now won […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni An independent mediator is to be appointed to intervene in the ongoing conflict at the troubled University of the Western Cape (UWC), amid fears that final examinations may not take place. Final examinations have already been postponed for two weeks, and the administration has not yet set a new date for […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Friday 9.00pm. NIGERIAN authorities have imposed an overnight curfew on the oil town of Warri after clashes there left five youths dead and five soldiers wounded, a military officer said on Friday. The dusk-to-dawn curfew was ordered late on Thursday — the day of the clashes between youths of rival communities […]