No image available
/ 22 January 2007
The swashbuckling colonial novelist remains a persistent feature of many books on Africa. Events are not merely reported, but interpreted through the incredulous eyes of our intrepid ”white man in Africa”. Curiously, this retrograde genre remains extremely popular in South Africa.
No image available
/ 22 January 2007
Whoever wants to be the next president of the African National Congress will probably have to go through president Thabo Mbeki, who has been asked by the party’s most influential province to guide the 95-year-old ANC towards its centenary years. Senior members of the Eastern Cape provincial executive committee (PEC) of the ANC are convinced that this “son of the soil will never say no to a mandate by the ANC”.
No image available
/ 22 January 2007
About 25 000 public schools opened their doors to 12-million pupils last week, with apparent lack of drama. But this should not lull South Africans into assuming they are in for a quiet school year. Two time bombs are ticking below the surface: threats by some education bureaucracies against “under performing” schools; and complications that could arise from government moves towards free schooling for poor learners.
No image available
/ 22 January 2007
In the past few years, South Africa’s currency has gained recognition as one of a handful of the world’s traded commodity currencies. This term applies in countries where the world commodity price of the country’s commodity exports has an important effect on their real exchange rate.
No image available
/ 22 January 2007
The sun has dropped below the horizon and the muezzins in Gaza and Egypt produce two distinct walls of sound at either side of the deserted strip that buffers the border. Darkness falls quickly on the no-man’s land that used to be patrolled by Israeli tanks. The 100m-wide strip is a graveyard of bulldozed houses. Mounds of rubble and steel spikes are monuments to what used to be streets.
No image available
/ 22 January 2007
Senior Zimbabwe government officials, including the police, have been sucked into a diamond smuggling scandal, which is believed to have cost the country about -million in lost revenue in the past eight months. In April last year, thousands of villagers descended on Marange, a district in the eastern Manicaland province, to pan for diamonds with the permission of the political leadership in the province.
No image available
/ 21 January 2007
A leading Roman Catholic rights group in Zimbabwe urged the government on Sunday to address the grievances of striking state doctors, saying their weeks-old action was hurting poor patients. ”The strike by junior doctors has caused untold human suffering and loss of life to many,” the Catholic commission.
No image available
/ 21 January 2007
France’s Stephane Peterhansel, driving a Mitsubishi, and compatriot Cyril Despres, riding a KTM, were crowned champions of the 2007 Dakar Rally after the 15th and final stage in Dakar on Sunday. It was Peterhansel’s third Dakar Rally car crown and ninth overall while for Despres this represented a second title after winning the 2005 edition.
No image available
/ 21 January 2007
All-rounder Jacques Kallis compiled a patient innings to nudge South Africa into the lead on the third day of the first Test against Pakistan on Sunday. Kallis was 84 not out at lunch, which South Africa reached on 191 for four in their second innings — a lead of 50 runs.
No image available
/ 21 January 2007
Saurav Ganguly scored a sparkling 98 on his one-day international return after a 16-month absence to help India to a 14-run victory over West Indies on Sunday. The 34-year-old opener struck 11 fours and three sixes to lead the hosts to a commanding total of 338 for three, enjoying good partnerships with Gautam Gambhir (69) and Sachin Tendulkar (31) after they were put in to bat