Robert Mugabe is desperately trying to shore up the teetering Laurent Kabila, write Howard Barrell and Iden Wetherell Congolese rebels, flushed by their victory this week over thousands of government and foreign troops in an eight-day battle for the key town of Kindu, are regrouping for a two-pronged assault southwards on the diamond-mining centre of […]

Mathews Phosa believes he is doing what he promised the people who voted for the ANC, writes Wally Mbhele He sees himself as a crusader against officials who have given his province the reputation as the most corrupt in the country; a victim of an unfair and persecuting media, even a fall guy for the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 9.30pm. THIRTY young elephants at the heart of a fierce row about animal cruelty are to stay with trainers accused of inhumane treatment for at least another week, an official said on Friday. The plight of the elephants has divided organisations dedicated to animal welfare, some of whose activists have […]

hemp You’ve heard of lager, pilsener, draught and stout. Now there’s hemp beer. It’s called Hanf (“hemp” in German), made by Wdi Bru in Switzerland, and it’s finally available in South Africa (Cape Town and Gauteng only). At the third birthday party of Pretoria pita bar and reggae club Tings an’ Times on October 10, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 11.00am. TWO local golfers, looking for their first wins as professionals, set new course records of nine-under 62s at the Royal Johanesburg West on Thursday, when they shot their way to the top of the second-round leaderboard in the Gauteng leg of the Vodacom series. Ryan Dryer (26) and John […]

Maureen Barnes Down the tube Two local programmes gave me the worst case of dyspepsia in the past week. First came Top Billing, which has a certain jolliness about it -but it then confronted us with a profile on Edith Venter. Many readers outside Gauteng will be muttering “Who dat?” – which would undoubtedly depress […]

A new satellite network to satisfy our need to keep in touch may mean signals from the heavens cannot get through. Robert McKie reports In a few days, the world will shrink irrevocably. Engineers will switch on a flotilla of 66 communication satellites allowing telephone users – from Antarctica to the Atlantic, and from the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 10.00am. COST of local telephone calls will rise by a substantial 19,2% from next year, Telkom announced on Thursday. This increase follows rises of 25% and 28,4% in 1998 and 1997 respectively, making it the third successive year that Telkom will institute an above-inflation increase. The rising cost of local […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Soweto police believe their “positive attitude” explains their higher conviction record for rape cases compared to their counterparts in other Johannesburg suburbs. Although statistics indicate a pathetic one out of 400 conviction rate for rape cases, a survey on sexual violence conducted in the southern Johannesburg shows Soweto police stations are streets ahead. […]

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo scored an important victory this week in capturing the town of Kindu, which Laurent Kabila’s government was trying to use as the launch pad for a counter-offensive against the rebels. But the victory merely underlines why that long-suffering nation cannot afford a military solution to its problems. What […]