Andrew Muchineripi : Soccer After the carefully selected, diplomatically correct words of Clive Barker, new Bafana Bafana coach Jomo Sono has hit the scene like a bolt of lightning from the blue. Sono resembles those gunslingers we worshipped as children at the bioscope. He walks with the same self-belief and is ready to let rip […]
Robert Kirby : Loose cannon The Christmas hols done with, it’s time once again to reflect on how we did as a nation honouring this fine occasion. As of going to press, South Africa’s extermination road network was doing quite well in its disciplined attempt to outstrip last year’s carnage. With but a day or […]
Wonder Hlongwa and Mungo Soggot President Nelson Mandela overruled truth commission legislation guidelines to ensure former state president PW Botha’s legal team was paid almost double the going rate for representing a potential witness. This week Minister of Justice Dullah Omar – who had been part of the negotiations on the massive bill – said […]
As blame for the poor matric results is bandied about, schools are set to reopen with no hint of a resolution. Andy Duffy reports State schools open their doors next week on the eve of a potentially bruising and bloody battle between the government, the provinces and their union allies over the floundering education system. […]
FRIDAY, 2.30PM: A SIX-member International Monetary Fund delegation arrives in Zimbabwe on Tuesday for its second visit since November, to launch a US$183-million stand-by credit arrangement to prop up the country’s fast-deteriorating balance of payments position. It is expected that the funds will be disbursed in two tranches, with a first payment available immediately after […]
Neil Manthorp : Cricket Mike Rutherford of the music band Mike and the Mechanics wrote a moving tribute to his late father called The Living Years. It became a hit in most of the world, including South Africa. Hansie Cronje, the South African cricket captain, enjoys the song very much indeed and has included the […]
wilderness Nicky Barker Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Kader Asmal applied this week for a court order to evict a community illegally living in a proclaimed wilderness area in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The land in question is the Ntendeka Wilderness Area in Ngome Forest, 5 230ha of mixed coastal forest 70km east of Vryheid. It […]
Madeleine Wackernagel : Taking Stock Looking for a cheery subject to start the new year, I thought of the massive influx of foreigners and all that lovely foreign exchange providing a welcome boost to our beleaguered economy. But events conspired against me. Lurid tales of foreign visitors mindlessly slaughtered around the country will deal a […]
FRIDAY, 4.30PM: SRI Lankan spinning pair Muttiah Murilitharan and Jayanatha Silva on Friday ripped apart the Zimbabwe batting in the first Test, keeping the visitors to a paltry 140 runs. This leaves the Zimbabweans with a deficit total of 329 runs. The woes of the Zimbabweans did not end, however, and at the close of […]
Ann Eveleth South African household furnishings are shrinking to fit into government-built homes – and to lower costs in line with falling consumer spending power, say retailers. OK Furniture, a division of OK Bazaars, said this week it had seen a sharp rise in sales of “slimline refrigerators and ovens” during the past four to […]