East dust Winnie Mandela The year is still in nappies but already we at the Mail & Guardian arts desk have spotted the most likely candidate to lift our coveted annual Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Award for Multiple Comebacks from poppet Wendy Oldfield. Yup, Jani Allan is back. Again. While Eugene Terre’blanche sank like a very large […]

The IBA is keeping a close rein on Voice of Soweto, writes Maria McCloy The community radio station Voice of Soweto is pulling out the stops to comply with orders set down by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). Voice of Soweto is currently broadcasting on a temporary 30-day licence after a tussle with the IBA […]

Wally Mbhele A combined police and intelligence operation is closing in on the heist gangs and may see some of the masterminds behind the spate of cash-in-transit robberies nabbed soon. Sources within both the intelligence and the safety and security departments this week dismissed claims by one of the alleged brains behind the heists, Collin […]

Ferial Haffajee : In your ear Nothemba Madumo is no shock-jock. Her Kaya Lifestyle on Gauteng’s Kaya FM is the epitome of easy listening. Aired each day between 9am and noon, Madumo’s blend of cool music and inspirational talk now has a loyal audience, according to the latest All Media Product Survey (Amps) figures. That […]

Tom Quoin : Architecture As we recover from the season of ritual ceremony, let’s glance at one of the ways we celebrate what stands all about us – buildings. It’s heartening to realise that even in Egoli – the tense, unbending Jo’burg – some architects have thought to include relief carvings or sculpted castings in […]

Andy Duffy Five of the Free State’s top education officials have been suspended, badly hampering the province’s management of state schooling. The province, which last week fired education MEC Mxolisi Dukwana, has already seen a stream of old-guard senior officials quit over the past year, including four directors and deputy directors who went in December. […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi Embattled Gauteng MEC for Safety and Security Jessie Duarte came out this week with guns blazing in a bid to clear her name from what she calls a “smear campaign” against her. In an exclusive four-hour interview with the Mail & Guardian at her Johannesburg home, Duarte said while she was willing to […]

At a time when the United States and its allies appear headed for another futile war against the seemingly indestructible Saddam Hussein of Iraq, we welcome the statement by President Nelson Mandela opposing a strike on Iraq. The US’s justification of its stance is well-rehearsed: Saddam is an untrustworthy dictator with a track record in […]

Werner Menges An ambitious attempt to clean up an apartheid eyesore has landed Namibia’s former housing minister – the winner of a United Nations housing award – and top officials in the Ministry of Housing in the largest corruption trial since independence. The Windhoek High Court heard evidence about confused responsibilities, denials and disregard for […]

Madeleine Wackernagel : Taking Stock One subject has dominated the financial news in the past six months – the Asian crisis. The coverage has been phenomenal, with every economist and his neighbour wading into the debate, dissecting the causes, prescribing solutions. Not all the analysis has been correct, and much of it has been emotive. […]