Ann Eveleth A sign outside the Kudube Waste Disposal Site in Temba township near Hammanskraal warns: “No hazardous or toxic materials allowed.” But it also tells visitors: “All persons and vehicles entering this site do so at their own risk.” Both warnings go unnoticed by the dozens of Temba residents picking through the rubbish for […]
Has Microsoft reached its “sell by” date? Has the meteoric rise and rise of the company reached a peak, with the prospect of a slippery downward slide making Microsoft go beyond aggressive competition – into monopolistic, unfairly competitive and arrogan t business practices? Some early warning signals are appearing. But, let me lay my cards […]
Alet van Rensburg The new civilian caretakers of Vlakplaas – former base of the notorious police C-10 hit squad – are interested in buying the farm from the government and turning it into a rehabilitation centre for “lost souls”. The old farmhouse on Vlakplaas is now filled with Louis and Lucia Smit’s furniture. They’ve turned […]
Marion Edmunds One of the world’s most respected human rights watchdogs has accused the South African government of committing serious human rights abuses against illegal immigrants, in a damning report that draws parallels with the apartheid regime’s treatment of blac ks. The Human Rights Watch report is the first significant attack from an international agency […]
Emeka Nwandiko With a sharp intake of breath, followed by an oath, Aubrey flicks his left wrist and casts to the concrete floor a pair of dice. A three and four is scored, notching up his winnings to R50. He is all smiles: considering that when he began the game of ama dice he had […]
Krisjan Lemmer The management at the Dorsbult Bar had to send out for fresh supplies of sickbags this week, what with all the heaving going on among patrons over the Robert McBride story. Our old friend “Suiker” Britz rushed to Maputo and announced it was his considere d and unbiased opinion that the young diplomat […]
Joseph Heller thinks Catch-22 makes him America’s greatest novelist. What more can a man achieve? Well, he could try and be a bit nicer, writes Lynn Barber Everyone told me beforehand that I would love Joseph Heller, and, of course, I already loved his writing. I belong to the generation that wore “Yossarian Lives!” badges […]
Alan HenryMotor racing Ferrari are poised to offer Michael Schumacher a virtual blank cheque to prevent him defecting to the McLaren-Mercedes team in 1999, a year before the end of his contract. Fiat’s president Gianni Agnelli is said to have sanctioned a o52-million package to ensure Schumacher stays at Ferrari to the end of the […]
Wally Mbhele The arrest of Robert McBride on charges of gun-running in Mozambique seems to have been a well-co-ordinated police trap, planned with the man he was captured with, Vusi Mbatha, Mozambican gun-runner Alex Mamba, and the South African security forces. There is concern that old-guard elements of the South African military and police assisted […]
Who is . . . ‘Suiker’ Britz? Stefaans Brummer Assistant Commissioner Karel “Suiker” Britz wears grey shoes. Or if he doesn’t he should, for he fits snugly into that category of old-guard cops with nicknames like “Snor” and “Balletjies”. But while Britz does sport an impressive moustache, and presumably has the other attribute as well, […]