A post template

No image available
/ 19 March 2007

Colombia’s dark underbelly leaves Bush with an embarrassing best friend

There is little to cheer a United States president on a visit to Latin America these days. Where it once enforced its will on the region, the US now looks increasingly out of touch. The presidents of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile were not elected as friends of the US, and China has quietly filled the economic gap left by seven years of US distraction and neglect.

No image available
/ 19 March 2007

Prayers for Football Inc’s new boss

S’bu Mngadi, the newly appointed CEO of the South African Football Association’s commercial wing, says one of his friends went down on his knees and prayed for him on hearing he had accepted the job. Another offered to take up life assurance for him. If you did not know about the shenanigans that seem to follow the local game, you would think Mngadi’s friends were being a bit theatrical.

No image available
/ 19 March 2007

New dog up to old tricks

The well-worn adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks has returned to bite social grant applicants in KwaZulu-Natal — and sparked a public spat between provincial Social Welfare Minister Meshack Radebe and the South African Social Services Agency.

No image available
/ 19 March 2007

Today, Gauteng, tomorrow …

John Moodey, the newly elected DA leader in Gauteng, is a former unionist and ANC member who joined the Democratic Party in 1998 because he felt coloured people were alienated in the ANC. He spoke the Mail & Guardian‘s Mbuyisi Mgibisa abouthis political principles.

No image available
/ 19 March 2007

Getting the funding mix right

Corporate social nvestment (CSI) has evolved significantly from its humble beginnings in South Africa in the mid-1970s. It is no longer seen as a voluntary activity but has become a business imperative. BEE legislation, the industry transformation charters and the global emphasis on sustainability together result in a more strategic, professional and achievement-based approach to CSI than in the past.

No image available
/ 19 March 2007

Tuning in daily for a small dose of relief

When last did you hear a good-news story coming out of Darfur? For that matter, have you ever heard a good-news story from there? Well, I’ve got one. In the South Darfur city of Nyala, there is a small group of Sudanese men and women who risks life and limb each day to deliver humanitarian information over the radio to the millions of displaced persons in the region.

No image available
/ 18 March 2007

The wild, wet world of river trekking

"There is no right or wrong way," the trail master tells his nine fellow bushwalkers as they trace a little-known passage through the Philippines’ Sierra Madre range. "But whining is not allowed." The city slickers enter a different world in the sleepy village of Daraitan just 50km east of Manila. Here there are no roads, no bridges, no electricity, no telephones, and no 24-hour convenience stores.

No image available
/ 18 March 2007

Woolmer was a coach driven by desire

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer died in hospital on March 18 after being found unconscious in his hotel room, the team announced. Woolmer (58), a former England Test batsman and coach of South Africa, had seen his team crash out of the World Cup on March 17 after a shock group-D defeat by Ireland at Sabina Park.