Duncan Mackay witnesses auspicious changes in the status of Qatar’s women The approach to the Khalifa Stadium on the edges of Doha, Qatar’s capital city, takes you down a long road past date palms, papyruses and cypresses. Creamy buildings, which seem to have been lifted from either Paris boulevards or Cairo squares, rise steeply from […]
Because of its position on the equator, a space base on a converted oil rig could have the international edge, writes Tim Radford In October the first satellite launched from a pad in the open ocean is due to arrive in its orbit, 35 000km out in space. Sea Launch, a once-unimaginable business consortium from […]
Swapna Prabhakaran The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health announced an “inadequate” health budget for 1998/99 this week, sparking an outcry from hospital staff who predict it will have dire consequences for health services. Drastic cutbacks in services and staff have already been implemented at some provincial hospitals in preparation for the budget, which is R621-million short […]
Sarfu’s interim committee will be announced next week, with Silas Nkanunu at its head, reports Andy Capostagno Silas Nkanunu is set to become the first black president of the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) as part of a dramatic shake-up of the administration of the game that has been set in motion by the […]
Lizeka Mda: CITY LIMITS An interviewee once told me she knew her husband was the one for her when he took her out to dinner at the Three Ships in the Carlton hotel. No boyfriend had ever put himself out like that for her before. But her two sons will never know this symbol of […]
Andrew O’Hagan CRIES UNHEARD by Gitta Sereny (Macmillan, R88) There is nothing more stupid and corrupt than the collective mind of Britain’s tabloid newspapers. In a spirit of moral outrage they set out to molest the very people who often require protection, sympathy, understanding. The cry of the mob is vicious and total. In full […]
Adam Haupt On stage in Cape Town Charles J Fourie’s Jobias takes biblical symbolism into the Karoo landscape, where it has long been at home in Afrikaner minds. The play deals with the life of a farm worker, Jobias (Andre Roothman), who has been a loyal employer of Oubaas. Jobias, blessed with an abundance of […]
Kuseni Dlamini: CROSSFIRE Is the left in South Africa and the rest of the world facing a ”mysterious decline” (Crossfire, May 8 to 14), or is it having a ”facelift” (Crossfire, May 15 to 21)? The left has never been held in lower esteem than it is today. At best, it is seen as impotent […]
Helderberg claims to TRC Ann Eveleth A list of 30 former and current parastatal officials and employees who allegedly played a role in the Helderberg air disaster has been handed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Commission representative Christelle Terreblanche says the list came from the Friends of the Victims of the Helderberg, which has […]
Thulo Hoeane The tranquillity of a late autumn morning is suddenly broken by a deafening voice blaring out of a 3 000-watt sound system. Maseru suddenly comes to life as an off-white bakkie which has seen better days passes by, winding its way down Kingsway, the capital’s main street. At the wheel of the bakkie […]