Howard Barrell : OVER A BARREL Nigeria and South Africa, radically different in so many ways, are similar in at least one respect: the way language, at least the English language, is used by many of their political intellectuals. This became apparent last year when I spent two months in Nigeria co-teaching a few courses […]

One of the most mysterious places in the world will be the most highly surveyed, writes Alex Bellos Cold War technology is being adapted to fight drug smugglers and illegal miners who are threatening the Amazon jungle. A surveillance system (known by its Portuguese acronym, Sivam, and being set up by the Brazilian government) will […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 7.20am. PROMISING South African tennis junior Dirk Stegmann advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central African tennis satellite after he beat Marcel du Coudray 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Wednesday. The 15-year-old from Willowmore will now meet top-seed Justin Bower on Thursday. Bower can […]

Wally Mbhele Before his arrest in Mozambique eight months ago, foreign affairs official Robert McBride was approached by Gauteng Premier Mathole Motshekga’s representative to take over from former MEC for safety and security Jessie Duarte. McBride is understood to have turned the offer down, citing his commitment to his foreign affairs job. But since his […]

Andy Capostagno : Cricket Contrary to what you may have thought, the cricket season began this week. Specifically it began on Tuesday night at around 7.30pm in the Long Room at the Wanderers, the occasion being the launch of The Mutual and Federal South African Cricket Annual 1998. The provinces have been applying WD40 to […]

Stuart Hess Ayanda Ntsaluba does not enjoy the limelight. But his new position as director general of health has thrust him into the public eye. Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma appointed Ntsaluba three weeks ago. He replaces Olive Shisana, who left the department in June this year in the wake of the Sarafina II scandal. […]

For Olympic marathon-winner Josiah Thugwane, who will be competing in the prestigious New York Marathon next weekend, it’s been a long, hard road to success. Gavin Evans reports When Josiah Thugwane talks of his life’s greatest achievements, he glosses over his Olympic marathon gold medal and a string of other running records and settles on […]

The Gay and Lesbian Film Festival turns five this year, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever, with one of the highlights being a local documentary on a gay activist Andrew Worsdale During the late 1980s and early 1990s filmmakers like Gus van Sant, Derek Jarman and Monica von Treut, together with […]

Wally Mbhele Plans for the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report were almost ambushed this week when the African National Congress attempted to use its power to prevent its publication. This followed the ANC’s blistering opposition to some aspects of the commission’s findings on the party’s activities during the armed struggle. The […]

Mike Metelits ING Barings analyst Phumzile Mamjezi identifies the major black chip groups in terms of market capitalisation as the Theta Group, Metropolitan Life (Metlife), New Africa Investments Limited (Nail), Real Africa Investments Limited (Rail) and the African Merchant Bank (AMB). These groups are often interconnected with cross holdings. Nail is owned 54,7% by Corporate […]