Gouglas Rushkoff : Online Is the Internet a source of psychological problems, or does it provide a cure? For every book or article I read about the detrimental effects of spending time online, I see another listing sites where people can turn for psychological counselling. I receive many letters from psychologists asking about the effect […]

Tony Twine According to the cautionary tale, Goldilocks may well have been the archetypal consumer who fell foul of a bear trend. In search of that elusive economic entity, a free lunch (or was it breakfast?), she unleashed a sequence of events which left her at the mercy of the bears – quite a depressing […]

Ann Eveleth Six northern KwaZulu-Natal police officers received jail sentences this week for torturing an African National Congress- aligned community activist and his relatives. Magistrate Amanda Venter handed down the ruling in a tiny civil courtroom in the Empangeni Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, nearly two-and-a-half years after members of the Mtubatuba-based public order policing unit […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 9.00pm. A NEW special investigating unit is to be set up to concentrate on gangs and organised crime, Justice Minister Dullah Omar announced on Thursday. A unit focusing on gang-related activity and violence in the Western Cape will begin operations immediately, he told a press conference in Cape Town. […]

Emma Durden : On stage in Hilton When a piece of theatre is both popular and well put-together, and purports to exist purely to keep theatre alive and kicking in this country, then we know that art is going somewhere. This was my overwhelming feeling after seeing Ipi Zombi? in the Natal Midlands this weekend. […]

Sending a peacekeeping force is no longer an option for restoring calm to Maseru, as armed soldiers and civilians prepare to repel the force from the kingdom. Sechaba ka’Nkosi and Howard Barrell report Brigadiers in the Lesotho Defence Force have assumed effective control of the country following the complete collapse of the civilian and administrative […]

Alan Henry : Formula One Last weekend Italy was on strike. For two hours on Sunday afternoon the entire nation was infected with an epidemic of scarlet fever, rendering them unable to move away from their television and radio sets. The focus of the nation’s devotion was Monza, a 5,76km loop of tarmac in the […]

Alex Dodd : CD of the week If, like me, you’re the kind of person who likes drifting into the realm of nod to strains of sweet music conjuring images of women in fuschia muslin and marble palaces on Indian lakes, Deepak Ram is the maestro you’ve been looking for. A pupil of the great […]

Chiara Carter Bitterness lingering after the choice of Gerald Morkel over populist Peter Marais to replace Hernus Kriel as leader of the National Party and premier in the Western Cape is likely to resurface at the party’s regional conference next week. Marais is understood to have been pressured by grassroots supporters to contest the elections, […]

Chris McGreal : Spending It This month Rwanda launched a national lottery to raise much-needed revenue. But this is a numbers game which blends aspects of a good old-fashioned lottery – where luck reigns supreme – with betting on the horses. The scheme was born of desperation. The government had tried scratch cards as a […]